Pig Destroyer / Isis - Split 7"

This is one my favourite splits ever! Limited to 2000 copies thanks to Relapse Records. There is the usual Relapse 100 clear, 100 on orange, a bizarre 50 on white, and the remaining 1750 on black. I was lucky to get a black copy at a fairly decent price, but be wary that the white and orange pressings can fetch hefty price tags on record collector websites.

 

Classic Pig Destroyer are on top form, covering the goregrind legend that is (or was) Carcass. There is simply not a better version of "Genital Grinder / Regurgitation of Giblets" in existence. "Exhume to Consume" leaves a bit to be desired vocal-wise, but for the most part is an ultra-tight, lightening-fast zip through a classic track from the genre.

 

Isis on the other hand, opt for something a lot more slow and dirgy. With Agoraphobic Nosebleed's Jay Randall in tow they sucessfully create their own very unique version of the legendary Godflesh song "Streetcleaner". Not as sprawling in production as the original, but is almost suffocating with claustrophobia.

Little Roy - Battle For Seattle

So, Nirvana. A touchy subject. Well, not touchy but a hard one to define. Awful? Maybe. Terrible? Maybe. Over-rated as fuck? Definitely. The thing with Nirvana is that the songs were fantastic. The songwriting was spot on, it's just when the songs unfolded into real entities they were boring, nauseating grunge numbers. But, it would seem, a lot of people like Nirvana's music, and that includes dub legend Little Roy, who for some godforsaken reason decided it would be a good idea to record an album of Nirvana songs in a rub-a-dub style. Had I heard the idea before the finished product I would indeed be questioning if Little Roy had finally had one toke too many on the peace pipe.

 

But this record is absolutely fantastic, so keep on toking, little man! I won't beat around the bush; Nirvana songs have never sounded so good. They are stripped back and the rhythms are exposed in their true colours; the sub-sonic bass carrying the lazy and friendly tunes along at a relaxing pace. Guitars are utilized simply; mainly for the standard reggae chord strums, and organs, moogs and other instruments take the lead. The drums are simple and are for the most part no more than the beat-keeping hat ticks, but sometimes there are devastating bass hits drenched in dub-echo and now and then all the bongos in the world come in for a laugh. 

 

As with most records there are one or two stinkers but for the most part Little Roy has well and truly hit the nail on the head with this whole converting-Nirvana-into-dub-reggae thing. The fact that it really is better than any Nirvana recording is the icing on the cake for me and I want Little Roy to do more records like this. There is hope for awful music after all. Perhaps next he should try Anal Cunt. Out on Ark Recordings.