Blast from the Past

This is just the pick me up I needed after all that forsaking of metal I just went through. But that's enough story time. Nyctophobic is one of the few, one of the true, asskissing blah blah.... anyways one of the most talented, long running and bullshit-free grind bands has put together this sweet compilation so I could hear some old favorites and some of the rarities for which my hands hath yearned every longly.

This album fucking rules and not only is the material great but there's a whole goddamn hour of it. That my friends, is a grind band that cares about its listeners. If you're a fan, then you will like it - there is no other way. Nyctophobic doesn't make hits and they don't make filler and whoever claims otherwise I challenge to a grindcore duel. And if you haven't liked Nyctophobic's brilliance in the past then this comp simply isn't for you. Even though this material is taken from a bunch of splits and such, the quality is great. Maybe not your Australian trendcore great, but it's - surprisingly - damn good. And of course there's miscellaneous clips from random sources spliced in here and there, the best from an episode of Bob Larson's (sic?) Jesus asslicking festival of a show. As for the music part (my personal favorite part of an album heh) Nyctophobic delivers an hour of straightforward, semi thrashy and all skull pummeling grind. No cyber drumming, none of that diahhreah vocal bullshit, no pig squeal theatrics, no forced brutality, etc. Just straightforward and top notch grind from the Germans that know how it's done.

Blast from the Past isn't some money making scheme of a compilation like many of your, and sadly some of my, favorite bands have put out. (motorhead, anyone?) ... this is a compilation for the fans. If you love Nyctophobic but haven't heard all their material (you probably haven't, don't lie) then by golly you are in Nyctophobic's thoughts. An hour of old school (but not too punky - punk sucks) grinding from one of the best.

A compilation of various splits, comp’s and 7”s (plus a few unreleased tracks) by Nyctophobic, a German grindcore act. It’s quite simplistic and basic stuff, but definitely not without brutality. No doubt about it that these lads are influenced by the older grindcore heroes such as Napalm Death and Terrorizer, and maybe even a touch of Extreme Noise Terror for a dose of hardcore inspiration. But what I sadly miss here is the full-on onslaught of chunky brutality that (for instance) Terrorizer offers.

Emphasis seems to be on fast drumming (ha, what a surprise; it’s grindcore) and the vocals, sometimes putting the riffing a bit aside, it seems. I get a sense of dullness from the string-section at times, where it’s mostly just a wall of chainsaw distortion instead of catchy chainsaw riffing, if you know what I mean. But that varies from time to time over the --- minutes that is Blast from the past. For instance the tracks from the Negligenced respect 7”, their debut from 1994, offers a so much more catchy drive. Energy, brutality and just raw ferocity packed into six tunes of grinding.

The end result is a mixture of emotions. While this can be wicked and raging to the core, sometimes it’s a bit bland and run in the mill. But I guess it’s a great way for fans of the band to get a hold of some since-long sold out releases.

Originally written for www.mylastchapter.net