(Razorback Records - RR17)
Release date: 2003
Running time: 37:00

General Surgery Review: General Surgery finally returns, for good this time... and they haven't lost it. "Necrology" is one of my all-time faves and it feels really amazing finally being able to hear brand new material... What I can say about these 7 new tracks is that their music have become slightly more complex and not as clear-cut as their classics, but essentially they sound very much the same they did about 10 years ago. Vocals didn't budge an ounce, they still have the same ravaging impact, with a mix of throat-ripping shrieks and thick guttural roars and with on occasion a pinch of abrasive vocal effects (I think they're effects, I can't tell for sure...), often forming some kind of harsh and loud chorus. The overall aggressivity of it all is also intact, with way heavy riffs, all thrashing and destructive, tight nervous drumming, pounding and smashing all the way... Like I said, they're basicly the same as ever, borrowing heavily from Carcass and injecting a lot of late1980's/early 1990's swedish death metal (early Entombed) into it... Although I'd say maybe they got even closer to Carcass now with slightly more intricate and chaotic song structures... As could be expected, the lyrics are still full-on pathological, with a gleeful emphasis on gore and carnage, and a pronounced sense of humor as well. I really got a kick out of this, the band is always so refreshing, effective, quite funny and clever as well... This release reinstates them as one of the best bands around today, let's hope they stay together a bit longer than last time!
The County Medical Examiners Review: The County Medical Examiners are the perfect match to General Surgery on this split release. The band is certainly the most faithful "impersonation" of Carcass, era "Symphonies of Sickness" that I know of ; When you come down to it, The County Medical Examiners works alot like an extension to pre-1990 Carcass. The obsession for detail is most impressive, with many parts derived or almost replicated from the Carcass oeuvre; these are veritable variations on Carcass songs, sometimes expanding on a riff or playing it in a different tonality. A good example is the main riff from "Cooperative cadaveric custody" which owes alot to "Exhume to Consume", and on a different level, "Prospector's bane: creutzfeldt-jacob disease" which reminds me a little of "Hepatic Tissue Fermentation" (my all-time favorite Carcass song by the way). The County Medical Examiners songs are not as distinctive as Carcass' songs were, but this band definitely pin-pointed the right amount of grinding ferocity and morbid melody to create the illusion, the result is slightly formal and cold but all the elements are here, down to the complex and intricate song structures, the guitar riffs played with surgical precision, the swift, skilful and often very fast drumming, the repugnant vocals composed of slightly gurgled, splattery squeaks and deep guttural roars. The atmosphere is decidely macabre and chilling to the bone, fitting seemlessly the gloomy lyrical contents, all written in proper clinical terms but never sparing gruesome details. Overall, I'd say the band just refined their art since "Forensic Fugues and Medicolegal Medleys", these new songs have a more natural flow and tighter feel to them. The band apparently welcomed a new bassist, musically that's pretty unnoticeable but this new bassist a lot less cute than the last one... Oh well... I'll just thank both bands for joining forces to create this brilliant split release, one of this year highlight for sure.

General Surgery Tracks: 1)Pre-bisectal corrosive immersion 2)Mortuary wars 3)Cauterization frenzy 4)Reception of cadavers 6)Decomposer 7)Convivial corpse disposal methology/Severe catatonic intersection of pathological activities
The County Medical Examiners Tracks: 8)Bloatation (Repugnant refloatation) 9)Cruentous mess 10)Forensic photography 11)A brief discourse on wound ballistics 12)Cooperative cadaveric custody 13)Prospector's bane: creutzfeldt-jacob disease

http://generalsurgery.nu - info@generalsurgery.nu

http://www.thecountymedicalexaminers.com

Label Contact
RAZORBACK RECORDS www.razorbackrecords.com
c/o Billy Nocera
P.O. BOX 321
Farmingville, NY 11738
U.S.A.
Email: WNocera@aol.com

Review: This review here is about some promo material by S.M.U. hailing from UK; they play highly dynamic grindcore, all fullspeed, pulsing and raw... You've got impressive drumming, skilful, tight, extremely fast and with a touch of groove to it as well, a lot of crushing double-bass, crazy-ass breaks, you've also got totally killer guitar riffs - very memorable, driving, thrashing or grindy... This is all too rare, wild, intense grindcore. What can be heard here doesn't include vocals, but if these turn out to be half as insane as the music, this should be incredible. Definitely keep an eye on this band, they're damn talented. There's a mp3 up here for you to check out, and the contact address is: lofiordierex@hotmail.com.

