Pre-natal Whittling / Life Kills / Into the Sickest Depth

Here comes a messy pile of steaming brutalness, from a mini non-label that specialized mainly in marginalizing its roster. Which is an unforgivable shame, when it comes to the first act on this split, Scrambled Defuncts from Russia. Both track present here can also be had on their full length Hackled in Gore, so it doesn't offer a whole lot in the way of newness, but man I tell you, this is a fantastic brutal death band. This is what you should think of when you think of brutal technical death metal. Fast and precise, with monstrous growls that sound like something inhuman. Sure, they relied on a drum machine for Hackled in Gore, and probably these two tracks as well, but I think only because no human could have kept up.

Blasphemer is next up. No, not that one, or that one, or... There sure are a lot of bands named Blasphemer. Having not the most original name in the world might be a bit worrisome, but that can be set aside by the 4 regular and 3 mini tracks they offer here. The guitar tone is fuzzier than SD, and the vocals actually sounds like he breathes air instead of blood. Also there's real drummer, but nobody's perfect. Unlike SD, these tracks appear to be original, so if you find out you're a fan, here's a reason to hang onto this split. Though short, each track wastes no time jackhammering solid brutal death right into your skull. Even the 19 second Batman Suicide is kind of fun.

So there you go. So far 6 awesome tracks and a few shorties. So where's the lame last minute addition? There's always one, some batch of nobodies that couldn't sell a record on their own the save their lives... Oh, there they are, in the personages of Humanity Fucked to Gore. My mother always said that if you can't say something nice about someone don't say anything at all, but I never got along with my mother. There just isn't anything nice about Humanity Fucked to Gore. The vocals are weak and gurgly. The riffing is derivative and clearly played by someone who mainly just know how to go fast and has not the slightest idea how to build anything out of it. Ditto the bass. The drums are I suppose not terrible, but the dude needs to tighten his snare.

So there you go. Two great bands and some forgettable ballast that drags drags down the score. Would've gotten an 87% without those guys. You'll never find a physical copy in a million years, but if you so much as get a hold of some mp3s hang onto them.