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Release Date: 2007 Record Label: Grindhead Records Track list:
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Embalming Theatre/Hacksaw Surgery
- D-Composition
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| Embalming Theatre - Pat E. - Bass Esop Moced (Marco Gemmet) - Vocals A. Dice - Guitar P. Halous - Guitar Li Quescent - Drums |
Hacksaw Surgery - Harry The Slasher (Joel Patton) - Guitars, Vocals Johnny Screwdriver - Drums, Vocals Buzzsaw Bonefight - Bass, Vocals |
Good ol' Grindhead. You can always expect quite an eclectic batch of
releases, which in recent times often meant the product could come across as
fairly hit 'n' miss. The roster seems to have improved in of late though, an
indication of which bein' this double headed Death/Grind monster that's sure
to come slobberin' after you. Extremely productive Swiss band Embalmin'
Theatre submit their twenty third recordin' to the split, while new
Australian band Hacksaw Surgery complete the release usin' their debut
outin'.
I had the (dis)pleasure of reviewin' the very good album, The World is a
Stage.For Murder, by Embalmin' Theatre, so of course it was nice to catch
up with them. As usual, they incorporate a wide palette of underground
extreme music influences into their works. Their side is very good, with
big, imposing tunes makin' simple but highly effective transitions from
fast-paced, poundin' old skool Death Metal passages to sweaty, Crust-caked
balls-out sections, often usin' Hardcore Punk and Crossover Thrash
boisterousity infused with groove-driven Goregrind chunkiness or old skool
Grindcore rowdiness as highly sizeable segues. The material is fairly
straightforward, but has more than enough direction, drive 'n' flow within
its arrangements to carry each tune effectively and keep things interestin',
addin' plenty of variety but rememberin' to use a few infectious choruses,
which give the work a higher replayability value. The guitarwork scythes 'n'
swipes about the place, but with enough restraint to prevent it from
spillin'
into messy directionlessness, or worse, cluttered tech-bragadoccio, and
enough focus to keep the catchy bits comin'. The drummin', albeit horribly
triggered on the snare, brings vast bulkiness to the piece with its muscular
rhythms, whilst the vox add plenty of character with hoarse 'n' chesty
snarlin' which manages to retain plenty of power despite its careful
enunciation. Unfortunately, they don't seem to deliver quite the same kind
of big ol' catchy choruses that kept me goin' back to The World is a
Stage.,
(like "Bake the Baby!!").
In addition to very large chunks of classick Carcass, you'll also be able to
hear what Immolation would sound like if they did away with their
contortuplicated technical ambitions straight after recordin' 1991 debut
Dawn of Possession, then decided to pursue the same putrid Death Metal
path as their then-contemporaries Rottrevore and Dr. Shrinker too, borrowin'
a few Grindcore ideas from a couple of years before, namely the works of
Repulsion, Terrorizer, Blood and Hideous Mangleus. For me, the Theatre doubles as a Crust encrusted squat whenever the band crank out sawn up bits
of old skool UK luminaries like Doom (of course) and Extreme Noise Terror,
increasin' the tempos by weavin' in strands of Hardcore and Crossover such
as, say, S.O.B. and maybe a bit of Septic Death.
The production job makes the thing sound rounded, sizeable and punchy, with
corrosive riff clarity, roarin' low end, a concretous kit sound and a vox
recordin' that retains every drop of bile and chyme that emerged during the
recordin'. The levels of said bits are nice too, 'cos molten guitars get
churned up inside the solid, upfront drum sound until they boil over and get
splashed all over yer face, whilst the vox are stirred right into the
middle, pokin' up amidst the bubbles whenever required. Bein' a picky shite,
I would've preferred a much filthier, derelict operating-theatre sound
production in order to complement the Goregrind overtones, imagery and
moniker, as well as addin' further character.
