And who would have expected it – another great release from Testicular Records! Yes, after reviewing Ptoma and their nice “Life” release and 5 way split with Shitstench, Stillborn Granny, Anal Property, Blasted Pancreas and Snuff Corpse Vaginal Puke Collector I’ve received another great split (and for the sake of completion I have to say, I’ve got this from Anal Floss Is Boss along the t-shirt I’ve ordered) – and this time we’re going 4 ways!
Almost 41 minutes of fucking (no pun intended) great porn/goregrind/deathgrind, and this is exactly those 2 x 2 fingers up yours to all those pussies who – just because some idiot vocalist for a pornogrind band has shot people in Dayton – have developed a sudden urge to distance themselves from this genre. Well, we all have our choices, but as long as you understand this is all done in a great offensive funny way, it’s OK.
Believe me, it would be totally wrong to just wipe this nice release off. Why, you ask? Well, because you have 4 great bands/projects here and I’ve fallen in love with them the moment I’ve started the disc.
So, let’s see what’s here. First to enjoy is Wales’ own Anal Floss Is Boss and it’s – not surprisingly – one man pornogrind band. The very first song – “Plunging and Clunging” tells you everything you have to know. Great simple bass tune, the drum machine does what it should and on top of it, proper vokill. I like the simplicity of it, it’s almost in the tupa-tupa category, but then – it’s not. And those intros and intermezzos…man, this is worth repeated listening for them alone.
And it’s get better, as “Hacked, Spewed, Used As Food” is even better song. The drums really have good sound, it’s not that flat computer shit you might get from many other bands (but then, it might not be that bad thing). And it’s ending…just laughing out loud even now!
With “Death By Cock” we are ¾ into the AFIB’s contribution in, and again, great intro, great song and hilarious incorporation of the deepthroating sound into the song is getting an extra thumb up! Death By Cock, I’m all about it, fucking kill me! Well…what more can you possibly want, that’s proper stuff here, baby!
The last from AFIB is “Pornographic Jesus, The Second Cuming” and I’d like to use this as my manifesto to aforementioned pussies. See, I might be offended by title like this. Because it’s offensive but I’m not gonna protest against the band or record label or whatever. It’s simple – you don’t like it, don’t listen to it. Leave it be, it’s apparently not for you. If only some people can learn this little trick, right? Oh yeah, by the way, the song goes in the tradition of first three songs, but to be completely honest, it’s come little flat to me, but I admit I am little biased here, so listen to yourself and decide.
PivoRapist is another band here on this split with their portion of 4 songs and of course, I was interested the second I’ve learnt it’s partially Czech (although hailing from Manchester, UK).
Obviously, you can’t beat the sound of the proper band, and the huge riff in the “Smrt (Dead)” (although, technically, it should be Death, as Smrt in Czech means exactly that, Death, a noun) just got a new fan in me! Here, here! That, folks, is how you make a great song – don’t overdo it with your technical musical masturbation, just fucking grind it!
“Pivo Induced Madness” (by the way, “Pivo” in Czech – and Slovak as well – means “beer”) is next one and the vocals are sick here! From this different take on pigsqueel through screaming to a proper gutturals, the frontman definitely knows how to keep the listener interested. I don’t really know if beer induced madness sounds like this, but if it does, I’m all for it. Hell yeah, that’s a great song!
But what about “Mr Socko”? We might be talking about the sock puppet of Mick Foley here, but I’m not 100 per cent sure, so don’t quote me on that. Musically, the vokills definitely rule with PivoRapist, although the music is not subpar neither. Without a doubt this band is definitely something to keep an eye on, believe me or not!
4th song, and unfortunately the last one, is “Frantically Bludgeoned” and the simple riff here again proves the simplicity is something the key. OK, it’s not that simple songwritting here, but compared to previous three ones it sounds like that – but just a little. It’s like listening to a grind polka (yep, little tupa tupa here, which I can’t but welcome!) turning into the proper death grind worship.
Oh, yeah, this was definitely right up my alley! And they have also one more release under their belt, so I guess I need that one as well….
Third artist featured in this split is Total Consumption, and they bring 6 songs to the table and luckily, also something different in style. “Pokey Bum Fiddle” can be called a grand intro, as it’s only 0:27 and I guess it serves as an introduction to the band.
With 0:12 in length (yes, 12 second) we’re getting a portion of proper UK grind, and the stage is set for “Her Remains”! Vokills definitely rule, this is how a proper insane maniac sounds, guys! I have to commend on the songwriting and also on the production. The noisy guitar, with sound not that usual for the genre, and the instruments getting together in one soundwall, but still recognizable, that’s Total Consumption strength and that’s all you need to know about this.
Track number 12 is “Lipstick On A Dead Hooker” and with such a lovely title you also get a mixture, or balance – if you will – of death/grind and proper UK grindcore and TxCx here just confirms what I’ve said above about PivoRapist. These bands are really, really great!
“Bestial Foot Fetish” starts grindcorey and then….what the fuck was that! Totally unprepared for this feedback fed pause, but it saved the song from getting boring, although I don’t know how many of you will appreciate this noise experimentation here – but yours trully have the field day here!!! Again, totally unexpected but absolutely appreciated!
Last song from TxC is “Harsh Noise Ensemble” and it’s just that – an interesting (that has to be emphasized) sound collage. Again, not that I would expect that from a grind band like TxCx, but I am not dismissing it. Great ending to a great part of the split album it is!
And now, ladies and gentlemen, one of the greatest names in the showbusiness! No, seriously, whoever can come with a bandname like The Unholy Maggots Which Feast in the Dark Recesses of the Human Hole deserves a fucking medal. And the material sounds fucking great too!!
Opening their “set” here is “Beaten 50 Shades of Dead” with great grunting/gutturals and music to match, which has enough twists to keep you interested. You know, it can quickly fall down to the “heard that sooo many times before” category, but the vokills and the riffs are superb here, my heart rejoices, therefore thumb up for this one.
I haven’t expected the song title “Money” in porno/goregrind, but the intro explains it all. What the helluva song it is. With little tupa tupa (all bands deserves kudos for keeping it alive), this 1:20 song serves as a refreshment before another – even better – stuff. Trust me on this one….
…”Smegmatic Truffle Shuffle” is the fucking songtitle winner! With the advertisement into and the killer riffs and drumming, and clever placement of intermezzos…the band keeps the pace and my interest.
And if that’s not enough, they got Mark from Congenital Abnormalities to help them deliver “Packing Fudge”! Great spoken word intro with omnious bass line underneath and hooray, jump straight into the pig squeel as hell! This is fucking sick, their heaviest sounding song here. Love it.
And the last one, friends, is “UKill”. Although the beginning of the song was little bleh, they quickly pick my interest up again and so with the last song of their – and the last song in this split – they bid you farewell in style, so I’m gonna play this one one more time…and the ending of the song is just totally fucked up!!!!
So, sealed, signed and delivered, this one might be little under the radar, but if you’re a fan of the genre and/or a fan of the UK porno/death/goregrind scene, I’d suggest you look for this one, as you’re gonna spend 41 minutes in a great company. Unless you’re a pussy. Then get yourself that Atomic Kitten CD from the charity shop instead.
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