review by: Jason Thornberry

On Plague Soundscapes The Locust successfully mix Swedish, Greek, Arabic, Pig Latin and Chinese, which is to say they obtain elements of different styles and take tiny, blurred snapshots of each one crashing into itself. “Japanoisy thrash/ punk grindcore carnival disco” is the section this would be filed under, with the Minutemen, and John Zorn’s Naked City the only tiny comparisons.

Imagine a large car accident happening inside Disneyland just prior to a 747 landing on the Haunted House there. The security guards are frantic, so they all begin to pummel one another while speaking in tongues, as bloodied, half-burnt old men play keyboards and masturbate with their free hands. It all becomes a noxious, charred circle jerk, but out come songs like “The Half-Eaten Sausage Would Like to See You in His Office,” as well as nearly two dozen other gems your pastor would love to hear. Twenty-one minutes later it’s over, and the only trouble with Plague... was how difficult it was to stop listening to it. (9/10)