Sanguisugabogg - Homicidal Ecstasy (Century Media) [Erick Willand]
Go ahead and just try to say that name properly. Take it a step further and say it three times while looking in a dark mirror in some busted up backwoods gas station bathroom and risk summoning a steaming mass of acid tripping, disease infested zombie goblins. That’s right, everyone’s favourite gore drenched, drug fuelled, utterly tasteless death metal crew Sanguisugabogg are at it again with a fresh slab of nasty tunes for us to gnaw on, bon appetit.
Befitting their reputation the first course is called Black Market Vasectomy and it is a crunchy taste of wonderful riffs and snappy drumming. By mid song while you and your friends are beating the stuffing out of each other we get treated to some fun guitar trickery that is simply impressive. Face Ripped Off with its B-movie gore video and caveman riff is pure in its death metalness. I just know the mosh-pits this tour cycle are going to be sick and gruesome.
Now onto the meat of the gore slab, Pissed is a groovy number with a tasty little time shift at about the 1:40 mark that satisfies the mosh gods nicely. Testicular Rot has the crunchiest guitar tone I think I’ve ever heard and when coupled with the rumbling bass and cymbal crashes becomes a strange pummelling solid wave sound. Hungry For Your Insides blasts out with a tight 1:31 of swinging crunch that leads fantastically into Skin Cushion and its cowbell opening, the only real stand out element of the song. Track 7 is A Lesson In Savagery which stomps right in and delivers exactly what the title implies, savagery.
This is followed by Narcissistic Incisions which is the only track here that just feels like run-of-the-mill death metal, done well and with a brutal bass line but nothing surprising. Mortal Admonishment however is a different beast altogether, the longest song offered here and clearly the track that received the most creative work. The drums are brutal, the cave riffs vicious, all top shelf work that lands this song a solid spot in my personal playlist. Proclamation Of The Frail comes in next and does a fantastic musical impression of a drunk stumbling through a meat packing plant. A solid vocal delivery but there is so much going on in this song one is left feeling like this is where all the riffs went that didn’t fit anywhere else.
Last two tracks, Necrosexual Deviant and Feening For Bloodshed are two of the most straightforward death metal tracks these four dudes have ever done, and they do them very well. Both tracks carry the now signature crunchy guitar sound that grows on you like a fungus and down right gnarly vocal assaults, and of course the drum is devastating and enjoyable.
Sanguisugabogg catches a lot of flack for goofy gore shenanigans, endless merch, and b-movie splatter videos the likes would make old Troma Movie fans giggle like the mutant little brother that’s still secretly attached to your hip. Despite all of that, these guys know death metal and the fine art of the crunchy caveman riff like few others in the field. So, despite a horrible and rather disappointing album cover this time around I’m still giving Homicidal Ecstasy a gore drenched 7/10.
EYES - Congratulations (Indisciplinarian) [GC]
Opener Generation L kicks in with a hypnotizing, loop filled drone riff before the unhinged vocals of Victor Kaas kick in and add an air of mayhem to the riffs that are big and meaty and have a lovely angular djentyness to them and the bottom-heavy groove provided is monstrous! ITS HAPPENING kicks off with a more straightforward punk vibe but loses none of the mayhem or unease and again has a truly savage vocal performance added in and the groove that Søren Bomand and Rasmus Furbothey continue to produce is a thing of beauty!
The first couple of tracks just fly by in a little over 5 minutes and title track Congratulations carries on in the same vein mixing a punk fuelled anger with some massive groove laden hardcore and after this track we are only 8 minutes into the album and there has not been one wasted second so far. dull BOY does nothing to slow the tempo down and has a big scuzzy bass riff from Kenn Bendtsen running through the body of the song that really carries everything forward and holds the whole song together as the guitars here are sharp and cut like razor wire and it is almost reminiscent of if Dillinger Escape Plan decided to play a punk song, beautifully done. Tearjerker then finally clocks in at over 3 minutes and has now slowed the pace down but not the fury and chaos that is never lurking far from the surface but be assured that everything is done with utter conviction and urgency, and nothing misses its target!
Bbbbbbbliss is another slower number and its again filled with a big scuzzy, droney riff and the pounding and enormous drumming of Simon Djurhuus now really begin to resonate, if song doesn’t get you moving there is something wrong with you! Chew then promptly picks the pace right back up with more chaotic hardcore punk and once again Victor Kass steals the show with his vocals, he really must be heard, the passion and anger he projects through this vocal performance is fantastic and he must be absolute gold in a live setting!!
The City trundles in with more drums and bass combining to lure you in before exploding into the destructive force of chaos that has been the body of most of this album and just proceeds to then cavort and jostle you for the next 3 minutes of pure unadulterated punk enjoyment and then in the blink of an eye its on to Ballast to close the album which it does in absolutely furious style its more furious and urgent punk rock and the guitars are probably the best part of it all, the word to describe this really is just chaos, this whole album is complete chaos and I love it!
So, here we are this early into 2023 and I can’t believe what I am about to say but, I really think you are going to struggle to find something this mental, fun, angry and savage in the next 11 months of this year, it has left me completely awestruck with just how good it was! I think this will surprise a lot of people because it certainly surprised me in the best possible way. The overriding feeling coming out of this was that there is no need to play safe and you should just let go and see what happens, and here something truly remarkable has happened.
The Miser – Memento Mori (Self Release) [Rick Eaglestone]
Casting a lurking shadow amid the bleak of winter The Miser bring us Memento Mori. The five track EP focuses on themes of mental health, horror and loss, opener House On The Hill is a supercharged with 70’s fuelled riffs and nightmarish lyrics with a punchy chorus and great guitar solos, this also has a great accompanying video which was directed and edited by Scott Haslett.
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