Gorerotted "Only Tools and Corpses" CD
[Metal Blade]
Here's some wild and crazy gore grind from the UK with tons of blasting speeds and some riffing that has more in common with straight up brutal death metal, plus layered vocals with lots of trades between over the top low growls, high screams, and everything in between. Some of the vocal styles get on my nerves, I prefer the lower midrange growls over the barked higher screams or slobbering ultra low growls, but musically everything is pretty fucking tight and I actually like it a lot. From a recording standpoint the drums are way too rigid (especially the snare and the kicks) and some of the busier vocal moments are a little overpowering, but the guitar tone is really good and I like the bass presence. I'd like the bass to be even more prominent, but toning down the vocals a smidge and using more natural drums tones would be a major improvement. They've got some killer fucking riffs, though. The midpaced rhythms in "Fuck Your Arse With Broken Glass" are right on, as are the classic death metal runs in "Masticated by the Spasticated" and the awesome "To Catch a Killer". The way they constantly layer vocals and switch between vocal styles actually adds a lot of energy to the tracks as well, I just wish they could get a slightly better handle on it so it wouldn't become distracting so often. The brightly colored over the top gore illustration on the cover almost looks more like a Gwar record than anything, but it's cool. The rest of the layout's alright, but the band photos can get really cheesy sometimes. Lyrics? Well... uhhh, you know... they suck. Clearly the band is having fun, and that's fine and dandy, but, well... I can't really swing with lines like, "Maggots munching near my dick, Makes me cum, makes me sick," you know? That's just too silly and base level for me. It's got that perverse nursery rhyme thing going on, and, well... I'd even prefer Cannibal Corpse styled lyrics over that stuff. Technically it makes no difference since you can't make out a damn word anyway, but... whatever. This is pretty good stuff, the only thing that wears on my nerves after awhile is the constant use of speed without a whole lot of variation. A handful of the songs blend speed with memorable riffs or use speed in a way that stands out, but the bulk of the record is a blur of sorts. A well played blur, I'll give 'em that, but it needs something more to hold my attention. (6/10)
Running time - 27:57, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: Fuck Your Arse With Broken Glass, Masticated by the Spasticated, To Catch a Killer]
Metal Blade Records - http://www.metalblade.com

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