Labels: Kaotoxin
Review by: Alex Deller
Two French grindcore acts having at it on a limited edition CD. Atara start this thing off, so we’ll start with them, oui? They play thin, clicky, grindcore that’s relatively frill-free. It reminds me of Phobia or Brutal Truth at times, though they also chuck in some Spazz-ish inflections and, on tracks like ‘Burden’, demonstrate the odd black metal influence. Overall, their stuff is pretty easy on the ear. Which is kind of a problem when you’re listening to grind: you don’t want to be gently buffeted, you want your breath to be starved and the very real threat that your head might be removed from your shoulders. Enter Miserable Failure, who meet these requirements with gargling aplomb, presenting a rabid blast of claws-out grind that mauls, mangles and mutilates as it goes. Amid the choppy blasts are moments of hectic dissonance recalling Discordance Axis and, with ‘Obituaries’, some mid-paced chug that allows the singer’s strangulated howl slightly more room to develop. If I was a finicky git (hint: I am) I’d suggest their production could be beefed up to match the fury of the music and those ungodly vocals, but even as is their eight songs are still pretty crushing. One thing, though: the sample at the end of ‘May You All Be Cursed Forever’ might sound ok at first given its snouts-in-the-trough sentiment but the speech was actually made by Crick-baiting MEP Godfrey Bloom, a misogynistic climate change denier who even UKIP couldn’t stomach having on their books. Kinda hope this was a naïve that-sounds-cool-let’s-use-it error of judgement rather than a sign of political allegiance, because otherwise we’re in a funny old pickle.