Surfdog Records • Producers: Paul Leary, Adam Traub • Score 9/10
Though compared to Mr. Bungle, the characteristic that best links the Burning of Rome with Mike Patton’s cult outfit is a unique bizarreness that defies classification, not surprising considering Year of the Ox was co-produced by Butthole Surfers’ Paul Leary. More aptly, one could liken them to ‘60s psychedelic grunge squeezed through a madhouse prism that confuses Alice Cooper’s Grand Guignol and experimental metal with mental disorder. Or maybe they’re better described as musical existentialists turned gleeful nihilists during an LSD binge. – Andy Kaufmann
