Wormrot / I Abhor - Split 7"

I Abhor are a weird mixture of sounds. Slow, dissonant riffs lead into unbelievably fast blasting grind; the drumming really is something you must all hear! The vocals are distorted and hellish a la the sound used on earlier Pig Destroyer records, only not as high; the singer utilizes mainly lows in his delivery. I Abhor are kinda similar to Wormrot in a way; they both peddle the same grinding mix of excellent riffing and flat out blasting.

 

Wormrot on side B contribute 8 (yes!) tracks to the 7". Opener "Twelve" is bloody hilarious, before "Critical Human Stupidity" blows your fucking head off like it was nobody's business. The production here betrays to me that these songs are from the same sessions as the Abuse album, or at least that's what it sounds like to me! 

 

For a grindcore band, Wormrot haven't really done that many splits, which is odd (but great for me as I have literally everything they have released, barring the odd demo tape or two). Anyways this 7" was put out by Fat Ass Records in Poland and is truly excellent as fuck. I recommend!

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.

Pig Destroyer - Prowler In The Yard

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.

 

Agoraphobic Nosebleed / Total Fucking Destruction - Split 7"

This here is the brilliant split between Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Total Fucking Destruction; two of modern grind's finest acts coming together on one short record. It was originally released in 2007 by Bones Brigade Records on a press of 1500 copies, 1300 on blue and 200 rare ones on green. It was repressed in 2009 on another 1000 red copies. Not sure how many people realize this, but the record is actually marbled. You can't see it normally because of the unusually thick blue colouring, but hold it up to the light and it looks boss:

Musically, this is about the time when ANb started veering away from the flat-out Randall-fronted cybergrind of old into more, how should I put it, "progressive" territory. It's still horrible, aggressive music, but the longest song here is 3 minutes; a precursor of what was to come with later ANb splits and albums. Pete from Benumb, a long time collaberator, lends vocals to the second track on the ANb side.

This split was my introduction to the weird and wonderful world of Rich Hoak's Total Fucking Destruction. Featuring a lengthy track spanning the whole side of the 7" (barring their quick Exploited cover at the end) entitled "Last Night I Dreamt We Destroyed The World", TFD spazz out over repetitive vocal patterns and odd noise arrangements. It's not of their usual hyper-fast grind stock, but it's definitely worth a listen.

You can pick up the repress easily these days, and you can still get the original blue one fairly cheap on Discogs, although I have never come across a green one, ever. In fact, I didn't even know they existed until I did some pressing info research on this release. I highly recommend this 7" to any fans of grindcore and the related genres.