Crass Dismissed: December 1998

“A typical day in the life of a heavy metal musician consists of a round of golf and an AA meeting.” — Billy Joel

16 / Scott Case (Out of Print Material)

Pessimiser, do the world a favor and gather the material 16 recorded in 1992 and 1993 and put it together on one CD titled for some reason that I’m not privy to “Scott Case.” These nine songs originally appeared in various places but all are out of print so this collection is great to see (and hear!). Check out the roots of one of the hardest rockin’ bands around. 16 take the thunder of heavy metal and twist it into a nightmare of noise rock and throb core. Bruising guitars and disenchanted vocals do most of the damage to your brain but the deliberate and thick rhythms hold it all together. Because these tunes are more direct and stripped down than the 16 of today, you get a great insight into the dark and festering heart of the beast.

Deranged / High On Blood

There is only so much that can be done within the limited confines of the current gore-grind-scene. Fortunately Deranged turn the limitations into advantages by attacking their music with total abandon and unlimited aggression. Epileptic rhythms counter balance whirring guitars and standard issue low growl gore vocals. The guitars often slip out of their buzz for an innovative riff or two and several to the point solos are present which helps give the music the necessary depth and complexity to keep things interesting. Although Deranged don’t prescribe to the school of thought that an elapse of ten seconds in a song necessitates a time change, they do keep a fairly constant rotation of tempos as flavoring for the excessiveness that defines them. I don’t have a lyric sheet but as I’ve said time and time again when it comes to gore core that is the way that I prefer it. The whole “morevilethanthou” mentality escapes me. Fortunately unless I actually read the lyrics they don’t interfere with the music since the vocals cannot be deciphered. That said, this is a very good album.

Gore Beyond Necropsy / Noise A Go Go!!!

I had heard a lot about this band and was expecting a much more “gorified” project. Certainly this is sick but it is obviously more important to the band to be funny than sick. Gore Beyond Necropsy do indeed go beyond the gore cliche. They opt for a more political approach with commentary on real life issues like mass consumerism, idol worship, daily drudgery and mindlessness. They also do scene commentary by attacking cock rock, trendiness and by singing their own praises. I love every second of it. Instead of using gore as a cheap ploy to raise controversy they instead use it as a metaphor for the ugliness and hideousness of life. Even their samples are not the typical horror movie clips of women screaming but are usually silly and frivolous. Musically they churn out ultrashort blasts of low tuned noise. Imagine a combination of A.C. type noise and Sore Throat grind and you’ll get a hint of what this is like. The production is terrible and the whole thing sounds like it was recorded on cardboard but trust me when I say that is a good thing and was definitely done on purpose. A clean production job would completely undercut the noise factor and thus ruin the entire focus of the sound. Music like this has to be muddy and it has to be sloppy. That’s just the way it is. The low budget production is as much an instrument as the guitars and drums. Even the sound quality of the samples is terrible to keep them in line with the entire project. This is an album for those with an acquired noise core taste, but for those of us who do enjoy this crap, this is a masterpiece bound for legendary status.

Anasarca / Godmachine

Featuring former members of Vomiting Corpses and Vae Solis, this is the debut full length from Anasarca. The music is a welding of European melodic death metal and the infamous Florida sound. Dual vocal tracks and thick riffs that vacillate between punishing and complex give the music some identity and a sense of complexity. Speed is used effectively and without compromise. A dark and sinister feel is present throughout the album even in the few and far between moments of reservation. Judging from the album’s cover art I am assuming that the lyrics deal with issues of religion, specifically focusing on an anti-Christian approach, certainly cliche but in many ways reflective of the scene from which they stem. Well executed death metal (all puns intended) is always going to appeal to me and this is no exception. A very solid release from a band that obviously has a great deal of potential much of which they have realized on this album.

Resurrecturis / Nocturnal

This is the second recording by Resurrecturis that has graced my mailbox and I’m startled at the development the band has achieved in only two or three years. This album has much more depth and certainly more variety than the previous album, which wasn’t too bad in its own right. Resurrecturis have a distinct brutality that underlies everything they do. However, they don’t limit themselves to only exploring extremes. “Nocturnal” has several tunes that are darker, more ponderous and even rather ethereal. A female vocalist checks in off and on and Atrocity-style postdeath is also prevalent for much of the album. The constant change in approaches doesn’t really trip the band up at all. They have the dexterity to explore various sounds without sounding forced or awkward. And they have the sense to not become too disjointed in their approach. They drop anchor in the tumultuous waters of death and that tether centers their sound no matter where they stray. The only exception to this being the final tune “Midnight Letter” which is a flowing piano piece with female vox. But even this tune fits in well with the overall sound of the album because it serves as a postscript to the harshness and on an emotional level provides a sense of resolution. —Jeb Branin

Read more Crass Dismissed by Jeb Branin:
Crass Dismissed: September 1998
Crass Dismissed: August 1998

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