Grog / Roadside Burial / Pussyvibes

I’m fairly certain I’ve heard Grog before, ‘cause I definitely recognize the name (which might not be so strange since they’ve been around since 1991), but I can’t recall any actual memories of their sound and music. So I suppose we can consider this a new acquaintance. They start things off in a raging inferno with Fellowship of the shaved balls, and what seems to be a fairly straight forward grindcore sound later turns out to be much more sinister. Macabre pops up on occasion, in particular during this track. And while they incorporate the thrashing flair of said act they also mix in some technical aspects of death metal (as for instance demonstrated in Alive & bottled). While I can’t say there are any truly mesmerizing riffs or so, the energetic-as-hell approach they have is cause for an adrenaline rush. Both the dark growling main vocals and the shrieking back-ups serve their cause well, and they slickly balance somewhere in between ultra-brutality and easy-going, if that makes sense. It’s not too damn brutal, but it’s still damn brutal, if you know what I mean… Well, I know what I mean. Seasoned grindcore that proves they still have something to offer the scene today.

My only listening experience with Roadside Burial was their split with Corpsickle, and I wasn’t exactly blown away by the endeavor. So imagine my surprise when this badboy came my way and I realized just how fierce the shit was. With a base that feels very old school grindcore, their sound still winds up somewhere in between American old school death metal, Impetigo styled goregrind and Terrorizer styled grindcore, with harsh grunting vocals and a pretty straight forward blasting approach. In a track like Pick-axe coma the similarities with Napalm Death become quite obvious, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they felt a bit inspired by Nasum when writing Satanic disposition. Cool stuff, albeit not reinventing the wheel.

I really dig PussyVibes’ debut album Pussy gore galore, which is an awesome display of chunky and groovy goregrind, so I was a little bit surprised by their sound and approach on this split. We’re definitely still dealing with goregrind, but of a more straight forward variant, and even the sound is rawer and less heavy, giving it a rougher touch. Piglet squeals, gored grunts, gurgles and everything in between gets served on a platter that feels somewhat like a mix of Last Days of Humanity and Cock and Ball Torture’s earlier works. Out of the three acts on here, this is what really kicks my ass. It’s brutal, unrelenting and with a sense of melody. You can’t help but to get drawn in, it’s just so damn energetic and catchy. But I wonder what their obsession with Mars is…

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net