MR. BUNGLE The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

 

Released by Ipecac Recordings on October 30th, 2020

Quick Background

Mr. Bungle is an American band from Northern California, United States. Having gone through many incarnations throughout their career, the band is best known for their experimental rock period. On August 13, 2019, it was announced Mr. Bungle would reunite as a thrash metal band for a series of shows in February 2020, which saw them performing their 1986 demo album The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny with Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. The following month, it was announced that the band had returned to the studio to re-record the demo as a professional album. Although Mr. Bungle went through several line-up changes, the longest-serving members vocalist Mike Patton, guitarist Trey Spruance, bassist Trevor Dunn complete the line-up for this album.

The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo

After the moody/horror film/slayer-ish 3-minute intro "Grizzly Adams" we dive into the thrash extravaganza with the short "Anarchy Up Your Anus" which is a very Anthrax-like track with more hardcore vocals, very Paul Baloff-like (Exodus) . And that's pretty much the sample for the full hour of thrash metal lesson that's delivered by those metal veterans playing what they wrote as kids. "Raping Your Mind" is my favorite song of the album. The riffs and the drumming on this song are just great. I also love how they combine groove with insanely fast paced tempo, "Bungle Grind" being just one example. I also like how the album sounds. It's modern but with a thrash 80's vibe on the guitar tones. The bass sounds great always there blistering on the background. 

There are no real bad songs in here and there's quite some variability and dynamics. Some short songs and we also have two long tracks over the 7 minute mark: "Methematics" and the closer "Sudden Death". There are several tempo changes throughout the album. Mike Patton singing is very unique and great from start to finish.

The Picky Guy

The only thing I can say is that the album is a bit too long. Or some songs drag on just a bit like "Spreading the Thighs of Death" or "Loss for Words". 

Wrap Up Opinion 

The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo is one of the best thrash albums of the year and a fantastic listening experience. It's a very good album deserving a solid 85 out of 100.

SCORE: 85/100

Genre: Thrash Metal

Released by Ipecac Recordings on October 30th, 2020

Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
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