Pigs of the Roman Empire

Melvins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ipecac Recordings
• ASIN: B0002KV386
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,063 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. III

2. The Bloated Pope

3. Toadi Acceleratio

4. Pigs of the Roman Empire

5. Pink Bat

6. Zzzz Best

7. Safety Third

8. Idolatrous Apostate

9. Untitled (hidden track)

Editorial Reviews

PIGS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, the Melvins umpteenth & newest release. Remember, anything worth having is worth suffering for, so why risk it?! For PIGS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE the Melvins joined forces with creative electronic genius, LUST MORD, who is known to the world for collaborating with Throbbing Gristle & as a member of monstrous noise pioneers, SPK. Shockingly, even the Melvins & Lustmord were blown away by the dizzying array of overabundant originality this dynamic pairing created!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hits you in Strange Places, May 7, 2006

By 

Disco Dan "duprie37" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pigs of the Roman Empire (Audio CD)

I'm not a big fan of collaborations in general and some of Lustmord's previous collaborations have been rather disappointing. But this is fascinating stuff.

For some reason, even though I'm no stranger to alternative guitar rock at all, the Melvins have completely and utterly passed me by. I'd never heard of them before til now. I'm not sure why that is - just one of those quirks of nature I guess.

Lustmord, however, I have been following since Paradise Disowned (87) and Heresy (90) came out, and have been a big, big fan of his voluminous, cavernous soundscapes ever since. Nonetheless, not being a fan of collaborations generally, I didn't rush out to buy this album when it came out. For one thing, what research I did do on the Melvins didn't make it seem like the outcome would be that promising...

Now that I have acquired it, I find myself putting it on rotation over and over though. What's the attraction? It's actually much easier to pick the album's faults than articulate why notwithstanding I like it so very much.

The album is often unfocussed, in places (especially in the title track) downright messy, sounding more like an unhypothesized experiment, or a competition to see who can make the most noise than a well researched project. In others, such as between "III" and "The Bloated Pope" it comes across as more of a "vs." project - with no evidence of collaboration at all. The first track ("III") is obviously wholly by Lustmord and gives way to the second ("The Bloated Pope"), obviously wholly by the Melvins.

But as I keep listening, the idea of the Melvins and Lustmord seems more and more like a really good idea. Towards halfway through, Lustmord's threatening drones blend in more and more comfortably with the Melvins' guitar work.

By track 8 ("Idolatrous Apostate"), the coalescence of two distinct musical forms becomes downright...well...I didn't think music could ever sound so dark but bizarrely appealing at the same time.

There's something 'otherworldishly' and frighteningly romanesque about this penultimate track, with its menacing guitar licks and demoniacal vocal grating that disintegrates into pure satanic distortion, and it's almost like it represents the culmination of the creative effort, as if the album tracks a diachronic movement. Rather like watching "The Exorcist", it's strangely compelling.

In any case, I highly recommend this to anyone who wants something really....well, original is the perfect word here.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the real HAT, January 2, 2005

By 

Heath Hanlin (North Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pigs of the Roman Empire (Audio CD)

Funny that their last record was called hostile ambient takeover, this one is a total hostile ambient takeover. I can't think of any band ever, that has this much steam after 20 years. The Melvins continue to surpass and have still never repeated themselves.

The merging of rock-like and electronica-like forms seems totally natural here; a truly great match-up. If you're looking for something you've never heard before, pick this up now.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ominous..., November 22, 2005

By 

Sunshine Greeny (The Wonderful World of Colonized Minds) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pigs of the Roman Empire (Audio CD)

...as per usual. I haven't heard Melvins come up with such odd and sinister soundscapes since "Honky." Quite otherworldly, yet catchy at times ...in that Melvins way. The spacious mood pieces are especially good, and, aside from funky mid-paced "The Bloated Pope," surpass the more up-tempo, mechanical feeling jams. The only thing lacking here was a track where they overwhelm with one of their insanely slow and heavy brontosaurian trademark riffs. I was thinking the title track was going to eventually lean in that direction, but no such luck. Still, if you like that unique Melvins {and Lustmord} strangeness, this one won't disappoint. Sometimes, late at night, I enjoy putting on a movie, be it artsy/indie, or mainstream - often to more comical results - turn the TV volume down, and plug something like this in as a surrogate soundtrack. Nifty.