The MURDERDOLLS are not quite the sum of their parts. Despite having Joey Jordison (SLIPKNOT drummer) and Tripp Eisen (STATIC-X guitarist), the MURDERDOLLS are more of a throwback to 80s glam than a mondo nu-metal summit. But that’s not to say the MURDERDOLLS don’t rock. In fact, they do rock…mostly. While Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls appears to have been assembled with quantity before quality, the album still rocks hard with a vintage MÖTLEY CRÜE spirit, sounding something like a RAMONES-ified SKID ROW with the cheeseball horror of the MISFITS. Hey, even singer, Wednesday 13, scowls like good ol’ Sebastian Bach! What’s refreshing to know is that Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls doesn’t sound dated or cheesy (although the somewhat juvenile lyrics aren’t quite of CRADLE OF FILTH “sophistication”). The disc is peppered with just enough herky-jerky nu-metal riffing and tons of garage rock soloing that gives the MURDERDOLLS a fresh kick-ass edge. Despite the many pluses, Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls is unfortuantely hindered by surprisingly a weak production that sounds like a burn of mp3s encoded at crappy 96kbps. (Where’s Ross Robinson when you need him?!) The guitars lack beef and the drums are particularly flat and “clicky”. Perhaps next time around, Mister Jordison should stick to just one job…not four (guitars, bass, drums, and production). (Roadrunner)