Rating: 8.1

Country: USA

Genre: Brutal Death Metal

Record Label: Paragon Records

Release Date: 2008

Track list:
1. Muay Thai Ladyboys 02:14
2. Bestial Castration 02:10
3. Push 02:28
4. Zombies 03:01
5. In Silence...Revel In Madness 03:06
6. Mad 02:46
7. Mustache 03:39
8. A Poem 03:04
9. I Am Envy 03:24
10. Tetsuo 40:51

Total playing time 1:06:43

Band Website: Copremesis

Copremesis - Muay Thai Ladyboys

Alex Isaac Beck - Guitar, Vocals
Paulo Henri Paguntalan - Guitar, Vocals
Ian Jacyszyn - Drums

In addition to current and former members bein' shared with bands such as Biolich, Pillory, Animals Killin' People and Purulent, the New York outfit Copremesis features ex-DC writer Pooptastik, so the followin' evaluation might be a tricky one to pen, ‘cos I don't want it to come across as the textual equivalent of slurpular fellatio carried out behind the DC staff-room door whilst everyone else is busy in the office, unaware of the journalistic penilinctus goin' on back there.

Inside the parcel of some ol' Traumatized Records trade I did ages ago, amongst the Jokegrind I'd received in return for my own laughably bad recordings, was the sophomore Copremesis release, Demonstratin' the Fist, which, if I remember properly, was a fuzzily produced Death/Grind assault, full of dizzyin' gravities and anus-faced vox. Although it seemed like little more than sloppy heap o' Brodequin and Devourment with bits of Foetopsy and Last Days of Humanity stuck in it, I still enjoyed becomin' disorientated by that muggily represented mass of blastulated rattle, sledgehammer slams and total vocal repugnance. I've missed their last couple o' releases, so this is all I have to compare Muay Thai Ladyboys to; Demonstratin'… only came out in 2003, but the Brutal Death scene has putrefied beyond belief since then, so lets see if Copremesis can exhale any fresh breath into its baggy, weathered lungs.

After the first couple o' bars, I thought this was goin' to be very much like Demonstratin'… just with a crystal clear production, and was almost expectin' a batch o' tracks identical to everything else festerin' away in the towerin', fly infested coprolith that now serves as the Brutal Death Metal scene. However! Just a minute or two later, their creativity, focus and skills began to glisten and glimmer like a precious stone embedded in an enormous pile o' shite! Yes, Muay Thai Ladyboys has stock-chug, but rather than draggin' their work into a textureless mess by just bashin' away at very slight variations upon a single pattern played upon the bottom three frets and tryin' to conceal them with hyper-rattle and elongated burbles, the band experiment with a nice variety of flashy little tricks, tartin' up the tunes with colourful twists ‘n' turns. The guitars buffer the chugment with some crushy judder, expeditious shreddin' and loose, lurchin' segments and lustrous solos, the drums bring in some tightly executed gravs, plenty o' bright, attention grabbin' cymbal catches and nice footwork, and the vox, whilst chiefly restricted to extremely low pitches, still disgorge a decent array of decadent gutturals, resonant stomach rupturement, swine-like gob-squall, larnygeal fry-up and other bizarre sounds. Although there is a bit of compositional grab-baggery at work here, the songs are still structured flowingly and satisfyingly; the parts are arranged in such a way that their overall momentum is intact throughout, with solid, confident transitions ‘tween each, thus preventin' it from becomin' a just a stack o' chugs and slams with a few twiddly bits wedged in between them. Not exasperatingly predictable but not impenetrably technical either; nice stuff.

In terms of influences, there are sizeable smudges of bands that sticksmen Mr. J Engman or C ‘Cpt. Killdrums' Walls have performed or continue to perform in on here, such as Artery Eruption, Liturgy, Brodequin and maybe Pustulated, but there's also more involved bits like something by someone like Flesh Consumed, plus some wonderfully contrastin' sections o' lovely ol' old skool Death that can come out soundin' like a cross between Immolation and Autopsy! I can hear similar ideas to bands from the Colombian Brutal Death scene with which current and previous members of Copremesis are connected with, like Amputated Genitals and Purulent etc. I think I can also make out a few bits of Swedish Brutal Death such as Stabwound and Soils o' Fate, the latter especially prominent in the catchy vox patterns, which also feature some inhuman wurgly sounds akin to those burbled by Neil Ruppert (but perhaps a bit more like those in his Plerosis project than those in Dyscrasia), or probably closer to Biolich type vox, which is no surprise really given that, as I noted from their MetalArchives.com entry, Will Smith (no, not the Fresh Prince) contributes to this work, so that must be him there. Two influences are extremely clear from the closin' song, a Technical/Brutal Death double feature, which opens with a jagged, whirrin' Immo style number to make Dolan and friends blush, then closes with somethin' very similar to Vomit Remnants indeed, possibly somethin' from Indefensible Vehemence?

Whilst browsin' their official site, I noticed some intriguin' behind-the-scenes pics of the recordin' sessions, showin' a DIY yet rather professional approach to sound production, with shots of them recordin' bass in a neat lil' studio, guitar in a well-stocked livin' room and layin' down the blasts in a large hall (plus a shot of some mouth-waterin' white chocolate liqueur !). Their hard work has certainly paid off, ‘cos this sounds crisp, fresh and airy, which is good cos it highlights the more intricate bits, but does remove a bit bulkiness from the chug sections, which is shame.

The cover artwork and inlay design are very good, but definitely of an acquired taste. In keepin' with the title concept, the front has rather a delicate renderin' of a fair, slender shemale character, unclad except for boxin' gloves, with an enormous knobbly member with an appearance that suggests extreme penile elephantiasis, while the inside has a selection of soft-porn lady-boy snaps for you to study, if you're into that kind o' thing.

Overall then, this is a very good interpretation of Brutal Death, tattooin' the well-worn blueprint with much-needed splashes of inspiration and innovation. Not enough to completely overhaul and redefine the entire style, but plenty to keep this an interestin', entertainin' listen. Go get.

August 20th, 2008