The Goregrind Thread

Dead Infection - "A Chapter Of Accidents" (1995)

The sophomore album from these Polish goregrind kings. It's very brutal but does become a bit samey as you get through the album. For fans of Regurgitate, Haemorrhage & "Reek Of Putrefaction"-era Carcass.

3.5/5

Carcass - "Symphonies of Sickness" (1989)

Carcass' classic sophomore release was hugely influential on my conversion from thrash-obsessed madman to death metal lunatic back at the time of release however I have to say that I've been shocked by just how far it's come down in my estimations in modern times. I think it was easy to overlook the faults when I didn't have a lot to compare it to but now that I have that knowledge I've struggled to see it in the same light. It's still unquestionably my favourite goregrind release & in hindsight the freshly introduced death metal component is significantly out-weighed by the goregrind one. Ken Owen's drumming is very loose & the production is absolutely filthy but that's kinda in line with the disgusting atmosphere & both are still significant improvements on their first-up effort. Jeez, Bill Steer couldn't have got himself a worse lead guitar sound though & I have to wonder if it was intentional as he didn't fair any better on the debut. The three-pronged vocal approach is undoubtedly a major differentiator but some of it sounds pretty try-hard to be honest. I find that the A side is much stronger than the B side with most of the highlights residing there but there aren't any weak tracks as such. They tend to range from pretty good to excellent but these days I find the pretty good stuff outweigh the higher quality material. The pure grind sections where Owens goes for relentless blast-beats are great & went a long way to defining an entire genre but I can no longer say that I regard this as the classic I always have. What a shame it is when you have your childhood illusions overwritten. It's depressing!

For fans of Exhumed, Impetigo & Pharmacist.

3.5/5

Carcass - "Reek of Putrefaction" (1988)

I've always struggled with Carcass' debut album to be honest. Between the appalling production, woeful lead guitar tone & ridiculously over-the-top vocal performances, it all simply sounds a little silly to my ears. Of course, there was nothing quite like it at the time & it's gone on to influence a multitude of bands that became infatuated with the novelty but I have to admit that I find it hard to take seriously. I know it's not meant to be but I LIKE to take my extreme metal seriously if you know what I mean. Perhaps the fact that I was introduced to the band through the far superior "Symphonies of Sickness" sophomore effort has made it a bit harder to appreciate "Reek of Putrefaction"? I dunno but at least I've managed to increase my rating just a touch since my last revisit, mainly off the back of the shorter & more brutal material as I'm not a huge fan of the groovier grind stuff. I'm afraid I don't see that rating ever moving higher than it is now though.

3/5

Blood Duster - "Fisting the Dead" E.P. (1993)

The debut release from a legendary Melbourne band that I saw play live many times back in the 1990's. It includes 25 tracks across 19 minutes, eight of them being hilarious intros that have been borrowed from D grade horror films like "Bad Taste". This music is not meant to be taken too seriously but boy is it entertaining. Early Blood Duster offered a well-constructed & produced sound that took the blast-beat driven goregrind of early Carcass & combined it with the groovy death 'n' roll riffs of post-1991 Pungent Stench. The use of double-kick in the blast-beats leaves a little bit to be desired by today's standards but we didn't notice it all that much back in the day. The song-titles & lyrics are as over the top as you'd expect from a goregrind act with ditties like "Vulgar Taste (Of A Rotten Cunt)", "Knee Deep in Menstrual Blood (The Bleeding Bitch Returns)" & "Blood Fart" being some of the better ones. Throw this one on a drunken party with your mates & press the "repeat" button cause it's all over in a flash.

For fans of Macabre, Pungent Stench & early Carcass.

3.5/5

Exhumed - "Dissecting the Caseated Omentum" demo (1992)

The second demo tape from this San Jose-based five-piece was a breath of dank, decaying air for me as a youngster. I don't think I got the pleasure of hearing their earlier self-titled cassette until much later on but I picked this one up through the tape trading scene during the mid-1990's & it received regular replays over the next few years. The early Exhumed recordings combined classic death metal with the early goregrind sound the first couple of Carcass records & did it all with the utmost conviction. Sure, the performances are a bit sloppy but they were never intended to be anything else. I particularly love the brutality in the blast beats while the variations in the vocal delivery have clearly been modelled on the three-pronged Carcass model. The Horde members shouldn't hesitate to check this one out if that description takes your fancy.

