If you’ve ever found yourself unable to sleep, deeply troubled by an almost primal need to comprehend the diverse sociopolitical ramifications of what would happen if a ruthless, semi-robotic and fully weaponized flamingo overlord was installed as the leader of a society of subservient worker flamingos, then seek immediate psychiatric help. Seriously, just leave and come back to this later. It can wait.
So, now your first prescription of nerve-calming anti-psychotics has taken effect, perhaps it’s time to explore this issue of pink-feathered tyranny in more depth. Welcome to Flamingo Overlord (Napalm Records), the ninth full length studio album by Scandinavian silly people, Trollfest. If this is your first time entering Trollfest’s mad little world then know it’s still not too late to save yourself. If you stop now, you can hopefully forget any of this ever actually happened. However, if you’ve been here before then it maybe time for stronger medication. And possibly shock therapy.
It’s not like you haven’t been warned. Just that one quick glance at the garish album art a few seconds ago will have already told you all you needed to know. Yes, British thrashers Acid Reign might have been the first metal band with a bright pink album cover (quite deliberately entitled Obnoxious) but even they fell short of including a large beaked wading bird that appears to be part Julius Caesar, part Vladimir Putin, and part Terminator armed with an M134 Minigun and giant metal fist.
A combination of traditional Norwegian music, metal, disco, and a distinctly German sense of humour make for quite the unique experience. Sort of like Electric Callboy in a drinking contest to the death with Korpiklaani, Flamingo Overlord tells the story of authoritarian flamingo Bob Venke and his rise to political power. Opening with the blastbeats meets pop music and bar room singalong (complete with dance moves, obviously) of opener ‘Dance Like a Pink Flamingo’, the band continue this conceptual fever dream with the alcohol fuelled ‘All Drinks on Me’, a fast paced polka with a country and western break, some yodelling and a refrain which sounds like Weird Al Yankovic taking the piss out of Ghost.
‘Flamongous’ features a bouncy riff like a fun Gojira, black metal vocals, computer game effects and a couple of surprisingly effective riffs and keyboard melodies. ‘Twenty Miles an Hour’ combines chunky riffs with jazz funk and rapping, and to be honest, at this point, that’s not even in the least bit surprising. Elsewhere, ‘The Flamingorilla’ lurches and staggers like a drunken pirate partying with a mad scientist while the spooky jauntiness of ‘Flamingo Libre’ and the summer holiday partying of ‘Piña Colada’ conga unsteadily behind. Evil Scarecrow meets System of a Down and Inspector Gadget on ‘Rule the Country’ and ‘The Way You Earn Your Drinks’, the madness concluding with the blastbeat polka of ‘Overlords Have Feelings’ and the screeching, nightmarish death metal saxophone murder of ‘Bob Venke’, both songs providing extensive exposition for the album’s overarching story.
A wilfully absurd but at times unnervingly accurate political satire, in less unhinged hands, Flamingo Overlord could have been an indecipherable, unlistenable disaster. However, Trollfest achieve peak insanity here, satisfying your craving for riffs and catchy hooks through extreme metal buffoonery while also leaving you confused as to what the actual fuck just happened inside your brain.
Buy the album here: https://linktr.ee/trollfest
8 / 10
GARY ALCOCK