Yeah, OK, so I’m a victim of the “that band name sounds interesting” ploy and undertook to review Maggot Twat’s re-issue of their 8-Bit Apocalypse album. The band have actually been around since 1998 and this is one of two albums, though this re-issue features a single, whole new song so existing fans won’t feel too bad about updating their tape version to a download or CD.
Maggot Twat’s ethos is to take the piss out of their own chosen genre, placing them up with S.O.D., Green Jellÿ and Lawnmower Deth. Wait, did I say “up with”? Re-draft that as “…down in the gutter with…”. They’re silly. Daft. Low-brow. And fun.
Think of a mix between A.C. (to be family-friendly for some reason)’s heavy vileness and I Fight Dragons’ chiptune mentality. Replete with samples from games and films, the band’s style is often manic, sometimes genre-stable but most of the time simply messed up.
All you need to do is look down the list of song titles – “I Fucked A Train”, “Raped By An Ape”, “Hot Dogs, President Bush”, “A Vampire Bit My Balls” – to know that you’re in the presence of either unmitigated genius or downright brain-damaged lunacy. I’ll give you a clue. It’s not the first one. These guys are two polystyrene cups short of a non-syphilitic sperm sample.
On the other hand, the album stands up to more than one listen and judging from some video I’ve found online, they look like great fun live. Worryingly, I think this says more about me than them. The best tracks are the ones which are more “mainstream” and aren’t disrupted too much by impromptu samples and widdling. Many of the dafter tracks are little filler numbers that run for thirty seconds or so. Long enough to make them worth a listen the first time through, but short enough that you can’t be arsed reaching for the skip button on repeated listens.
Standout tracks for me are “I Fucked A Train”, which uses locomotive-themed samples subtly but well to the point where it sounds like industrial metal (from the beginning of the Industrial Age); and the title track which comes across like the scaled, drooling offspring of Oderus Urungus and a SNES cartridge.
Definitely an album which will divide opinion. You’ll either be sane and hate it, or be somewhat unbalanced and think it’s funny.
8-Bit Apocalypse is out on December 30th which is why I spent Christmas night writing this review.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCUpviUwvFc&feature=youtu.be
