Guts of a Virgin

Last updated

Guts of a Virgin
Guts of a Virgin.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 1991
RecordedApril 1991 at Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Genre Jazzcore, grindcore, avant-garde metal
Length24:15
Label Toy's Factory
Earache [1]
Producer John Zorn
Painkiller chronology
Guts of a Virgin
(1991)
Buried Secrets
(1992)
John Zorn chronology
Filmworks 1986-1990
(1991)
Guts of a Virgin
(1991)
More News for Lulu
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 5/10 [4]

Guts of a Virgin is the first album by American band Painkiller, a band featuring John Zorn, Bill Laswell and Mick Harris. [5] [6] It contains twelve tracks and was released in 1991 on Toy's Factory in Japan and Earache Records in England.

Contents

Harris later recalled the album was recorded during a three-hour session in New York City, and all the songs were entirely improvised and composed in the studio. This recording session also led to Harris's departure from Napalm Death, as working with Zorn and Laswell made him realize he wanted to explore different genres of music. [7]

Artwork

The first shipment of the album's cover art, which features a woman with her insides exposed, was censored, seized, and destroyed in the UK for violating the Obscene Publications Act. [8]

Critical reception

The Quietus called the album "intense but still something you could call 'rock.'" [9] Trouser Press called it an "exposition of versatile thrash jazz," writing that "each instrument occupies its own sonic terrain, combining in a sprawl of unanticipated death metal." [10]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Scud Attack"3:07
2."Deadly Obstacle Collage"0:21
3."Damage to the Mask"2:43
4."Guts of a Virgin"1:19
5."Handjob"0:10
6."Portent"4:00
7."Hostage"2:24
8."Lathe of God"0:56
9."Dr. Phibes"3:00
10."Purgatory of Fiery Vulvas"0:26
11."Warhead"1:12
12."Devil's Eye"4:37

Personnel

Production

Publishing

References

  1. Shteamer, Hank (June 22, 2020). "'He Made the World Bigger': Inside John Zorn's Jazz-Metal Multiverse". Rolling Stone.
  2. AllMusic album entry accessed July 22, 2011
  3. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 877.
  4. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 450.
  5. Jenkins, Todd S. (December 7, 2004). Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   9780313333149 via Google Books.
  6. Hoffmann, Frank (November 12, 2004). Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. Routledge. ISBN   9781135949501 via Google Books.
  7. https://thequietus.com/interviews/mick-harris-interview-scorn-napalm-death/
  8. Potts, K. Sacred Dub: the music and projects of Bill Laswell website accessed July 16, 2008.
  9. "The Quietus | Reviews | Painkiller". The Quietus.
  10. "Painkiller". Trouser Press. Retrieved December 7, 2020.