For fans of Impaled, Ghoul & early Carcass.

4/5

Pathologist - "Forensic Medicine & Pathology" demo (1992)

Despite my tape trading experience, I've always really struggled with this early demo tape from Czechian goregrind outfit Pathologist. The ultra-deep death growls are decent enough but the production & performances are so inadequate that I struggle to think of this cassette as anything more than a piss-take. It's honestly one of the worst The Horde-related releases I've ever heard in my life. Pathologist would get way better than this in the near future. Thank goodness I've never exposed myself to their earlier two demos because they're reportedly even worse than this one.

For fans of Pharmacist, The County Medical Examiners & Dead Infection.

1.5/5

Dead/Regurgitate - "Dead/Regurgitate" split album (1994)

I stumbled upon this split album featuring Germany's Dead & Sweden's Regurgitate during my mid-90's tape trading heyday, inspired to investigate it after having really dug Regurgitate's debut album "Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood" from earlier the same year. I'd never heard of Dead before but ended up getting a fair bit of enjoyment out of both band's contributions to what could only be described as one of the better goregrind releases I've encountered. I don't believe I've returned to it in the many years since though, instead tending to turn to a couple of my Regurgitate records of choice whenever I feel the urge but I'm glad that I've finally given it another listen this week, even if I suspect that it might not receive another sitting from me in the future.

This split release is a collection that includes eight new songs from each band as well as the five Regurgitate tracks that were included on their split 7" single with German noisegrind outfit Vaginalmassaker back in 1992. Dead's inclusions would later receive a dedicated release on 2011's "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" album while I think this is the only place you'll find the new Regurgitate material. The two bands have quite different sounds to each other but are both well worth hearing & it's really just a matter of taste as to which you might prefer. Dead's contribution is very well produced with a thick & chunky guitar tone that fills your headphones with a heavy combination of classic death metal & blasting goregrind. I'd suggest that the former is comfortably in the ascendency here though which makes Dead an attractive option for me given my taste profile. The Germans tend to explore a lot more territory in regard to tempo than their more consistently brutal Swedish counterparts with their triple-vocal approach drawing close comparisons to Carcass' late 80's releases. Regurgitate offer a much dirtier & more traditional goregrind sound that I tend to prefer, mainly because it's a touch more relentless in its commitment to pure savagery. The tracks from the 7" single sound noticeably different though & are clearly less effective than the newer material with the vocals being produced in that ridiculous vocoded, monster-esque fashion that has often annoyed me about the goregrind scene. I greatly prefer the more deathly growl employed on the more brutal new songs that make up for their less impressive production job with pure energy & attitude.

You can't really go wrong with these 21 tracks if you're an extreme metal fan with only a couple of duds amongst them. Dead's decision to close out their side with an annoying cover version of Mentors' "Woman of Sodom" was hard to understand as it certainly detracts from what was otherwise a pretty rock solid deathgrind experience. The first track from Regurgitate's split with single with Vaginalmassaker "Morbid Reality" isn't amazing either but I get a fair bit of enjoyment out of the remainder of this record without ever really discovering anything too game-changing. Dead's best material comes right at the beginning of the album with the one-two punch of "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" into "Far Beyond Your Imagination" being the clear highlights. The new Regurgitate inclusions offer a more consistently strong standard though which is perhaps why I've ended up exploring more of their releases in the future while leaving Dead behind. The first three songs on their side are all really solid while the same can be said for the trio of tracks starting with the violent mosh pit anthem "Praedilectio for Menorrhagia". None of Regurgitate's efforts overstay their welcome which is just how I like my grindcore. As soon as they've hit on a riff that I find to be less appealing they've moved on to something that hits my fancy which is a great way to keep the listeners attention.

