[January 2005]

SQUASH BOWELS /NEEDFUL THINGS Split 7" Ep

(Psychotherapy Records)
Release date: 2004

Squash Bowels Review: No introduction needed for this band. This ep contains 3 songs recorded in 2002. The mighty Squash Bowels treat us with their usual ideal mixture of grind and gore here. Steadily fast, crushing rhythms, bad-ass grinding riffs, terrifying, splattery, raucous growling vocals, you know the drill... Perfectly structured songs, a flawless grinding flow, extraordinary catchiness, what else can I say? This stuff absolutely rules!
Needful Things Review: Side B of this split uncovers 3 blistering songs from this fine czech act. Intense, raging, pissed off grindcore is what you get here. I wouldn't call these songs memorable as I couldn't memorize any of the riffs here; Needful Things is more like a maelstrom of loud guitars, assaultive drumming and vocal aggression. The raw, wild energy and intensity of this band is almost palpable here... I'd compare this to Brutal Truth at the best, probably "Need to Control" era, this has kind of the same out-of-control quality to it! And you've also got gorgeous artwork on both sides by Szymon/Pathophagia. I really think this Split Ep is a must-have, it's a terrific pairing of bands, both kicking ass in a major way! Best there is in terms of grindcore today...

Tracks: Squash Bowels: 1)Dead Stumble 2)Flesh Grinder 3)Squabble
Needful Things: 1)Blind Followers 2)True Lie 3)Hybridism facts and Lies

Label Contact: Otto BERAN
Anenska 1296
PARDUBICE  530 02
CZECH REPUBLIC
psyrec@post.cz
www.psychotherapy.wz.cz
www.needfulthings.wz.cz

MESRINE/NEEDFUL THINGS Split 7" Ep - Picture Disc

(Psychotherapy Records)
Release date: 2004

Mesrine Review: Canadian grind! Who's that sound? Well you've got growling and shrieking vocals, pounding and blasting drums, thick, thrashing guitar riffs... This is really basic, heavy kind of stuff. In a way, this band reminds me of early Mortician on this split with the same combination of downtuned grind, more thrashing midtempos and guttural vocals; and this band can't escape the comparison with Dahmer either... The short, intense 1 minute songs, the mass murderer obsession... Definitely something in this spirit.
Needful Things Review: This is fucking awesome czech grindcore! This band's been around for quite some years. I remember hearing one of their demos a long while ago and I remember this band already being high caliber grindcore back then! So yeah, just expect top notch, intense and uncompromising grindcore here... Drumming reaching furious speeds, raging, dual roaring/shrieking vocals, blistering grind riffs, cool distorted bass lines, well-rounded, intense songs... Needful Things has an overall air of Excruciatin Terror, Phobia, that type of stuff... To sum things up, this is one killer split ep, both sides rip (with a slight personal preference going to Needful Things over here), pretty cool looking picture disc (especially Mesrine's side which is actually taken from the poster of the movie "Mesrine" I think!): definitely something worth checking out here!

Tracks: Mesrine: 1)Krstof Masiak 2)André Gagnon 3)MF
Needful Things: 1)Control Madness 2)Guns and Kids 3)Something inside us

Label Contact: Otto BERAN
Anenska 1296
PARDUBICE  530 02
CZECH REPUBLIC
psyrec@post.cz
www.psychotherapy.wz.cz
www.needfulthings.wz.cz

NAB "Collage di un Delirio " 7" Ep

(Zas Autoproduzioni/Useless Records/Shogun Records/Tetanus Records/Coagulated Records/Undislessed Records/The Flood Record)
Release date: 2005

Review: The name of this band and the cover wasn't so attractive so it took me a little while to actually sit down and put this record on... Once I did though, all I could think is "Hey, this band totally fucking rules!" This is hyper energetic grindcore, it totally reminds me of Defecation ("Purity Dilution") and maybe stuff like Unseen Terror (plus of course early Napalm Death) in style but also with a slightly more modern edge... I mean the whole feel and sound of Nab is very old school, but the intensity is cranked up a notch in the way Nasum would do. First, the drum sound really kills, with a perfect snare drum tone, this stuff is blistering fast, hard-hitting, pretty wild but also precise at the same time... The technic and style here totally reminds me of Mick Harris. A really successful grindcore band centers first and foremost on a good drummer in my opinion and the guy in this band simply kicks all kinds of butt. The rest of it is also top notch, with potent and fast riffing, vocals where lower roaring and growling play a major part and higher screaming take the backseat (I'm growing tired of bands using screamy vocals prominently, they work better as simply backing vocals in my opinion). Overall, this is pretty flawless grindcore really! Oh and the bassist in this band seems to be... a girl! Insignificant detail I know but still, something which well... spice things up a little, at least for me! What can I say?! Girls playing grindcore turn me on! Lyrics sound pretty clever, you know, grindcore-type stuff! Anyhow, if you're after some fresh grindcore that really packs a punch, if you're into stuff like Looking for an Answer, etc... Definitely try this out!

