Melvins 1983 ‘Thunderball’ Review: Buzz Osborne reunites with original drummer on a heavy, weird, short-but-sweet album.
The Melvins have always thrived on reinvention. Whether pioneering sludge metal and grunge, dabbling in noise rock, or leaning into experimental absurdity, they’ve never been content to stay in one sonic lane. Their new release, Thunderball (April 18, Ipecac), is no exception: short (the runtime is just over 30 minutes), strange, and heavy in all the right places.
Following last year’s Tarantula Heart (featuring the current lineup of Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, and Steve McDonald), Thunderball arrives under the Melvins 1983 banner, a throwback variant featuring original drummer Mike Dillard. Osborne is joined by noise artists Void Mane and Ni MaÎtres. The result is a five-track effort that feels like a celebration of the band’s DNA, from its origins to the present day.
“King of Rome” opens the set with a reliable Melvins chug, with bulldozer riffs and jackhammer drums creating a hypnotic, ominous churn. It’s classic armor-plated Melvins metal, thick and unapologetically heavy.
“Vomit of Clarity” veers into eerie ambient territory, evoking the anxious textures of an experimental horror film soundtrack, all uneasy drones, lurking tones, and a creeping sense of menace.
“Short Hair with a Wig” is an epic that continues the ambient thread before dropping into sludgy riff furor. Cavernous drums and analog synth squiggles swirl around Osborne’s surrealist cut-and-paste lyrics: “Rip your hair and raise your fist/choose your wishes wisely/The mythical me.” It’s goth-sludge with a side of sci-fi noise, like if Black Sabbath jammed with Gary Numan. The fuzz-fueled outro sounds like a rocket unfurling into the stratosphere, ready to explode.
“Victory of the Pyramids” might be the biggest surprise, a glam-tinged anthem with intertwining sonic textures that recall early Roxy Music filtered through a doomy lens. The track veers from bluesy punk-metal to space-rock freakout, complete with a Middle Eastern-tinged solo and textured electronics.
Closer “Venus Blood” skulks along with a sinister, misty, with disorienting, misty cymbals, scything guitars, and an ominous vibe that lingers like a vapor trail.
At just under 30 minutes, Thunderball is compact but bursting with ideas. It’s weird, it’s loud, it’s unmistakably Melvins, and who can ask for more than that?
“The Spring Break Tour”:
March 1 Bakersfield, CA The Nile Theater
March 2 Fresno, CA Strummer’s
March 3 Sacramento, CA Goldfield Trading Post
March 4 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst Atrium
March 5 San Luis Obispo, CA SLO Brew Rock
March 7 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s
“Savage Imperial Death March Part II” tour dates (co-headline with Napalm Death):
April 4 San Diego, CA Music Box
April 5 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
April 7 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
April 8 San Jose, CA The Ritz
April 10 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco
April 12 Las Vegas, NV Swan Dive
April 13 Phoenix, AZ The Van Buren
April 14 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
April 15 El Paso, TX Lowbrow Palace
April 17 Dallas, TX The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
April 18 Austin, TX Emo’s
April 19 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall – Downstairs
April 20 Baton Rouge, LA Chelsea’s Live
April 21 New Orleans, LA House of Blues New Orleans
April 23 Tampa, FL The Orpheum
April 24 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
April 25 Orlando, FL The Beacham
April 26 Savannah, GA District Live
April 27 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade – Heaven Stage
April 28 Birmingham, AL Saturn
April 29 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
May 1 Charlotte, NC The Underground – Charlotte
May 2 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
May 3 Virginia Beach, VA Elevation 27
May 4 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage
May 5 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
May 6 Allentown, PA Archer Music Hall
May 7 Brooklyn, NY Warsaw
May 8 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
May 10 Pittsburgh, PA Mr .Small’s
May 11 Cleveland, OH Globe Iron
May 12 Detroit, MI Saint Andrew’s Hall
May 13 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
May 15 Cincinnati, OH Bogart’s
May 16 Louisville, KY Mercury Ballroom
May 17 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
May 18 St. Louis, MO Red Flag
May 19 Chicago, IL Metro
May 20 Milwaukee, WI The Rave II
May 22 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
May 23 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
May 24 Kansas City, MO Madrid Theatre
May 25 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
May 27 Denver, CO Summit
May 29 Salt Lake City, UT Metro Music Hall
May 31 Bozeman, MT The ELM
June 1 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
June 2 Seattle, WA The Showbox
June 3 Portland, OR Revolution Hall
June 4 Eugene, OR McDonald Theatre
June 6 Reno, NV Virginia Street Brewhouse
June 7 Berkeley, CA Cornerstone Berkeley
