A lot has happened in the past two decades to all but eradicate grunge music, which is why it’s so incredible that the Melvins are still alive, kicking and making some surprisingly interesting strides towards reminding us what’s so awesome about the dwindling genre. Though The Bride Screamed Murder probably won’t win over many new listeners, its tight arrangements, fantastic instrumentation and overall fluidity are more than enough to appeal to the band’s many hardcore fans, some of whom have been worshipping the band since the early 80s, through their major label period and all the way up to their much more appropriate, and way cooler, position at Mike Patton’s Ipecac Records.

Remarkably though, The Bride Screamed Murder is, in its first two tracks, quite unremarkable . “The Water Glass” and “Evil War God” with their bellowing back-and-forth chants, loose drumming and lightning-fast riffs, aspire to achieve a raw, heavy sound. Somehow, though, the effort falls short and the songs end up sounding flat and unmemorable.

Despite this slow start, however, the band more than makes up for it with the tracks that follow, each of which showcases a different aspect of the band’s unique carefree strangeness. “Pig House” fantastically incorporates cartoony bits into a heavy, and positively impressive, showcase of technicality that comes with having two seasoned and talented drummers in one band. In “Pig House” and all of the others that follow, the two beats mesh perfectly with Buzz Osbourne’s equally commanding riffs, creating interesting arrangements that are powerful without being too overbearing. It should also be noted that the last part of “Pig House,” with its bells and chants, sounds a hell of a lot like something off Tomahawk’s Anonymous—never a bad thing.

“I’ll Finish You Off” and “Electric Flower” continue to follow the groove of electric chemistry that forms when a band has been together for decades, and with the others that come after lead the album straight towards a triumphant end. Tickly piano keys and squeaky balloon sounds in “Hospital Up” turn a potentially depressing song into something much weirder, while “Inhumanity and Death” is gloriously twitchy, using distortions and fade-outs that sound like they were channeled straight from outer space into the twisted threads of Buzz Osboune’s immense bushel of graying hair. Osbourne has surely gotten better with age, refining his playing to the point that it sounds naturally spastic and delightfully frenzied every time he comes charging in to join his bandmates on their own crazed tangents.

“My Generation” is a surprisingly clever choice for a cover; it reclaims some of the original’s brash tone, while the album’s final track, “P.G. x 3,” is nothing short of haunting; the member’s voices ring together in such a resounding way that you feel as though you’re at grunge music’s tired and filthy funeral where, aside from a lisping child, you’re the only one present. If lyrics like “I wish I was/in some lonesome valley/ where womankind/ could not be found” don’t give you shivers, listen a little bit further to the point where they sing of little birds singing on every branch, “and every moment/ a different sound.” In short, it’s utterly haunting, unlike anything else that’s come before it, and worth every second of its six-plus minutes.

Whether you’re an old devoted fan of the Melvins or you’re just trying to get familiar with the history and development of grunge over the past twenty years, The Bride Screamed Murder has a lot to offer in the way of instrumental talent and innovation. Most importantly, though, they do what they do so naturally that it becomes obvious they really don’t care about their image or reputation or whether or not their new release will appeal to any particular kind of audience. Perhaps that’s why, unlike many other bands that have been kicking around for a stale decade or two too long, they’re still really, really good.

Track List:
1. The Water Glass
2. Evil New War God
3. Pig House
4. I’ll Finish You Off
5. Electric Flower
6. Hospital Up
7. Inhumanity And Death
8. My Generation
9. P.G. x 3