Dog Fashion Disco are an enigma on the music scene, putting together things that just wouldn't seem to fit and making them into a hardcore revolution fit for the masses.

They take metal, toss in some eccentric lyrics, then share a good helping of keyboards ala Faith No More's "Angel Dust" album. The result is a killer recipe and an album that never spends much time outside my CD player, despite my 400+ collection.

The album starts with the band's single, "Leper Friend," which isn't heard very widely on the radio, though I have heard it once in promotion for DFD's coming to town for a live performance. It's a terrific introduction to the album with great keyboards, heavy guitars, angst-filled rhythms, cool lyrics, and a powerful shift back and forth from hard rock to full-on metal.

Most of the album's entirety perpetuates this cycle, and entertains the listener with lyrics like "Velcro wh@res fill the streets, infecting everyone they meet, the hourglass is karma's curse" ("Leper Friend") and "I must be in limbo 'cause Purgatory's always felt just like home, and as the world spins round and round we fornicate upon the cotton clouds that rain down sulfur smiles on the children at play in the poppy fields, sinking for what seems like forever, like Atlantis into the sea" ("The Mushroom Cult").

The album has a lot of star tracks, like "Leper Friend," "Antiquity's Small Rewards," the best track of all "Headless," and the absolutely odd "Vertigo Motel," which begins with pianos, then succumbs to metal, then to computer-altered vocals and whimsy keyboards, then back to metal again.

Frankly, this album should be recommended to any fan of heavy music, and specifically to folks who enjoy bands like System of a Down, Faith No More, and possibly Marilyn Manson (though Dog Fashion Disco are definitely in it for more than just show, which I can't say for M.M.).

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving