Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Reviews: 500 Cunts/Stab/Bloody Corpse Dismemberment/Blister Unit "Four Way Split"

By: Garviel Loken


Four bands and a total of forty-five tracks may seem ridiculous at first glance, but like the intensity one might experience during a micro burst, the experience is over all too abruptly. The guilty parties named in this indictment (500 Cunts, Bloody Corpse Dismemberment, Stab, and Blister Unit) have committed numerous and glorious audio atrocities across the breadth of the recording and must now be called to account for them. Some are steeped in the chaos of grindcore, while others wear the crusty outer garments of punk and death metal.

Beginning with four tracks from 500 Cunts (one of the more provocative band names of recent memory) the stage is set for a whole lot of musical mischief. The speakers rattle with the lo-fi sounds of howls, blast beats, and general insanity as 500 Cunts plows through their material like a demented hobo ramming his shopping cart into a gaggle of innocent bystanders. It pretty much goes without saying that the crowd suffered casualties precisely tabulated at 100%, as 500 Cunts could not accept anything less than this judging by their songs.

The next batch of material from Stab continues in a similar vein, with relentless blasting and straight forward aggression. These live tracks are unpretentious, raw and successful at conveying the feeling of being at the show. Included in their set are a couple of cover songs, one from Magrudergrinder and another from Carcinogen. Following right on the heals of Stab, Bloody Corpse Dismemberment takes the listener on a live, ten track tour of the gutter with their brand of dirty death grind that no amount of showering could ever cleanse away.

The absolute highlight of this split release arrives with the final sixteen tracks from Blister Unit. While similar in style to the preceding three bands, Blister Unit contains elements in their songs that put them ahead of the game. First and foremost, the powerful guitar riffs they frequently employ are very memorable and help tie the chaotic aspects of the music together. Furthermore, the songs themselves are compact and structured enough to create an identity for each, rather than running together in a continuous stream of ideas. Blister Unit also has a level of confidence in their performance that really stands out and keeps the listener's attention.

Overall, if you dig the grind and apocalyptic noise, you can't go wrong with this split release, as it gives you a good sampling of each band's sound. The attitude and atmosphere of all the material is pure, unfiltered, and without flashy gimmicks. It is what it is and doesn't give a damn what you think about it. Should music ever really be safe and gentle? Of course not, because the world would be a pretty boring place if that were so.

Final Score: 8/10

No comments:

Post a Comment