Review by SilentScream213 for Nasum - Helvete (2003)

Among Metal genres, Grindcore and its subgenres are often among my least favorite comparatively. Aside from Deathgrind, which usually features prominent riffs, I find the noisy, dissonant, chaotic structures laden with non-stop blast beating simply… unpleasant most of the time. Even when the riffs are good, they can struggle to be heard over the oppressive drumming, vocals usually screaming but buried, every aspect of the music competing with each other to be perceived resulting in a mess of noise.

Nasum has consistently been one of the stronger Grindcore bands I’ve listened to, but third album Helvete easily catapulted into my top Grindcore albums of all time. The entire album is played fantastically, with tremendous technicality and precision ensuring the music is manic, chaotic, but never messy. Some songs feature tempo changes, chord progression, lead guitar, calmer sections (by Grindcore standards), all things that are almost always absent from the genre. This prevents the album from ever becoming tiring or too oppressive. 

And goodness gracious, the production. This is the best production I’ve ever heard for a Grindcore album. I can hear every instrument clearly, even when the band is truly going for it. The vocals are powerful but not piercing nor buried, perfectly placed in the mix. And all this without sounding “clean” or sterile in the slightest. Magnificent job there.

Great songwriting. Great performances. Great production. No bad songs, no weak points. The only reason it doesn’t get higher marks is because, typical of a Grindcore album, it doesn’t feature any truly standout songs that I want to listen to forever. I can’t really fault the band so much as it’s just incredibly difficult to make a Grindcore song true to the genre that I really adore (although Pig Destroyer have managed to do it).