Mutilated in Minutes

While many positive aspects of death metal have certainly given it a legacy as a genre, run-of-the-mill themes of gore and blasphemy have proven to be a point of contention with many listeners. Clearly, many bands use more sophisticated themes such as philosophy and personal struggles, and yet primal depictions of bloodshed and death have been used as a sort of scapegoat for a variety of bands in the genre. With that said, what do you get when such lyricism is simultaneously satirized and accompanied by wonderfully high-quality compositions? You get Gorerotted.

While firmly rooted in brutal death metal a la Cannibal Corpse, Gorerotted added a few unique touches to their sound. To start off, there were two vocalists in the group, with Ben Goreskin (interesting stage name, huh?) doing low grunts/growls while Mr. Gore would do high-pitched shouts and screams. It's basically the female-and-male "Beauty and the Beast" vocal contrast, but instead the "beauty" is replaced with another "beast." Mixed in with the non-stop bludgeoning riffs, the band's music is not exactly "easy listening"... and their first hellride of an album isn't any different.

Whereas the band's next two efforts would inject some maturity into the band's sound, Mutilated in Minutes is pure, raw deathgrind/death metal. There are no unnecessary embellishments, just a full-on assault of aural intensity. However, the first thing you may notice is the humor they brought to the song titles. With such family-friendly tunes such as "Put Your Bits in a Concrete Mix" and "Gagged, Shagged, Bodybagged," how could you go wrong? The latter number is probably the album's best cut as well, mixing nice tempo variations with a knack for consistently engaging songwriting. Once the blast-beat section (right after the intro portion) occurs and everything gets cranked up, there's absolutely no going back; the intensity remains constant by that point. Plus, when Mr. Gore mentions that he's pulling down his "trousers" to perform the titular act to his victim, one can't help but laugh at his delivery of these lyrics, especially in contrast to such brutal music. Another highlight with a similarly funny name, "Cut, Gut, Beaten, Eaten," starts unconventionally with a slow pummeling groove with the occasional drum fill to bring some variety into the mix. The payoff to this build-up is extraordinary, with Mr. Gore screaming at the top of his lungs to a crushing ascending riff. The various speed metal and breakdown sections that follow are equally as entertaining, definitely a showcase for the members' level of playing variety.

Most of the songs are short, sweet, and to the point. Very rarely do any of the tracks feel like they're dragging; in fact, most of them feel like a blur after they've concluded. However, this is actually a good thing; the album demands multiple listens, and while the record as a whole is short, its replay value is enormous because of these repeated plays. Songs like "Put Your Bits in a Concrete Mix" and "Corpse F*cking Art" are mainly to be taken at face value, but others, such as the aforementioned "Gut, Gut, Beaten, Eaten" and the title track need more than one earful to take in all the nuances behind the initial storm of riffs and growls. It's also worth it to hear such morbidly hilarious dialogue in each song; be prepared though, it's tough to make out what they're saying most of the time, so have a lyric website on standby.

The only slight flaw is that the record is indeed very short. While I stated earlier that the replay value is high, that's only for the people that can actually stomach this style of music. If the concept of listening to a full Napalm Death or Obituary album is a difficult task to complete for you, then get as far away from this record as you can; it absolutely will not sway you into more extreme music if you aren't accustomed to it. People who are, however, are in for a bloody treat, one of both twisted humor and exceptionally well-composed extreme metal.

Firstly, I must invite you to discredit the 1% review, though you probably have already; surely no impartial review would warrant such a score. Something would have to be impressively awful to be thought of as that bad. And if it's impressively bad or just plain abhorrent, that's something! Some people just dig bad music anyways. I'd like to think any album deserves more than this, simply for managing to arrange and release it if nothing else. Personally, I couldn't even score an artist/band I despised that low - there's always at least some merit!

That aside, I'd really love to score this album higher still, but comparatively I don't think I can admit it to the top 15% of all music, ever. Sadly, this album can be a little dull in parts if you're quickly bored by repetition or relentlessness. This album is grounded by these two features. Not that it's a point against the album, some of the best music is both repetitious and relentless, but there really are very few places to stop for a breather in this album. Gorerotted didn't mind sticking to fairly simple song structures either, but goddamn does this album hit the spot.

