My Minds Mine "48 Reasons to Leave This Planet" CD
[Selfmadegod]
As the awesomely bitter title of this CD should suggest to anyone who's not a total moron, this is the complete discography of this now defunct grindcore band from Holland, who existed from 1995 - 2002. Included are the tracks from the "Unseen World" 7"; the split 10" with Head Hits Concrete; split 7"s with Idiocy of Grotesque, Unholy Grave, and Violent Headache; one compilation song; a couple of unreleased tracks; and a live set from December of 2000. You're in for tons of blasting speed, a few solid breakdowns, lots of crossover thrash fury, and vocals that jump from midrange growls and screams to higher-pitched yells and shrieks. They've got almost as much in common with early Brutal Truth as they do with classic Napalm Death, though they tend to refrain from sounding like either band. I'm really into this. In my opinion this is classic grindcore in its finest form, with a few songs bordering on being noisy, a handful of downright catchy tracks, and a distinct hardcore/punk edge poking its head out from time to time. A few covers are included amidst it all, those being "Repeat at Length" by S.O.B., "Idiocy of Grotesque" (originally performed by the band of the same name), and two version of Heresy's "Face Up to It" (one studio, one live). The recordings are pretty rugged at times, but it all fits and makes sense, and it sounds good if you ask me. It's definitely pissed off and in your face, with a good level of heaviness and dirtiness. And even though it's not what I would call clear per se, you can hear all of the individual instruments, and there are damn sure no holes in the mix. The sound quality is fairly close between sessions as well. There are minor discrepancies at times, but the disc flows well and there aren't any major inconsistencies between any of the releases' tracks. The live set is another story, as things are muffled and hard to discern - but the entire set lasts less than six minutes, so fuck it. The layout is largely black and white with a few color band shots collaged about. The front cover folds out into a six-panel insert with a collage of photos and such on the front, and a slew of show flyers on the inner spread. Sadly not a shred of lyrics are included. I guess it would've been hard to cram 48 tracks worth of lyrics in there, but I bet they could've pulled it off. Oh well. In the end I honestly find the layout to be sub-par, but... I can get over that. This is good stuff. Grindcore aficionados would be best advised to look into this. I don't feel like this band got enough attention when they were around, and I can't help but wonder why that was the case based on the strengths of this collection. (7/10)
Running time - 41:31, Tracks: 48
[Notable tracks: Soul Cries, Fry Them, Monster Race, Repeat at Length, Short Cut Life, My Minds Mine, Torture Me Some More, Face Up To It]
Selfmadegod Records - http://www.selfmadegod.com

This review has been displayed 2550 times.