Rating: 8.1
Country: USA
Release Date: 2007
Record Label: Barbarian Records
Track list:
1 Vacuum Extraction Action
2 Deformed Foetal Scrotal
3 Scab In A Puddin' Cup
4 People With Vaginas
5 Awake To Intake
6 Greasy Feces
7 Withered Labes, Crippled Legs
8 Fingering Faces And Faeces
9 In The Bathroom
10 Offended By Butts, Not Turds
11 Lick The Parts
12 Everything's A Song Title
13 Ear To Go
14 Corpse Divorce
15 Choking On Vaginal Pubes
16 Weird Pills
17 Shake N' Make
18 Why Are These My Thoughts...Why Am I Weird?
19 She's Roast Beef
20 What Is This Mucus?
21 Uteral Waste Disposal
Band Website: Foetopsy
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Foetopsy - In The Bathroom
Jesse Kehoe - Vocals
Scott - Guitar
Jon Engman - Drums
Hurrah! This came out some time last year, but I think it deserves a mention
all the same. I remember first hearin' this Wisconsin band after Smothered
Brothers recommended them as one of the best new Grind/Gore bands in their
district durin' an interview on some Pornogrind webzine or other back when I
was doin' all that Traumatized Records shite. I purchased their debut disc
Dyspartum from the band shortly afterwards, and later a bootleg DVD on
GrindEthic featurin' one of their gigs with local boy Putrid Pile, then
reveled in the fetid blast-plastered mess many times over. Quite an
underrated effort, the album took key bits of speed-obsessed Goregrind and
adrenalized Brootal Death, draggin' this reviewer into a flurry of
extra-fast blast-beats, flesh-rendin' buzzsaw riffs and hilarious
swine-styled exhalations and tightly squeezed squeals. An energetic bout of
Grind excess, it was performed by a mini-supergroup of sorts, made up from
Brutal Death/Grind musicians who wanted to have a stab at some messy Gore,
what with Jon Engman from Brodequin, Artery Eruption and other supergroup Liturgy at the kit, vox by Jesse Kehoe of Fleshgrind and Screamin'
Afterbirth fame, and Eric Fredrich from Cyanosis on guitar, and some
gryllidaecious guest vokills exuded by Neil Ruppert out of Dyscrasia and
Plerosis.
Enough of their other shite, is In the Bathroom any good? Overall, it's a
logical continuation of Dyspartum but their sense of humour is more
prominent this time around and the songs are carved deeper into catchy
cheeze, their previously restrained silliness now runnin' amok thru the
preposterous vokills and stupid gore themes. They've swapped Fredrich for
new axeman Scott, formerly of Barwhore and Sarcophagus, but he hasn't
completely transfigured the sound, 'cos the guitars still sound like
ferrous, fuzz-coated breezeblocks, cos you've still got fast, fingertip
shreddin' slide riffs, cascading grooves, uplifting slam inclined capers and
segmented chuggle-bricks to the face. As for the rhythm section (which
consists solely of the drums, seein' as they haven't bothered with any of
that bass nonsense), it's Engman on the stool, so if you're into Brutal
Death you ought to know what to expect; uncompromisin' speed, total snare
addiction, forceful kick thud and plenty of cymbal splashment. I assumed he
was doin' some gravity blast daftness, but accordin' to an intie on Sick
Drummer, it's "a French grip, and a combination of a controlled
forearm/thumb twitch, and rebound of the stick." Or is that the same thing?
I d'know. Either way, his percussion job is ideal for this kind o'
excessive, splattery Grind, and shoves the thing even further into yer face.
The drunken, disheveled vokills add poisonous, multicoloured icing to the
gorecake, switchin' effortlessly 'tween canine-anus faced growls, porcine
exhalations, tortured howls, noxious pitchshift, falsetto shrieks and
occasional chop wobblin'. Most of the tunes follow fairly similar patterns;
ferocious blastin' mayhem that shifts to weighty, face-spearin' hooks, all
daubed in the multi-hued vokill gob-slop, with the vox often unabashedly
rollin' out a simple yet enormously catchy chorus that you'll be hummin' for
weeks. They run out of ideas a little toward the end, what with the
compositional components bein' so deliberately limited, but at the last
track you get four mins of ear-gnashin' experimental noise, which is a nice
way to round things off.
Overall, In the Bathroom reminds me of some of the filthiest Grind/Gore
bands in recent times, often comin' across as a rancid hybrid of Scumbitch and Cock and Ball Torture. It takes the dizzyin' speed and raucous,
grime-caked fuzz from Scumbitch demo shite, and the slippery bondage
moshgore terror of CBT classick Cock Tales. You might also spot a few
flashes of old RGTE and new LDOH crossover. What with Kehoe bein' in the
band, there's a strong stench of the aforementioned Screamin' Afterbirth,
usin' the same repulsive yet dynamic vokill style found on Drunk on Feces.
The vox also have the gob-splatter of Epicrise/Ballgag split, the catchiness
of one Mr. Decker from Anal Blast, and the toxic pick 'n' mix voks-approach
of very new Noxious Coitus material. Of course, havin' Engman in the line-up
connects this stuff with various percussion-hefty Brutal Death bands other
than those with which he is involved, such as Orchidectomy on their Demo
2005, or perhaps Dyscrasia, or even Gutrot.
The production is exactly how I wanted it. Scruffy, grubby, disheveled,
rancid odour and squelchy underfoot. The cover-art is a lot sillier than
before, with a fun snap of the band peepin' over the top of a toilet
cubicle, whilst the lyrics take the distasteful themes of Dyspartum to the
next, dafter level.
Overall, a lot of fun. They do end up just runnin' through standard motions
towards the end and become a bit bogged down in their limited style, but the
erratic vokill style and forehead shreddin' overall delivery more than makes
up for this. If you were a fan of Dyspartum and/or Bizarre Gynaecology,
then give this a try, 'cos it's just a funnier version of that stuff. If you're
into very fast, coarse Grind and like the dirtier, messier end o' the
Brootal Death coin, then you ought to find some listenin' (dis)pleasure
here. A nice release.
May 27th, 2008
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