Don your quirk shield and prepare yourself...

From legends told, if you venture into the West Wing of the mansion occupied by our very own reviews editor, pass the towering mountain range of CDs and wade waist deep through the cellophane wrappings from promos previously opened by his minions (otherwise known as the reviews team), you’ll discover our Lord and master’s fabled “ornaments”. To you and me they look like DVD box sets, but in this setting they are unopened objects to be admired from afar and so remind me exactly of ‘The Stench From The Swelling (A True Story)’, a collaboration between Parisians, 6:33 and Arno Strobl of Carnival In Coal. For what they have created is something to be admired, marvelled at and spoken of in hushed tones. However whether you are compelled to actually engage with it, well that’s not such a given!

Firstly you’ll need to don your quirk shield and prepare yourself for a band who like to wear Mexican Wrestler masks on stage (yes, that sort of quirk), before being hit headlong with everything from nerve-grating Scissor Sisters “Pop”, and Progressive Art-Rock, to Death Metal screams and jazzy funky groooooooove. Still with us? Well if so, you’ll be rewarded with some superbly arranged pieces that have been crafted to within an inch of your life and hooks so gloriously sharp you’ll need to have them surgically removed. However that doesn’t guarantee complete enjoyment, with the sheer barrage of ideas, shouts, growls, yelps and styles, and attacks and, well everything, becoming tiresome even for someone with reasonably eclectic taste.

Imagine Faith No More, Jackdaw4, Devin Townsend, Scissor Sisters, Biohazard, Dream Theater, The Living and Diablo Swing Orchestra all squeezed into the tightest space imaginable until they go pop into one gloopy, sticky mess and you’ll be some way to understanding what’s going on here. If that sounds enticing, you’ll LOVE this CD. If not, feel safe in the knowledge that ‘The Stench From The Swelling (A True Story)’ will make your friends and neighbours “oooh” and “ahh” when they come over to visit. Just don’t expect them to ask you to take this ornament down off the shelf...

Steven Reid