Rating: 7.0

Country: USA

Release Date: 2007

Record Label: Sevared Records

Track list:
1.Pus-filled Colostomy Bag
2.Corkscrewed Colon
3.Pipewrench Papsmear
4.Defensive Personalities (Death Cover)
5.Godly Beings (Obituary Cover)

Total playing time17:36

Band Website: Viral Load

Viral Load - Hillbilly Whore Hackin' Revival

Shawn Whitaker - Guitar, Vocals, Bass, Programming

A Shawn Whitaker product, Viral Load has suddenly gotten interesting since the 2006 release, Backwoods Bludgeoning, which was a surprisingly dark, tight and solidly composed brutal album that not only overrode your previous impressions of them, it made you genuinely eager to hear more of what Shawn was now capable of producing for Viral Load. Shawn or Sevared Records' Barrett or most likely both seemed to be in favour of whetting the appetite of the listeners with a tingling mini-album before unleashing the awaited full length this year. Therefore, the cute Hillbilly Whore Hackin' Revival MCD containing three new Viral Load tracks and two cover songs, my second press version donning a new artwork and boasting of a remastered sound; don't fret, yours will too.

“Pus-filled Colostomy Bag” with its menacingly buzzing Suffocation and Deeds of Flesh natured riffs, bulbous pulsating groove and over enthusiastic militant drumming (done by a drum machine) makes me think of a lonely fat kid who for fun ties a cheap tin drum to his waist which he beats in a frantic manner standing under the tree on the hill having a beehive attached to it with the intention of attracting the attention of the bees and then testing his speed and manoeuvring skills by bounding down the valley in his swinging bulky momentum while intermittently hitting his tin drum to make sure he isn't just running alone. “Corkscrewed Colon” is a wild, boisterous song that vaguely sounds like a brutal Morbid Angel in a festive mood, at other times of the normally brooding Deeds of Flesh humming in a rather cheerful fashion for a change. I wouldn't be surprised if the tough 'Don't fucking mess with Texas' moshheads end up embarrassing themselves by dancing in the pit to this risqué song. Next track “Pipewrench Papsmear” sounds markedly different from the last one, this one dealing grimly in punchy Texan chugs and forceful blast parts for the most part, riding in an undulating momentum, giving you the heavy tugging feeling underneath of imagined constipation and consequent sudden relief, this while sitting on a normal chair in the middle of your bedroom.

Next up are two covers, one of Death's “Defensive Personalities” from Spiritual Healing, which is performed with surprising versatility, and the other being “Godly Beings” from the Obituary classic Slowly We Rot for which I believe Shawn stretches his usual narrow-mouthed brutal grunts to accommodate the yawning-style vocal delivery of John Tardy. Further description might ruin it for you, so make way for me to expertly sidestep the issue and move on. The production overall is inconsistent but remains sufficiently effective. However, I sorely miss the ominous dark sound on Backwoods Bludgeoning and really hope Shawn brings it back on the upcoming album, for listening to it otherwise will probably feel like jerking off in your room with the spotlight thrown on you. Oh and if you aren't aware yet, this is the last Viral Load album with the sterile sounding drum machine; Shawn now has with him drummer Forrest Stedt of Cephalotripsy and Condemned fame. See, there's something even for the non-Viral Load fans to look forward to.

Hillbilly Whore Hackin' Revival is a spicy little mini-album reeking of enough quality for you to consider purchasing it. Not essential unless you're fan of Viral Load or of Shawn Whitaker and his other bands, but yes, it's surely decent and worth buying if you're not spending socially-crippling amounts of your booze money on it.

July 5th, 2008