Avant-Garde Grind-Death…. Those are words I never imagined to see describing the sound of a band, but Stench Price have now brought that into the realms of reality. A truly international super-group of sorts, based out of Siberia for where this project’s brain child hails from, we have a full international offering of names in death metal and grindcore who are not to be scoffed at; Max Phelps, Dave Ingram, Danny Lilker and Rogga Johansson are just some of the names who round out this global gathering of all things intense! If that doesn’t make you take a deep breath before venturing on into this all you can eat buffet of extreme, then you’re obviously not ready for this E.P!
Now, trying to describe ‘Avant-Garde Grind-Death’ is a challenge in itself. The easy way out would be to just find them on Facebook or Bandcamp (Links below) and roll with it and see for yourself, but then that would be a waste of an article wouldn’t it? In short… Think grindcore and death metal jostling for power in an endless struggle where it seems like one has the upper hand but then the balance tilts back to the other, offering some real intense grind blasts before some evil sounding death metal riff mastery and dynamics… All capped off with some rather unique backing ambience and feel. Bossa Nova, Lounge and Samba vibes all flow through this album, giving it a really strange but listenable edge.
Case in point being the opening assault “Living Fumes” as a perfect example. Right off the bat, the track, featuring the talents of Danny Lilker rushes ahead with insanity fuelling it. A real vibrant bassline, bouncing from grind to death, spliced with some elevator/supermarket feel sections for some curveball moments makes this a clusterfuck of entropic proportions and to be honest… It’s fantastic! The sheer intensity of the metal shifting suddenly to the Bossa Nova glockenspiel styled elevator music is just bizarre and bound to turn heads in a puzzled look, but it paves the way for wave upon wave of extreme metal fury to come crashing down… And it keeps going.
Track by track, each one just smashes forward with relentless aggression when the dirt is thrown on thick. Rogga’s vocal work on “Furnaces Burn” is incredible, driving the slow to start but quick to hammer away lounge-grind package of chaos and the strangely upbeat feel of Pressure, featuring the screams of High Tension’s Karina Utomo really shifts the flow of the album again keeping you on your toes. Whilst I am yet to work out the significance of “4.27.15” as a title of a track, Max Phelps of Cynic and Death DTA does a fantastic job of reminding me why he is one of my favourite death metal vocalists over a breakneck pace, angular feeling assault. Britain’s own grind bastard, Dave Ingram really ups the ante for the atmospheric and powerful “The Genocide Machine”, commanding the thunderous chugging beast his vocals ride and the closing number, “The Vitality Slip” featuring Child Bite’s Shawn Knight is a five minute slice of intensity, cramming crossover, grind, technical death metal and a gratuitous slice of madness to create what could best be described as Lard on more acid than good ol’ Uncle Al (Jourgessen) ever was in the day!
A total mash of styles, pushing past the boundaries of genres and not giving a shit at all, Stench Price’s self titled EP is a surefire winner for the “Who to watch out for in 2017” tag. This project is a real fresh take on two genres which are known for their rigidity at times, setting them apart and putting them in a noticeable light along with the heavyweights of their respective genres. Balk at the cost or the smell if you want… But this is top quality and well worth the money!
(8/10 Fraggle)
https://www.facebook.com/stenchprice
https://stenchpricegrind.bandcamp.com
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