Zimmers Hole – When You Were Shouting At the Devil…We Were In League With Satan (Century Media Records)
Thursday, 14th March 2013
Essentially SYL without Devin, Zimmers Hole isn’t as new as many think – the duo of guitarist Jed Simon and bassist Byron Stroud have been doing the “Hole” for years whenever Townsend would go off and do one of his solo projects. Joined by drum lord Gene Hoglan and vocalist Satan aka “The Heathen,” Zimmers Hole is by all intents and purposes the substitute for SYL and frankly, When You Were Shouting At the Devil is a pretty fun and enthralling listen when in the right mindframe.
Satan (God, that sounds weird saying that in relation to a vocalist…) has some Devin-ready pipes, as evidenced by his opening scream on the title track. With excellent pitch and delivery, Satan (ugh, there it is again!) is a versatile vocalist that shines on more than one occasion. Check out his throaty delivery in “Anonymous Esophagus” and the cheesy “We Rule the Fucking Land.”
Anything with Hoglan behind the kit is bound to sound good and since Zimmer’s Hole has decided to stay within the SYL framework, a lot of these sounds froth like they should. Check out the cool swing in “1312” and monster triplet gauntlet in “Fista Corps” for proof of Zimmers Hole high-quality musicianship. Even Dethklok’s Nathan Explosion gets in on the fun during “The Vowel Song.”
Fun stuff, hardly anything of real substance, When You Were Shouting At the Devil can get by on its own merits and actually doesn’t need the overt tongue-and-cheek it prides itself on. Nevertheless, we all need that brash, friendly punch in the arm once and a while, and it looks like Zimmers Hole will be doling out the bruises for ’08.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)
