Carnivorous Erection

Barf inducing vocals violate an onslaught of high caliber instruments in the most nauseating way imaginable. 38 tracks in 33 minutes, no single one breaking the 2 minute threshold. All are unique but fit together like an anthology.

The drummer must be a machine because he is tireless, you'll be hard-pressed to find anything dipping below 100 bpm except for in very short sections. Most of the time he hammers away on the cymbals and snare and kick through clenched teeth blasts. But there's some high octane tom fills here and there some lightning fast snare rolls. The kick drum pounds away and when listened at high volume you can feel it in your chest like bile rising in your throat.

On top of the frenzied drumming are the varied vocals which keep the aggression levels high. The signature vocals are sort of a wet gurgling but they are executed in extraordinary fashion here, where other bands fail and bark out a salty rasp. But there's also so many other styles of grind vocals that each song has a treat within. My desires are not fully met as I long to know what the fuck he's saying though and we're only given lyrics to less than a third of the tracks. This slightly detracts from my enjoyment and feels like a missing piece of the puzzle.

But the vocals are one of the strongest aspects of this album; how many different vocal styles there are. It comes as no surprise that there's guest vocalist appearances (Rickard Alriksson and Mieszko Talarczyk of Nasum) but as a novice here and with only what information I can find in half assed research...I can't actually determine what tracks their vocals appear on. Because it sounds like there's 10 vocalists not just 3.

On top of the insane drumming and deranged vocals there is also a creative and sturdy guitar holding up everything as the framework and it never disappoints. I really like how quickly they can section between songs but still the intros and outros entice you to keep listening. No song really overstays it's welcome even when they're pushing 2 minutes. Sometimes the guitars get so low it resembles Mortician but they're still discernible. Some punk grind inspired riffs pop up here and there and weave smoothly in the more gore side of things.

Some of the really short songs are kind of forgettable, and it feels like they're better at writing songs in the 1-2 minute length range. Funeral Genocide comes to mind particularly, a 13 second track that feels kind of pointless and is outshined by the 2 songs sandwiching it in. Still it's less than 15 seconds so it's not like listening to it is gonna be insufferable.

Another point of contention I have is just that the songs sometimes have kick ass sections but then they turn just into a grinding blast fest where my brain longs for that kick ass section to just stick around a little longer before being ear-fucked by the relentless drumming.

Is this as great as people say it is? I think yes it actually is. I have a hard time giving it a 9/10 though so I'll give it 89. Considering I don't listen to goregrind regularly I think that's quite an accomplishment. This album just beats the living shit out of you and then jizzes on your quivering body.

Not to be missed.

Regurgitate, if you didn't know, are one of the most important grindcore/goregrind bands in the entire genre. Why? Because Regurgitate's friggin' amazing.

If you've been a fan of these swedes as long as I have, you know what I'm talking about... Heck, I even have their Concrete Torture demo. For those of you not in the know, Regurgitate play an old-school meets new kind of goregrind with a very upbeat, catchy sound and some ridiculous pitch shifting on the vocals. Obviously, they have an early Napalm Death punk element going for them, but don't expect any weak moments here.

The riffs are rather simple, and so incredibly catchy, you'll be thrashing around insanely in the first 10 seconds. I'm serious, there are very few albums as easy to get into as Carnivorous Erection. The riffs are usually repeated over and over again at a high tempo without a slow moment on here. Of course, just saying that doesn't quite explain it. Sure, it's constantly fast, but the production, while raw, is very coherent and lets the music just flow steadily without even a second of boredom. That, and most of the songs are very short (like 30 seconds to 2 minutes). Vocals as I stated before, are similar to vomiting and gurgling at the same time. Several vocal styles are used here, from low, low, gurgles to squeaky cricket gurgles to high pitch shreiks, clean growls, and yells. Drums are perfect. They're sloppy and chaotic, but never, ever, get in the way of the riffs. Now this is how I like production. Filthy, coherent, and fast paced.
Overall, this is some of the finest grind/gore ever recorded and should be in any fans collection. Sure, this is admittedly not as incredible as Effortless Regurgitation Of Bright Red Blood, but then, what is? This CD is perfect, so just ignore anyone who'd tell you otherwise.

Wow! I was very interested in this band when I heard their track in the Contaminated compilation, and this album does not disappoint at all! For those not on the know, this band is a goregrind juggernaut from…Sweden! And, oh, how they have crushed a multitude of more recognized bands with this release. This is straight grinding stuff, the sound and style very similar to Napalm Death’s Utopia Banished. However, the songs range from 15 seconds to 2 minutes. The other major difference is the vocals- everyone knows Barney- but here the vox cannot be called anything but PUKE!! Pitchshifter overdrive here, the vokills are so low they make you wonder if you have eaten for the last three days. A starved stomach could not have sounded better! They are also complimented by high screaming on some songs. There are 38 tracks here, even a cool 1-minute instrumental (track 36 I think) which is totally infectious.

I am not usually a fan of this type of stuff, but this release is far removed from the pointlessness of most gore and concentrates more on catchy ditties of grind. As a matter of fact, I feel the production here is 1000% better than most gore stuff available, which plays a big part in the catchiness of this release. I was pleasantly surprised and I have enjoyed this album many times, and so it carries my highest recommendation.

[2005 addendum - I like this way more than Deviant, where they shifted their vox to more high pitched screaming]

(Originally written by me for http://www.infernaldominion.com/ still on hiatus as of May 13 2005)

When first seeing the case I thought: "hehe a penis biting someone, that kicks ass." I didn't buy it because I also thought: "any CD with a cover like that is compensating for the fact its total crap, screw this." A few years later I actually picked it up, and realized I was wrong. I start it playing expecting shit, and I loved it, maybe I just love shit but it's my review and it's my opinion so you can go to hell if you disagree.

The production is good, guitar is badass, vocals are clear, and drums are clear, pretty much all you can ask for. Speed? It's got lots, not a slow song on the CD. Not that slow means interesting...it doesn't (but slow usually does mean boring). Fortunately this CD is a joyous romp from first song to last song. It kicks ass. Catchy guitar parts, perfectly cliché drum work, gore soaked screams and awesome upper octave yelling leave very little to be desired, if anything. Guest vocals are also good, the legendary (in my opinion, and it should be in your as well or you should be bleeding to death in cave) Mieszko (R.I.P.) of Nasum appears on several tracks and since I worship Nasum it only makes this release better.

Honestly, nothing here you can’t find other places, but that doesn’t mean it's bad. Yeah other bands sound similar, but those bands either aren’t as good or also kick ass.

So if you saw the case and said: "no band this kick ass can actually be good..." sorry, but you are wrong. This CD is fucking sweet from beginning to end, highly recommended if you like music that consists of total insanity in a digital audio format, If you like epic symphonic black metal avoid like dog shit with no shoes on, but if you can stand half an hour of really aggressive psychotic grind, don't miss this one.