The Metal Files

I’m pretty sure it was spring or fall of 1991 (92 maybe?) when I went to JMU to visit with Kelz for a weekend. While there we drank…a lot. No, really. A LOT. We hit the local watering hole called JM’s and went thru about 5 or 6 pitchers of beer all while trying to play the video bowling game. I swear I think we got better the drunker we got. I just remember hitting a few parties that night and drinking more. I remember listening to some Dwight Yoakim on vinyl at some dude’s apartment. I went blind that night, that is until Kelz said “dude, open your eyes.” Oh, well…that was why I couldn’t see. Thanks!

The next day we went record store hopping which I believe consisted of 2 record stores and a few pawn shops. Harrisonburg, VA is not a big town. One of the things he played for me while I was there was was this odd sounding industrial song called “Fin” by Feotus Interruptus which featured clips from Overkill’s debut LP Feel The Fire…you know, the “kill kill kill kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllll” part. Of course you know.

He let me hear a few other songs from that album “Thaw” and I believe made me a cassette dub of “Nail” for the long ride home. I was hooked. Totally not my style of music but this guy’s arrangements and lyrics we pretty cool. He was totally vile, raw, irreverent and everything he needed to be.

See, Foetus is really just one guy…Jim (JG) Thirwell, Clint Ruin, Foetus. He does his albums himself and has a live touring band. All Foetus albums are four letter word titles…Deaf, Ache, Rife, Hole, Thaw, Nail, Sink, Gash, Null, Void, Boil, Love, Flow, Blow…you get the picture.

The week after I got married in June of ’95, Kelz called and told me that Feotus was playing in DC @ the old 930 Club. The wife indulged me and gave me the go ahead to go. I think she went to her mom’s that weekend anyway. That was great fun. We got chased by a gimpy bum, ate great chinese food, saw Foetus and just had a good time.

The Foetus stuff was pretty much trash from the time Gash came out until now. Once he got signed to Sony and started doing work for MTV, my interest in his music waned. Lots of his side projects were pretty cool, mainly Wiseblood and Steroid Maximus.

You can check out his newer stuff here. More info at Foetus.org.