Tracks: 1)Kiln Mofukaz 2)Lipstik an gunzmowk 3)Izumi pax a mikro uzi in her lunchbox 4)VZ Viragaz 5)How 2 deel with chikan / Police aficaz 6)Throat frakture temple with elbow stomp on hed til blend with turf 7)Lags 8)KM 9)VzV 10)How 2 deel tayk 1...

Downloadable Mp3:
-Kiln Mofukaz

EXCRUCIATING TERROR "Divided we fall" Cd

(Pessimiser Records)

Review: I never covered this band before so here we go for a quick review... This is really amazing grindcore with quite a significant touch of crust. The album is a genuine tour-de-force with urgent and dread-inducing guitar riffs in the grand tradition of old Extreme Noise Terror, relentless deep guttural roars/higher pitched shrieks dual vocal assaults, and tight, fast, pounding drumming... This stuff is very intense, violent, with the perfect grinding edge, tightly and brilliantly handled musically... There's not an overwhelming sense of speed but something more crust-like, in the lines of E.N.T. again, Disrupt and early Napalm Death. This is kick-ass, crushing, uncompromising grind and it's a long length album full of it... Highly recommended.

Tracks: 1)Disease 2)Respect 3)In cold blood 4)Don't care who you are 5)Por que no conosco el miedo 6)Ignorance is bliss 7)Bomb has fallen 8)Without mercy 9)Turbulence 10)E.T. 11)Give up 12)With me 13)Divided we fall 14)Human error 15)Addiction 16)Another rejection 17)You reap what you saw 18)Careless attitude 19)Suicide 20)Just another victim 21)Thoughtless

You might get it Lofi or Die Records... lofiordierex@hotmail.com

Release date: 2003

Review: These 4 Viscera tracks are all about raw, dirty, bizarre grind, with a rampant Autopsy-like feel to it and also sort of a wild punk energy... The bass is prominent with an almost jazzy vibe, kinda like Cause and Effect, but much more basic and repetitive, perhaps close to some stuff by Man is the Bastard as well, but I'll just stop with the references already... The most recognizable Viscera characteristics are the vocals which are just hysterical screams... That and their bloody and raw grind style. So here's a very original and weird band, not to mention sleazy... Just check em out!

Tracks: 1)Intestinal cock-rising 2)Recto-vaginal fistula 3)Foreskin mask 4)Beaten Beaten and Beaten Again

Label Contact: Prolapse Records
GPO Box 291 Sydney NSW 2001 Australia
www.prolapserecords.com

FUCK... I'M DEAD / ENGORGEDSplit Cd

(No Escape)
Release date: 2003
Running time: 26:10

Fuck.. I'm Dead Review: Fuck... I'm Dead are their usual selves on the split release, crushing, effective, concise, straightforward, direct and to the point. You've got everything from relentless drum machine blasts, tight and basic guitar riffs to vociferous screams & vicious growls. Their stuff is extremely effective, grippingly fast-paced, unpredictable, with constant twists and direction changes; it's both heavy and speed-crazed in a supersonic way. They seem to have gained a slightly more metal edge and tighter sound than before, but overall they're the same Fuck... I'm Dead they've always been... Fresh, intense and grinding.
Engorged Review: The Engorged side is composed of rare, old and ep material, some stuff you might have already heard. First is supposedly a cover of Goblin's "Contamination", I couldn't spot alot of similarities to the Goblin's score but the track still works like a great, thrashing hommage to the gut-bursting Luigi Cozzi film (Make sure to catch the excellent "Contamination" dvd recently released by Blue Underground)! Next up are "Vomiting Butcher Redux" & "Death Metal 2000" which are different versions of early Engorged material. The last 2 tracks "The Final Giallo" (another great hommage to Dario Argento's "Tenebre") & "Surgery Drugs and Rock'n'Roll" (a track off the Split Ep w/ Impaled) are in the purest early Engorged style: raw, thrashing, blazing fast and with enraged vocals... Also, "Surgery..." happens to be the most Carcass-influenced Engorged song ever, with a delightful abuse of pitch-shifted vocals and some terrific grind riffs. Stuff here is a compilation of Engorged at their best. Essential stuff all around!

