CLAWFINGER

Hate Yourself With Style

Nuclear Blast
rating icon 7 / 10

Track listing:

01. The Faggot In You
02. Hate Yourself With Style
03. Dirty Lies
04. The Best & The Worst
05. Breakout (Embrace the Child Inside You)
06. Right to Rape
07. What We've Got Is What You're Getting
08. Sick of Myself
09. Hypocrite
10. Without a Case
11. God Is Dead


Zak Tell is the undisputed star of the show here — his voice is front-and-center, the music constructed around his vocal lines, and his overbearing assault on controversial topics is what gives CLAWFINGER their unique identity. Whether he's castigating rapists ("Right to Rape") or accusing homophobes of being secretly queer ("The Faggot In You"),he wields the English language like a spiked bat, with about as much subtlety as an after-school special public service announcement. He's not too concerned with what you think about it, either — love 'em or hate 'em, there's no denying that CLAWFINGER are honest to a fault, and confident in their own idiosyncrasies to an intense degree.

CLAWFINGER has a somewhat dated sound going on, whether writing a song that would fit onto a mid-'90s ANTHRAX platter ("Hypocrite"),aping "King For a Day"-era FAITH NO MORE ("What We've Got Is What You're Getting"),or following the rap-metal sound that they started out with so long ago ("Sick of Myself"). There's even a bit of speedy punk aggression on "Breakout" and "Hate Yourself With Style" that works very well with Tell's vocals.
As "Dirty Lies" shows, Tell isn't really rapping any more, opting more for a sardonic, quasi-melodic bark akin to HELMET's Page Hamilton (in cadence at least). His unique delivery is a double-edged sword for the band — on one hand, his forceful singing is instantly identifiable. But he can take on this strident, self-righteous tone that's irritating — only Tell could perform a love song, "The Best and the Worst", and make it sound like he's about to tell his paramour to fuck off.

Even at their most lyrically heavy-handed, you can't deny that these guys can write a chorus like no one's business. It's hard to picture a stadium singalong to the tune of "if a woman raped a man / would the verdict be the same?" Yet somehow CLAWFINGER turns it into one — they may not fit in any genre easily, but they do pay close attention to making their music accessible and relentlessly catchy.

In the end, it's hard to rate a band like CLAWFINGER. The uniqueness that they proudly wear on their sleeves, the admirable penchant for risk-taking that helps them stand out from a jillion cookie-cutter bands, is also what can make them sound a bit dorky and off-putting. Two things are certain — "Hate Yourself With Style" is CLAWFINGER at their best, and if you don't like it, they more than likely don't give a fuck. As the band says themselves: "like it, hate it, leave it, take it — what we've got is what you're getting." Worth checking out with an open mind.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).