Powerman 5000
digs into the one of the more promising but apparently forgotten musical hybrid genres of the '90s -- the marriage of
heavy metal
, spastic
funk
, and hard, heavy
rap
. Like other music of this type (such as, in very different ways,
Biohazard
,
Anthrax
-- who once recorded with
Public Enemy
-- and
Primus
),
Mega!! Kung Fu Radio
is hard to explain and to describe. Essentially a turbo recharge of
PM5K
's 1995 full-length release,
The Blood Splat Rating System
(which merely won Best Metal Album, Best Rap Album, and Album of the Year in a reader's poll in their hometown of Boston), remixed and remastered and with two new songs,
isn't a true
rock & roll
album, but it rocks hard. It isn't exactly a
album, either, though lead singer
Spider
doesn't sing one single lyric, instead barking out the lyrics in a hard staccato delivery. Using the hallmarks of
hard rock
and
styles,
creates a new, huge, violent sound, blurs of motion, and high-impact collisions in titles such as
"20 Miles to Texas, 25 to Hell"
"A Swim with the Sharks."
~ Chris Slawecki