In order to get to what you are currently reading you’ll likely have noticed the banner for Ave Noctum, declaring as it does its dedication to “Extreme and Atmospheric” music. Well, Dee Calhoun, or ‘Screaming Mad Dee’ if you will, is a man who fits perfectly into that realm. Front man for lamented legendary Doom band Iron Man, he now lends his hurricane powered vocal chords to Spiral Grave, as well as his own brand of dark Americana, all when not authoring a number of horror books. Yes, his body of work fits firmly into the mission statement of Ave Noctum. So, what is this latest voyage into the dark underbelly of the world? That’s right, an acoustic comedy EP, that’s what.

‘From Under The Smogberry Tree’ starts with ‘Taylor’s On The NFL Today’, a lament to salve the egos of those MAGA hat wearing men who had their totally heterosexual enjoyment of watching large muscular men in uniform wrestle over an inflated pig skin ruined by the presence at some of the games by a successful pop singer, and well done to Mr Dee for realising how much protection these poor folks need and coming to their rescue. Next up is the gently strummed profanity free ‘Bumping Uglies’, a soothing and silly song that in an alternative universe could have been sung by Kermit The Frog addressing the tabloid press about rumours around himself and Miss Piggy. I suspect, however, given the satirical nature of the EP and artist it is likely aimed at some of the faux morality of the US right, a diaspora of bizarre opinions that feign shock at the idea of seeing a nipple whilst demanding the right to own military grade weapons.

After this gentle idyll things get both profane and blasphemous, something that will doubtless please the true metal warriors who haunt this site, as in ‘Off Is The Direction…’ spits invective at those door to door shills of magic and superstition that feel the need to impose their opinions on you at home. Don’t worry though, it’s not all serious, ‘(She) Learned It From Watching A Porn’ travelling the road well-trodden by the likes of Kevin “Bloody” Wilson with some good old fashioned nudge, nudge, wink, wink smut, before again launching arrows in the direction of Fox News devotees with the dark country tale of ‘The Legend of Woke Dolly’, spearing the reactions of the reactionaries who were so taken aback by the idea of country legend Dolly Parton suggesting it’s nice to be nice and just take people as they are; what a strange and radical idea, eh? Closing the proceedings is the title track ‘From Under The Smogberry Tree’ a tree under which legendary DJ and promoter of novelty music Dr Demento can be found, doubtless inspiring this foray away from the heavy by Mr Calhoun.

‘From Under The Smogberry Tree’ is definitely not on the surface the normal fare of the Ave Noctum consumer, but damn it is good fun, as well as shining a sardonic light at some of the murkier aspects of media obsessions, something that a long tradition of musicians such as Tom Lehrer, The Bonzos, Weird Al, and Rich Hall have been doing for many years. In that way it is indeed more “Extreme And Atmospheric” than the vast majority of what gets played by the mainstream entertainment media, so get to any of the streaming services it appears on, or maybe even splash some cash downloading it; you won’t be disappointed.

(8.5/10 Spenny)

https://www.facebook.com/screamingmaddee

https://screamingmaddee.bandcamp.com/track/under-the-smogberry-trees