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Genre: Goregrind Record Label: Rotten Roll Rex Release Date: 2008 Track list: Band Website: Haemorrhage
Genre: Pornogrind Record Label: Rotten Roll Rex Release Date: 2008 Track list: Band Website: Dead |
Dead/Haemorrhage - Split CD
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| Haemorrhage: Luisma - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals Ramón Checa - Bass Lugubrious - Vocals Ana - Rhythm Guitar Daniel Rojas López - Drums |
Dead: Dany.Dead - Guitar / Vox Uwe.Dead - Bass / Vox Ali.Dead - Drums / Vox |
German luminaries Dead have been usin' their distinctive brand of sordid Pornogrind to perform countless acts of audio frottage and dry humpment upon your leg and lugs since their messy lil' vinyls of the early 90s, and Spanish legends Haemorrhage have been at it for years too, hackin' away at the putrid ol' Goregrind cadaver and slappin' you all about the place with the many misshapen appendages that they've carved up, lopped off and embalmed in jars durin' their eighteen year existence. Between them, they've done about fifty releases, which of course include a stack o' split albums, twinnin' their material with that of Gut, Regurgitate, Depression, Denak, Butcher ABC, Meatshits etc so here they are at last, sharin' play surface on a split CD all of their own!
Despite the order in which the bands appear ‘pon the cover-spine, it's Haemorrhage who open, with their latest batch o' tracks, all six of which are drenched in their hallmark splatter; decay-caked guitar churnin' off simplistic yet noggin-besotting riffs, with minimal yet inescapable blast ‘n' roll drumwork and poundin' bass quake, completed by the classick Goregrind vox format, viz., phlegm-laden glottal squeals, gut rupturin' guttural growls and delectable pitchshifted gob-sludge! Vacuum packed with Patho/Gore cheeze themes, Hurrah! Even though this is archetypal Haemorrhage stuff, with all the bile-splashed boxed ticked, I still found it vastly entertainin'; the openin' number "Chainsaw Necrotomy" had me singin' along immediately! Guitars chiefly consist of cyclical string throttle, the crude, corrosive riffs shearin' yer ears like spluttery, overheated chainsaws, changin' buzz-speeds a handful of times per song, but always at just the right moment and achievin' optimal catchiness and cohesion, but performed loosely enough to avoid any crap sterility, with the rhythm section rumblin' along extremely jollily, peppered with blasts but without drownin' out an entire part with ultra-fast bashment, leavin' the vox to add the putrefied icin' to this gore-caked cake.
In terms of influences, it's sure as eggs is eggs that Carcass is the main inspiration for this pathological hideosity, Symphonies o' Sickness bein' the key thing, but obviously covered with fuzzy patches o' Reek…., plus classick Pathologist. Often, it comes across like stuff on Gore Metal by Exhumed, but with the thick, metallic sound substituted for a slackened style that gives it a chainsaw-scrapyard testin'-area feel. Further fuzz comes in the form of rough, Repulsion-like riffin', and maybe some o' the other Earache stuff from the same era as the abovementioned Carcass opuses, maybe the self-titled Old Lady Drivers one and, inescapably, the Napalm Death stuff from that time too.
An amusin' rework of "I'm a Pathologist" from the timeless singalong gorefest Anatomical Inferno can also be found on here, the new renderin' entitled "You're Not a Pathologist"! It doesn't sound too much like the original, so I guess it's not really an updated edition, just a tune with a similar name.
Next, Pornogrind pioneers Dead give us their latest work; three brand new tunes and a cover. Short, but very sweet indeed. With material focused squarely upon throbbin' grooves, rhythmic gut-churn and bawdy lyrics, Dead have, much like Haemorrhage, never taken themselves seriously in the slightest, and play sordid tunes as an outlet for their base ideas, even quotin' veteran pornographer Rocco Seffredi as one of their main influences! Hahaha! The songs are fun, the lyrics are silly; you just know you're in for a good time with Dead stuff, and this is possibly some of their best material for ages.
Much like Haemorrhage, the tunes are smoothly digestible and comfortably excreted, but Dead of course place much more focus upon lewd grooves and lecherous vox. Rather than crammin' stuff in, their flea-bitten riffs and rotten vox have more time to breathe, and the breath they expel reeks of ale, fags and pickled eggs! The exhalations of a pervert! You get enough fast, powerful bits as well, which generally consist of similar chordwork to the slower parts, only the strings get choked and bedraggled beyond belief by a full throttle plectrum, resultin' in gunmetal powerstrum. There's also some very crunchy, lurchin' sections made from a couple o' roarin' chords, which are nice. The drums are surprisingly blast heavy, often with the staccato rattle continuin' far beyond the point at which you may've expected the arrival of a more restrained rhythm. Of course, there's mid-paced catchy clatter aplenty, but the patterns don't rely too heavily upon that, addin' plenty of reassuring fills, the completed measure often then capped with further blasts, keepin' the overall work well clear of oompha-oompha territory, frequent excursions into which obviously bein' the key folly of many a lesser Pornogrind band, but Dead choose not to overindulge in braindead tub-thump, and it works a treat. On top, the vox are delivered with expertise, plenty o' power, with that scruffy gruffness that suits the nature of the tunes, skippin' up and down the range from chyme-churnin' gutturals up to phlegm-filled snarls.
Like Haemorrhage, the main influence here is vintage Carcass, takin' their favourite bits of the first two albums, but addin' greater accessibility and whimsical filth via catchier bits akin to Death/Goregrind stuff, mainly key works released circa 1990 when Dead first decided to play in such a style, definitely Pungent Stench, maybe Blood and perhaps Sexorcist. Despite the both bands havin' the same kind of perverted approach, there's only a few musical connections with their old friends Gut, seein' as Dead, though often unkempt, never let anything as sloppy as "Hyper-Intestinal Vulva Desecration" or "Spermany's Most Wanted" slip out of their song-holes. There's a cover of a song by Black Task, a very old Thrash Metal band, who I haven't heard, so I can't pass any kind o' judgment on the Dead version, but it's a nice song nonetheless.
The presentation gives this release a rather old skool appearance, what with the corny pastel piece on one side, depictin' a hulkin', chainsaw brandishin' character in emerald green scrubs, loomin' over a bitch in a bath, and the black and white fuzzy focus of the Dead-lady plus horribly blurry logo on the other. The two sets of lyrics inside slither against each other wonderfully. Haemorrhage of course opt for their tried and tested goreformula of dramatic scenes of violent medical malpractice and vivid, wordulent descriptions of diseases and other unpleasant conditions, but replete with clever rhyme and tongue in cheekedness, while Dead tell us tales of funny debauchery, includin' messy fellatio, multiple penetration and, of course, haphazard, non-consensual intercourse.
Production? Exactly the kind o' clear yet scuffed sound I wanted!
I was worried that this would be one of those CDs that has much novelty at first, what with it bein' two old favourites together at last on a split, then the fun crumbles soon after when you realize it's not much good after all, but that's certainly not the case here. Despite stayin' very close to their goreified blueprint, Haemorrhage are as fun and catchy as ever, and Dead have come up with some of their most rounded songs thusfar! Shame it's so short, six from Haemorrhage and half as many from Dead isn't nearly enough. Good though.
September 5th, 2008
    
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