I will admit that grindcore has never been my favorite sub-genre of metal. In the past I've found it too noisy, too abrasive and not as clean in terms of production or musicality as I tend to like in music. But I've recently delved back into grind head on, and I am super happy that I did. We all know that our tastes evolve over time, being shaped by life events or our overall attitudes and moods, or just being more open to different styles as you hear different music.
First off, a grind band I've always liked. Cephalic Carnage, who are awesome. An eclectic, fun, different group. Not straight, traditional grind, but a mix of a few different styles with a really underrated drummer in John Merryman. Killer stuff. But I guess you could say I've always liked a lot of death metal bands with grind-ish influences. Groups like Misery Index, Hate Eternal (with Derek Roddy, one of the most well rounded drummers in metal music) and Suffocation. But straight grindcore had always left me unsatisfied. It usually did nothing for me due to what I perceived (naively) as weak musicianship or lacking sophistication when compared to musicians in death metal like Erik Rutan or Jon Levasseur of Cryptopsy.
That attitude has changed. I believe it started when one day I decided I was going to give Rotten Sound's 2005 album "Exit" a try. First off, I had heard of them through another band, Finnish power metal group Wintersun, which Rotten Sound's now former drummer Kai Hahto plays for. Second off, I absolutely love their band name. Again, one of those attitude changes. The thought of "rotten sound" had now made a ton of sense to me on many different artistic and idealistic levels. And finally, their album cover is SICK, as seen above.
"Exit" is 18 songs of brutality and unrelenting force. It does not let up. The music is loud, pissed off and incredibly punishing. And what I had mistaken (immaturely myself) as immature craftsmanship before had now connected with me on a high musical level. The men creating this music are no amateurs. Its precise and clean but at the same time has a totally raw and abrasive quality that I cannot get enough of. Its different from death metal in the sense that its more stripped down, doesn't have the flare of DM but makes up for it with its attack and intensity. The songs also come in a more condensed form, rarely eclipsing the two and half minute mark. They're a burst, a violent sprint to the end of the album.
So from Rotten Sound I moved on to all the big name grind groups that I've been hearing about for years but had stupidly been ignoring due to my ill informed opinions on the genre. Nasum, Pig Destroyer, Watchmaker, early Carcass (which I will admit, I'm not crazy about, but probably because I fucking LOVE "Heartwork") Brutal Truth, and so on. And I'm loving every vicious minute of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn0mwdpU6Tc - Pig Destroyer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXINsBLIFZ8- Rotten Sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2pMFj5LNuM- Nasum (Lead singer/guitarist Miezko Talarczyk died in the christmas 2004 Indian tsunami)
No comments:
Post a Comment