My New Year’s Mellon Collie Countdown: #14: Bodies

Welcome back to the Mellon Collie Countdown, and what are all these bodies doing in my house? And why are they all conspicuously hitting the floor?

Bodies rips so fucking hard, man. It's a big angsty rocker and accomplishes its goal in fucking spades. So to see why, let's start with the intro, shall we?

Right off the bat, I love the feedback intro. It's such an immediate call to wake you up, and it's a grating noise done in the best way possible to not be obnoxious. And I like that it isn't just an immediate cut to the band, there's a noticeable change in the feedback sound for a beat before everyone gets going. I really like that decision, it feels like a more natural transition to the onslaught rather than just jumping right in.

But when it does jump in, godDAMN, is it groovy, and Jimmy's drumming has a lot to do with that. He has a ton of pocket and looseness in his playing that just make the song such a head bopper. And the moment where he stops then builds up tension with the toms is such a good one too. I just couldn't see any other drummer pulling this song off quite as well.

Another part of that groove is probably the main driving force of the song, that guitar. My god, those riffs are so tasty they could be a gourmet meal. It's unreal how riffs that consist of three chords each can be this effective. I've heard the song described as "Deftones before Deftones," and yeah, the tone, more simplistic playing style, and atmosphere really do sound like something that Stephen Carpenter would write later on. That nice little riff during the slow section is pretty cool too.

I also gotta mention the vocals here too. After the days of posting my thoughts on X.Y.U., some exposure and getting used to it, it honestly made me realize... maybe I treated you too harshly. And since I got used to the screaming vocals on that song, of course I was gonna love the screams on here even more. They're fucking awesome, and "BUT NOOOBOOOODYYY'S EVER KNEW, NOOOOBOOOODYYYYYY!!" is such a fun line to scream along too, speaking as someone who has shredded their throat trying to scream like Billy. The straight vocal melodies are all great too, they're all super catchy and delivered perfectly for the apocalyptic mood of the song.

Bodies doesn't hit me right in the feels, but goddamn it makes me get the fuck up and vibe. It's rough and angsty in the best way possible and I wouldn't have it any other way.