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Screaming Afterbirth > Screaming Afterbirth / Ghoul in Your Stool > Reviews
Screaming Afterbirth - Screaming Afterbirth / Ghoul in Your Stool

Great music but unbearably short - 84%

Noktorn, September 13th, 2008

I have absolutely no idea what the purpose of this release is. It's under 13 minutes long and it's a split, so there's barely enough time to breathe let alone get acquainted with both the bands on this CD. Both play some surprisingly good songs, but would it have been so much effort to write a few more each and pad out the running time at least a little bit? I guess I can be happy that there's no filler material, but damn, there's not much material period.

Screaming Afterbirth kicks off the festivities with three tracks of high speed, fairly technical death/grind with a bit of gore-infused sloppiness. Vocals are a mixture of gurgles and high growls and the riffing bounces between coherent tremolo and some stranger, almost Malignancy-derived midpaced riffs. The drumwork is similarly all over the place, with a deftly technical yet restrained performance. These few tracks go by very quickly, and each is packed with twists and turns that bely their short running time. The band isn't content to settle into a groove without shaking up the listener occasionally, which is an admirable trait. Screaming Afterbirth doesn't due totally unique death/grind, sounding like a less technical mixture of Malignancy and traditional brutal death, but it's well played and fun music; I'm interested in hearing some of their other releases for comparison.

Side two is Methadone Abortion Clinic, who in a very surprising mood abandon their typical style of cyber/porngrind in favor of groovy, Cock And Ball Torture style death/grind with pitchshifted vocals. The comparison to that band is quite clear, though Methadone Abortion Clinic actually has an even stronger traditional DM influence than those Germans. Surprisingly well programmed drums alternately race and chug under a series of groovy midpaced riffs with gurgling, pitch-shifted vocals backing the instruments up. These four tracks are a lot of fun to listen to, and some of the groove riffs are really fantastic if you dig the Cock And Ball Torture school of badass groove. I'm not sure why Methadone Abortion Clinic abandoned their whole cyber feel on this release, but it makes me really interested to hear what else they've done since this release.

This split CD is unfortunately short but filled with good music for the death/grind fan. I really wish some more material had been written, but I can't say I'm unhappy with what's actually here. It's hard for me to recommend such a short release for purchase, but if you're one of those rich bastards with a bunch of disposable income and you love death/grind, I say pick it up. Both sides are very strong and worth multiple listens.