Fuck... I'm Dead Tracks: 1)Horrendous Bowel Evacuation 2)Anal Abbatoir 3)Enemosity 4)Ruthless Aggression 5)Flesh Feast 6)Gore Ridden 7)Coliteral Damage 8)Force Fed Brutality
Engorged Tracks: 9)Alien Contamination 10)Vomiting Butchers Redux 11)Death Metal Attack 2000 12)The Final Giallo 13)Surgery Drugs and Rock N Roll

www.noescaperecords.com

E-mail - info@noescaperecords.com

No Escape Records
PO Box 2054
Lygon st Nth
Brunswick East 3057
Australia

SERRANDO CODOS "...Hasta la Nausea" Cd-r

Release date: 2003

Review: It's a swell spanish one man grind thingie we've got here. This sounds kind of grind-death with a sound and feel that borders on noisecore, you've got raw as hell, detuned guitar riffs, distorted, pitch-shifted shrieks... Almost similar to aberrant noise like japanese band Nikudorei at times, but kept more restrained and a little more structured here with more traditional, catchy, blasting and pounding drum programming and with some parts quite reminiscent of early Mortician... The result is quite enjoyable, if you can take harsh, abrasive and dissonant sounding things.

Tracks: 1)Dolor nauseabundo 2)Serrândole los pulos codos 3°Incision craneal 4)Charcal de sangre 5)Hambrientos de Cerebros 7)Mucupurulencia infecciosa

Contact:
Pepe Sanjuan
Cltra. de Terrassa 26
08640 Olesa de Montserral
Barcelona (SPAIN)

Email: goreluckgrind@terra.es

BITCH INFECTION"The Gory Side of Life" Cd

(Necroharmonic)
Release date: 2003
Runng time: 50:40

Review: Here's a truly sordid and repugnant album by this obscure german band called Bitch Infection; brought to the world by Necroharmonic Productions... Their whole sleazy porn imagery is very close to Gut, as is the music style, although it is perhaps slightly more straightforward, tighter/faster than Gut, and more like gore/grind in the vein of Utopie and Dead Infection. The sound production is alot rawer and crude than these 2 bands, but still sufficiently clear; drums are programmed and happen to sound quite natural, vocals are sickeningly pitch-shifted and sound all very icky, gurgling and splattery; the riffs are basic, grinding, crushing and heavy, the drumming varries from very fast blasts to catchy Gut-type midtempos. You've also got quite a few porn intros, or porn samples worked inside the songs, but they use significantly less intros than Gut for example, it's just an intro every now and then, I seriously doubt you'll have even the time the jerk off during them. Anyway, the layout is also filled with really sick porn pictures and stuff... so well, just expect something tasteless beyond belief, and pretty damn good gore/grind as well.

Tracks: 1)Swallow cum 2)Porn delusion 3)Bitch killer syndrome 4)Oral request V 5)Toilet tart nurse 6)The gory side of life 7)Hot, hard & fast 8)Oral request VI 9)First steps to ecstasy 10)Cocksucking hardcore nymphs 11)Pussy mailorder 12)Oral request VII 13)School of torture 14)Freaky virgin 15)You want more 16)Oral request VIII 17)Pussy showdown 18)Cook massage 19)Anal gangbang 20)Oral request IX 21)Medicinal sex 22)X Tra cunt 23)Inconceivable fantasies 24)Oral request X 25)Sperm speech 26)Deep insight 27)The darker image 28)Oral request XI 29)Service girls 30)Hot load 31)May way with Utopie

http://necroharmonic.com

TALES FROM URANUS #6 - Comic Book/Zine

Release date: 2003

Review: This is another killer issue of Tales From Uranus, graphics are better than ever, all in bleeding color, complete with outrageous scenes of extreme guts & gore kicking in every single page... Stories are short, pretty wacky & chaotic, this is all just pure fun; the first one is about a few different zombie attacks happening simultaneously in different places with a nod to Cannibal Holocaust/Ferox at one point too... The other 2 stories are about sadistic mad doctor and his disgusting experiments gone wrong and the last one is kinda like a sleazy and gory take on Tobe Hooper's "Funhouse", with a twist. This is all very mean-spirited, sleazy and above all sickeningly gory.
In this issue, the "zine" aspect has definitely been expanded; with plenty of music & b-movie reviews, some highly interesting interviews (Drogheda, Ghoul, Sanatorium, Machetazo & more... oh and also Mike Minett from Bad Taste!!) - This is a definite must-have - incredible comic-book, and a great zine too, an amazing added bonus.

