Review by Chris Van Etten for Scorn - Vae Solis (1992)

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.