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Country: Czech Republic Release Date: 2004 Record Label: Kharaanus Productions Track list: Band Website: Ahumado Granujo |
Ahumado Granujo - Chemical Holocaust
Yes, it's that notorious Czech ‘gorecore' band Ahumado Granujo. With a dumb sounding name like that, no one (except perhaps people from that region) would imagine even in their wildest trips that they happen to be one of the most modern sounding grind bands of the scene today. But it wasn't always like that; like many other bands, they too picked up their instruments only to express their love towards the ripe and infamously horny German band Gut and dedicated their first split with Utopia titled Intrumenta Chirurgica entirely to them. Upon hearing the ‘termixes' at the end of their lengthy side of that split, however, it appeared that they were distracted by some modern clubbing girls. And expectedly, those slick, slutty girls lured them and dragged them to clubs and discs with them and this fact was exposed on their jaw-dropping full length debut, Splatter-Tekk. I'm not talking about cyber-grind music secretly created by those lonely bedroom bands, oh no, these guys have used actual fucking techno/electronic parts in their music. It raised more than just eyebrows and for that reason it was reissued by the respectable Bizarre Leprous Productions after being originally released by the lesser known Downfall Records. Later I came to know that it was another Czech label, Kharaanus Productions, who have put out their second full length album under the name of Chemical Holocaust, and open-minded freaks like me made no hesitation to order it and waited in glittery costumes to greet it in the mail. Chemical Holocaust kicks off with “Bender” which has a prominent riff from the first Last Days of Humanity album but the song ends quickly leaving you tense. The second song “Zoodiac” commences with a large groovy CBT riff but there is still no trace of techno which made me put my fingers in my mouth. It's the third song“Trip Off” that starts off with their much anticipated electronic moment, which left me triumphant and at the same time reminded me that they still hadn't stopped visiting discos and clubs with those now envious girls, and after checking that no one was around, I gave my sign of approval by nodding my head sideways to its beats. Apart from the still prevalent strong Gut influence, I could hear plenty of Dead Infection parts (from A Chapter of Accidents) but unfortunately they don't flow as smoothly as I would've liked and are jarring and thus not very delectable. Dead Infection and Squash Bowels on the other hand do it all too well which made me realise that this album lacks gore - which wasn't the case with their debut. Also I observed that the songs here were weaker in comparison to it, where even without the electronic bits they were good enough to warrant repeat listens, and that is something I can't confidently say about this one. Another thing I'd like to state is that the production on Chemical Holocaust is pretty good but sounds slightly rigid and umm..cranky in comparison with the bombastic production of Splatter-Tekk. It's not just those hep girls that Ahumado Granujo guys have been hanging out with, as apparently, they've been spending quite some time with their weird country mates Contrastic as well. I've reached that conclusion because Chemical Holocaust often displays the unique quirkiness of the Self-titled Contrastic album, with one being able to hear similar off-beat parts and weird improvisations. All this and more makes Chemical Holocaust their most “original” sounding material and that's usually a good thing to hear from any band. Just to give you readers a better idea or to clarify the doubts of those who haven't heard this band yet, Ahumado Granujo do not have a drum machine and neither do their drums have an industrial sound like say on the first The Berzerker album. They just have the standard speed-crazed (in)human drumming that you would expect from this type of music which here is accentuated by froggy vocals. Like before, Ahumado Granujo spoil us with a few covers like a CBT one - not very surprising as they have influenced this band to a sizable extent - and a cool Disrupt cover of “A Life's A Life” which happens to be one of my favourite songs from their killer album, Unrest. Strangely, there is also an otherwise unrecognizable version of a Krisiun song. The last two songs are complete tekkno and much to your disgust, I like them (actually only the first one, the second one is irritating). Overall, these electronic parts used by Ahumado Granujo can be pretty cool and sometimes sound like the soundtrack of those rad car racing games. Listening to them, stylish shades will appear over your nose, your body will tone itself into a lean muscular shape and your hands will grab both the ears of the person closest to you and will shake his/her head jerkily as if steering a sports car. It's only when this part/song ends or if you're loudly slapped by that person that you fall back to your embarrassing reality. So yeah, Ahumado Granujo is for open-minded grind freaks only - the kind who can tolerate electronic bits in their music. Others who are tired of hearing merely the same grind music being played under different band names could also give this relatively eccentric band a shot. Where Splatter-Tekk fans are concerned, they're likely be disappointed as that one was more gory, catchy and hard-hitting while this one is like a stripped down version and a bit weird, but hey on the other hand it's also more original and interesting!
August 11th, 2005 |
    
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