The debut full-length from this Swedish group marks a more extreme turn for their brand of caustic and abrasive material. The bulk of the songs are very rhythmic, but based more around frantic bursts of speed with lots of thick, discordant textures and clashing chords, fronted by excellent vocal screams - thus making it a lot different from most bands of this nature in that the songs are faster and shorter than perhaps anticipated. There are some more moderately paced chord progressions on occasion, and I actually enjoy such moments as they give the basslines more room to breathe, as well as allowing the sick vocal textures to show through. Layers of electronic noise are also employed, and rather tactfully I might add, as they blend in with caustic tones of certain guitar parts and make things sound thicker and busier without necessarily going too far and making it messy or too hard to discern what's happening. In "Arsenic" the electronic elements actually get very subtly melodic, which is interesting since the majority of the songs lack that angle. "Den Obligatoriska Olyckliga Historien," takes that even further by adding melody to both the guitar parts and the synths, which really jumps out and increases the force of the track exponentially. The middle of the record is really fucking phenomenal in its destructive force, as each track starts to get stronger and more menacing, climaxing with the spacious and eclectic "Why They Deserve to Die" with its driving tempos, eerie clean guitars and far more discordant arpeggios. This was all produced by Mieszko from Nasum, and actually sounds pretty good. His penchant for bringing out more upper midrange tones is certainly evident which is both good and bad in that there are lots of superb textures, but the bass tone is certainly not brought forth enough. The drums sound excellent however, and the kicks are very dense and warm. If I could change anything I would simply thicken up the vocals and give the bass more prominence, perhaps being careful to make sure the electronics are slightly behind the guitars. Appropriately enough the glossy digipack uses lots of browns and corroded textures that in a sense meet up with the whole "ocean of diarrhea" imagery from the record title. I like the lyrics because they're stripped down and honest, and that's refreshing: "The obligatory story of a broken heart is resounding in the back of my head, over and over again. The same old bullshit story. The same old bullshit ending. The same old bullshit..." Admittedly some of these songs aren't exactly easy listening, if you know what I mean. But the less chaotic or biting moments that let the slower, more sinister rhythms play a larger role are superb. They're certainly not stagnating, and I would hope to see them get a bit more attention down the line.
[Northpost]
Running time - 32:02, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Den Obligatoriska Olyckliga Historien, The Rest of Me, Sir James Dallas Egbert III, As My Last Breath]
Miss Mofet - http://www.missmofet.com
