Published on Aug 7, 1999
One of the things that the heavy metal genre allows is for the
promotion (and sometimes abuse) of beliefs that you normally
wouldn’t hear in other forms of music. I highly doubt you’d hear
Ferrante & Teicher espousing the glory of Satan in their piano
music.
Yet metal seems to bring out every dingbat who wants to raise a
beef with (insert your religion here) and praise the devil and
violence. Some bands, like Slayer, have raised the music to an
artform – even if I don’t agree with the message, I can’t help but
appreciate the musical brilliance. Other bands, like Venom, take
the images whether they believe in them or not, and base a career
around them. (I’ve heard various stories regarding whether certain
bands were truly Satanic or not.)
And then there’s Goddess Of Desire. This group from the
Netherlands tries to live up to the demands of the genre, but their
efforts on their latest album,
Symbol Of Triumph, are laughable. (If you think the music’s
a hoot, you should read the description of their live show in their
bio – which I can’t find at the moment. Guess someone had to take
the place of G.G. Allin.) For the most part, these guys and two
gals are a poor man’s Gwar – and I thought Gwar did for metal what
the Jonestown kool-aid did for kid’s drinks.
Let me see if I have got their schtick down, just from the album
art. The four guys in the band – cripes, looking at their Web site,
they look like Ratt meeting Judas Priest in a dark alley – pound
away on their instruments, while three scantily-clad women prance
around in leather bikinis with metal studs for the T&A factor.
(Granted, this held my attention for a few seconds.) Green Jelly
did this before, but they were at least
intentionally funny.
As for the music – c’mon, I’ve heard scarier things in
conversations at flea markets. Once in a rare while,
Symbol Of Triumph does yield a semi-decent song, like
“Ride”. But for the most part, these guys invoke demons like they
were ordering from a Burger King menu, and they’re about as
convincing. Tracks like “Blasphemic Beasts Convoked,” “Whimps And
Bastards” and “Worship Me” are about as scary as a B-movie.
As for the Satanic theme, I personally don’t care who or what
Goddess Of Desire worship, they’re just not convincing. (They need
to listen to a group like Enthroned, who impressed me but also
scared the shit out of me.) If you need a cheap laugh, or you just
need to see grown men prancing around in fur and Max Factor, then
Symbol Of Triumph is your disc. If you’re looking for the
true darker side of metal, better keep on lookin’.
A short review, I know – but there’s only so many ways one can
say “this sucks” without getting repetitive.