- Apr 5, 2003
- 2,668
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Japanische Kampfhörspiele - Früher War Auch Nicht Alles Gut
Bastardized Recordings - BE022 - Sept. 4th, 2006
By Brandon Strader
Japanische Kampfhörspiele. No idea what it means, or even what language - I'm thinking it's German, despite the placement of "Japan" in the first word. The genre, grindpunk, is equally confusing. How can something be grind and punk? I thought the two genres were complete opposites of each other. Früher War Auch Nicht Alles Gut features 33 total songs from their earlier releases all compiled into one disc stuffed with grinding awesomeness for a lethal total time of 64 minutes. Is it physically possible for a person to withstand 64 full minutes of eardrum-destroying grind? I hope so....
"Behindert" starts it off right with chuggy riffs, atmospheric keyboards, and shortly after ignition, you're hit with the vocalist's scratchy screams that are like a kick in the face. The vocals are awesome brutal screams and shrieks with a lo-fi type of distorted sound, yet the rest of the production is pretty good. I can definitely see where the "punk" comes in, though it is mostly in the powerchord progressions and more riff-oriented moments. The vocalist also rips out some gut-busting low growls that will really take you by surprise; especially if you were expecting something a bit more, well, commercial... like punk. Luckily, that element is extremely subtle. Despite the long album length, the songs are fairly short featuring a length between 1 and a half, to 3 minutes. Riffs are thrown around like party favors, and song transitions are broken which makes for a pretty rough listen. (As if it wasn't rough enough for you already!)
Most of you will probably have no idea what this fellow is screaming in German, but he puts plenty of enthusiasm into the performance. "Hand Ausrutscht" features the first overly melodic portion of a song with a rhythm and lead guitar performance working together to make a brief moment of sadness, really brief. Most of the time, the band is charging full force with constant tremolo riffs and leads, and the percussionist breaks out untriggered blastbeats and double bass, and some more jazzy sounding paradiddles as well. Früher War Auch Nicht Alles Gut is an aggressive, sometimes insane, assault upon your senses, tickling your fancy and your gag reflex at the same time. It will definitely appeal to fans of grind, though probably not so much to fans of punk. Also of particular interest is the 33rd track; a cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood". These fellows pull it off better than the original musically, although the 20 seconds of silence at the beginning is a bit lame, and the screams don't quite fit in too well.
8/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Japanische Kampfhörspiele Website
Official Bastardized Recordings Website
Bastardized Recordings - BE022 - Sept. 4th, 2006
By Brandon Strader
Japanische Kampfhörspiele. No idea what it means, or even what language - I'm thinking it's German, despite the placement of "Japan" in the first word. The genre, grindpunk, is equally confusing. How can something be grind and punk? I thought the two genres were complete opposites of each other. Früher War Auch Nicht Alles Gut features 33 total songs from their earlier releases all compiled into one disc stuffed with grinding awesomeness for a lethal total time of 64 minutes. Is it physically possible for a person to withstand 64 full minutes of eardrum-destroying grind? I hope so....
"Behindert" starts it off right with chuggy riffs, atmospheric keyboards, and shortly after ignition, you're hit with the vocalist's scratchy screams that are like a kick in the face. The vocals are awesome brutal screams and shrieks with a lo-fi type of distorted sound, yet the rest of the production is pretty good. I can definitely see where the "punk" comes in, though it is mostly in the powerchord progressions and more riff-oriented moments. The vocalist also rips out some gut-busting low growls that will really take you by surprise; especially if you were expecting something a bit more, well, commercial... like punk. Luckily, that element is extremely subtle. Despite the long album length, the songs are fairly short featuring a length between 1 and a half, to 3 minutes. Riffs are thrown around like party favors, and song transitions are broken which makes for a pretty rough listen. (As if it wasn't rough enough for you already!)
Most of you will probably have no idea what this fellow is screaming in German, but he puts plenty of enthusiasm into the performance. "Hand Ausrutscht" features the first overly melodic portion of a song with a rhythm and lead guitar performance working together to make a brief moment of sadness, really brief. Most of the time, the band is charging full force with constant tremolo riffs and leads, and the percussionist breaks out untriggered blastbeats and double bass, and some more jazzy sounding paradiddles as well. Früher War Auch Nicht Alles Gut is an aggressive, sometimes insane, assault upon your senses, tickling your fancy and your gag reflex at the same time. It will definitely appeal to fans of grind, though probably not so much to fans of punk. Also of particular interest is the 33rd track; a cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood". These fellows pull it off better than the original musically, although the 20 seconds of silence at the beginning is a bit lame, and the screams don't quite fit in too well.
8/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Japanische Kampfhörspiele Website
Official Bastardized Recordings Website
