by Joe Gore.
Taken from Guitar Player, June 1991.
Is Primus ringing the death-knell of speedcore? On the band's West Coast home turf, at any rate, their thrash/funk/prog-rock stylings have geverated a fanatical folowing among suburban dudedom, metal's main power base. Small wonder- these avant-headbangers combine speed metal energy, funkoid groove, and art-rock quirkiness (imagine Mettalica, Rush, and the Chili Peppers liquified in a blender) Larry Lalondes devious guitar vocabulary encompasses everything from cleanly articulated lines to giant robot death rattles. But Primus' focal point is vocalist/bassist Les Claypool, a player of drop-dead virtuosity and stupefying originallity (and a seemingly inexhaustable source of groovy riffs). Besides stylistic innovation, manic performances, and weird-but-intelligent lyrics, Primus' third record boasts a cameo vocal by Tom Waits.