Looking For An Answer / Catheter - Split 7"

I recently missed the Looking For An Answer UK tour which really bummed me the fuck out, but it made me realize that I literally owned next to nothing that the band has put out! I wanted to listen to a couple of 7"s to ease the pain of missing the gigs, but I found out that I only had the one...I could have sworn I had one or two more. What an idiot! Anyway, at the time of writing, this split with Catheter is the only LFAA release that I have, and this is the well overdue review for it!

 

LFAA have an enormous grindcore sound, not dissimilar in production and riffing style to Brain Corrosion-era Dead Infection, but with a variation from the endless low end growl vocal, often battering the senses with screeches and screams as well. The drumming is tight as fuck, the bass lower than a thousand fathoms, and the guitars are razor sharp, but not "thin" enough in the mix to lose any punch. Here, LFAA play through 5 songs at 45rpm, only one of which consists of any fair amount of length, and with the 5th acting as an outro more than anything, the LFAA side is over in what seems like a blink of an eye. 

 

Catheter are just so fucking awesome! I'm sure if you're clued up on modern grind shits you'll know all about these guys, but fuck, they are so good. They are a touch slower here than the all-out blasting of LFAA; preferring the more technical approach with only 2 songs of technical drumming and more complex guitar playing mixed with dirgy, doomy riffs. Just like the flipside however, this is spinning at 45 so it is still fairly short, but Catheter are much more experimental with their grindcore template, almost falling into other "metal" territory yet retaining that chaotic edge. Good listening all round!

Out on Barcelona's Parade Records. 

Mixomatosis - Grind

As with the other Mixomatosis 7" I have, I have come to the conclusion that they seem desperate to squeeze as little as they can onto a record and call it an EP. Saying that, this is by far my favourite Mixomatosis minute or two; obscene goregrind obviously digitally remixed (shifted drums) melds awkwardly with (probably copyrighted) full orchestra music, before falling away and returning with more flanger-drenched horribleness. This is more noisecore than I ever thought Mixomatosis could get, which is rather ironic considering this basic package is called Grind. 

Another thing I don't get: it's fucking one-sided. I hate blank one-sided records! What a fucking waste! If you are gonna go blank, fucking etch something on there! Otherwise split with another band for fuck sake. What a waste of money. We are even spared the luxury of a sleeve and tracklist, just brilliant red vinyl and a shitty little piece of card. Good tunes, but not worth my money, let alone the time, effort and investment in pressing this in the first place.

(as with the last Mixo post, the audio off this disc is not on Youtube, so please enjoy this other random Mixo tune as a substitute.) 

Mixomatosis - Convento Infernal

At first glance this 7" looks awesome, but take a closer look at the artwork and you'll notice it is actually badly drawn. Nevermind! Epic studio quality shits from Mixomatosis with hilarious vocals. Terrible samples aside, this music is well recorded and well put together, but side B's live track is a bit shit, if I'm honest. Also, at 45rpm it is over in such a short time. 

I wouldn't know where to start with Mixomatosis' rather extensive back catalogue as I kind of stumbled onto them by chance (worked with them on a 7" compilation), but this does seem to be the best studio quality Mixo-stuff out there that I have heard. Perhaps I need more education in this crazy band's work? Neuralgia records' diatribe of pressing "ONLY TRUE UNDERGROUND, FRIEND" is tiring at best. That is all. I apologise for the massive overtones of negativity.

(there is no video available with content from the 7", instead enjoy this Mixo music video)