Body Hurting Art

In the world of extreme metal, Brazilians hold a very special position. They seem to be able to take any subgenre, and with an unexplained and built-in talent, turn it into a noisier, dirtier, even more extreme and uglier version. And it comes completely naturally to them: when others were sounding like Anthrax and making jokes, they had Sepultura approaching the thrash-death frontier line, and they've done the same ever since.

Osculum Obscenum is a relatively unknown band from São José, and they've give the traditional Brazilian genre mutilation treatment to a subgenre that wasn't too polished to begin with : a crossover of black metal and grindcore. And they managed to turn it into something dirtier and uglier, which is a feat in itself. Body Hurting Art is a smutty, repulsive half an hour of very high-tempo, gritty and jagged piece of ugly, dirty music.

Of course, this kind of album needs an intro, and the sound of a million flies, accompanied by the sighs of a scared woman, pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album. The music is just as filthy anyone familiar with this kind of South American expects: constant blasting, muddled, grindy black metal riffing, and shrieked vocals. All at high speed, although with surprisingly long songs, and a blasphemous atmosphere. And it's all dirty and ugly as Hell itself.

The songs muddle into an assaulting thirty-minute continuum, with little variation, not counting a few short song intro samples, a handful of recognizable riffs, and half a dozen screams that sound like an amalgam of the high shrieks of Proscriptor of Absu and a rottweiler-sized kazoo powered by compressed air. A few tracks have a different tempo, but the grindcore-based punkish vibe stays constant, even in the slower songs. And that's all good, the Brazilian twist always has a primitive, punkish, DYI feel to it.

When listened to more intensively, there is skill in the seemingly chaotic barrage. Even if the riffing is a cross-breed of grind's fretboard-sliding speed and very basic black metal tremolo, it works surprisingly well. Underneath the steamrolling sonic landslide, there's some creativity and even technical skill. But it takes plenty of effort to penetrate the writhing mass to reach the inner core, and it turns tiring very quickly.

This album is not intended or suitable for listening for fun. No, it's an intensive, rude, dirty and ugly experience, that flattens emotions and drains the soul. And it does it quite well, actually. But at the same time, it's dirty and ugly on purpose, and manages to hide its good parts very well. It's an exhausting thing to hear, and as such, something to be enjoyed in moderation. Not bad, but not something to keep on constant rotation, either.

For those "special" moments only. You know what that means.