GAURITHOTH (Fin): “Huoravasara” 7″ Ep 2004 Fudgeworthy

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Gaurithoth - HuoravasaraFudgeworthy records from Massachusetts (label of Charlie Infection of Psycho and Gonkulator fame) released a couple black metal Eps in the past one of which being this grey marble colored 4 track by Finish band Gaurithoth. Considering the proclaims of playing extreme Satanic Latex Perverse Metal, I was expecting some fucking bomb lacerating the whole fucking house I live in. As already happened with its previous release Pest however, I admit this is really not up to my expectations. I haven’t heard the recent full length, but this demo material has two big flaws: too much melody and strident witchlike vocals. Personally I don’t even Like Grand Belial’s Key for their over excess of heavy metal harmonies, and this time the problem is similar. Mid tempo ballad-like riffs with a couple harmonic “cold” tremolo chords are not really my cup of tea when we talk about Black Metal. Some riffs are outright happy hunting choirs – brr, no thank you. The vocals are randomly scattered on the recording, with little or no punch at all, and well, they don’t even sound evil to me. The only thing I appreciate is that the recording is excellent (rough but not thin), ad the drums filthy and crude as they must be in this genre. Huoravasara contains the same tracks of their 2002 demo, plus one unreleased song cut just for the vinyl version. This stuff might appeal fans of all things called Black Metal from Finland. Since a few years however, I decided to be a little bit more selective.

DEVOURED FLESH REGURGITATION (Hol): “Bones, Flesh ‘n Partysnacks” Cd 2007 Grindhead

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Devoured Flesh Regurgitation - Bones Flesh and PartysnacksI was complaining right the other day about the seemigly complete lack of serious goregrind bands with a real fucking line up and not just drum machine and computer bases. Luckily Grindhead from Australia has come in aid, as this Devoured Flesh Regurgitation album is just that, a real grindgore record with real musician, that took over 4 years in the making. It just feels reassuring that it was ot made overnight like so many releases today.

I actually hate the shouted punk vocals on this album, a la “old English way of early grindcore”, not becouse they’re not deep or whatever, but they just sound a bit fake in the mix – so to say out of place. Seems like someone just took an album that was already complete and mixed, and added some barking with a walkman. In other words I really believe they’re totally superfluous, get rid of that shit. BUT! This band has a double vocal approach (just like old ENT) and the second one is our beloved more reassuring, traditional octaved gargle of early RGTE and old Malignant Tumour. Soundwise the inspirations are many, from crust to more traditional grindcore with a lot of blasts and the classick touch of punk induced groove plus a bit of the blur of early noise bands like Sore Throat.  I really like it when all the instruments converge to a point where all the fury is unleashed in a wall of sound crowned with froglike croaks. Luckily we have something sick to listen to this time and age. There is not that excess of R’n’R groove that is abounding too much lately into grid in my opinion, and that’s another good point. We’re a bit far from the impossible damp heaviness of Last Days of Humanity and early Squash Bowels, but we’reon the right way. To get and support! The band split up in 2006, too bad!

Neat work with the packaging this time, the label is improving release after release. I would have skipped the embossing on the fonts, tho.

PS: Actually the vocals were really recorded later than the instruments.

INHUME (Hol): “Chaos, Dissection, Order” Cd 2007 Osmose

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Inhume - Chaos DissectionAfter two years of delay, “Chaos, Dissection, Order” is finally out, third goddamned blasting piece of bulldozing goregrind from Holland. Actually usig the term goregrind in its common meaning is a bit restrictive. Inhume are extremely HEAVY, and surely grind as well, the guitars are loose and rocking although not in the classic Neuropathia way. There is more heaviness and no groove here, which in the ened I believe is for the better. The sound is accurately balanced,every element well cut in the mix and the guitar sound boulderish but not dirty. It’s like the heaviest you can go without a muddled sound. The drum stile is the same as in the killer “Decomposing from the Inside” but as it happened with “In For The Kill”, things have gotten even tighter here. There are just a couple of tempo variations in the middle of the album, but for the rest it’s ultra fast blasting all the time, with early Mick Harris like bursts but without all the socio-political bollocks of classic grind. Fully graphic gore lyrics and artwork, double guttural vocal assault, and a ultra-dense sound make this new Inhume hit another mallet strike right in the middle of the forehead of Jesus. Ah. There is not much digression here, everything is to the point without fucking frills. Inhume is still one of the leading Brutal Goregrind bands from Holland, bar none. I guess one has to be more into the second album than the first but hey, is this a fucking problem? If you manage to see them live, they’re also a great band on stage (not to mention there is a red haired girl with impossibly big tits always following them on tour, so that’s one extra point in my scale of values. Eheh.).  