Tracks: 1)Visions of a Nearest Apocalypse 2)Nature of Begging 3)Expo of hate 4)Complaisant Servant 5)In the Sludge 6)Spring 7)Drug Zone 8)The Agent Orange 9)Sick Family

Label Contact: zasrec@alice.it
Marco Tournoud
Via Roma 59
10056 Oulx (To)
Italy

EMBALMING THEATRE/INTUMESCENCE Split 7" Ep

(Murder the World - MTW006)
Release date: 2005

Review: Swiss grinding death meets dutch goregrind on a split ep that is I think the very last Murder the World release... What's to say about Embalming Theatre? They're very prolific and I'm starting to get repetitive with all the reviews I wrote for their stuff. Once again, this is solid work, not the most original band ever but they certainly get the job done here with yet another heavy, thick load of roaring and growling and blasting death/grind... Catchy riffing, tight and fast drumming, raging vocals; Songs are all short and to the point, the simplest, most basic things are usually what work the best and this is the case here, plus vinyl gave them a slightly more abrasive edge that definitely enhances the band's sound. Musically I'd say this is something between Blood & Hideous Mangleus...
Intumescence plays their habitual brand of nasty, downtuned goregrind here, with absurd, splattery vocals pitch-shited to death, abrupt, chaotic drumming and a slimy, sludgy mass of grinding guitar riffs... This band plays goregrind in a sloppy way, but it's the good kind of sloppy, I don't think I ever heard a band capture the feel of Carcass from "Reek of Putrefaction" so well; this particular ep I think mixes more influences like Regurgitate (especially the gurgling vocals) and Gore Beyond Necropsy (for the harsh, noisy side). Oh and the Murder the World logo used on Intumescence side is something I personally drew!!! So it was nice to see it turn up here!!! All in all, a pretty terrific ep... Too bad to see Murder the World calling it quits so soon, their releases kicked a lot of ass!

Tracks: Embalming Theatre: 1)Electric torture in her cunt 2)The asian fire-hose torture 3)Enkelbiljetten (G-Anx-cover) 4)Amputation of the wrong leg
Intumescence: 1)Eyes clotted with dreams 2)Anal maggot invasion 3)Chainsaw killing spree 4)Emetic, lacerate & embalmer 5)Muscular tissue avulsion

Intumescence Contact: maarten.punk@excite.com
maarten v herpt
lunterenstraat 118
2573 PT den haag
netherlands
Emablming Theatre Contact: http://www.embalmingtheatre.ch

UNHOLY GRAVE/MATKA TERESAE Split 7" Ep

(Brigade of Natural Genocide Records)
Release date: 2005
Running time: 54:35 (53 tracks)

Review: Japanese grind-meisters Unholy Grave are their usual selves on this split ep's side with some wildly energetic crusty grindcore not far away from Agathocles... Flesh-ripping riffs, tons of speed, raging growling and shrieking vocals and a vibe as violent and intense as it is positive... Lyrics are pretty simplistic and positive messages, yeah you guessed it, against terrorism and stuff!
Side B goes in a similar direction with some more intense & fast grindcore, scorching guitar riffs, dual roaring/screaming vocals, incisive drumming... Sound has a nice raw edge, saturated but clear enough. This Split Ep pairs up 2 kick-ass grind bands, this stuff's totally worth a listen!

Tracks: Unholy Grave: 1)World's Desire 2)Voice Your Protest 3)Murderer 4)Youth: Unreal World?
Matka Teresa: 1)Dirty Hands 2)Eat and Fall on Your Knees 3)Brudne Lapska 4)Zry i Padaj na Kolana

Label Contact: maarten.punk@excite.com
maarten v herpt
lunterenstraat 118
2573 PT den haag
netherlands

UNCURBED/MY COLD EMBRACE Split 7" Ep

(Power It Up - P.I.U. #27)
Release date: 2004

The Uncurbed Review: This short split ep has The Uncurbed delivering 2 songs of bombastic crust-core, with a clear, heavy sound production, angry shouting and screaming vocals, tight d-beat drumming, catchy riffing, every expected and typical element of crust is there. This is solid stuff in the typical Discharge, Disfear vein... Nothing more, nothing less...
My Cold Embrace Review: Judging from the band name and logo, I was expecting some doom/black metal or something... But hopefully no, this split pairs up The Uncurbed with another crust-core band... So, yeah, this is basically crust, except perhaps with more of a metal sound... Songs has really clear-cut, with a rigid but kicking drum sound (with some occasional blasting parts), vocals are a type of roaring shouts and guitar riffing is actually pretty thrashing. Again, just 2 songs, this split ep is really short at 45rpm but the music kicks ass and sound production is top notch... I'd say this is really secure, feel-good, easy-listening crust/metal!

