Monday, January 16, 2012

operation grindcore

As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my year end post for 2011, Wormrot is a band that I've slept on for way too long. I mean, WAY too long. I'm really surprised that I hadn't bothered to give these guys a proper shot earlier, as this LP of theirs, their first, "Abuse" along with their latest on Earache Records (which I will be posting about in the coming fortnight), are two of the most interesting, well written and well executed grindcore records that I've listened to in the last five years, if not more. This press of red wax was released in 2009 by German label TVG Records, numbers in an edition of 110 copies, and to my surprise remains in it's first pressing and is readily available in places like eBay and the like. Music of this quality should be long sold out, or at least in subsequent editions, but no, this record remains criminally under rated. Further proof that the majority of the international punk scene sits on its own taste.

Perhaps foolishly, I've never paid much attention to bands from South East Asia, and certainly idiotically I will admit that I know nothing about any kind of scene from the region either. From Singapore, the music that Wormrot have produced with Abuse rivals anything coming out of the USA or Europe at the moment. Taking obvious cues from all of the classics, these guys omit a very blatant modern American sound ala Insect Warfare and Magrudergrind with this LP, implementing a modern recording style with extreme metal leanings. Short, simplistic songs built around heaps of very catchy riffs and creative ideas, underpinned with some brilliant grind drumming and churning vocals that switch between grunts, growls and screams and would easily rival in brilliance those of the two previously mentioned bands.

What makes this album cooler is the fact that pretty much every facet of it was handled by the band themselves. On top of the obvious credit of writing and playing all of the material, the bands singer Ari also handled all of the mixing and mastering and the art and layout too. Housed in a regular sleeve, also included with the vinyl are the insert with all relevant notes, and this large poster of his cover art.

I can't rave on enough about this band. Both LP's have been on constant repeat at my house for weeks now. They have a handful of other releases under their collective belts in the form of a few EP's and split recordings, most of which are proving a little more elusive than the two LP's. If you would like to donate the aforementioned material to the the Skull Fucked cause, I would be more than grateful.

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