Rating: 7.9

Country: Belarus

Genre: Groovy Goregrind/Brutal Death

Record Label: Bizarre Leprous

Release Date: 2007

Track list:
1. Introduction to the obstetrics
2. Craniotomy. Step 1: Transforation
3. Umbilical cord entanglement
4. Meconial asphyxia
5. Being born in convulsions think about eternal..
6. Hunt the cunt 1
7. Spondylotomy
8. Craniotomy. Step 2: Excerebration
9. Fear of the vaginal birth
10. Dr. Bile and his brief-case with tools
11. Sonata cis-moll for obstetrician making application of forceps Naegele
12. Bleeding Hole
13. Hunt the cunt 2
14. Ubi pus - ibi incisio, ubi pus - ibi evacua
15. Cutthroat game
16. My favorite embryotomy scissors
17. Craniotomy. Step 3: Cranioclasia
18. Devisceration
19. Hunt the cunt 3
20. Obstetrical Collection
21. Uterine flooding
22. Rectovaginal fistula or perineal rupture 3rd degree
23. Principles of operative obstetrics
24. Detruncation
25. Hunt the cunt 4
26. Delicate infant�s lungs
27. Pathologist's report
28. Like a CBT

Band Website: Stickoxydal

Stickoxydal - Obstetrical Collection

Mr. Paluchnk of BLP sent me an album by this Belarus band not too long back, but it was unfortunately cracked and buggered in the post, but luckily here's another of theirs, their most recent full length studio album, and the newest release since their split with mouthfillingly monikered Russian band, Septicopyemia and perverted Ukranian grinders, Ebanath. In the pic in their Metal Archives entry, Stickoxydal might look like a mildly successful Oasis-clone from the Brit-pop boom period of the 1990s, such as Northern Uproar, Heavy Stereo or Coast, but there are no jangly acoustic guitars, no riffs pilfered from the Gallaghers, and no soarin' melodies to be found on here, ‘cos Stickoxydal play good ol' groovy goregrind!

Slithery riffs ooze out of bog-tuned guitars, the bouncy percussion gets you wadin' through the gelatinous mire in a jolly, carefree sort of fashion, whilst frogs, crickets and miscellaneous pond-life provide the hilarious vox. Stylistically, I'd say this combines the groovin' arse-wiggle of the Czech scene with the bulldozer bondage-lust of German pornogrind, then adds silly Netherlands gore, and maybe just a smudge of US brootal deathliness. Although there are of course splattity blast beats at play here, the kitman doesn't try to crush your head off with unremittin' blasts, usin' ever so slightly more restrained yet no less robust rhythms to allow for greater seepage of groove which, in my book, is lovely. The vox, which get lobbed out of two different gobs, are just the kind of thing I like to hear daubed all over such goregrind as this; they're not pitchshifted into a simmerin' gut-mire (which is of course fine, I love to hear that sort of sloshiness poured all over my goregrind too), they're all natural as far as I can tell, pullin' all manner of vox tricks out of the bag, with each mouth bringin' a rich variety of textures and flavours to the thing, in the manner of many of my favourite Czechgrind outfits. On the whole, each tune has the right bits, but sometimes the riffs sound a bit too slackened, and seem to sort of slither out o' time a wee bit, and the percussion seems to struggle to tighten it up, which does bugger the groove-flow a bit and makes some bits sound a bit cack-handed, but luckily it gets pulled back together again not long after each of these gaffes.

Right away, you can hear influences such as Rompeprop, Cock and Ball Torture, old Last Days of Humanity, some Gut, perhaps Squash Bowels, a bit of The Day Everything Became Nothing, maybe Utopie, and Noxious Coitus, y'know, all the groovy greats, along with classic stuff from the old gore-guard, such as Dead Infection and Regurgitate. Along with that, there's quite a bit of Czechgrind thrustin' rampantly through this, so if you're into stuff like Destructive Explosion of Anal Garland, Reek of Shits, Jig-Ai (but less streamlined than that gleamin' chrome machine) and old Ahumado Granujo, then this ought to get your head goin' right away. On the more brootal death side of the coin, I think you can hear some of the less serious, more pornogrindified bands from the style in amongst all of this groovin' throbbery, such as Cumgun, and maybe old Amputated.

Production is quite alright, but a bit scratchy, maybe a bit sparse in parts, but well-mixed overall, probably not quite the sort of thing you'd refer to as ‘beefy', but it still has a fair amount of punch about it, along with quite a lot of fuzz, and probably enough scuzz, but without losin' any of the important cuttin' catchiness. Overall, it's a good and dirty, sewerous type of sound quality which is ideal for the music that rattles, surges and sloshes along therein.

When it comes to lyrical themes, they've got a fun combination of pathological terminology and mild daftness, what with such titles as "My Favourite Embryotomy Scissors", "Spondylotomy", "Rectovaginal fistula or perineal rupture 3rd degree", "Sonata cis-moll for obstetrician making application of forceps Naegele", "Hunt the Cunt" (incidentally you get part one, two, three and four of that on here), but unfortunately there are pedestrian gore-themes here as well, what with unimaginative fodder such as "Bleeding Hole" and "Fear of the Vaginal Birth". Nothing on here is as funny as the title "The Kidney Torned off Together with a Vascular Leg" (!!) from their last album! Hohohoho!

Overall then, a nice modern day goregrind album, with a wee bit of an old skool tint to it. I liked it quite a lot, and if you're into any of the above-cited bands, then you ought to like it too.

June 21, 2009