Audio Kollaps "Music From an Extreme, Sick World" CD
[Crimes Against Humanity]
Here's a new EP from this raging German act that includes three cuts from their split 7" with Wolfbrigade as a bonus. I was a fan of their last full-length, and despite a slightly raw sound this material is along similar lines (built on a foundation of textbook grindcore in the best possible way), but rather than tossing in more of a hardcore/punk influence, these songs are absolutely littered with classic 80's thrash metal riffs of the German variety. So imagine mixing Terrorizer's "World Downfall" with Kreator's "Terrible Certainty" or something like that, and this would be the end result. Aggressively growled low vocal shouts (with some very subtle higher screams as an occasional backing), lots of high-speed riffing, killer midpaced thrash breaks, and a really solid sense of songwriting ability based more on feel than worrying about being extreme or super fast. "Fick Die USA" runs a mere 28 seconds and hits slower speeds than anything else for the first half before blazing through the remaining seconds, "Kopflos" is total fucking thrash (complete with a sloppy lead break), "Eiszeit" has some raging tremolo picking with subtle discordance that arguably borders on a black metal influence, etc. After the three bonus tracks there's an unlisted song, but I don't know what the deal is there. It has more of crust punk feel, so I think it might be the cover they recorded for a Rattus tribute? It's a damn good song, whatever it is. As mentioned the recording is on the raw side, so the guitar tone can definitely get choppy and I'm not making out much bass, but for the most part things do sound consistent, and I'm not bothered by it. I could honestly probably be convinced if someone told me this was a lost recording session from a European thrash band circa 1986 - 1988 or something like that, just with slightly more aggressive vocals. The same goes for the bonus tracks, which are a tad muddier and have barely deeper vocals with more of a barked delivery, but still sound fine in the grand scheme of things. The layout's alright. The cover is set up like an "Apocalypse Now" movie poster, and the photos of the band appearing to have been individually shot in the heads are nice, though some of the other images and arrangements are definitely a little crude and rough around the edges. The lyrics are easy to read though, in German with English translations, all dealing with war, power, oppression, paranoia, and other such threads associated with the current political state of the world (specifically with regards to the US). Good stuff. I like this just a smidge better than their last full-length. Fans of old school thrash metal and first-rate grindcore should look into this for sure. (7/10)
Running time - 25:16, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Aussenwelt, Bastarde Auf Leichenbergen, Kopflos, Schwadronen Des Todes]
Crimes Against Humanity Records - http://www.cahrecords.com

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