Definitely a band to unleash some energy to. Definitely a release. The album is fairly wonderfully illustrated and really captures the hyperbolic image they seem to go for. It's not just things like the artwork or the pun in the band name though. Perusing the lyrics blatantly reveals their blackened sense of humour. It's not any one line (although " Emaciated stiff, Nauseating tepid whiff" as a way of starting a song about necrophilia is blissfully funny) but the album as a whole that tickles you. Sometimes the lyrics are just straightforward gore though, it has to be said. Some of the laughs, I'll admit, might be lost if you're not all that familiar with British humour, but we delight in twisting words for amusement - "Severed, Sawn, and Sold as Porn" is such a beautifully crude rhyme about such a detestable idea!

Enough about all that thematic bollocks! How's the actual music? Well, like I said it's pretty constant, aggressive and overall well put together. No one instrument is lost in the music, both vocalists compliment each other exceptionally well even in their differing styles, and each song grinds on quite pleasantly. There are a few really crackin' riffs on this album, and some excellent opportunities for a sing-along too. But what I really love about this album is the way it can feel so sloppy and yet so driven at the same time; it's such a disgusting yet wholesome sound. The opening of "Bed 'Em, Behead 'Em" is a great example of this. It's quite an impacting start with a solid chunky riff warming you up, swept along encouragingly by the bass and drums, which roll in promptly after. Yet at the same time, the guitar sound is chokingly distorted, the infinitesimally small drum roll sounds rushed and the song shamelessly blasts on thickening and thinning at whim. The result is, I think, almost overwhelming energy, it's almost as if the music wants to get on with itself!

Good for: exercising to, pissing off neighbours, a very agressive wank.

What is with the onslaught of goregrind and grindcore bands?! These guys are a bunch of yobs who step into a studio:
1) Mutter and scream some crap into the microphone.
2) The guitarists play the same guitar riff over and over again. (on their down tuned guitars in an attempt to sound heavy)
3) The bassist does his level best to sound audible. (epic fail)
4) The drummer punches in multiple blast beats and terrible ride, snare hits.

This is absolute, incorrigible, deplorable and despicable crap. (Also known as shit) Gorerotted started off okay but have turned into a pretty appalling band who sound like another band who played that riff you just heard, who sound like yet another band who played that riff you just heard. This has to stop. This is unfortunately classified as music, which is pathetic as grindcore sounds more like a mouse, a cat, a dog and a dogcatcher thrown into a small room and a microphone was kept in there to record the ruckus. Maybe the above concoction may sound more distinct.

Coming back to the music on this album, it is just a shade short of terrible and feeble put together, added with a bit of dreadful and frightful. And the song names?? ‘Stab Me Till I Cum’ – is this a frail attempt to copy Cannibal Corpse. Just because both bands lyrics are gory and about zombies doesn’t give Gorerotted the right to take a CC song and desecrate its name. ‘Cut, Gut, Beaten, Eaten,’ is three minutes and twenty four seconds of your life you're not getting back; it’s shoddy and pretty depressing simply because you can’t get jack of what’s going on. If these guys think that they can be the CC of goregrind they have another thing coming. ‘Mutilated in Minutes,’ and ‘Bed 'Em, Behead 'Em’ are both tracks running on a lost cause and so are the other tracks.

Final Verdict – 1% for sitting and wasting 26:06 minutes of the producers’ time and for their “attempt” to write an album called ‘Mutilated in Minutes’.

Right. What have we here? Gorerotted is certainly a band with a very so-so image, painted red on stage and all. Actually when I think about it, I really have to see them live someday...... He he. Nonetheless, what we have here is descent gore metal. Mondo Medicale or Necroticism this isn't, still not bad though. The vocals are on pretty much all the time, and you really must admit that the two vocalists work together with their different vocals. More often than not, you will here them both working at the same time, and that undeniably sounds very cool.

The lyrics are standard gore metal. So if you're into that sort of thing, (or you just don't really care about lyrics, like me) theres plenty of violence, slitted throats and decapitated civilians to be found on this record. Gotta admit that the whole thing is pretty damn catchy, as is most gore metal really. Oh yeah, if you dig "UUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR" type growls, theres plenty on this album.

As said though, if you're the type that want technical solos and stuff like that, this probably ain't what you're looking though. I must admit, the lack of solos really hurts it a bit though, and it therefore can't achieve a better ranking in my book. The band has great potential, methinks. Guys, throw in some solos on your next, and I'm gonna send you a love letter. Yeah.