This set of tracks is another winner from Embalmin' Theatre. If you're into
rotten ol' Death, Grind and Crust, then you'll certainly find plenty to suit
your tastes here, so perhaps you ought to try and find it. I wouldn't worry
too much if you miss this one though, I'm sure they'll have issued another
six or seven releases by the time you've read this. <8.0>
---
Hacksaw Surgery are a haphazard Death/Grind trio who submit a set of rather
scruffy, undeveloped songs, with ambitious songwriting marred by messy
delivery, incoherent sound and vastly varyin' talents among the individual
band members. It's not too bad for a debut recordin', but as part of a
split, it's like a bit of knotted ol' tatty rag crudely Sellotaped onto the
end of the opulent Embalmin' Theatre soft furnishings, which makes it a bit
difficult to get into. Mind you, even by itself it's below average at best!
The drums are clinical, clunky 'n' cluttery and unfortunately knock quite a
bit of life out of the compositions, with their last gasps bein' smothered
by a subterranean bass cloth. The vokills are substandard; rangin' from
disheveled guttural slapdash to wheezin' high-pitched strain. In comparison
to the embryonic musicianship elsewhere in the band, the guitarwork sounds
incongruous and precocious. It's a whirly fuzz blur of riffs pilin' into one
another and havin' trouble makin' themselves memorable, but generously
sprinkled with melodic guitar exercises; all gleamin' scalework and
solo-warble which, whilst obviously proficient, sound rather flippant and
out of place in among the lo-fi bile that forms the rest of the tracks. Had
they been in a more traditional Gore/Grind style, where any melody comes
across as mockin' and malevolent, and the notes are played randomly in a
quickfire fashion creatin' a kind of madcap insect feel, then they'd've
fitted into the work far more comfortably! Stylistically, this stuff lobs
gobs of Gore Metal together with chopped up bits of classick Goregrind,
addin' the retro-feel of the Thrash Metal end of the Razorback Records
roster. The material does have one or two enjoyable moments, but they're
buried so far under heaps of manure, the band will have to make many a trip
to the rehearsal room afore they design the correct tools to shovel it all
out of the way.
It's fairly clear what kind of stuff these lads have been listenin' to; 'cos
they clearly admire the entire Carcass catalogue, from the morbid, chaotic
toxicity of the early days right through to the overblown axe-twattery of
their later works. In addition, you can also make out bits of the bands
inspired by that, 'cos there's rather a hefty stench of slop-laden Carcass worship like Impaled, coupled with the infectious viciousness of Exhumed and
maybe Haemorrhage too. Cos they have a malestromous style with malodorous
overtones, stitched together by shards of virtuosic fret-heorics, they
remind me Gruesome Malady a bit, but without their characteristic vokill
sludge-pitch. However, 'cos it's all a bit hastily stuck together, the
rotten thing comes crashin' down onto its arse in no time at all.
The production is hideous. Of course, if you're recordin' Gore with a messy
vibe, then such a sound is often ideal if you want to add a disorientatin',
formaldehyde-rich taste to your audio, but it doesn't seem to work too well
for Hacksaw Surgery; flat kit, scratchy riff-fizz and fragile vox extract
any potential life out of the material.
I'd probably enjoy this more if the band had had a wee rethink on the
arrangements and a possible shufflement of the leads so they sound more at
home among the smelly heap. Unfortunately, this recordin' is a clumsy mash
of styles played by a group of Gore Metal supernumeraries. <3.3>
A nice Death/Grind/Gore split, with one laudable act and one not worth
crossin' the street for. The cover is nice, and harks back to a time before
everyone and their gran became an image manipulation mogul via their cracked
copy of Photoshop, when you had to stick a spooky paintin' of skulls and
stuff on the front of your record. I recommend gettin' this 'cos of the
Embalmin' Theatre stuff, and you might want to have one or two brief listens
to Hacksaw Surgery, but think of their bit as a free 'gift' out of the
bottom of the Gorebarrel.
May 30th, 2008
    
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