Mykorrhiza - Mykorrhiza
2001 - Konquerer Records
By Philip Whitehouse
Avaliable through Plastic Head Music Distribution - Click Here
This is an interesting one... an odd mix of grindcore, black metal, death metal and more traditional chest-beating heavy metal, all combined into one 5-track MCD. Well, Mykorrhiza's guitarist and main songwriter Hempa Brynolfsson did apparently abandon former band Excruciate in search of 'more creative' people to work with - but were they creative enough to make all of those influences come together cohesively on this release?
Well, in general, the answer would seem to be yes. Each passage in each songs gives way cohesively and logically to the next, so much so that you would hardly notice the melding of styles unless you were really listening for them. 'Another Dimension' starts in true black metal style, recalling Mayhem in their more death metal influenced days, before entering a more visceral, mid-tempo stage that ends abruptly for the world's most lethargic bass solo which then gives way to more black metal... and so on it goes, throwing in a grindcore section here and a blastbeat there. Yet amazingly, it all seems to work really well.
However, the major let down in this release is the fairly muddy production. The instruments aren't clear enough, which leaves some of the musical intricacies (like the dissonant pinch harmonics in 'Into War') fighting to be heard. Also, the drum production is abysmal - the snare drums sound like one of those children's toys where you shake your hand backwards and forwards to make the balls at the top of the handle bang together, which clearly is not the right sound to have for grindcore passages...
Overall, the music made is interesting enough to stand out from the crowd, but sadly the production is so bad as to rob it of most of its power and, as a result, of its appeal. Can't wait to hear what these guys do next, but may I suggest a change of studio next time round?
6/10
2001 - Konquerer Records
By Philip Whitehouse
Avaliable through Plastic Head Music Distribution - Click Here
This is an interesting one... an odd mix of grindcore, black metal, death metal and more traditional chest-beating heavy metal, all combined into one 5-track MCD. Well, Mykorrhiza's guitarist and main songwriter Hempa Brynolfsson did apparently abandon former band Excruciate in search of 'more creative' people to work with - but were they creative enough to make all of those influences come together cohesively on this release?
Well, in general, the answer would seem to be yes. Each passage in each songs gives way cohesively and logically to the next, so much so that you would hardly notice the melding of styles unless you were really listening for them. 'Another Dimension' starts in true black metal style, recalling Mayhem in their more death metal influenced days, before entering a more visceral, mid-tempo stage that ends abruptly for the world's most lethargic bass solo which then gives way to more black metal... and so on it goes, throwing in a grindcore section here and a blastbeat there. Yet amazingly, it all seems to work really well.
However, the major let down in this release is the fairly muddy production. The instruments aren't clear enough, which leaves some of the musical intricacies (like the dissonant pinch harmonics in 'Into War') fighting to be heard. Also, the drum production is abysmal - the snare drums sound like one of those children's toys where you shake your hand backwards and forwards to make the balls at the top of the handle bang together, which clearly is not the right sound to have for grindcore passages...
Overall, the music made is interesting enough to stand out from the crowd, but sadly the production is so bad as to rob it of most of its power and, as a result, of its appeal. Can't wait to hear what these guys do next, but may I suggest a change of studio next time round?
6/10
