Flesheaters
A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die

THE REVIEW

True cult band of the early Californian punk, led by the enigmatic CHRIS DEJARDINS, better known as CHRIS D., producer for Slash and Ruby records, his productions include albums like "the days the wine and roses" by DREAM SYNDICATE, "gravity talks" by GREEN ON RED, "walk among us" by MISFITS, and also the debut of GUN CLUB, etc., etc. But let’s return to THE FLESHEATERS, active since 1977, the group essentially revolves around the figure of Dejardins and his twisted mind, the group's lyrics and music are among the filthiest of punk, the themes ranged from vampirism to murder to necrophilia, all naturally seasoned with a healthy passion for horror movies; incidentally, Dejardins was also a filmmaker.

After the debut "no questions asked" (1980), an album characterized by an almost hard-core punk, with 14 vibrant shots of filth and with Dejardins' voice almost annoying and titles like "cry baby killer", "dynamite hemorrhage", "impossible crime", it’s punk alright but you can already glimpse instruments like the sax, in short, a good punk record, 'A MINUTE TO PRAY A SECOND TO DIE' comes out in '81 and now it gets serious, first of all, Dejardins calls to himself the creme of Los Angeles punk: DAVE ALVIN (THE BLASTERS) on guitar, JOHN DOE (X) bass, STEVE BERLIN (LOS LOBOS) sax, DJ BONEBRAKE (GERMS, X) maracas, marimba, BILL BATEMAN (BLASTERS) drums, the result is a mature album, much less punk but still with great impact, country blues influences in the form of long jams played almost endlessly, the sax always prominent makes it all very voodoobilly, among the best episodes the 7 minutes of "divine horseman", sax and marimba play on endlessly repeated notes, "digging my grave" great piece, tempo changes and prominent sax perhaps the best episode of the entire FLESHEATERS career, "rivers of fever" is a beautifully rotten blues with Dejardins' raucous voice in the foreground, "satan stomp" a macabre rhythm and drugged sax, "see you in the boneyard" another masterpiece, only THE FLESHEATERS could make a piece like this, listen to believe.

After this album, they lost their way, the subsequent ones do not come close to the first two, worth mentioning is the '84 album under the name DIVINE HORSEMAN, almost entirely acoustic and with great ideas, recently "NO QUESTIONS ASKED" was re-released with the addition of B-sides and an EP from '78, a must-have absolutely.