Suppository - Punching Out Reality
Forensick Records - 2002
By Philip Whitehouse
Grindcore music is enjoying something of a resurgence in popularity of late - Relapse Records are reminding us of the old greats with a Human Remains discography, Nasum have recently played their debut UK gig to great critical appreciation, and even members of the inventors of grindcore, Napalm Death, have recently got together with other extreme music celebrities to form a grindcore supergroup, Lock Up.
And so, in this time of increasing appreciation for extreme music's last logical progression, the climate seems perfect for Suppository to step into the ring with 'Punching Out Reality'. With a sound that sits directly in between Napalm Death's debut album and Lock-Up's most recent with occasional nods to Swedish grinders Nasum, Suppository serve up 18 tracks of fast, furious, but strangely catchy grind.
The riffs and drumming are rhythmic and precise without sounding too clinical to be harsh, the vocals range between ear-splitting shrieks and subsonic growls, and the songs are occasionally embellished with film samples that range from the hilarious to the obscure. As ever with a grind album, picking highlights is difficult, but the almost criminally catchy riffs of 'Mindbender', the crushing momentum of 'Compulsive Elements' and the mid-tempo bludgeoning of the intro to 'Man Made Machine' deserve special mention.
However, there is something a bit missing in Suppository's album. The atmosphere of the best grind bands, the feeling that this is the soundtrack to the world collapsing around your ears, doesn't seem to be present - it just sounds like a bunch of guys making some well heavy racket as opposed to sonic armageddon. Admittedly, it is eminently listenable, well-executed and fairly imaginative heavy racket, but it just doesn't have the same crushing impact as Nasum's 'Human 2.0', or Napalm Death's 'Scum'.
But still, if you can live without feeling like your bowels have just been shaken out of your body in exchange for some more-than-satisfying grindcore, then this CD is most likely for you.
7/10
Forensick Records - 2002
By Philip Whitehouse
Grindcore music is enjoying something of a resurgence in popularity of late - Relapse Records are reminding us of the old greats with a Human Remains discography, Nasum have recently played their debut UK gig to great critical appreciation, and even members of the inventors of grindcore, Napalm Death, have recently got together with other extreme music celebrities to form a grindcore supergroup, Lock Up.
And so, in this time of increasing appreciation for extreme music's last logical progression, the climate seems perfect for Suppository to step into the ring with 'Punching Out Reality'. With a sound that sits directly in between Napalm Death's debut album and Lock-Up's most recent with occasional nods to Swedish grinders Nasum, Suppository serve up 18 tracks of fast, furious, but strangely catchy grind.
The riffs and drumming are rhythmic and precise without sounding too clinical to be harsh, the vocals range between ear-splitting shrieks and subsonic growls, and the songs are occasionally embellished with film samples that range from the hilarious to the obscure. As ever with a grind album, picking highlights is difficult, but the almost criminally catchy riffs of 'Mindbender', the crushing momentum of 'Compulsive Elements' and the mid-tempo bludgeoning of the intro to 'Man Made Machine' deserve special mention.
However, there is something a bit missing in Suppository's album. The atmosphere of the best grind bands, the feeling that this is the soundtrack to the world collapsing around your ears, doesn't seem to be present - it just sounds like a bunch of guys making some well heavy racket as opposed to sonic armageddon. Admittedly, it is eminently listenable, well-executed and fairly imaginative heavy racket, but it just doesn't have the same crushing impact as Nasum's 'Human 2.0', or Napalm Death's 'Scum'.
But still, if you can live without feeling like your bowels have just been shaken out of your body in exchange for some more-than-satisfying grindcore, then this CD is most likely for you.
7/10
