Embalming Theatre - The World is a Stage... For Murder!

If you've been following this site since the beginning then you're probably somewhat aware that I have had mostly nothing but praise for all the Embalming Theatre stuff that I've reviewed. This 2005 full-length record is going to be no exception, as it showcases everything that I love about these Swiss grindcore maniacs. What I have here the 2007 pressing on vinyl by Power It Up from Germany (the original 2005 release was just on CD).

If you know what Embalming Theatre are about then The World... isn't a particularly ground breaking or forward-thinking record. It is, basically, Embalming Theatre doing what Embalming Theatre does best; churning out oddly-catchy, death metal tinged grind hymns of disturbing sickness. "Amputation Of The Wrong Leg Part II" is obscenely catchy for a track bathed in such grim subject matter, as is "Get High On A Dead Dog" - another highlight of side A - which blasts and rattles through the horrendous (true) tale of two thieves from Essex (yes!) who snorted the cremated remains of a dog called Charlie because they thought it was, ironically, coke or something. Shit! "Foetal Remains In A Trash Compactor" has another killer groove that rounds off side A. 

Side B houses such classics as "He Attacked Her With A Chainsaw" and the gastronomic "Bake The Baby", before rounding the entire bizarre, macabre circus off with the piano-driven (double yes!) "Bulldozer Blues", which really has to be heard to be believed. Whoever said grindcore has to be serious? Ha ha! Embalming Theatre seem to subtly balance a gallows humour with their morbid tales of mutilation and destruction based on true events from around the world. Filter this balance through a dirgy, treble-heavy, gurgly and guttural grindcore assault, and you've the perfect recipe for the (perfect) disaster! 

Give a whirl in the link below!

Agathocles - Mincer

This is one of my favourite things so far in my never-ending adventure into the discography of Belgium's Agathocles. I've seen it about for years, probably since it's release, but have just never got around to buying it. I finally picked it up (dirt cheap) at some stall at Obscene Extreme festival in the Czech Republic. I don't think the stall had a name but it was a gazebo being shared by two guys selling different records. One of them was the vocalist from Entrails Massacre, I remember that much.

 

If you are familiar with Agathocles then you already know what to expect from a full length such as this; fast and to-the-point "mince"core with gut-addling bass and shrieked or yelped vocals, dusted off with the odd helping of pitch-shifted lows to complete the grinding cocktail! Opening track "Dethrone The Tyrant" is an Agathocles instant classic, and even spawned an EP of the same name. "Yuppie Career Freak" and "Diary Of White Trash" are two more examples of Agathocles at their blasting brilliance, as are the title track "Mincer" and the hilarious "Pricks At Gigs". "Goredom - Boredom" again shows the band's endless disdain for goregrind, porngrind and the related imagery and lyrical themes present therein.

My copy is a fantastic deep transparent blue, which is great because I was expecting it to be black for some reason or other. This was released on Power It Up in Germany in 200? and is still really easy to find, so get a copy already!

Regurgitate - Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood / Concrete Human Torture

This here is the fantastic repress on Power It Up Records. Mine, unfortunately, is not the edition with the bonus 7" (I didn't know it existed when I bought this, which is a shame as I wouldn't have minded paying a bit extra for the whole set). This set contains Effortless Regurgitation... on one slab of wax, and the Concrete Human Torture tape plastered onto a single side of another slab of wax. Adorning side D is a brilliant etching of the old spiky Regurgitate logo. What a brilliant set this is! Shame about the 7", as that too contains an old demo/split thing and it would have been nice to round off this package of old Regurgitate shits.

  

The intro to Effortless.... is one of the most harrowing things ever, and it really sets the mood for the excruciating mix of Discharge meets early Carcass that is to come. I love Regurgitate's blast'n'd-beat approach to goregrind (although the d-beat isn't as prominent here as it is on later records), the mix is perfect! The vocals here aren't as high up on the scale of toilet-bowl-goodness as later albums but they are still shifted to hell and disturbing as fuck. The drumming is dirty and relentless, the guitar work is muddy and the bass is fuzzy and non-existent almost, but this record is fecking awesome!

 

Concrete Human Torture suprised me by having a slightly better production job; I always assumed it was a shitty demo, being one of thier first released tapes and all. But, no! Everything is wrapped up in a crisper world here. The drums are much clearer and things seem a lot tighter, mainly because there is less muddiness in the mix.

The price on this set is absolutely criminal, currently averaging £15 on Discogs. I highly recommend it, especially the version with the extra 7", as it is a bloody good bargain and you get three early Regurgitate releases in one go, all on lovely jubbly vinyl. The only downer I can find with this release is that the gore pictures on the front and back cover seem a little stretched, giving the artwork a bit of a cheap feel, but that really is the minor downer here, this set is fucking amazing!

Agathocles / Kadaverficker - Split 7"

One of Agathocles' many split 7"s, this time on black wax with Kadaverficker. Released as a joint venture between Power It Up and NCU Records.

This is far from Agathocles' best, but nowhere near their worst, repetitive, churned over material. Kadaverficker aren't too bad, either. Definitly a completist's item (if your daft enough to try and collect every Agathocles 7" in the world!).