Sometimes, the French scene presents the listener with quite some jewels. Alongside SUBLIME CADAVERIC DECOMPOSITION, French independent INHUMATE are like icons of the UG Grind scene. Never yielding to labels’ pressure and/or demands, the band created their own Grind Your Soul thing, a platform simultaneously used as label and distro, through which they have released most of their (extensive) discography. Independence does not leave quality out, for these blokes do not seem to lack professionalism. A situation which is further enhanced by the fact that he line-up has been stable for the past 10 years.

Now to Life, the first real contact I have had with INHUMATE (at long last). It took three or four years for the band to release something ‘new’ since the Growth album – in the meantime, they have been rather busy playing tens of shows all around Europe and releasing numerous split tapes, split EPs, compilations, etc. Back in 1996, INHUMATE set themselves for the development of a conceptual series of albums – an heptalogy based on the concept of Life and the Abolition of Time (how is that for a change?…). It all started in ’97 under the moniker Internal Life. This first part deals with a preoccupation with presenting an illustration of the antenatal life. Ex-Pulsion represents the moment of the birth, whereas Growth does not need much explanation. The present album Life is the middle album and attempts at portraying the maturity of a life form (perhaps of INHUMATE too). The future albums are the development of the heptalogy and should be titled The Fifth Season, Expulsed and External Life. According to the band, this last step ends life on Earth of all men and opens Mankind to infinity. Does it mean it will bring INHUMATE to an end too? We hope not.

I have been hearing all these good things about INHUMATE for the past years, but now I see they were founded. These French goresters appear to have developed their music to a different level – most songs are actually quite enticing, With many movement-impelling rhythms, grinding guitars and the occasional blast drums. And what is the more, the recording is not the kind of Underground thing which does not allow one to understand the instruments separately. Life was recorded, mixed & mastered at Down Town Studio and no vocal effects were used.

Apparently, INHUMATE keep up the tradition of three-second-long tracks in I Want to Kill Some… (Part IV). Let me guess what the three previous editions of the episode sound like… Favorite tracks are For Lust, N.D.S. (brilliant!), No Answer and A Trip. But INHUMATE do break with tradition in one aspect: Life features no sample of any kind – which is a fresh breeze on the scene, huh?

The Life/ Live feeling is very much present in the booklet’s artwork, which features tons of pictures of the band live, fliers and the likes of. Those who still have not seen INHUMATE live (like myself) may be curious to see/ hear the band live on stage. INHUMATE thought about it too, and as a result they included a number of live tracks. I was not at all disappointed by the tracks, though I must admit to finding it slightly awkward to hear such a violent band speaking French at intervals, haha. Somehow it does not seem to fit. Fortunately, you don’t get to understand that the lyrics to N.D.S. are written in French. Mean me.

By A Trip, I thought these guys sounded a bit like SIX FEET UNDER, but N.D.S. brought a distinct HATE ETERNAL feel to the music. None of these bands happen to be Grind, so it is not really an indicated way to give you a general overview on the music, is it? The best solution is quite simple actually: visit the band’s website siteinhumate.com and download songs and videos – then you will get to know INHUMATE. Or buy the fucking album!

Official Site Siteinhumate.com | Myspace Inhumate

Inhumate - Blasted

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DEBODIFIED were formed by Jordan Varela (also in the ranks of LUST OF DECAY) in late 2000, alongside guitarist Chris Braunstein. The two musicians set high goals in trying to create the most intense manifestation of Death Metal possible. The debut full-length, Utopia in the Eyes of a Beast, was preceded by a successful 5-song demo which granted DEBODIFIED a deal with Comatose Music. This is the point where Jarrod Sternes joins the band to fulfill his function as a bassist.

«Intense» is a good word to describe the album (although not quite as intense as they would have it), characteristically American in nature (and for once I mean this in a positive sense): technical, brutal and grunted through and through. Drums are good, guitars are now and then hypnotizing, and the songs sound well thought-out. There are breaks, dragged rhythms of chaos, but mostly Death Metal violence. For fans of DISGORGE, IMMOLATION, DISAVOWED or DYING FETUS.

