It’s been 6 years since “Nihilism” rattled my teeth. That was the Dutch noiseniks second album and it gave me all the right feels in all those wrong places (you know the ones that hurt soooooo good!) The fact that it has taken them 6 years to follow it up is unforgivable – but my arm is twisted the moment that the siren sounds at the end of 4 minute propaganda intro Ascendance segues into “Birthed Into Suffering”. The boys are back in brown – sifting through the shit and blood of the world and cursing and screaming as they go. This is dirty aggressive nasty grind death with globules of crust, black metal and hardcore peppering it’s viscous skin.
Now Teethgrinder are definitely on the more metal side of the Grindcore scale – they craft their songs with a distinct death metal edge making them more Cattle Decapitation than Weekend Nachos but just like both those greats these guys have got riffs and chops for days! The songs are given room to breathe with even the shortest track clocking in at 2 mins and two of the buggers breaching the 8 (eight!) minute mark. This is no whoops I missed the groove John Peel moment band. There are layers to unpick like scabs on a tattoo (don’t pick kids). Blood Ritual piles harsh punky grind vocals atop the most demonic low-end gutturals whilst frenetic guitars fight like Converge and Dillinger Escape Plan being pummelled by blackened blastbeats. Ooooooof!
“Disgrace” is anything but – it’s a rip-roaring rush from beginning to end. Pure grind and roll fury- brings to mind Electric Messiah by High On Fire but with crust pants on. The freneticism (wow that is actually a word!) continues on the single “Our Failing Species” which is hookier than Pinhead’s wardrobe contents and has more drops than a snotty kid’s tissue.
When Teethgrinder go all out they grab the listener by the nips and swing em right into the maelstrom – “God Complex” is a case in point – pure grindpunk hyperfuckery of the highest order.
So what happens when Teethgrinder write an epic? Can the intensity be sustained over eight minutes? That length of track to a grind gang is the equivalent of a 30-minute funeral doom track to a Ghost fan surely? This is no “You Suffer (but why)”. Anyone that has listened to bands like Primitive Man or Worm will know that the longer the track the deeper the filth if you get the right groove. Teethgrinder know their dirty onions – they have sandwiched the three-minute grindpunk of “AS I believe the world to be – so It Is” between two gargantuans. This filling has some great Venomous Concept vibes that then roid out into beefy hardcore riffs midway through. Pure street fighting nastiness. The tracks either side show different elements to the band. “Cloaked” begins with a fuzzed out discordant intro that oozes into a misanthropic hopeless deathgrind sludge beast that lurches and lumbers like a neolithic beast through a swamp before receiving a shot in the arm which sets it running off on a killing spree taking revenge on modern man for our colossal fuck ups. If anything, it’s 8-minute running time seems too short.
“Dystopia” is a cacophony of bombast. The drums are insanely fast but sound delightfully loose – there is no computer like precision this sounds all organic baby. Rolls are bludgeoned by blasts and the riffs whip like the tendrils of jellyfish and sting as effectively. Discordant breaks chop up “Dystopia” into giant chunks of chum that any hardcore pit would love to chow down on whilst two stepping. The riffs are just so fuuuuuuucking chonky!
I gotta tell the truth I am getting fed up of writing about this belter of a record and just want to listen to it and relinquish myself to its power and majesty. Teethgrinder you’ve done it again.
(9/10 Matt Mason)
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