Killwhitneydead

So Pretty So Plastic

BY Chris GramlichPublished Apr 1, 2005

While KillWhitneyDead’s debut EP, Inhaling the Breath of a Bullet, was a competent if uninspired metalcore debut (in their defence, it was recorded with an almost completely different line-up), 2004’s Never Good Enough for You full-length was a triumphant misanthropic metallic masterpiece. With the overhauled line-up came a new musical focus — relentless mayhem touching upon death metal, thrash, grind, and Pantera’s Southern groove with a slight hardcore shading — and about a billion movie samples that were recognisable enough, while being perfectly suited and utilised in their musical rampaging. With So Pretty So Plastic, KillWhitneyDead don’t deviate from the devastating formula struck upon with Never Good Enough, but what they did is refine their demented genius, add even more samples to their already sample-riddled sound and reach new levels of hostility and abuse in the process. While So Pretty’s more elegant cover may wrongfully be interpreted as a toning down of hostilities (as opposed to Never’s pics of a Suicide Girl cutting out her heart), the 11 songs and noise track finale contained within are hate and hurt slaying every cute and cuddly fake they can find. The refrain of "leave no one alive” in "Save Your Sermons for Sunday So I can Sleep This Night Off” isn’t just a line, it’s KWD’s musical mandate.

Are you concerned the huge number of samples may overshadow the music? Singer and sample wiz Mike: That is a fear that I have come to live with, because it’s already a reality. I think kids wouldn’t listen to us unless we had samples, but I also don’t think I could release a KWD album without them. They have become a part of what I do and I enjoy it. I like to sing what I sing, but the samples give me another voice. Whether it’s the tone or the content, it just adds to the overall themes/vibes of the material.

Why the move to softer images when the music/lyrics/samples are just as damaging if not more so? I wanted to show people that we don’t just use graphically violent material for the sake of being graphically violent. We put more thought into what we present than that. The artwork reflects the album’s title and the song in which those lyrics are taken from. Without giving too much away, that song is about the modern hardcore scene and how all kids are all dressing alike, same hair styles, etc. They all think they’re being "individuals” but in essence everyone has become quite ordinary, and there is no more beauty.
(Tribunal)

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