News

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  • Grindfest production just released a cool 3″ Cd by bulldozer noisegoregrind masters Carnival of Carnage. The Cd comes with a 4 full color page booklet. Longsleeves are also available from Urethra rex. Price for the Cd is 4.50 euros plus shipping.

News

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  • Antaeus/Aosoth out now on Battlesk’rs productions. Includes some rare tracks from Antaeus including live shit.
  • Power It Up released a collection of old Haemorrhage singles (see review), also from the same label out soon a double Cd from Mesrine, 16 tracks with real lyrics (the band just barfed nonsense before this album) plus 21 tracks taken from a live performance at the “Giants of Grind” gig.
  • Abacinate/God Rot split Cd from New York ad New Jersey out now on Epitomite productions.

FURBOWL (Swe): “Those Shredded Dreams” Cd 1992 Step One

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Furbowl - Those Shredded DreamsThe almost unknown label Step One from Uppsala released in 1992 the first full-length of a very interesting band. Furbowl was born a few years after Joahn Axelsson left Carnage (he was on “The Day Man Lost”). Far from the grindcore sonorities of early Carnage, Liiva composed with Furbowl one of the most interesting and underrated albums of the entire old Swedish Death Metal movement. The guitar sound is the one we know: pure “Pieces”/”Left Hand Path” mush, down tuned , loose and obscure. Composition-wise, however, Furbowl never pointed much towards aggression alone (thanks god we had Grave for that!), even if some songs have actually a good number of killer riffs (“Sharkheaven” for one). The songs are really well thought, and apart from some attempts at trying to experiment beyond their abilities (the Typo’0’Negative vocals on “Razorblades” are definitely useless), you get here a real brilliant chunk of elaborate Swedish Death, with excellent hateful vocals, disturbing harmonies, and a dose of heavy R’n’R groove far beyond its time. It has to be noted that this band was made up of only two members – Liiva was doing all vocals, bass and guitar, while Max Thornell was responsible of percussions and a bunch of extremely well arranged keyboards. Sometimes the music becomes somewhat symphonic, but in a Pan-Thy-Monium / Master’s Hammer way, not mellow – the sick element is always present. Furbowl was a band able to blend an excellent selection of aggressive riffs, rocking and rolling grooves and the classical Swedish evocative melodies. I also liked the lyrics, introspective and choked with depression and anger. Michael Amott from Carcass was guest for two solos on this album, and was also the one who produced the Cd. Could be fun to know that the band changed name to Devourment, for a while…

MARDUK (Swe): “Dark Endless” Cd 1992 No Fashion

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Naming the band after a Babylonian god and talking about blasphemy of the Judeo/Christian religion might sound a bit weird, but after all that’s the Morbid Angel way. The first thing that kicks ass in this album is the killer cover art by no one else than Dani Vala, guitarist and singer of the band I reviewed yesterday, Obscurity. Why this guy didn’t do more of these splendid works is beyond me. This painting is really “evil”, and grotesque.

Marduk - Dark EndlessSeveral of the best bands that turned into pure Black Metal in the nineties have common roots in the Death Metal scene (not that I think there is so much difference between the genres after all anyway). Marduk‘s first album “Dark Endless” has all the great elements of the classic Swedish Death Metal sound. Dan Swano did a good job at fiding the right sound for this recording – the obese trademark crushing sound of the Swedish axe permeates all songs, with a good balance of mid tempo, Bolt Thrower reminiscent riffs, hints of melodies in the vein of old Crematory, and even a sporadic use of keyboards a la Thou Shalt Suffer towards the end. While the album closes with an epic, elaborate and evocative guitarwork, the first songs, while generally faster, have their good share of sluggish, almost symphonic bridges. All of this has been obviously cooked with the classic Swedish receipt of sickness – none of this sounds mellow. My only regret is the vocals are a bit too raspy and high. I guess how killer this would have sounded with a real singer like Rogga of Merciless or a young Matti Karki. The main theme on this album could be misanthropy and obscurity, elements that were lost with time. I admit I like this stuff, but also their newer albums. This might not be an album that can be credited as legendary in the Death Metal world, but it’s a good compromise of Swedish Death Metal, crushing heaviness, misanthropy and a pinch of classic Scandinavian taste for dark melodies.

My copy, on No Fashion, has no lyrics on it, but I guess the new version has a better booklet. For sure the titles themselves follow the music perfectly: they are all about departure, funerals, damnation…