Ghoul’s formula is deceptively simple on its surface: Thrash + monsters = fun. I mean, duh. For the uninitiated, Ghoul is the monstrous quartet of Digestor, Cremator, Fermentor, and Dissector. They hail from the totally real nation of Creepsylvania, an authoritarian state ruled with an iron fist by No. 1 Ghoul-hater Commandant Dobrunkum. They are definitely NOT humans with bands like Exhumed, Impaled, and Voetesek on their resumes; they probably don’t even know where Oakland is, being monsters and all. Their cartoonish live shows have kept them busy over the years as regular tourmates for like-minded maniacs like Municipal Waste and Gwar. But dig into their discography starting with their 2011 full-length Transmission Zero—in the Gimme store May 30—and you’ll find some seriously creative minds at work behind the filthy masks. If some Hollywood studio exec went nuts one day and decided to greenlight a Ghoul Cinematic Universe, there’s plenty of material to pull from, with the Ghoul quartet’s characters firmly established as idiot thrashers straight out of an ‘80s underground comic, and a growing cast of side characters like Baron Samedi and Dr. Zabor Zongo, M.D., Ph.D., D.V.M., D.M.V. And while Ghoul’s sound remains rooted in catchy retro-thrash with death metal vocals and punky energy, it’s around this time that they started tinkering with the formula, experimenting with other genres and supplementing releases with bonus material that brought listeners even deeper into Ghoul lore. These five releases show how creative and weird some morons from Creepsylvania can get.
“Kids in America” (2012)
Okay, outside of the avant-garde decision to release this single as a 7-inch flexi, one of the most annoying record formats known to man, this one isn’t all that weird. It’s Kim Wilde’s 1981 synthpop banger “Kids in America” played on distorted guitars, with Ghoul-ified lyrics (“Down below, the rats from the sewer go rushing by”) belched and rasped out death metal-style. The lyrical mutations, especially to the chorus, might veer far from Wilde’s original message, but it’s an endearingly earnest cover. You can tell these guys love this song and practiced a lot to get the vocal arrangements right because they’re fun. It’s a peek behind those masks, and not the last time Ghoul would play outside the thrash genre….
Intermediate Level Hard-Core (2013)
…but not too far outside, yet. Intermediate Level Hard-Core is Ghoul’s own $5.98 EP, an opportunity to pay tribute to the punk, hardcore, and crossover they loved. After an intro that sets up the EP as a “music primer” on “less widely known hardcore songs from the 1980s,” complete with read-along sound effects, the tracklist is a solid look at what’s rattling around Ghoul’s brains: jokey crossover thrash (Gwar, Fearless Iranians from Hell), and gleeful crassness (Willful Neglect’s “E.M.S. & D.,” a Dayglo Abortions classic rewritten as “Proud to Be a Creepsylvanian”) alongside a cover of N.O.T.A.’s “Propaganda Control.”
Hang Ten (2014)
Surf rock and thrash metal are kissing cousins. Anthrax acknowledged this way back in 1991 in the liner notes for their compilation Attack of the Killer B’s, which included their cover of “Pipeline,” originally by The Chantays and transformed into a surf standard by The Ventures. Hang Ten, Ghoul’s take on surf rock, is far from traditional. Big surprise, huh? There’s still plenty of thrash (check out “Kreeg”) and the guitars are set for death metal crunch instead of reverbed-out surf twang. The instrumental title track nails the balance of surf and thrash most precisely, and the spirit of Davie Allan and the Arrows’ biker movie scores hangs over the whole thing thanks to the plot, which has a bloodthirsty biker gang taking over Creepsylvania. Yes, a mostly instrumental EP has a plot. It takes six paragraphs on the Bandcamp page to explain, and Tony Foresta of Municipal Waste plays a supporting role.
Dungeon Bastards (2016)
When Razorback Records sent me a CD of Ghoul’s Splatterthrash to review in 2006, I never imagined the band would still be at it a decade later, let alone nearly 20 years. Jokey side projects usually have shelf lives. Yet in 2016, not only were they still at it, they had built up enough clout to make absurd ideas like a Ghoul board game. The gatefold LP of their fifth full-length Dungeon Bastards unfolds to reveal a violent take on Candyland in which “Least attractive player goes first.” This is a real-deal game with basic combat and health systems, stuffed with Ghoul lore and the band’s macabre sense of humor. The record is fine, but these guys actually made a fuckin’ BOARD GAME out of their joke thrash band. That’s wild.
Ill Bill / Ghoul (2018)
The least likely split of 2018, and probably most other years, saw Creepsylvania’s Most Wanted teaming up with rapper Ill Bill. Yes, Digestor is an avowed fan of Gravediggaz, Geto Boys, and Ill Bill’s brother Necro (I interviewed Digestor about this split for Decibel magazine), while Bill has legit thrash pedigree thanks to his band Injustice, which shared the L’Amour stage with heroes Obituary and Sepultura, and his former group Non-Phixion, whose logo was designed by Voivod drummer Away. For better or worse, we don’t hear Ghoul bust rhymes; their track "Splatterthrash 2: Thrash Damage" is as gory and goofily self-referential as a Troma sequel. For his side, Ill Bill offers up “Pentagram,” featuring Goretex (now known as Lord Goat) and lyrical shoutouts to Bobby Liebling, Anton LaVey and Ozzy.
GET TRANSMISSION ZERO ON SPLATTER VINYL HERE!