Misery Index

Let's get straight to the point. This is one of the best grindcore records ever made. There are millions of grindcore bands in the world because it is easy to do. To clarify, it is easy to do badly. Many bands start out playing grindcore before evolving into other genres, after improving as musicians. Doing grindcore well is another matter. There are fewer possibilities than there are with death metal because grindcore is about immediacy and impact rather than complexity and experimentation. Assück were one of the bands that explored the outer-realms of grindcore possibilities (on “Misery Index”). They didn't merely do it well, they almost sent it into early retirement. This is fifteen minutes of the angriest, most powerful music I've ever heard.

Assück were already underground legends before releasing this record. Their status in the hardcore/punk scene was assured after their debut album six years earlier ("Anticapital"). "Misery Index" sounds like the work of the same band, but there are significant differences between the two records. That debut was rooted in punk and hardcore, with an old school grindcore sound. “Misery Index” marks the ascent of 'modern' grindcore. Assück de-emphasised the simple punk-based riffs and created something more complex and substantial. Previous grindcore masters like Carcass and Napalm Death had crossed over into death metal once they had exhausted grindcore. Assück did something different. They borrowed much from death metal, but stayed within the grindcore framework.

Listeners coming from a death metal background might be deterred by a fifteen minute album, but brevity makes sense from a hardcore/punk perspective. Besides, "Misery Index" covers as much ground as any death metal album. The songs average around fifty seconds, each of them is a maelstrom of explosive riffs and inhuman drumming. This is dense music. There is no wastage. A song like "Blight of Element" feels like a Monstrosity or Malevolent Creation song in miniature. Several songs have massive breakdowns ("Corners"), and there are some Deicide-esque rollicking riffs in the likes of "Dataclast". All these details happen at lightning speed. You may miss them at first, but the album’s overall power is phenomenal.

"Misery Index" is the kind of album that renders entire sub-genres obsolete. How many modern death/grind records do you need? Not many when albums like this exist. It also makes the average brutal death metal record redundant. Assück had everything those bands have, whilst being faster, tighter and more intense. They also had better lyrics and a cooler, less cringe-worthy aesthetic. I wouldn’t say that Assück invented the modern grindcore sound single-handedly with this album (Mörser, Brutal Truth and Discordance Axis all helped), but Assück perfected it and set the bar at a near-impossible height. This is a masterpiece.

Anticapital was pretty much the antithesis of the (then) current death metal scene in Florida, it came at a time when the grind and punk scene was nonexistent, and technical and progressive death metal were starting to gain hold of the attention of the mass extreme metal audience. It seemed that straightforward brutality was almost being frowned upon. Blast beats and chunky guitars weren't impressive anymore, and people were looking for a new level of musicianship in their bands. Then along came Assuck to remind us exactly why we loved the meaty tones and fiery beats of bands like Napalm Death and Carcass. Anticapital was catchy, unique, and could be considered the first crossover album of the scene. So it seemed that they had planted their seed and ran far from the death metal plantation. But I don't think they realized how much the seeds from that blooming bud had spread, as soon we would have bands like Mortician and Dying Fetus following close in this death metal and grindcore crossover movement. So I guess the next logical step would be to plant a far bigger, if less catchy and memorable seed in Misery Index.

So let's get right into the production, I made the comment in my last review that there was an obvious "Reign In Blood" feel to the way the album was produced, that feels far less apparent here, it seems that they took far more advantage of the reverb they could use. This album was still recorded at Morrisound, but not under the guise of Scott Burns (apparently nu metal was far more hip for him at the time). On the upside, my complaint about the bass has been fixed to a degree. Even when the blast beats are running wild, I can still hear the bass flicking away, even if the tone is a slight bit thin, it's better than no bass at all. It seems that vocals were pushed just slightly in front of the guitars in the mix, because they almost lie even on the mixing board. And this doesn't always work in the favor of the vocals, they're way more inflected and quiet than they were on Anticapital, and this may have something to do with the fact that Steve Heritage is not really even half the vocalist to Paul Pavlovich, and I don't mean that as an immediate insult, he's a pretty good and middle of the road guttural bear-hog like most vocalists of the time, but he is far better behind the guitar in my honest opinion, because for as good and frantic as the riffs on this album are, they don't feel as catchy or memorable as the riffs on Anticapital, with a few obvious exceptions.

Drumming is the one place where this band still shines, I am absolutely in love with the drums in QED, it really is a song that shows what Assuck is all about, straightforward, nasty brutality. Clocking in at just under 40 seconds, this shows that Assuck have no intention of becoming any more progressive or long winded than they need to be. And I think that may be one of the best compliments I can give this album, it's consistent. For better or worse the album sticks to it's guns, and for the most part, it shines in the places it shows off. I really love the disconnected and crazy riffing in songs like "Wartorn" and the same characteristics in songs like "Lithograph" and "Riven". But that also comes off as being a bigger problem in the grand scheme of things, which is quite sad really. Because I always leave this album saying, "Gee I wish there was more to talk about." But it makes me love songs like "Salt Mine" and "Moment to Failure" for how much they mix up the formula. "Salt Mine" has an extremely dissonant and thumping breakdown riding a good portion of the song, giving in to that mechanical and oppressive feel that the album art entails. I love "Moment To Failure" for it's fluid and catchy basslines which add a layer of separation and an impression of push and shove.

