Melvins - A Walk with Love and Death: a mixed bag of two halves

They have a prolific back-catalogue to prop up their legacy as influencers and trendsetters of the rock, punk and metal scenes, but until now Melvins had never ventured into double-album territory.

Their 25th album, literally, one of two halves. Death is an exploration of experimental time signatures, raw, unrelenting squalls of guitar (as heard on Euthanasia and Sober-dellic) and an intriguingly stealthy sense of gloom throughout. Love, on the other hand, is an almost unlistenable soundtrack to a short film that shares its title with this album, a pretentious tangle of half-baked riffs and unfinished sketches.

Just when you feel that Melvins have kept you on your toes, the deflating flipside punctures any sense of momentum and atmosphere. Ultimately, it does the Washington rock stalwarts a disservice.

[ melvins.com ]