Tracks: The Uncurbed: 1)A Psychedelic Party 2)Moments of Anarchy
My Cold Embrace: 1)Heldenkeller 2)Senseless Game

Label: POWER-IT-UP   ZUM HOLZFELDE 12  31226 PEINE   GERMANY  TEL.: 0049-(0)05171-82646
http://www.power-it-up.de/

CONTROL MECHANISM/HARSH Split 7" Ep

(Psychotherapy Records )
Release date: 2002

Harsh Review: Sludgy hardcore with a smidge of blasting grindcore. Reminds me of Man is the Bastards, maybe because of the prominent bass sound and the vocals, the faster parts ressemble Lärm or Siege though. Sound is muddy but pretty listenable... Nothing ground-breaking here but still this is a worthwhile listen.
Conrol Mechanism Review: Fast grindcore/hardcore/crust, basic and with some very tight, fast drumming. The vibe is alot like Napalm Death on Side A of "Scum" mixed with some Cripple Bastards: growls with a human touch, some shrieking, simple but violent riffing, grindy and crusty rhythms and that's about it. Lyrics are pretty straightforward messages, not sure I got em all exactly but here you go... This is pretty decent grindcore.

Tracks: Side Harsh: 1)Medicine Men 2)Entertainment 3)Witness of the Genocide 4)Flat Earth 5)Slejm 6)Holy Hand 7)Gravity 8)In the grip of...
Side Control Mechanism 1)Only Guilty? 2)Last Words? 3)Nihilist 4)Christ doesn't live in them 5)On the other side of the barrikad 6)Aryan nation of Islam 7)So blind 8)Ruoskaa!

Label Contact: Otto BERAN
Anenska 1296
PARDUBICE  530 02
CZECH REPUBLIC
psyrec@post.cz
www.psychotherapy.wz.cz
www.needfulthings.wz.cz

MAGGUT/INTUMESCENCE Split 7" Ep

(www.murdergrind.de)
Release date: 2003

Two of the most basic, heaviest goregrind bands around on one ep, this is a match made in goregrind hell! Crazy Japanese band Maggut delivers 6 tracks of old school Regurgitate/Retaliation type goregrind, their sound fits perfectly to the vinyl format, I think this sounds even better than their Mcd! Heavy, sludgy, thick drum sound, blastbeats and crusty tempos... Plus the usual pitch-shifted gory goodness... This stuff simply rules!
Side B has more gore-grinding insanity with Holland's Intumescence... Execution is sloppier, sound is alot muddier here, but the style is quite similar with ultra down-tuned guitars, crackling gory pitch-shifted vocals, expeditive drumming... As usual this band is impossibly heavy, splattery and pretty chaotic at the time... Usually this band reminds me of "Reek of Putrefaction" era Carcass, but on this ep the ressemblance with Last Days of Humanity is much more striking, maybe because it was recorded live with more of a noisy vibe... If you like messy, uncompromising goregrind, you need this!

Tracks: Maggut: 1)Maggots Swarmed Gut 2)Victim of Minchslaughter 3)Elephantiasis of the Testicle 4)Ultimate Torture Recurrence 5)Putlid Slut Fucking Fire 6)Total Disablist Murders Inexorable Bloodshed Assault
Intumescence: 1)Decay of Viscera 2)Crepitant Pyosis 3)Cerebral Meltdown 4)Cramted Alive (Zombi 666)
5)Anal Maggot Invasion 6)Violent Party Vol II

EMBALMING THEATRE "Exquisite Cadaveric Hormone Cocktail" 12" Lp

(Power It Up - P.I.U. #40)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 16:32