www.talesfromuranus.com

Available for $5 from:
TALES FROM URANUS
P.O. BOX 6298
VILLA PARK, IL
60181 USA

3 way split "Brutalmageddon" ATAVISM/DRAIN OF IMPURITY/MINCER

(Coagulated Records)
Release date: 2003
Running time: 32:46

Atavism Review: This split release starts with some kind of epic intro and then Atavism kicks off... They definitely sound brutal death metal to me, a cross-over between early Suffocation and something more basic like Mortician maybe. Deep guttural growls, very low-tuned guitars, chaotic and sometimes thrashing riffs, brutish, blasting drums. The sound is pretty dark, a little muddy but quite listenable. Enjoyable brutal death, not overly dynamic or catchy but still pretty abrasive and with an obscure, sinister edge...
Drain of Impurity Review: This is another brutal death metal band with this time a constantly blasting, unbelievably fast drum machine, quite technical guitar riffs & wild guttural growls. The speed factor and vocal savagery makes it sound close to gore/grind, but the guitar work is undeniably brutal death metal oriented. The sound is a little raw, not very heavy but it's still very listenable. This side of the split is really fine as well...
Mincer Review: This last band is quite interesting, again they're brutal death metal of the Suffocation kind with a slight Mortician-like grind edge. Ultra deep guttural growls, nice and heavy sound, well-rounded riffs, a drum machine pounding hard and blasting fast. But they're my favorite band on this split I think, their song structures are perhaps a little more original and catchy. Just simple, clear and quite effective.
Overall: Pretty cool split cd, especially if you're into blasting brutal death metal (and don't have anything against drum machines). Quality effort from all the bands involved... The front cover art is pretty damn cool too, kind of a comic-book type art.

Atavism Tracks: 1)Intro 2)Gored to death 3)From throat... to navel 4)Guts encrusted in mud 5)Outro
Drain of Impurity Tracks: 6)Decaying eternal 7)ead back to life 8)Thousand of decapitated souls 9)The stench was unbelievable
Mincer Tracks: 10)Anthropophamity wants more corpse portions 11)Orgy into grave open 12)Massive carnage on the whore altar 13)I love fuck your larval torso 14)Bashing 15)Reborn through an orgy of deviation 16)Totally envenomed

Coagulated Records
Via Porta Catena, 86
44100 Ferrara - Italy
www.coagulated.too.it

NASUM "Helvete" Cd

(Relapse Records)
Release date: 2003

Review: This new Nasum album is in the vein of "Human 2.0"... Heavy, fast-as-hell grindcore-hardcore-metal hybrid, with near-constant blast-beats, loud, crushing riffs and insane screaming fury for vocals... Like on last album, song structures are slightly more progressive than in the past with a few catchy arrangements and thrashing parts among the straightforward grind assaults... The sound production, as usual is super-heavy, super-loud, super-powerful but in the end also slightly monotonous... Fact is I'm not as excited about the band as I was for their early stuff up to "Inhale/Exhale", new stuff lacks surprise and the more basic edge that made the old stuff stand out. This is however still high-quality grind, extremely effective, insanely fast and perfected to death... You can expect the usual stylish cover art, the thoughtful lyrics, etc... If it's quality extreme metal you're after, you can't go wrong with this one...

Tracks: 1)Violation 2)Scoop 3)Living Next Door To Malice 4)Stormshield 5)Time To Discharge 6)Bullshit 7)Relics 8)We Curse You All 9)Doombringer 10)Just Another Hog 11)Drop Dead 12)I Hate People 13)Go! 14)The Final Sleep 15)Slaves To The Grind 16)Breach Of Integrity 17)The Everlasting Shame 18)Your Words Alone 19)Preview Of Hell 20)Illogic 21)Whip 22)Worst Case Scenario