OF THE LAST HUMAN BEING

To describe Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is to take the scene of Rock In Opposition, and convert it into Metal In Opposition, or MIO, if you will. Much like Kayo Dot, maudlin of the Well, and Hoplites, SGM is one of those big shots of avant-garde metal that I have fallen in love with in recent memory. Very weird, and surreal music that feels as though I am metamorphosing into a creature after I listen to one of their albums. Their recording outputs happened quite a bit in the 21st century, at least within their first three records. After In Glorious Times, though, they would slow down almost to a halt due to the work on their fourth album being a lot more complex than anticipated. However, nearly 20 years of writing, recording, and ideas allowed the band to craft their delicate avant- garde offering in 2024, that being of the Last Human Being.

To say this was a welcomed surprise is quite a fair judgment. The group, after a long time, have evolved their musical offerings in new ways that make this feel of a rather unique way, even for SGM's sake.

I don't usually talk about the negatives first, though, for the sake of this review I feel as though I must bring up that this record feels considerably less harder than their last three. Not that they necessarily went pop, or went soft, as this is still pretty heavy hitting, especially on tracks like Salamander in Two Worlds, El Evil, and The Gift, but they certainly have become less focused on making very heavy avant garde metal tracks, and more on composition. I won't say this is the most horrible thing the band has done in regards to their music, as what they've put here is still very excellent, but I do kind of wish for more metal ideals that made me fall in love with the band's sound.

However, SGM does find ways in making a strong album of their own accord without relying on metal. For example, I heavily enjoy that they got a lot more bizarre with their direction. The band has always been quite abstract, but here they certainly are taking more of an effort with their MIO sound, with noises and ideas that feel much more akin to Art Zoyd than their previous--more Samla Mammas Manna or Henry Cow-like ideals. This allows for probably one of their most creative sound directions to boot, to where, even if I may miss their more heavy stuff, they know how to make me still find something to love for their freakish workouts.

I also dig how they seem to be a lot more conceptual here. They are a concept band, being music based around this weird mythos of a freakish museum, the apocalypse, and dadaism, but they focused a bit more on the music and less on the concepts themselves. Here, they explore what it means to be the last human in a world of monsters, extinction, philosophy, post-mortem, and what it means to live. They capture a very dreadful, but oddly heart warming atmosphere with these tracks, and the less harsher vocals allows for these songs to be a bit more accessible to those who desire to see more of SGM's story sides. I heavily enjoy this direction the band took here, and I would honestly love it if they explore more conceptual projects further. Who knows, maybe they might go in a Devil Doll direction and have one of their albums (maybe their last one) be a full on rock opera, kind of like Dies Irae. I think that would be very fun.

There are also no truly bad tracks here (aside from maybe Fanfare for the Last Human Being and Bells for Kith and Kin). That is to be kind of expected from SGM, though, but even then they show that they are master musicians in their effort of crafting these highly invigorating musicals. My favorite song here has to be either El Evil, SPQR, or Old Grey Heron, and I honestly cannot choose as they are all very fantastic. El Evil has this scary energy that feels like a Disney villain song, but a lot more evil than anything Scar or Ursula can muster up. SPQR is a very fun track, being very bouncy, and you know that I love my groovy jams here and there. And Old Grey Heron is very soft, and delicate, but still has that inherent creepiness that SGM excels in, to a certainly masterful degree. Truly impressive stuff.

Whilst I may miss what the band were doing before with their sound, this more softer, yet abstract direction the band takes is still excellent. Even in new spotlights, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum manage to still be one of the most unique metal bands, and I certainly say their entire discography, especially now, deserves attention from anyone who may be daring enough to dive into the more freakish metal projects out there.

Best tracks: El Evil, SPQR, Old Grey Heron

Worst tracks: Fanfare for the Last Human Being, Bells for Kith and Kin