As the Blood Runs Down My Face (1993)
While not their best, Blood hints at the potential for greatness of the fledgling ANkST & ANkHS. The title track, As the Blood Runs Down My Face (i reflect upon what we once had) boasts powerful guitar imagery, upbeat keyboards, and the wanton isolation of eustachia's siren's song, but at 28 minutes it eventually becomes repetitive and overdone. The only other stand-out piece on the album, Jackboot Tracheotomy, displays the violent bass cords for which Gunther Oszloo has become semi-famous. Though weak by ANkST standards, this album is still light-years ahead of the insipid drivel found in other so-called "alternative" albums. A must-have for true fans.
tracks:
1. As the Blood Runs Down My Face (i reflect upon what we once had)
2. Fuckwrench
3. Of Wolf and Man (cover)
4. why don't you love me, daddy?
5. Jackboot Tracheotomy
6. Not For Ever
7. O'Malley's Bar (cover)
8. Something I Can Never Have (cover)
9. Superman's Bitch
Softly (1994)
Many regard this as the definitive ANkST. eustachia is a good as ever. Snake's guitar playing is still powerful, yet no longer threatens to overwhelm eustachia's sensitive lyrics. Snake and Gunther have found each others' natural rythyms, and their guitars meld together into a seamless tapestry of rich, brutal noise. Fatima, no longer frightened of the wrath of an angry god, finally lets loose in a savage frenzy of sledgehammer-like percussion. For the first time, Rebecca's somewhat poppy keyboard melodies blend rather than clash with the overall sound of the band. New to this album is Deke Mulligan, whose lilting Celtic harp provides a haunting, poignant countebalance to the youthful rage of the other members. His solos bring a much needed intermission between the pulse-pounding outbursts that constitute the rest of the album. The only cut lacking is the trite and overworked Dark is the Beast, which is nothing more than a reworking of their first album's Fuckwrench.
tracks:
1. Softly
2. Anastasia's Garden
3. Dark is the Beast
4. Sanguine Rivulets
5. Stayin' Alive (cover)
6. Bitch 98.6
7. Linoleum
8. insipid motor paradigm
9.blue incognito
10. Master of None
11. Let me Be your Mindless Drone
12. Hitler was an artist
13. triskadecaphobia
Guts in the Alleyway (1995)
ah...Guts in the Alleyway. What can we say that hasn't been said before? Without the tethering presence of bassist Gunther Oszloo, the band lost focus. While each member seemed to find their own personal sound, the overall result is a jarring mishmash of wildly different styles. Temporary replacement bassist Mortimer "Post-Mortem" Post couldn't begin to fill the Asgardian boots of Gunther Oszloo. Though a competent player in his own right, Post never seemed to "get" what ANkST is all about. Most unfortunate from the perspective of most fans is the fact that lead singer eustachia is criminally underrepresented. Snake, Deke, Rebecca and Fatima all make their songwriting debuts on this album. The results range from the interesting to the mind-numbingly appalling. Rebecca's cover of Mickey in particular should be avoided. Buy this one only if you're a hardcore completist or a masochist.
disc 1 tracks:
1. Ass-kickin' Machine
2. You've Been Bit By The Snake, Bitch
3. Give Me Slow and Meaningful Head
4. Mickey (cover)
5. Celtic Cowboy
6. Kickboxing is for Butt Pirates
7. razorblade diaries
8. Pink Savage
disc 2 tracks:
1. Home on the Range (cover)
2. Don't Tread On Me
3. Bacon and Beer (The Ramadan Song)
4. I'm Just a Lonely Cowboy (And My Horse Is Lookin' Mighty Good)
5. You'll Go To Bed, Alright....In a Coffin
6. Honkey-Tonk ANkST
7. Will You Be My Fella?
8. Desolation In My Trousers
9. semper fi
10. Pillars of Injustice
11. As the Blood Runs Down My Face (i reflect upon what we once had) (extended live version)
I Hate the Mona Lisa (1997)
The return of Gunther Oszloo also marked a return to the sound that established ANkST & ANkHS as the band of the 90s. Throbbing with the soulful cynicism first achieved on Softly, Mona Lisa adds a new level of sophistication and maturity. The band endured many trials and tribulations in '96, and they learned that only through solidarity could they excel. And excel they do in this ear-throbbing, brooding exploration of the human soul. Gone are Snake's angry misogynistic rants and Deke's pathetic rustic cries for help. The ever-peppy Rebecca manages to bring her newfound sense of despair and disillusionment to the album in songs like I wish he hadn't dumped me (now I have to kill him). The ever-brilliant poetgoddess eustachia unveils her most profound lyrics since As the Blood Runs Down My Face (i reflect upon what we once had). Even she seems to have benefitted artistically from the disastrous experimentation of the last album. Fatima, having vented her anger in the previous album, now expands her reportoire to include bitterness, pain, and sorrow. But it is without a doubt Gunther Oszloo who brings the band home with his charismatic, full-bodied bass playing. The bass never sounded so good as it does in Mr. Oszloo's loving and experienced hands.Of particular note is the 12 minute long bass solo that bridges the songs Sucking Chest Wound and Don't Touch Me There. This is the album among albums, folks. If you don't like this one, you're a hopeless goober.
tracks:
1. I Hate the Mona Lisa
2. Sexmonkey! Sexmonkey!
3. Sucking Chest Wound
4. Don't Touch Me There
5. Bitch for a Day
6. Broken Hearts are for Assholes (cover)
7, I wish he hadn't dumped me (now I have to kill him)
8. i have no mouth but i must dance
9. clitbrick
10. Manchurian toaster
11. junkie dreams and stranger things
12. dark gods of ancient times
13. ontology
Giant Glowing Jesus(2010)ANkST & ANkHS's new concept album, Giant Glowing Jesus, based around the works of Jack T. Chick, is not as ridiculous as it sounds. Though the hidden track, a cover of Alice Cooper's "The Man Behind the Mask," is somewhat inexplicable, GGJ is no doubt the band's best work to date, exceeding even their last album, I Hate The Mona Lisa.
"These cats can SWING!"-Mark Rein*Hagen, co-producers of TV's Kindred: The Embraced
"Gunther Oszloo has never sounded better!"--The Death Cookie
"Once again eustacia shows us why she is the poetgoddess." --Goth Talk
tracks:
1. Hi There!
2. Love The Jewish People
3. Party Girl
4. Where's Rabbi Waxman?
5. The Death Cookie
6. Who Murdered Clarice?
7. Holy Joe
8. The Great Escape
9. A Demon's Nightmare
10. Doom Town
11. Last Rites
12. The Secret
13. This Was Your Life
(Hidden Track) The Man Behind The Mask(cover)