While this split release might not be the most original one you'll ever hear, it does offer a point of difference from the rest of the goregrind records out there in that neither band fit into the generic goregrind model. I've really enjoyed Dead's more death metal-inspired sound as well as the strong production job while Regurgitate's tendency to steer away from those ridiculous vocoded vocals for the majority of their allocation while blasting me into submission with exciting grindcore instrumentation has left me feeling exhilarated at times. It's a shame that they didn't close out the album in the same fashion though as the shorter tracks from the Vaginalmassaker split sound a little inferior in comparison, even if I generally enjoy most of those songs in isolation. As it is though, the Dead/Regurgitate split has been well worth a revisit, even if I can't see myself returning to it any time soon. I think I'm far more likely to reach for my Regurgitate releases of choice (i.e. "Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood" & 2002's "Hatefilled Vengeance" E.P.) instead to be honest.

For fans of Dead Infection, Haemorrhage & early Carcass.

3.5/5

Carcass - Symphonies of Sickness (1989)

Genres: Death Metal, Goregrind

I'm not one for goregrind really.  In the long run, then I'd rather not educate myself in an entire genre dedicated to piercing the veil of acceptable gore by turning the most disgusting lyrics of all time into that much of a joke.  I mean, it's one thing to have obviously fake pain splashing when you're cutting down b-movie zombies in an intentional cheese-fest like Braindead, but to keep bragging about it as if getting your fingers in between the very atoms that make up gore is how you get your kicks just isn't the kind of thing I think people should be spending months writing for albums.  I rarely explore these kinds of bands, with a notable exception being the slam band Devourment.

Nevertheless, I occasionally go to classic acts like Carcass because of their melodic prowess and heavy say in the modern development of death metal structures, which isn't so much about the gore factor as it is about the melodies, production, brutality, etc.  But before they were a melodic death metal band, they played around with goregrind, which I find interesting considering that the album before the melodic days would be their second and last album to showcase them partaking in their original genre.

Somehow bordering both death metal and goregrind without steering too far into Napalm Death signature deathgrind genre, this sophomore album is largely about having fun with the metallic sound and setting up a basic structure, so there's not a lot of variety going on.  There's a very dirty, gross sound about the production that makes the album sound like it came directly from the underground, ready for vengeance or some shit.  And in comparison to many a grindcore album, this one makes a point of consistent and enjoyable riffs rather than being random-ass and overly technical like a lot of modern grind does, allowing their sound to be both fun and grounded for the metal fans AND the punk fans.  As well, the production never gets in the way of the band's playing.  No, it expands upon the heaviness, which is exactly what an album like this needs.  Speeds even fluctuate at an even pace, giving us enough time to enjoy what we have rather than just going off into 50 different universes in a single minute the way Doctor Strange does.  Still, this DOES mean that this is a developmental album rather than an attempt at real art, which is still a good thing considering that the practice easily paid off.

Now the internet says that this is slightly worse than the two Carcass albums everyone knows and loves: Heartwork and Necroticism.  However, I'd say this is about on par with Torn Arteries.  It's a good album that proved that the band knew what they wanted at the time, but it's also a reminder that Carcass made the smart move on the next album and expanded their sound away from goregrind.  The thing is, while this is a fun album with a successful vibe, all the riffage is flatout OWNED by Carcass's later work, so I wouldn't put this on the same pedestal others put it on.

75

Carcass - Reek of Putrification (1988)

Genres: Goregrind

In an earlier review for Carcass's second album, Symphony of Sickness, I mentioned that there was less of the melodic strength that made the third and fourth albums so beloved.  In this early goregrind release, as well as their debut, there's even less of that.  This is one of those somewhat common examples of early 80's metal albums compensating for lack of creativity with absolute brutality, the way earlier movies by Wes Craven were.  "Mature" content over substance.  Now the funny thing is, like Wes Craven, the band grew as their career progressed, so by the mid-90's this was basically nothing more than a historical example of how much they grew.  Despite a few cute tricks here and there, I predicted how the whole album would go after listening to Symphony of Sickness.  Now there may be some charm to have in the lo-fi production.  It's certainly a heavy piece.  But the production also muddles things that shouldn't be muddled, which cements yet another weak point in comparison to future works.  Basically, this overly "adult" album amounts to little more than an imitation album made by a bunch of children who think all it takes to be the best is to be different and "true to yourself" by "not giving into radio capitalism" or some shit like that.  Fortunately, this was the last time they ever sounded like this.  With 22 short tracks, they found a way to make a 37-minute album way too damn long.

52