This is the third full length release from these crazy German gore fiends, and quite a grim slab of nastiness it is too. I mean that in a good way of course; this is a dark, heavy slice of gore-soaked unpleasantness, which sounds like it has been played by a bunch of angry Neanderthals.
The band seem to have a mild obsession with Spanish song titles and lyrics, and it actually works quite well. I have no idea where the Spanish influence comes from, (maybe they are huge Brujeria fans) but it allows them to write some pretty grisly lyrics which sound very effective, and scan perfectly with the riffs. Not all the songs are in Spanish however, and the English lyrics continue with the gore/beer-soaked themes.
There is something skull-crushingly unsophisticated about this album, and as a result it is a pretty enjoyable listen. What we have here is essentially a filthy mix of primitive, early Swedish-style death metal with early grind and punk. It smashes along mostly at a medium, head-banging pace, with the occasionally foray into blasting, furious grind. The guitar tone in particular is straight from an early Grave album I am sure!
One thing Goregast seem to do very well indeed, is induce involuntary head banging. The pounding of the simple, heavy, mid-paced riffs and the primitive drums is enough to produce an impromptu cranial spasm, and if not careful, the listener could end up with severe neck damage... These boys really do know how to write a crushing, heavy riff. Combined with Rico Unglaube’s roaring vocals (and a twin vocal attack in places), it is a fairly devastating mix.
This album will definitely not win any awards for originality, or even technicality (or any other words ending in `ality’) but it is definitely bone crushing. It isn’t all that catchy however, and so after a while the mid paced punky grind tends to sound very similar from one end of the album to the other. It doesn’t quite stand up to the bands it draws influence from (I can hear Grave, early Napalm Death, Haemorrhage, General Surgery – you get the idea), and once you’ve listened to `Desechos Humanos’ once, it fades from the memory fairly quickly.
However, it perfectly delivers a short, sharp shock to the system, a gory blast into the ear drums. It is dark, heavy, crushing and above all, enjoyable. It has heavy riffs in droves, and some great, neck-ache inducing moments. If you are after a sophisticated, technical display of guitar wizardry, look elsewhere. If you are after some heavy, gore-soaked fun, you could do a lot worse than listen to this album.
http://www.myspace.com/goregast
Jon Butlin
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