A new three-way death grind split just landed in my mail box and I was eager to bleed my ears with it! This is a three-way split between Bile Nephrosis, Dash The Brain Out, and Corpse Disfigurement called Groove of Death. The split is supposedly a mix of death metal and goregrind but really, it’s pretty much all grindcore. Bile Nephrosis is a three piece according to their Myspace profile, with one member programming the drum machine along with guitar duties. Thailand’s own Dash The Brain Out are another three piece while Corpse Dismemberment is a one man project. Why any grind band that’s nothing more than a drum machine, a guitar, and a singer has to be three people is beyond me. The split is just over 28 minutes with 18 tracks, average run time of around 1:45. With a three way split, I expect some face melting, ball searing grind.
Unfortunately, I didn’t really get any of that. The first 6 tracks are from Bile Nephrosis and are very drum machine-heavy and I can’t reason why they’re a three piece. The tracks are sort of middle-of-the-road death grind, more grind than death with that blazing drum machine, with guttural vocals and fairly straightforward but boring guitar lines. I’ve been listening to a lot of grind in the last year and I’m fairly let down by all 6 tracks, they’re too generic. You feel like you’ve heard this stuff somewhere before and changes are, you probably have. For a second, I thought Mortician dropped a bunch of ecstasy and made a new album. I was almost disappointed that it wasn’t them. Frankly, these 6 tracks are forgettable as they all sound very similar with the exception of track 6, Repeatophile, using a stock sample from some movie and then it blasts into a song that doesn’t such as much as the other five as it sounds like they actually tried. This is their stand out track. It’s a decent mix of programmed drums with an actual melody slapped right in the middle of the track. How this one track trumps the other five is beyond me. Again, comparisons to Mortician come to mind.
Tracks seven through thirteen are from Dash The Brain Out and instead of being tracks they simply put on a split album from their back catalogue, this sounds like they just put a whole album on it. A roughly 7 minute album but hey, it’d be a full grind EP. This stuff just starts off right: blistering programmed drums and extremely modulated pitchshifted vocals. This is more of what I was expecting from the first six tracks. While it’s not the best goregrind out there, it’s definitely fast and ear splitting. Due to the track length, each song is over before you know it but there’s plenty of down-tuned crunchy guitar riffs and drumming that sounds like it could come from a real drummer, that’s a plus in my book. Dash The Brain Out’s fifth track, Blood of Her Vaginal, is a stand out track with punishing guttural vocals and a drum track that simply slays. It’s fast and on the verge of ear bleeding. The next track Grind De Killer is a mid-tempo number that was over before I realized it was another track but its drum line is simply pummeling. Their final track weighs in at nearly 4 minutes, entitled Untra Sound Exsamination. Yeah, I don’t get the title but they’re from Thailand so I don’t expect an excellent English title. However, it’s 3:40 of hyper tempo black metal-influenced speed guitar riffs and mile-a-minute drum programming. I enjoy the track but its length does start to grate on you since the track doesn’t really vary from the first minute to the third. Overall, this is a much better place to start listening to the album than the beginning.
The final band on the split is Corpse Dismemberment which is one guy with his drum machine and a guitar. It’s five tracks of sheer speed and modulated vocals but has very decent production values, the best on the split honestly. Mike Neste, the band’s sole member, started the band only a year ago and he sounds like a seasons grind pro which unfortunately, isn’t saying much. I wish I could say there’s a number of influences here at work but really, there’s not. A lot of grind sounds almost identical and this is no exception but for some reason, I like it quite a bit. Punchy hyper tempo programmed drums through all five tracks, pit of hell guttural lyrics, and down-tuned guitar riffs. Again, this isn’t really stand out stuff and this is the band’s first appearance on an album but I get the feeling it’ll get better as time goes on. Best track of the five? It’s Corpse Dismemberment’s last track, A Vile Disgust. It has a searing bass line that doesn’t quit and has some different vocal stylings on it than the other tracks which really gives it a good deal of variety but almost on the verge of being a “kitchen sink” song. Almost too varied but it shows that Mike can be more than a one trick pony. I’ll be keeping an eye on this band as I expect some good releases from them in the future.
Overall, this is a pretty generic three-way split between two decent bands and one that’s not very good. I found the beginning of the split to be nothing but a letdown but that’s how it is with grind, extremely hit or miss. Almost anyone can make grindcore and it’ll sound similar to their peers but it takes a lot of work to make something good, something stand out. Truthfully, skip over the first five tracks and save yourself a few minutes of listening time. Both offerings from Dash The Bran Out and Corpse Dismemberment show promise but each band’s catalogue is a bit thin at the moment so there’s not a lot to compare with for variety or signs of growth. The split was released by Gut of Dash The Brain Out’s own label Darkroom Productions and in roughly 100 copies so if you want a copy, trust me, there won’t be many left. I guess two out of three ain’t bad.
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