Conceptually, DEBODIFIED are heavily war-inspired, and the cover artwork (by Jon Zig) reflects the album title – my view of Utopia in the eyes of a beast can also be illustrated by the war panzers, helicopters and related warfare, dictating the onslaught and mutilated, maimed and burning human corpses. The everlasting struggle against the Human scum – innocent or not. Or maybe the Beast is none other than the very person who holds a speech at the beginning of Terminated with Prejudice – Mr Adolf “Swine” Hitler.

Recorded October 2002 at the Soundlab Studio, produced by DEBODIFIED and engineered by Joey Rhyme, Utopia… features Jay Barnes (of LUST OF DECAY) on backing vocals (Instinct for Malevolence).

But I might as well have conjugated the verbs in the Past Tense – you see, DEBODIFIED was disbanded two months after the release of Utopia in the Eyes of a Beast, due to turmoil within the band. This is the band’s legacy. And it is a killer.

Myspace Debodified

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The name CROTCHDUSTER might surely trigger opposite reactions, depending on the musical inclination, the state of mind, amongst millions of other factors. For some, it might imply absolute grind – when nothing could be further from the truth. CROTCHDUSTER is a gem that means humor, sarcasm, good musicianship, excellent concept and is also an excellent means to sum up in one CD virtually every musical style you can think of.

Conceived and bred by the malignant mind of Jason Suecof (CAPHARNAUM), CROTCHDUSTER come up with a rare set of songs, also spasm-inducing for the weak-minded, as well as for the less attentive ones. The first song, True Nature of Williams, is an amalgamate of completely different sounds, and the parodying intention is immediately noticeable. The target is, of course, bands and songs of all genres, be it metal, pop or whatever. The moment I heard the first few seconds, I immediately wondered whether the right CD was in my stereo, and yes, it was. Even though CROTCHDUSTER did not at all seem like a band given to slow music, pop or semi-pop, that is exactly what you get from the first song. Add a unique impression of Holy Wars (MEGADETH), early SEPULTURA and BEE GEES with a Mask-like soundtrack, and your next step is Big Top Williams. It is inevitable to get into the spirit of the song and the band. Once there, there is no way in hell you can stop listening to Big Fat Box of Shit.

The most significant and perhaps the most representative song of the band is undoubtedly Mammal Sauce, a hilarious hymn to a substance who ingredients only Bill Williams (band member) and people from another dimension seem to know. The upsurge of Chinese diarrhea, in a THERION-like environment, followed by really squeaky and miserably frustrated power metal-like vocals carry on the concept behind Big Fat Box of Shit: to mock uncontrollably. Fornicus “Fuckmouth” McFlappy and Slippery Jim are supervised by their faithful producer and composer, a dog by the name of Cain, who may have been part of the inspiration for the Cher-like vocal effects. In all fairness, the vocals are just great and extremely versatile, regardless of genre. Now picture Barney – that mythical Simpsons character, singing the chorus a la Cher. The Mike Patton/ MR. BUNGLE influence stands out rather prominently, so if you are into both, you will probably also appreciate CROTCHDUSTER. And in the band’s own words: If you don’t like Mammal Sauce, you might as well be gay!

The image department also reflects the parody, and we are given certain Beavis & Butthead-like characters under an Africanised perspective, as well as some other hallucinogen-induced creatures. The booklet includes lyrics, product of a brilliant evil mind, centered on the spiritual, carnal and sensual world of Williamburgsland.

An album to watch out for, for the straight-forwardness and daring spirit, one of those truly unexpected moments which leave a sour taste in your mouth when a growl and grunt session is expected and, instead, we get to hear weird versions of some crazy old metal classics followed by BEE GEES or BLUR-inspired music and other related squeaks. Even though this may not be the usual 24/ 7 type of album, you might as well become severely addicted, for this is simultaneously one of the most original, uncompromised, satirical, competent and audible albums I have had the pleasure of listening to over the last few years. Ad as if all of the above were not enough, the album features special guests Richard Christy, James Murphy and John Tardy.

Big Fat Box of Shit finishes off with the band members reading aloud some hate mail and providing the writers with hilarious replies (Cain’s reply is naturally verbalized by fellow band members). Towards the end, we are also told of the latest Black Metal band, Hellspawned Warhammer of the Nordic Wind. Do not miss this album – buy it now!

