Whore Splattered Walls

This is perhaps the single most disturbing album ever recorded.

Intestinal Disgorge are known for their unbelievably extreme and chaotic approach to grindcore and noise, a unique, aggressive style punctuated by the most heinous and painful-sounding high-pitched screams you will ever hear on a record. These shrieks, known affectionately among fans of the band as "bitch screams", made their debut record one of the most shocking and amusing albums to ever hit the underground grindcore scene. And one would be forgiven for thinking that an album of such ridiculous intensity would stand alone, never to be usurped in its extremity.

Enter "Whore Splattered Walls", the sophomore effort from Intestinal Disgorge, released in 2001 on cult Brazilian goregrind label Lofty Storm Records. On this release, the band blurs the lines between grind and noise to such an extent that, at times, one begins to wonder if creating "songs" was ever the point. The drums are a muddled, blasting mess from start to finish, blasting away furiously at times and at other times sounding as if the drummer is simply throwing drumsticks at the drumset at random. The guitars, as on the band's debut effort, sound as if they were recorded directly line-in to the mixer, coming out as one continuous muddy buzz. The bass seems to be nothing but a constant distorted rumbling that never seems to give way, nor does it ever seem to be engaged in actually playing notes or following the rhythm of the song.

But the "music" is not what's important on this album. Evidence of this fact can be found in the several instances throughout the record where five or more layers of screaming, roaring, howling vocals completely obliterate all of the instruments, totally drowning out all of the music. The vocals on this album can be divided into two currents: one current consists of what sounds like lyrics being growled in time with the songs, and a second current which appears to be totally disconnected from the songs. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find that these vocals were recorded without even listening to the songs. They are totally random. And they are unbelievably intense. There are pitch-shifted "diarrhea" growls, blood-curdling bitch screams, effects-laden roars and chokes and gags, all combined together to sound like an entire crowd of people screaming themselves hoarse, constantly.

Just like their debut, this album from Intestinal Disgorge will challenge even the most self-assured "noise" connoisseur to reevaluate their notions of what constitutes music and what constitutes "creativity". This is the closest any band has ever come to literally assaulting the listener with sound. Pure audial violence.

(Originally written for discogs.com)

Discomfort is a very underrated extension of subjective artwork. Case in point, one of the hardest to watch, most gut wrenching scenes ever filmed in cinematic history is when Michael Corleone's new wife, Appolonia, is unexpectedly murdered in The Godfather. The power behind this scene, and its effect on the audience, is one of the many things that make the film a masterpiece. Discomfort. I remember the first time I saw that scene, my mouth hung open, my eyes sort of glazed over, and all I could think was "...oh, fuck". If there was ever a work of music that captured that emotion, this is it. Whore Splattered Walls takes that uncomfortable, disturbed feeling I got watching Appolonia die in The Godfather and spreads it out over an entire album, so I can savor it whenever I want. This album is something special.

The vocal delivery is the obvious focal point. You have your standard growls and gurgles, which are pretty much average, but we all know that that's not the forte of Intestinal Disgorge. No, the abominable "bitch screams" are what we're here for. What do those sound like? Well... a bitch screaming. A preteen, to be exact. Now, to some people, the bitch screams either add or subtract from the music, but to me, they make the music. I'll tell you what is unique about them: First of all, of course other bands have used samples of people screaming before the music kicks in, but it's rare that they're used during the music. This brings me to another point, which is that the screams Intestinal Disgorge use aren't samples, but actual screams recorded by one of the band members. The benefit of this is that all the screams have the same timbre. See what I'm getting at? It sounds as if all of the shrieks of torment are coming from the same person, one little girl who's been locked in the basement for days, maybe weeks, kept alive only to be repeatedly raped and tortured. The fact that it's only one voice makes it very easy to close your eyes and picture a loved one as the victim, like I did. That is why this music is as unpleasant as it is. Occasionally, there will be an additional male, adult voice to give the impression that the girl is not Intestinal Disgorge's only victim...

