Grind is an interesting style, and not just because the French can’t pronounce it. It seems to be interpreted in different ways, depending on the part of the world you’re in. In Eastern Europe, it’s deadly serious and goes hand in hand with the word “brutal”. In Japan people just go mental and shoot toy guns at each other and things while here the extremity is taken further and although serious in form, there’s a humorous element. “Ge Fan I Våra Liv”, which I understand means “Give Shit in our Lives” is the Swedish version. All the classic elements are there – short tracks, going like hell at it for a minute or two, say your piece and get on to the next piece of bludgeoning carnage. The difference here is that it’s not constrained by boundaries. There’s atmosphere, a fusion of dark styles and even melodies. The Grind element is mingled with Blackened Death and Doom.
Basically, this is hatred expressed in musical form. Nasum, Rotten Sound and elements of Coldworker and even Cult of Luna are quoted as the comparison base, but the band I immediately thought of once we’d got through the first Grind/Death section was Impaled Nazarene. The energy and intensity are similar. There’s a traditional sample to start the title track, followed by the technical and dark “Surveillance Bastards”, then there’s the excellent “Verklighetsförankring”. The ranting is worthy of a collective between Impaled Nazarene and Anorexia Nervosa this time, matched by an engaging dark riff. Then there’s an unexpected piece of Doom, but above all it’s that chunky riff which lingers in the memory. The anarchic protest element is there throughout in the music and lyrics: “We will never grow up, never fit in properly, never been normalized of your society”. In fact the whole lyric of “Misery” reads: “Drowning in shit, unable to survive, torture existence, reduced to misery”. The track “Why” captures the energy, emotion and hatred.
But this album is much more than an anarchic rant. “Detest” and the track which follows “Volition” are completely different. The start is quiet and menacing. The doomy build-up is impressive and reminiscent of Cult of Luna, and is the perfect introduction to the mid-paced technical sound which follows. “New Day” is pure Death, and “Håll Käften” continues the violence with more growling and enough harshness to strip the bark off trees. Although utterly brutal and punishing, the riff is nevertheless vaguely melodic. “Fucking Grab It” is equally hard-hitting and melodic. It twists and turns, yet for all the variety, could be considered a Grindcore anthem. “Misery” is doomy but the album finishes as we might be expected to remember it. “Anti Work” is another harsh Grindcore rant, followed by “Brutality”, another rant of breathless energy and hatred, punctuated only by a momentary pause. There’s another nice lyric: “You were retrained as a fucking damn nuisance”. And so the album ends on a customary note of cynicism and hatred.
If you see the term Grind and it bothers you, don’t worry. Grind is there on “Ge Fan I Våra Liv” but it’s mixed creatively with Death, Post Doom, technical brutality and above all, energetic coherence. I couldn’t say there’s something for everyone as not everyone likes this style but I thought it was a fine album.
http://www.myspace.com/detestationgrindcore
http://www.grindheadrecords.com