Review: This is the Lp version of this band's "Hormones from the Dead" No Escape Records Mcd & Split Cd w/ Torture Incident... Since I already wrote reviews for both, I'll just repost thme if you don't mind...
Side A: Here's what's probably the best swiss band since Exucleration... The band delivers a very particular blend of grind and death metal, really basic but effective, with a rotten, heavy old school sound, chain saw-like guitar riffs, pounding drums, low growling but articulate vocals and a great deal of humor too (especially in their selection of movie samples)... As I already said about this band before, they pretty much remind me of Blood, something heavy, roaring, direct and well, brutal but kinda fun at the same time. I really like what they do with the lyrics too, just short, darkly humorous tales inspired by everyday news and real-life horrors...
Side B: Assertive and relatively intelligible roaring growls, nice and thick guitar sound and some extremely proficient, tight and fast drumming... While listening to this, it really stroke me how much this band sounds like Dead Infection from their "Start Human Slaughter" period! Add to this a smoking "Fear of Napalm" Terrorizer cover and that's it for Embalming Theatre excellent side... As always, lyrics are in the same reality-based dark humored horror vein...

Tracks: Side Needle: 1)Hormones From The Dead 2)I Want My Gay Boyfriend To Eat Me Alive 3)Cadaveric Sandcastle 4)Dying Funeral Procession II: Cemetary Carnage 5)Locked Up With Hungry Cannibals 6)Six Little Corpses 7)Hallucinating Genitals-Ejector 8)Contamination With Embalming Fluids 9)Failed And Nailed 10)They Drowned In A Lake Of Blood 11)Burried Alive III: Suffocation In The Sand-Box
Side Glass: 1)Rape The Cadaver (1:04) 2)Buried Alive I: Undead In The Morgue (1:45) 3)Shoes Made Of Human Skin (1:15) 4)Someone Else In My Coffin (0:59) 5)Patricide. Fraticide. Suicide. (2:36) 6)Dead, Stolen, Hacked Up And Raped (1:31) 7)Smell Of The Mummified Baby (1:01) 8)We Ate Daddy (1:37) 9)Fear Of Napalm (3:03)

Label: POWER-IT-UP   ZUM HOLZFELDE 12  31226 PEINE   GERMANY  TEL.: 0049-(0)05171-82646
http://www.power-it-up.de/

MESRINE/DEPRESSION Split 12" LP

(Power It Up - P.I.U. #31)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 44:39

Here we have the Vinyl Lp version of this fine Split release... As usual, I'll just repost my review of the regular cd version...
Depression Review: Hailing from Germany, Depression already has quite a bunch releases of their own, most notably some interesting split releases with bands like Agathocles or Haemorrhage... They play a very heavy and downtuned type of Death/Grind and keep things going at a steady pace, honestly more focused on groove and catchy mid-tempo rhythms than genuinely all-out speed; Still, this is pretty hard-striking and intense stuff. Depression might well be a perfect example of the "german touch", their music simultaneously reminds me of Dead (for the the ultra-downtuned guitars and catchy hooks), Gut (basic and groovy song structuring as well as weirdo squealing), Mangled Torsos (sick mood, heaviness, plus those almost liquid-sounding , gurgling growls) and finally Blood (an overall flavor). The execution is pretty tight, the song-writing is simple but adequate, the sound production is nice and thick... Sure, this isn't anything earth-shattering but definitely a very enjoyable band for me...
Mesrine Review: Sick Grind/Death from this Canadian outfit... Ferocious vocal trade-offs, guttural growls and brutal shrieks, lowtuned, grindy, dissonant riffage, pretty savage drumming... Sound is a little on the rough side, in a sort of cavernous way... But songs are sufficiently energetic to make this a nice, albeit slightly muddy ride! If I had to make a comparison, I'd say a cross between Hemdale & Dahmer. Overall, a solid split release.

Tracks: Mesrine: 13)Uncle Jimmy (1:41) 14)Robert Pickton (1:59) 15)Bud Petterson 2:39) 16)Malvo (0:46) 17)The Mangler (1:57) 18)Le Restaurateur Georges Tannous (1:39) 19)Rénald Côté (2:08) 20)Jack (1:28) 21)Steve Racine (1:52) 22)Gino Camacho (1:08) 23)Charles Bishop (2:41) 24)Saddam (1:05)
Depression "Die toten Tage kommen...": 1)The Grime Rise of... (1:33) 2)Human Prey (1:40) 3)Maggot Eater (2:09) 4)Hate the Kids (2:27) 5)Depression Vs. The Devil (2:13) 6)Behram (2:26) 7)Leichenduft (2:11) 8)I Spit on your Grave (2:19) 9)Dare the Pain (1:42) 10)Just a Piece of Flesh (3:17) 11)A Farewell (0:11) 12)...The Reborn Brutality (Outro) (1:28)

Label: POWER-IT-UP   ZUM HOLZFELDE 12  31226 PEINE   GERMANY  TEL.: 0049-(0)05171-82646
http://www.power-it-up.de/