Having been left garrotted by their previous CD, Goregutted, I was looking forward to hear how they'd progressed for this pool of bloody, chunky stomach acid. For this split the band have certainly taken the Uterus sound the the next logical, bludgeoning level. Both members have made significant improvements since their last recording, sounding much sharper with an increased ferocity.
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Uterus are original in that they are easily recognisable and have bodybags full of their own sound and identity. Rather than slavishly producing a carbon copy of their influences, they melt them down into a solid lump of gore streaked nastiness. At times it's like a more innovative and progressive Mortician, with a shade more versatility regarding the vokills. Some part reminded me of brutal Deathgrind upstarts Dislimb, bondage lords Cock And Ball Torture, and Porngrind chancers Vaginal Incest. The band pay tribute to a band who are clearly a key influence of theirs by covering Gut's rendition of Consqeunce by Ulcerous Phlegm. Jeff's voice sports some vok effects specially for the occassion.
The songs benefit from good, clear production, mopping away the moderate muddiness of earlier works. J's vokills seem to be a little higher up in the mix, more razor sharp than before, free from effects as usual.
This part of the split sees good song arrangement and writing skills coupled with a high level of energy and power, the end result being a most thick and hostile atmosphere. Shitloads of infectious riffs, plenty of blasting and daft amounts of roaring all go together to make a more than satisfying gore broth. Fans of Gore/Porn groove who also like heavy Deathgrind and all things brutal should enjoy this band's songs here immensely.
5/5
Winding up the intestines of this messy murder scene is Septic Scum. Another one man band formed by Kyle Prescott, who to some readers may be better known as the depraved fuck behind the insane and seminal DIY act Dysmennhoriec Hemorrhage. Going by what material he's spewed into the eager hands of the Grind underground in the past, I were expecting the 33 song strong assault on his side to be breathless, blasting and memorable. Septic Scum's side begins with The Fraud, containing simple and grinding riffs, clattering beats and blasts, poisoned with some extremely harsh, rasping vokills. Not a grunt or scream as such, more of a tortured bawl. These features are to be found in abundance on this section of the split, with many quickfire, catchy riffs, a lot of blasting and relentless distorted howling.
There is a good deal of originality in Septic Scum, the rough and nasty sound making it difficult to forget after the first listen. Some comparisons can still be made however, not surprisingly the reverb laden guitar and some of the riffs it provides sound similar to Dysmennhoriec Hemorrhage. Some parts recall early Napalm Death and Regurgitate, only more coarse and lo-fi. The intense vokill assault unrelentingly sodomizes one ears throughout the recording, a high level of distortion making them all the more raucous. The final song, Conspirator, puts the vokills to their best use in terms on intensity, seeing layer upon layer of them continuously violating the ear of the listener.
The production values of the music and vokills differ from each other considerably. The guitar and drums are sufficiently clear, having one of their catchiness buried under such a noisy and overdriven sound as that given to the vokills.
Septic Scum's split segment showcases Kyle's good talent for writing fairly energetic infectious little old skool style Grindcore songs, with further adrenaline provided by his bile spitting vokill display, resulting in a riotous, unnerving atmosphere. There are one or two bad points however. Nasty and intense as they are, there is a clear lack of variety in the vokills. Although this makes for a more uncompromising noise, it does threaten the overall lasting appeal of the songs. It is more than likely that the lyrics and sounds made by Kyle are improvised, which leads me onto another disadvantage to the final rating. Now, this is in no way a criticism of the improvisation itself, because I love ad lib voks as much as I do pre-written lyrics, it's just that he seems to repeat himself a fair bit from song to song, making it difficult to tell them apart. These are relatively minor points though, which shouldn't prevent fans of noisy and chaotic Grindcore from enjoying Septic Scum. Fans of Dysmennhoriec Hemorrhage would also do well to have a listen, to see that there's more to Kyle than just pitchshifted depravity and gore.
4/5
Overall this split album is a very dark and heavy affair. Plenty of variety makes for an engaging listen, ranging from nasty electronic serial killings to horrific grinding noise, sicking up shitloads of fast as fuck blast and many a pitchshifted gurgle along the way. Although some parts of the split do smear into greyish, monotonous smudges, there's definitely something for every twisted mind on this release. It's sure to make your speakers and ears bleed contentedly.
Overall - 4/5
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