Content
Album opener "Body Shots" serves as an introduction to the style of the album. The song is barely one minute in length, compared to the duration of the majority of the songs on the album which are around four minutes long. The song contains singing by Donnelly that is largely scream-based, with guitar riffing taking influence from thrash metal. The track showcases guitarist Steve Bonnell's math rock-driven and largely melodic riffs that dominate the opening song. "Body Shots" has been described as a trailer for the rest of the album; the overall tone and energy of the song has been cited as a teaser for the rest of the album.
The next song, "Panic in the Year Zero", boasts a chorus that invokes the Iron Maiden song "Run to the Hills". The song has been called epic in nature, with guitar playing influenced by the playing of Omar Rodríguez-López. Donnelly's vocal performance has been compared to that of Bruce Dickinson on the song. The song waltzes over topics like the apocalypse and features Donnelly singing "say your prayers" in a multitude of ways. Steven Bishop of Hybrid Magazine views that "Year Zero" showcases some of the lighter themes of the album, summarizing:
"Believe me, there is nothing like a female singer who can step up and belt out the lines, yet has enough Sauvé Fair to finesse the lighter side of the material, and "Panic In The Year Zero" is a perfect example of that. If the vocals are the constancy, the guitar is the meat and potatoes, delivering resounding lines that drive the material and vary the intensity nicely; one moment giving meaningful power chords, the next moving with an asynchronous line. The bass uses space appropriately, developing astute lines that emphasize relationships to the drums here and the guitar there, always keeping it interesting."
"Serial Killers Know How to Party" is tongue-in-cheek and somewhat comical in nature, heavily influences by horror films. Donnelly shouts "your screams could raise the dead" over a fast-paced guitar riff. "Centaur: Half-Man Half-Motorcycle" is reinforced with a double-bass panal, a technique that allows the drumming to sound more clear. Both "Centaur: Half-Man Half-Motorcycle" and "Battlestar Anorexia" channel some of the thematic similarities as the act Betty Blowtorch. On "They Live", Donelly boasts the line “come with me, you pretty thing, and we’ll celebrate with amputations.” The song is named from the John Carpenter film, They Live. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" features a foreboding atmosphere, fueled by a progressive math-rock style of production, with some disco influences as well.
"Funeral Parlor Tricks" features widely different styles of production during its running time. "Nothing Cleanses Quite Like a Fire" and album closer "The Girl Who Was Born Without a Face" relay themes of pulp violence.
Read more about this topic: Fantastic Wounds
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