Total Fucking Destruction Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction
Translation Loss TL20-2 April 3, 2007
By Jason Jordan
Translation Loss isnt exactly known for grindcore, but with Total Fucking Destruction thats what you get, which isnt too surprising since Hoak (Brutal Truth) is in the ranks. However, because most of Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction is good, its strange that TFD delivered 10 electric tunes and four acoustic ones to arrive at the discs 27-minute length. Theres also a nine-song concert recorded at a house party in their hometown of Philadelphia that features live renditions of songs that appear on the album, naturally, as well as a few that dont. So yeah, this is essentially a bittersweet release, mainly due to the way they chose to present the material.
Anyone familiar with grind knows the keywords that can be used when describing such music: short, fast, intense, abrasive. The 10 tracks here including a cover of Terrorizers Enslaved by Propaganda are over before you know it, but the four acoustic last longer. Sadly, Bio-Satanic Terroristic Attack, Kill the Jocks and Eat Their Brains, and Nihilism, Emptiness, Nothingness, Nonsense are bothersome as a result of lyrical repetition. The 10-minute video contains a handful of tracks that arent on Zen those being Non-existence of the Self, Grindcore Salesman, Trilogy on the History of Strongmanism, Seth Putnam Is Wrong About a Lot of Things but Seth Putnam Is Right About You, and Anyone but Me. The electric versions of Nihilism, Emptiness, Nothingness, Nonsense and Kill the Jocks and Eat Their Brains are definitely superior to their acoustic alternatives.
What wouldve worked best for Total Fucking Destruction, in my opinion, is if Zen was a regular, 19-track grind record without the acoustic and video inclusions. Its cool to see them in a live setting, even if theres only one camera and the screen goes black before every song, but ultimately any extras are secondary to the audio itself. Perhaps their debut wouldve been worth buying if it was less varied. As it stands now, my Translation Loss fixes come in the form of Neur-Isis emulators Mouth of the Architect and Rosetta. For grind, though, Ill look elsewhere.
Official Total Fucking Destruction Website
Official Translation Loss Website
Translation Loss TL20-2 April 3, 2007
By Jason Jordan
Translation Loss isnt exactly known for grindcore, but with Total Fucking Destruction thats what you get, which isnt too surprising since Hoak (Brutal Truth) is in the ranks. However, because most of Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction is good, its strange that TFD delivered 10 electric tunes and four acoustic ones to arrive at the discs 27-minute length. Theres also a nine-song concert recorded at a house party in their hometown of Philadelphia that features live renditions of songs that appear on the album, naturally, as well as a few that dont. So yeah, this is essentially a bittersweet release, mainly due to the way they chose to present the material.
Anyone familiar with grind knows the keywords that can be used when describing such music: short, fast, intense, abrasive. The 10 tracks here including a cover of Terrorizers Enslaved by Propaganda are over before you know it, but the four acoustic last longer. Sadly, Bio-Satanic Terroristic Attack, Kill the Jocks and Eat Their Brains, and Nihilism, Emptiness, Nothingness, Nonsense are bothersome as a result of lyrical repetition. The 10-minute video contains a handful of tracks that arent on Zen those being Non-existence of the Self, Grindcore Salesman, Trilogy on the History of Strongmanism, Seth Putnam Is Wrong About a Lot of Things but Seth Putnam Is Right About You, and Anyone but Me. The electric versions of Nihilism, Emptiness, Nothingness, Nonsense and Kill the Jocks and Eat Their Brains are definitely superior to their acoustic alternatives.
What wouldve worked best for Total Fucking Destruction, in my opinion, is if Zen was a regular, 19-track grind record without the acoustic and video inclusions. Its cool to see them in a live setting, even if theres only one camera and the screen goes black before every song, but ultimately any extras are secondary to the audio itself. Perhaps their debut wouldve been worth buying if it was less varied. As it stands now, my Translation Loss fixes come in the form of Neur-Isis emulators Mouth of the Architect and Rosetta. For grind, though, Ill look elsewhere.
Official Total Fucking Destruction Website
Official Translation Loss Website
