Blast Worship: Lunk

Where they from? Lima, Ohio. Due to its location in a region known for its high steel output, the Lima Army Tank Plant was built in the city in May of 1941. The plant prepared many armored vehicles for the American army to be used in Europe including the M5 light tank and T-26 Pershing. Since the 1980s the Lima Tank Plant has been the sole producer of the M1 Abrams tank, utilized by the U.S. military in a number of different conflicts.

What do they sound like? The vocals are pure Mortician and the music is very well-executed Ohio mince-y goregrind.

Why the hype? Due to recent events in the metal scene, I’ve found myself debating the legitimacy of various “joke” and/or “concept” bands as they stand today. Personally, I fucking hate them and here’s why: for the past five years, I have occasionally woken up to see my inbox flooded with my friends, both normies and heshers alike, sending me the same fucking link to some shitty band from the midwest who decided the only way to get people to pay any attention to their otherwise unremarkable musical project is if they all dressed up as the same Simpsons character and paid some college student $800 to shoot a music video. Wow, great, congratulations. Who would have thought that marrying the overly-serious musical stylings of metal/hardcore with such an absurd concept would generate something so masterful. When my band wants attention, we just do it the old fashioned way: running into the crowd and breaking equipment.

But I can’t say ALL of these type of bands are bad. One of my favorite bands of all time is Graf Orlock, whose songs and lyrics all rotate around dialogue from ’90s action films, but it’s done in such a painstaking and yet subtle way that the concept doesn’t feel like an end to itself, but rather a vehicle for the group’s artistic expression. Which brings us to this week’s offering…

Latest release? Reek of Perspiration by Lunk. This is such a great example of a joke/concept band done well. Clearly, as the album art and song titles suggest, this band serves as a critique of modern workout culture but the beauty is that they don’t feel the need to shove this angle down your throat! If you just listen to the music on this EP, it just sounds like some really killer, slamming goregrind with some exceptional vocals. The concept is secondary, a vehicle for a band that actually knows what they’re doing.

Favorite Track? “Steroid Dealer.” Such a mosh-worthy intro, no wonder hardcore kids are getting into death metal nowadays!