THE CUMSHOTS, yes that infamous band that allowed two people to fornicate while they played live at a festival back in 2004. Who are THE CUMSHOTS really though? So they are from the land of black metal otherwise known as Oslo, Norway. Thinking they were more punk than death’n’roll as they like to call their music. I had to see for myself with A Life Less Necessary. Surviving since 2001, this is their fourth full length release, not to mention various splits and a dvd.

What Bleeds Must Be Butchered gets things going, and to my surprise the song has quite a hook. The opening riff reels you in and then you are caught up, as the bridge comes in and goes soft you may get a little confused. Vocalist Max Cargo strains his vocals to the limits with his raspy yelling which suddenly gives way to clean vocals and then back to the throat ripping yells. Luckily the lyrics are incredibly negative otherwise this would turn into one cheesy song. Song three I still drink alone has an all too melancholic feeling. Starting out fierce with fast guitars and blast beats and once again going soft and pretty in the middle, it’s almost like 2 different bands merging in one song. Weird indeed. Would I like THE CUMSHOTS more if they didn’t throw in these soft and confusing parts to their songs… probably. Even having a soulful guest female vocalist on And The Sun Pissed Red. Half the time they sound a bit like Entombed when they went death n’ roll. The other half of the time they sound like Gothic pop. With the clean singing and light hearted momentary relapse in each of the songs it’s hard to put your finger on who actually sounds like this. I really can’t say. This is what actually defines THE CUMSHOTS sound. Though it is highly mixed up, it is truly unique. The songs are rather long and contain many changes and musical turns. A Life Less Necessary is an exercise in diversity and surely it doesn’t suck as bad as Morbid Angel’s new album. THE CUMSHOTS are not for everyone, but if you are into strange and different and not afraid to have genres of metal and pop/rock mixed together then you may be able to handle A Life Less Necessary.