Forbidden Dimension

As long as Jackson Phibes breathes and walks among us, his vocal chords will continue to tear, his K-Mart drum machine heart will continue to beat and his hands will continue to bleed over the strings of his guitar, as more forbidden dementia is created. Although A Coffinful of Crows does contain one new track, proving that Forbidden Dimension are very much alive in one form or another, its primary purpose is to showcase the band's long lost and buried demo recordings. Covering a recording period that spans over ten years, 1988 to '99, the 21 tracks on this twisted disc include Forbidden Dimension's long out-of-print debut EP, Into the Forbidden Dimension, as well as the cassette-only album, Mars is Heaven, and a slew of unreleased songs. Even though Forbidden Dimension have existed as a quartet of ghouls and a trio of fiends, all of the recordings contained on this CD are performed solely by lead maniac and brainchild Jackson Phibes. Right from the alien-fuzz-distorted guitar to the almost absent bass (which could be a guitar tuned really low) to the Bontempi keyboard sounding drum machine and the reverberating vocals - he's the lunatic behind all of the material on here. Not to mention the absolutely fiendish and wonderful artwork adorning this CD. A Coffinful of Crows will definitely appeal to the rightfully devoted followers of Forbidden Dimension; however, for virgins yet to be broken in by this Canadian garage legend, perhaps Sin Gallery, Somebody Down Here Likes Me or Widow's Walk would be a more approachable purchase.