But overall, what does this add to the album? Not very much to be honest. I can listen to Anticapital on repeat up to 4 times without becoming tired of it, but Misery Index just becomes a blur of average if slightly original and consistent death/grind that is easily outshined by many of it's peers at the time. Anticapital was lightning in a bottle, a tried and true classic that made itself known at the time, it refused to lie still and be overshadowed by even the most brutal and famous of bands at the time. It was catchy, oppressive, atmospheric, anxiety ridden, and most importantly memorable. Misery Index feels like an unneeded extension to a masterpiece, like painting a pretty hat on the Mona Lisa, yeah it's a nice looking hat, but the riffs aren't as good... Nevermind, I'm giving Misery Index a 7.7 out of 10.

Assück. One of the greatest bands to ever exist. From 1987 to 1998, they set forth torrents of hybridized death-grind, layering together the blasting speed of grind with the anarcho politics of crust and the dense rhythmic aggression and riff-first mentality of death metal. Their fusion was nuclear, a tensely coiled and knottily complex animal that attained a level of intensity residual of those who pioneer and perfect. With Misery Index, Assück blast past the Napalm Death/Repulsion/Terrorizer axis to deliver their own apotheosis of the death-grind hybrid. And though this legacy has been bastardized repeatedly by others, Assück takes the measure of their imitators. In intricacy, efficacy, brutality, and overall memorability, Misery Index obliterates all.

But what exactly makes Misery Index so memorable? Consider the massive, hook laden guitar riffs: overlacings of mid-paced Floridia death metal and well-placed dissonant left turns gird up the blurring overlay of sick fast grind riffs -- a heady stew that sticks in the brain and keeps me hitting repeat to hear exactly how he does it. Then there's the insanely precise and technical drum performance -- a veritable clinic in well-placed, well-timed blasts coupled with energetic fills, swings, breaks, and double-bass. This guy is a human dynamo. And the bass playing stands right up with him -- strong and audible in the mix with no fear of breaking away from the straight riff patterning. Usually music this fast sacrifices heaviness for speed but not here. The production favors immensity, balancing every instrument in sharp ratios of intense perfection and leaving the vocals plenty of room to shine. And I love the vocals on this record: deep and turbulent, full of angry invective, but with none of that coarse, strident, often naive preachiness that turns so many people away.

And while I could single out tracks like "Wartorn," "Dataclast," and "Unrequited Blood" as favorites, honestly, for the 16 or so minutes that Misery Index rages on, each track delivers its own menacing escalation in tension and release. They are all short, powerful, pummeling, and unique. A succinct summation of death-grind's immense capabilities. For me, Misery Index is so unerringly perfect and complete that I cannot bring myself to unveil a single criticism against it. Assück are a rare breed, a band whose brevity reveals depth and whose records reward repeat and complete attention.

My favorite Grind album of all time. This is Grind at its finest. Assuck's Misery Index is a perfect blend of Death Metal and the relentless pacing of Grindcore. This is also Assucks best album imo.

The song lengths are pretty short (most under a minute), but this is typical for Grindcore. I know song length means a lot to some listeners, but guys trust me, they're short, but they kick ass. You have to listen to the album as a whole. There is no standout track to play on a loop in your itunes. This is just straight up Death Grind bliss.

Misery Index is full of great riffs and blast beats. What I enjoy most about Assuck is that you can actually make out the riffs, unlike some other Grind bands like Magrudergrind or Discordance Axis. I love those two also, they're amazing for what they are, i'm just using them in example. This album will change your opinion on Grind if you're someone who thinks its all shrieking and monotonous. If you're very closedminded, you might say that this album is monotonous as well; but you'd be dead wrong.

The album kicks off with QED, a general mashing of riffs and insane blast beats. The drums have a distinct stop, start sound to them that really kicks ass. The next track, Salt Mine, starts off slow with a down tuned guitar, and then starts to rip at your intestines through more insane blast beats. The vocals are excellent for Grind on Misery Index, because they follow the tempo of the riffs. The track Corners excels in this department.

The vocals overall are great. The lyrics kick ass too. They're pretty inaudible when listening, but when you look them up, they add a sick bonus to the great music. Here's the lyrics from Dataclast: "I've never wanted to admit the absolute and to its no absolution. That with much knowledge comes much anguish. That privity becomes pandora's plague. It is the iodine that indelibly stains. It is a lupus that disseminates and infects our being from the day we are born. Never will I sleep again until I've plundered every chapter and ripped out every page. I will slash and burn and salt the earth so that nothing will grow." Dude, that's fucking awesome.

The tone of this album will depress you in the slower parts (I wouldn't call them breakdowns because they're at the beginning of songs), and make you want to punch through walls during the insane bits. Misery Index is such a varied Grind masterpiece that it deserves at least one listen. Besides, who knows? This might be your gateway into a whole new genre of music.

