Polish pulverisers Hostia return with a third album containing 15 tracks of terrorizing savagery following on from the bands excellent EP ‘Resurrected Meat’ released in the middle of 2022 plus their exceptional sophomore ‘Carnivore Carnival’ released in 2020 which I reviewed for the site and you can read here. What this band does with each and every song they have written is pin you down with a nail gun (maybe like the tongue on the front cover) and subject you to their own brand of ferocious grindcore where prisoners are never taken, only beaten to a bloody pulp and left to rot for all to bear witness.
Like previous releases the band rarely shifts to other genres, barring death metal for the occasional melody or the double kick infusions that are scattered throughout a few of the songs, preferring an unmitigated annihilation that starts with ‘Ceremony’. The impact is massive as the song unleashes its wrath via blast beat sections that feel like your ribs are being torn from your chest and the rabid vocal style which veers from dense opaque toning to unhinged maniacal screams. ‘Stone In The Throat’ continues and here we get a slight slowing down, relatively speaking of course, before the bands trademark blasting demolition is released.
I love the groove on ‘Religion Of Love’, its battering prowess belies its intrinsic catchiness and even when the speed is incessantly applied you can’t help but be dragged along by the bands unique song writing styling. It is this aspect that many of you will say is more death metal like and likewise with the title track. The riff opening is fantastic and clasps you by the throat then slams you headfirst into the concrete floor in a maelstrom of pummelling drum work. ‘The Return Of The Living Dead’ is equally magnificent, unveiling that catchy side with a cool stop-start riffing structure spliced by unerring blast phases.
All of the band’s albums clock under 25 minutes meaning nothing ever overstays its welcome and for me the duration of the songs and album is nigh on perfect as the tracks rain down like sonic missiles as on ‘Dad’s Stew For Two’. There is a tendency for grindcore albums to blur into one, with the tracks being overtly similar to the next, but not Hostia, their song writing always produces individuality and whilst the velocity of the songs is similar the riffing mostly certainly isn’t as the band crafts uniqueness into every song they have written here and throughout their discography.
‘Afterlife’ is immense, its brutalising speed is punctuated by some of the catchiest grind riffs you’ll ever hear and similar to the likes of Squash Bowels or Cliteater for that punishing dense groove. The chug riff of ‘Fake It’ has hints of old UK hardcore and grindcore bands, particularly very early Napalm Death which is very evident on ‘The Vampire Of Barcelona’ too with its ‘Scum’ era like riff before swerving away briefly for screamed vocals and a more hardcore persona. ‘Polish Black Metal Makes Me Sleepy’ might be a grindcore song but you can hear the tendrils of some blackened feathering on the riff they’ve created, deliberately so I assume, as the song leads into the brilliant’ Siberian Werewolf’, where the speed is reined in for a crunching grinder style laced with double bass.
The last triplet of tunes begins with ‘Sister Bernadette’ where the band brandishes a hostile riffing style that is piercing in a hardcore style complete with a fine bass riff break. ‘Zajebię Cię’ offers another change and gives listeners a hint as to what this band has weaned themselves on over the years, namely 80s crust punk/hardcore and grindcore of the Napalm Death variety again but also acts like Deviated Instinct, Hellbastard, Disrupt etc. Closing is ‘Poison Leader’ sending the album back to how it started with ridiculous intense modern grindcore set against a crusty groove riffing foundation, but like all the songs the blast beat is never far away.
This album is probably worth a perfect score but I honestly think Hostia are just getting going so I’ll hold off half a point, but technically this is perfect grindcore for me and in 2022 was the best grindcore album I listened to alongside the 2022 releases by Kill Division, Bowelfuck, Holocausto Canibal, Inferia, Antigama and Cryptivore which I urge you to check out if you haven’t heard them.
(9.5/10 Mertin Harris)
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