Terminally Your Aborted Ghost

Rating: 7.5

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Track list:
1. Rotted Entrails, Gagged By Semen [mp3]
2. Neuropathic Embolism
3. Pseudo Suspended Animation
4. Transplant Fixture
5. Fractionally Digested Vowel Structure
6. Entry Stabwound
7. A Ubiquitous Aftermath Of Sorts
8. Perpetuating Human Murder
9. Body Crowded Corridors
10. An Analogy Like A Snuff Film
11. Slowly Peeling The Flesh From The Inside Of A Folded Hand
12. Undying Corpses Of Joy

Band Website: TYAG

Terminally Your Aborted Ghost - Slowly Peeling the Flesh from the Inside of a Folded Hand

Nick Lang - Drums
Devon Wedge - Vocals
Adam Spalding - Bass
Matt Rowe - Guitars

This first full-length from the Boston deathgrinders starts in fine blasting Yattering style before settling into their comfort zone of Malignancy/Devourment detuned sludge-slam broken with spasmodic shredding and trilling. So, nothing new then? Well actually, there is a point to this band existing and this quickly becomes apparent once "Neuropathic Embolism" has laid out its distinctive schematics. There is a satisfying dip into Cephalic Carnage territory with idiosyncratic drumming, groove fragments, harsh squeals (of both the guitar and inward vocal variety), big aggressive slides and blasting reprisals. The latter half of this second track introduces what can only be described as "wobbly parts" that are a trademark of TYAG and probably involve dual tremolo bar convulsions with occasional overlaid discordant tapping and sliding/trilling bass underneath.

Yes, what we have here is more full of wobbliness than a dozen Sumo wrestlers jumping on beached jellyfish. However, this also applies to the execution as well as the deranged riffs. There is no bite to the staccato or definition to the picking. Many of the riff changes or fills (and indeed the intro to "Entry Stabwound") are messy as a result, plus it doesn't help having kick drums that sound like scampering rats. It is no accident that TYAG keep referring back to grooving sludge or mid-paced noisecore as it is a surefire way of regaining secure moshpit stability after teetering off the brink into surreal tangles (novel cowbell blasts excepted).

It must be emphasised that TYAG have riff creativity in spades, and although they are as yet a far cry from the highly focused brain-mangling devastation of bands like Ion Dissonance, they start and end songs in properly menacing and intriguing fashion. Their success will hinge upon which elements they attenuate or enhance within the bulk of the song structure. For example, remove cliched slap bass solo bursts, perhaps harmonise the slight melodic tendencies with the dry grooves, sharpen up the crazy tempo changes and picking dynamics and definitely bring out the tantalising little snippets of weirdness much more (e.g. 60 seconds from the end of the album there is a mouth-watering but painfully brief post-feedback harmonic fill).

TYAG's new mini-album 'Inanimately Soundless' is due out March 2006 and it will be very interesting to hear whether the approach of the band has been distilled and refined because this current release showcases a lot of potential.

February 12th, 2006