For fans of: Insect Warfare
Unholy Grave
Disrupt
Kill the Client

To close (I hope momentarily) the career of this excellent death/grind legend Assück, we find this brutal Misery Index album. The ingredients are the same ones we found in the previous works, so beware the unbelievable power by this band that once again is able to deliver to all of us. Fifteen songs for fifteen minutes of extreme emotions are enough to level a city in terms of power and heaviness. This late but unbelievably good death/grind effort should always be remembered by the most brutal metalheads worldwide.

Now, into the music. This short album starts with the blasting fury of the short opener “QED”. The blast beats are perfectly played and the up tempo parts are so impulsive and angry! Another thing we notice is the big step ahead if we talk about the production. If Anticapital album was already very good in this field, this one is even obliterating! The songs are now well exalted in all their fury and some more progressive riffs under the blast beats/up tempo parts are welcome and quite original, like in “Salt Mine” and “Corners”. The rest is nothing but the classic, hyper brutal assault.

One of the most important characteristics of the music by Assück is the goodness of the songwriting that goes hand in hand with an almost incredible fluidity of music. Everything is so violent but extremely bound together and truly well played and well constructed. The vocals are the classic growl that, by the way, always conserves a natural touch without being excessively brutal in terms of distortion. The things change if we are talking about the nastiness and the brutality in form of speed and relentlessness. In “Wartorn” the switch from the blast beats to the doomish progression of the last part is really well-done.

The band expresses excellently its power both during the doom and at times progressive parts and during the furious, hyper fast but never chaotic ones. This is the real deal. They are always very good and always good musicians. They know this genre very well and they are always able to create complete structures even when they are called to play just for few seconds. The brutal death, the classic death and the grind are mixed together in perfect dosages to create a great album in this genre.

Because this is potent as fuck. When I listen to metal, I don’t enjoy solos that much, I want to hear RIFFS. And lots of them. And I love bands which play few solos (or none at all) to make more riffs. Assuck, the “hardcore kids which play death metal” seem to prefer riffing than pointless “look-at-me” solos. Also, another thing to note is that they write very coherent songs, considering their short length, it’s somewhat of a “controlled chaos”.

Lots of blast beats, clear guitar with a great, grindy tone, not-so-audible bass and deathgrunts in which the lyrics can be heart even after only 1-2 auditions (hardcore influence done right). Production is clear, typical Morrisound studio, mixing is good.
It’s interesting to notice how such a good grindcore album got out when grindcore already died as a genre, and (like today) was starting to be plagued by psueogrindcore bands with fun/gore/ultraleftist political lyrics. Speaking about lyrics, they are political, criticizing much, and somewhat leftist, but not in the Agathocles way. Lyrics are far better and not so ,,in-your-face’’ as much as they are making you think.

People are generally stupid, and cannot appreciate something by its quality, but by its quantity, and many will be annoyed that this has roughly 15 minutes, but considering how great it is, it shouldn't be more, as it would probably lose its focus.

Overall, this is one great deathgrind album, which manages to take pretty much the best out of death metal and grindcore, and tries to show us the society we're living at and many of its flaws.

Normally these "brootal: bands suck simply becaues of the lack of variation, or more precisely the lack of proper songwriting dicipline. Assuck is ,of course, an exception They manage to be insanely brutal and ridiculously fast while mainting brilliant and cohesive songwriting.

To put things into perspective, Assuck have compile more progressions in 36 seconds than most brutal bands have managed to compile in 15 years. Not only does Assuck compose superior songs, but their riffs are far more creative. Many of them consist of jagged dissonant chord voicings and harsh, violent harmonization. Not only is the guitar recklessly violent, but so is the fast paced brutal drumming. For the most part, drumming consists of lightning fast blasting; often with a technical twist which makes it far more interesting than your standard brutal drumming. Together the guitars and drums combine to create a strong sense of urgency. Rage and despair pour out every song on this album, and that is what makes it so unapolagetically brutal. That and the fact that every song is about a minute long, although it seems much longer due to the supreme intensity.

OK, so it's short. WHO THE FUCK CARES?! This is blistering, blasting, face-melting grind at its best. The -core suffix holds true here, due to the sheer amounts of punk influence on everything, but it comes off sounding very death metal. Very sleak production and nice mixing. Drums are right there, very technical and blasty. Riffs are start-stop whirlwinds of brutality. Vocals are pretty fitting death grunts. In this way, even if you don't like grind, you might like this, because it's similar to death metal with short, to-the-point songs.

Lyrics are well-written and appropriately metaphorical anti-government and anti-economic rape prose, pretty varied. Every now and then a neat slow part will hop in the mix, but it's usually completely devoured by speed. However, the instrumental parts with only riffs and drums are A+.

If you don't like grind, you still have a chance at liking this, as, as I said before, it's similar to death metal in more than 3 aspects. However, some people may think that this album's length is the downfall of it. If it was any longer, it would probably get boring rather fast, so props to them for knowing when to stop when they got going. They never fucked their legacy, and are on of the only bands who can say that about themselves. Pure cult underground grind for the straightforward/forward thinking. Check it out at all costs. One of the best grind releases of our time.