Eight tracks of rather typical grindcore from this bass-less Maryland trio. It's not bad, it's competently performed and recorded, I'm just not really into the songwriting. For the most part it's your usual mix of guttural growls and cackled screams with lots of frantic changes between semi technical note-based runs and chunkier chords. Some of the midpaced rhythms have more of a death metal vibe, whereas some of the chaotic riffery leans towards annoying metalcore, etc. A couple of the songs have very succinct chord progressions that even border on super aggressive old school hardcore, but the bulk of it's straight up grind. Among some of the finer moments: "Letter Bomb to Real Estate Company is Less Sign Distribution But More Economic Value for Me" has a killer old school thrash breakdown for a brief moment, "The System Undiagnosed" kick out some brutal slow rhythms with nice vocal layering, etc. The recording's fine for what they're doing. It's not perfect, but it's clear and forceful. The fact that there's no bassist makes no difference at all. The drums sound pretty good, the guitars are a little raw but work out just fine, and the vocals are mixed in well against the instruments. I'm personally not into that whole frantic screaming thing because I find it to be irritating and lacking in force, but whatever. The CD-R comes with a xeroxed insert complete with some kung fu artwork and similar imagery screenprinted on the face of the disc in black and yellow. There's not much to it other than that, so take it for what it is. Apparently it's available on vinyl from Punks Before Profit Records as well, so... maybe that's a more suitable format? This is okay, I'm just bored by it. No one song really jumps out at me, though there are no bad songs, but it's really just occasional riffs here and there that really beef if it up. These guys have a few split 7"s out now with a shitload more planned, so maybe they'll hit me a little harder at some point down the road?
[self-released]
Running time - 11:50, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: they all have their moments, but no single track stands out]
Magrudergrind - http://www.magrudergrind.com
