The Difference between the virtual world and the real world is that those who frequent my blog and don't know me in person believe me to 100% English, well this is a falsehood I am infact 50% English and 50% Polish. The Grindcore scene in the U.K is quite big, not big enough to be mainstream but big enough to have a recognisable following, most be people know of Carcass and Napalm Death, even if they are unaware of what Grindcore is. However in Poland Grindcore seems to be very much a minority within a minority, you have the occasional metal fan, and then out of a possible 100 metal fans you might get one person who likes Grindcore. This is really a crying shame because Poland does put out some good grindcore and metal for that matter (I am a big
Vader Fan). And this review will be about the Epitome of the Polish Grindcore scene(No reference to fellow Polski Grinders
Epitome intended)
Grind Virus is contagious, there is no doubt about it, once you hear it, you just can't stop playing it, then you go forth and recommend it to your friends who in turn repeat the cycle. The Grindcore Epidemic takes form. These Grinders date back to 1994, thus not old enough to be in the
Old School, nor new enough to be in the
New School, to my knowledge there is no term for this middle strata so I will use the term "
Mid-School" to describe these sort of groups. In my opinion they often are the Cadre of Grindcore, they take the best elements from the innovators and pioneers and mould it into something else, and they lack the impurities that have tainted the good name of Grindcore (i.e Deathcore).
Unlike some early grindcore and hardcore bands who strive to achieve a sound which was faster, louder and heavier than anything else, squash bowels have opted not to follow this route. The core element they do possess, is something I can't really put a word on it is sort of like a slow paced groove that still retains the most pure grindcore, it is catchy as hell. They are a sort of early Gore-Grinding Carcass incarnate which has opted instead of going on melodeath or death 'n' roll route, to refine their sound to a alternate better approach. For those of you who have read my review on Jig-AI
here, you may be aware of my general loathing of most Gore-Grind bands. However Squash bowels try not to sound the most sickest and demented sound on the planet, they try to stay true to the essence of music and just write stuff the best they can.
The sound possess that underlying raw very heavy metal feel to it, everything they do is nothing new or unique to the genre put what they amalgamate together is just amazing. For a Grindcore release, the song lengths are quite long the shortest being 1minute 28 seconds, but the songs tend to be about 2 minutes in length. At no point the songs are felt that they have over extended themselves or repeat themselves, each song is crafted uniquely and barrages your ear drums with the finest Grindcore.
The vocals are your typical 2 types one growly and one screamy, add in your clotting bass line, your earth shaking drums and a hell of lot of shredding and you got yourself one hell of a catchy tune.
I often think that most reviewers and listeners tend to forget the importance of production value, talent is talent without a doubt and regardless of production value you can tell whether something is amazing or shit. However I like to see production value as a metaphorical amp,by being good you amplify how good or bad the release is, by having minimal production value you leave it to the more unprejudiced person to unearth the hidden treasures. The production quality in this is most definitely praiseworthy it really does give this release an additional amazing edge. On a side note I do love some bands particularly in death metal that sort goes well with that amateur minimal production value, check out some
Cannabis Corpse, recorded in the blokes Kitchen.
It is a tear up between Squash Bowells, Wormrot and Napalm Death as to my favourite album of 2009, I am trying to remove all personal national bias I may possess, and even so it is a tough one to call. In short this has to be the most catchy Grindcore release I know, it aint fast nor brutal but it still is in the finest Grindcore you can treat your ear drums to.
Grind Out
Rating: 96/100
The vocals aside from the gurgling guttural bellows, also includes a high pitched little fellow discharging a wide use of vile and gore filled verses. The guttural screaming instead of his verses is just as barbarous and absolute killer, imagine the birth of some demonic creature and you will get the idea. The drums feature blast beats every so often but generally short-lived and infrequent, but with no exception the drumming is always perfect for what the other musicians are doing. The bass is recognisable at times, however after playing the album many times over you realise the bass is always there and adds that layer of groove and harshness into the songs.