Myspace Crotchduster | Encyclopaedia Metallum Crotchduster

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Humm Divine Heresy’s “Bleed The Fifth”, of course i had to talk about Divine Heresy, after i knew that Dino Cazares of Fear Factory fame had a new band and that it was kinda deathmetalish and that it had Tim “The Missile” Yeung on the drums and on the bass Joe Payne from Nile fame (even though he had no part in the making of this album), and some metalcore guy for vocals, well thats a kick ass lineup, but as well we all know sometimes a great team doesn’t play a great game hehehe, so i guess Divine Heresy play above all else Melodic Death Metal, with a lot of touches of Deathcore and Metalcore, sounds good to me… well we will see.

So the album starts with the title track “Bleed The Fifth”, were you get a pretty tight death metal track with tight blasting and a kind of over simplistic guitar work (ahh what do you expect from Dino) and pretty much metalish vocals, still hard hitting and very by the book type of metal, hehehe im complaining just a bit, but overall it is still a pretty catching track, then we get the single “Failed Creation” were you get again a by the book hardcorish melodic death metal track, its ok but in comparison to the rest of the album its a bit too radio friendly and the chorus seems completely out of place like “… play death play death play … ohhh lets stop everything its time for the clean vocal chorus … play death play death play …”, still its not bad, its just not that great, then we get “This Threat Is Real” were you get like a 2 part thrash setup, that is until you enter into the “screaming tech metal part” that is actually pretty kick ass very groovy blasting, “Impossible Is Nothing” seems and feels more like Fear Factory, with tight drumming and guitar combo, ahhh how i missed it, then it goes more into death metal groove, still even when its not excellent its refreshing in their hit on this genre mix, that is until we get into the melodic part… i would cut that… its pretty awful, skip skip.

“Savior Self” ohhh snap hehe tech metal, awesome awesome, blasting away, then it goes into deathcore genre… until again… ahhh the painful melodic part, and then a OH MY FREAKIN HELL a “Body Hammer” hint damn… thats sweet (if you don’t know what i mean… fuck you hehehe) and thats all i have to say, “Rise Of The Scorned” starts out a bit like a melodic interlude, ahh the fuckers attached it to the begging of the song, noo it kind melds pretty well to the death metal track that blasts of screaming away, the rest is ok, i guess more into the metalcore, it ends pretty well merging with the beginning of the track, next up is “False Gospel” with a bit more deathcore meets metalcore with a much better groovy chorus with some in between licks from Dino’s guitar (i complain i know, but i like is over simplistic playing style), next is “Soul Decoded (Now And Forever)” ohh doesn’t that sound like a Fear Factory track name?, and wouldn’t you figure, it kinda sounds tech metalish, muahahah great and even better is the absence of Burton “everytime i get to a chorus i hit the sissy distortion mode” Bell, we even get a bit of a stop-go groovness, fuck it, its not awesome, but its pretty good, “Royal Blood Heresy” ohh a bit more tech metal, still pretty fucking groovy stuff, we even get a strange melodic blasting part that its actually not so bad, good job, then the album finishes up with “Closure” that although sounds like trademark Dino melodic stuff, the guy singing sounds a bit too Nickelback for my frail heart and so i pretend i didn’t listen to it.

Ahhh finished, so what would i expect from a band made of a tech/industrial metal guitar player, a death metal drummer and a hardcorish melodic metal singer… well exactly what i heard, it all seems so divided and broken apart, both trough the album and in the songs, its not a coherent sound in all aspects, its a broken down mess of different genres, hell just listen to the first and last track, its frightening, but in the end what did i think of this album?

In a perfect world Fear Factory wouldn’t have pseudo disbanded and wouldn’t be playing the fucking sissy contrived music they are playing now, hummm? did i called it music? i meant to say playing around with their instruments, but well enough about fear factory, what about divine heresy, well its a new band and as such its normal for the sound to be a work in progress, ill give them that, as well the fact that the bass player didn’t play a part working on this album, that and the fact that in the end this is a pretty nice album, makes me hope for a brighter future for Divine Heresy and as such i recommend everyone to at least give it a listen, hehehe.

Myspace Divine Heresy | Video for Failed Creation

Divine Heresy - Failed Creation
Divine Heresy - Savior Self

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