Review by Daniel for Exulceration / Putrid Offal - Exulceration / Putrid Offal (1991)

This extremely underground split release is one that I picked up through the tape trading scene back in the day but have rarely heard mentioned since. I was recently reminded of it when I stumbled over it on another website where it was having large amounts of praise heaped on it but I found that I couldn’t remember anything terribly positive about it so I thought I’d revisit it to see what the fuss was all about. The record was released by Dutch label Sicktone Records & features two three-piece artists, neither of which had achieved a full-length album yet or would amount to much afterwards either. The two bands sound quite different from each other but some of that is due to the vastly different production jobs as they share many of the same influences. Let’s take a look at the release in a little more detail.

Exulceration were a Swiss goregrind band that specialized in a sound that seems to have been borrowed from Carcass’ “Reek of Putrefaction” & the early Xysma releases. The production job on their "Infernal Disgust" E.P. is pretty thin & weak which doesn’t help the band’s cause but they don’t really possess the skills to pull this material off anyway in my opinion. The poor drumming doesn’t help much at all as it leaves everything sounding very messy & those vocoded vocals simply make the whole thing sound a little bit childish too but then… I generally feel the same way about most goregrind releases to be fair. The side made up of French deathgrind outfit Putrid Offal's "Premature Necropsy" E.P. is a different story altogether as the filthy & noticeably thicker production job really suits the band’s sound which is similar to “Symphonies of Sickness”-period Carcass & Sweden’s Necrony. I absolutely love the guitar tone for this style of music as it gives it that graveyard atmosphere that I generally look for. The riffs & vocals are both of a very decent standard &, once again, it’s only the fairly incompetent drumming that lets Putrid Offal down a bit here. Thankfully though, they have a little more about them than Exulceration did which allows me to see past that flaw & to gain a fair bit of enjoyment out of the B side overall.

Look, I’m not sure if it’s just a taste thing or not but I can’t see that this split release is in any way essential, despite quite liking the Putrid Offal material. In fact, I wouldn’t even call the B side essential listening so I can’t say that I’m surprised that this record has stayed largely in the underground. It may appeal to those that get off on an ultra-primitive, DYI style of grindcore but I think this will be the last time our paths cross to be brutally honest.

For fans of Carcass, Xysma & Necrony.