Musically, Whore Splattered Walls is not as interesting. We've got riffs that both grind and chug, inaudible bass, and sloppy drumming. The performances and compositions are basic, but competent. However, the production is what gives the instruments their teeth. It's thick, sludgy, brackish, and above all, sadistic. Thanks to both the production and the vocals, this album has the most sadistic atmosphere I've heard since Infester's To the Depth's... in Degradation.

There are drawbacks. The samples are terrible. Only three songs have movie samples, but said three are ruined by them because all that the supposedly "funny" samples do is dissipate the atmosphere, which is Intestinal Disgorge's most precious aspect. I'm just glad it's only three tracks because, let's face it, if this band put a sample in front of every song, thus waiving their atmosphere entirely, I would see them as merely a gimmick band. They're also walking on thin ice with their song titles. I was hoping that they'd gotten over their coprophilia fetish after Drowned in Rectal Sludge, but this is not the case. Exactly half of the song titles on Whore Splattered Walls have something to do with a bodily function. There's a difference between sadism and immaturity, and these guys are really pushing it.

However, I opined that this album is special, and I stand by that statement. I haven't heard anything since this that evokes such inquietude, and I don't think I ever will. I highly recommend this.

Note: I've never rated a record as zero. I don't do this for any other reason to mitigate anyone's morbid curiosity about this release. This band's first album had some fleesting worthwile moments, but I listened, really listened to this piece of work and...well, this is what I think about it:

There's another Intestinal Disgorge record? Why? Didn't they state their artistic muse utterly and completely on Drowned In Rectal Sludge? Well, they must have more on their minds, so let's check it out. Lots more screaming, more churning, unoriginal riffs, and much more pure noise than before make this even more of an endurance test. Imagine Mike Patton and Anal Cunt making a record that cuts right down the middle between trying to be mega-guttural gorecore and/or an intentionally humorous fake out to see how many uber-metal fans claim to love this piece of work. Add to that titles like "No Use Crying Over Spilled Bitch," and you can decide for yourself if this is up your alley. For me it's highly obnoxious and unlistenable, even more so than their merely competent debut.

You might be able, by stretching to levels beyond most human comprehension, to state that this has novelty value or is in some way funny. It has neither. It's lyrical extremity is not the reason it's not funny or novel, it's relentless repeating of the same crap over and over again is what makes it not funny or novel. Anal Cunt had the brains to do some genuinely funny things from time to time. Intestinal Disgorge do not.

I beg you. If you are curious about this release, donwload one of it's many tracks. Congratulations. You just heard what the whole thing sounds like. There is no reason to hear more, and you just saved yourself a cool $15 or more, my friend. I do not enter into this judgement lightly. I wrote this review months ago, but sat on it becuase I was resistant to slamming this album as totally as I'm choosing to do. But the innocent must be protected. YOU must be protected.

The music on this release can be called fairly typical gore noise. There are mostly mid-tempo riffs and blast beats of questionable integrity on this record. There is plenty of noise and feedback tossed in for good measure. What makes this record and all records of Intestinal Disgorge (which differ only sonically from one another), is the insane vocals. This guy screams like a 70’s giallo gore queen in a monster flick. I swear it sounds just like a scream queen going off. So there are these really high pitched siren screams along with some distorted rumblings and also some real growls. The music as I have mentioned is basically just noise grind core like GBN or Senseless Apocalypse, except with a gore grind edge. A pretty interesting release, but seeing as most of it is noise, it is sort of hard to review. The noise aspect of it is of course harsh and tends towards the noise core, instead of the power electronics. The song titles are extremely fucking sick and disgusting, dealing with coprophagia, necrophilia, murder, rape, obscene sexual practices, fetishism, etc, basically everything sick and twisted. Really this is only worth it if you are into harsh gore noise and also the vocals really put this band apart from the rest. The music is also pretty good; you can get into it, although as with most noisy grind records, it might take some time until you get the hang of the particular band in question. But the vocals are just fucking amazing, in a really annoying and non-standard sort of way.