Engorged/Gruesome Stuff Relish "Split" CD
[Last House on the Right]
Engorged opens up this insanely brief split disc with some of their most effective material to date, if for no other reason than they crank out five tracks in a mere seven minutes! These songs are more traditionally gore grind oriented than their more recent output, coming off with a stronger hint of Carcass worship in the use of thick, raw recording tones, lots of guttural growls, short songs, and sparse melody. "The Crate" is a more memorable piece - midpaced at the start and using faster vocal patterns with a good sense of energy, and "Lonesome Death" makes the best use of speed blended with killer midpaced breaks. As is often the case with this band the recording is an issue, though. It sounds pretty good for what it is, but it's muddy and quiet compared to their partners on this split, and therefore it can be overshadowed. Gruesome Stuff Relish (Spain) follows with a mere three tracks in a very similar vein, but as mentioned their recording is heavier and clearer, giving the vocals much more of a nasty texture and letting the songs possess more overall punch. The constant vocal layering can get old after awhile because it's way over the top and breaks up the flow, but the riffs are pretty damn good so they definitely write solid tunes. They close with a cover of "After Accident" by Dead Infection, a perfect fit for the band in its similarities to their own work, albeit a little slower and with more of a groove to the rhythms. The layout keeps it simple with violent cartoon-ish artwork in keeping with the genre's lighter side (i.e. no one's taking themselves too seriously), though admittedly the inner spread is a little random - opting for flyers and a few tiny photos or other such contents rather than lyrics or what have you. Not a bad split by any means, certainly a good pairing, and it's over in a flash (which still surprises me - I though for sure it'd be at least 20 minutes or so). My assessment is that it's one more for the diehard fans, but... hey, who knows? There's definitely value to a number of these tracks. (6/10)
Running time - 12:31, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Lonesome Death, The Crate, The Plague, After Accident]
Last House on the Right - lasthouseonright@aol.com

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