Reviews list for Scorn - Vae Solis (1992)

It's interesting how the creators of the first side of Napalm Death's Scum, known as the founding album of grindcore, would go on to make their own industrial metal acts. Justin Broadrick would focus on Godflesh, and Mick Harris and Nick Bullen would create... SCORN.

The debut album from this project fits well at home in the Earache label. Although Vae Solis mostly shows its industrial direction, there are slight traces of thrashy death metal that Harris was moving away from for the project. This is heard vocally from Bullen's growls though they're not too far from Broadrick's vocals. Also giving the album a Godflesh vibe is the guitar contributions from Broadrick. However, most of what happens in the album is strong spacey ambience with occasional reverb within the metal.

"Spasm" rolls with a bit of thrash similar to Meshuggah at that time, while staying firmly in industrial metal. One of the more basic Godflesh-sounding tracks is "Suck and Eat You". There's more of the fast thrash in "Hit", having a great connection to Napalm Death in the band's punky side rather than their hyperspeed.

There's some extra percussion used in "Walls of My Heart". The single "Lick Forever Dog" is not really worth DJ usage but it's one of the best of the album. "Thoughts of Escape" is another Godflesh-like tune. The exceptional "Deep in - Eaten Over and Over" is one of the most dreadful-sounding tracks I've heard in industrial metal, almost like funeral doom before the genre was fully developed, though some might be reminded more of Swans than Skepticism. A solid break from the fast pounders!

"On Ice" is a bit sh*tty but still OK. "Heavy Blood" is more mid-paced, but it slowly rises in heaviness, sounding like Godflesh at that time mixed with one of the slower and more melodic Fear Factory ballads. The album rating would've been higher if not for the filler CD bonus tracks, which I don't wanna mention, and the only one of the bonus tracks I enjoy is "Scum After Death". Napalm Death fans might recognize the opening bass from their song "Scum". The 3 voice samples that appear in the song are from I Drink Your Blood: "Do we pray?" "Satan was an acid head." "Together we'll all freak out!"

Bullen's vocals are what stand out in the original tracks, ranging from direct singing to deathly snarls. Again I would've given the album a higher rating if I was only rating the LP edition, which is filled with decently solid industrial metal that can sometimes be brutal or ambient....

Favorites: "Hit", "Lick Forever Dog", "Deep in - Eaten Over and Over", "Heavy Blood", "Scum After Death"

Scorn is the brainchild of Nik Bullen and Mick Harris, both formerly of Napalm Death. This album also features Justin Broadrick on guitar, meaning that the line-up is exactly the same as side one of ND’s classic “Scum” LP. Of course, this is a very different beast. On “Vae Solis,” Scorn sound a lot like Broadrick’s primary band at the time, Godflesh. While the comparison is unavoidable, there are differences. First of all, there is some SERIOUS low end on this fucker. In fact, the heavy low end is one (and possibly the only) element that ties this era of Scorn with pseudo-dubstep style Harris would utilize almost 30 years later (Bullen only lasted a few more records). But back to this record: the sound  and production are AWESOME. Huge, deep and brutal. The opening track “Spasm” is like being stomped to death to by English thugs in an abandoned morgue. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the album isn’t as good. They pulled of a killer sound and vibe - to their credit, I think this is more brutal than any of the Godflesh material - but the songs are kind of... meh. The Swans influence is very strong especially on the vox, which can sound cold and mean (particularly on “Walls of My Heart,” which is my 2nd favorite track for some reason), but sometimes are just dull. I went back and forth a lot deciding what to rate this, but I’m giving it a thumbs up (just barely) because the sound/vibe/flavor is so good, even if the songwriting is a little lacking. Let me put it this way: at some point, I’ll be in the mood to listen to this, and this specifically, because of the cold abuse it provides. One more thing: the CD version has 4 tracks the cassette and vinyl do not, including a dub reworking of the title track to  “Scum,” which is a cool acknowledgement of their past.