This is my first experience with Mesrine, although it's been a long-time coming; another one of those bands that always escapes checking out! After seeing Entrails Massacre in OEF I decided to buy some of their shit and I got this split, which introduced me (finally) to the wonders of Mesrine. Boasting a no-nonsense approach to the world of grind, Mesrine seem to form some sort of heavy hitting bastard child of traditional grindcore and hardcore riffs, not dissimilar to a mix between Napalm Death and later Phobia stuff.
Entrails Massacre don't have an 'as-condensed' sound as Mesrine and their hard-hitting yet heavily-compressed studio work. Entrails Massacre's tunes are a bit more rough around the edges, but what they lose in studio slickery they make up for in sheer grinding performance.
This awesome 7" is limited to 525 copies on the Uranium Overdose label.
Pig Destroyer's Prowler record is considered a modern classic in the world of American grind, and it doesn't take a genius to see why. Adding a poetic, dark and downright creepy edge to the hyper-precision blasts helped Pig Destroyer stand apart from the legions of other grindcore acts clamoring for attention; and despite what your opinion is on what Pig Destroyer has become these days, it is very hard to deny that Prowler isn't an absolute corker of an album. All the intensity in the world meets in this one 22 track monster.
"Jennifer" is one of the best album openers ever, and sets the creep-o-meter fairly high. Bombardments of micro-blasts follow uniformly, punctuating stops in the frenzy of hypergrind with the odd chuggy moment or neck-snapping groove. It is not until side B however, that the Destroyer of Pigs slows things down to a crawl pace; "Hyperviolet", "Starbelly" and "Piss Angel" are absolute monstrosities, utilizing the slow and doomy approach rather than smashing through the wall completely with the grind. This was definitely a precursor of what was to come in the epic Natasha; a sprawling 35-minute audible nightmare, and is also a continuation into territory explored on the progressively hellish older song "Pixie".
All in all, Prowler In The Yard has something for everyone, as far as extreme metal goes. Well, barring any black metal moments, thank fuck. That would just be awkward. What we have here is a recording of Pig Destroyer in their prime; the excellent three piece line up that recorded this and follow-up album Terrifyer. J R Hayes' vocals are at their peak during these two album sessions, and you cannot beat him for sheer velocity and rabid enthusiasm; he is one angry fucker! Limited to 1000 pieces on Relapse Records.
