Bring On the Dead

Well for non-grindcore fans like myself, the only reason we would think about checking out Fuck...I'm Dead's album would be for the name/song titles alone, then again it could be like the loads of other grindcore bands out there but dammit, those titles make you want to listen! I mean c'mon "Shotgun Facelift" and "Inject Me With AIDS" or my favorite "Slowly Raped with a Chainsaw" are just screaming 'read my lyrics!'. Then as soon as I read some of the reviews and search the web, I find that there aren't any lyrics, even if there were you would not be able to understand them in the songs anyway..but it would have been fun to read them if they existed...

So basically what we have is a maniacal drumming, insane shrieking and primal grunts, then some semi-thrash/metal riffs mixed with typical grind style 'riffing'. Now the drumming, obviously a drum machine is used and let's just say it's mostly fucking insanely fast and done with taste, that's the best thing on this entire album. The drums are the most entertaining thing because to me they don't get tiring or overdone to the point of boring. There are some bands that just set the drum machine on grind your stomach to oblivion but this is done with diversity. Lemme get back to the vocals for a second, I mentioned they are done so fast that I'm pretty sure there is no way he can actually say words. The guy sounds as if he's being fucking tortured when they go into shriek-mode, but then they can switch over to low guttural growls and it sounds as if he's at some haunted house scaring little kids dressed up in a big scary yeti costume which ends up sounding retarded. If the guy sang in a higher pitched shriek the whole time I'd be more interested. The bass is pretty much non-existent as well.

Now let's get this straight I'm not a grindcore fan really, but this is enjoyable, if only for the presence of SOME melody for a grindcore band exists as well as the riffs being actually influenced by thrash in some places. Good thing the songs are only 50 second to 1:30 seconds because other than that I'd get bored after that minute and half. There are also over 20 tracks and let's just say they could have been trimmed down to maybe 10-12 because when listened to song after song they just blend in without getting much recognition of a distinct quality so it might be best to listen to a song individually not the whole album in one listen...

Man did these guys catch me by surprise. Reading the song titles and even the band name made me think this was some kind of joke. Man was I ever wrong! This CD may be the last saving grace for modern grindcore music. I have not heard allot of this bands in stuff, so I can’t judge there entire body of work. But I can determine from listening to this that they bring a whole new spectrum to the genre never seen before.

The best thing about these guys is there speed. I knew the drumming here was way too good to be true. It turned out they use a drum machine, which is okay in this case because they use it tastefully. They don’t only utilize it to do impossibly fast drumming like some bands (Berzerker I’m looking your direction).

The guitars are just amazing. The riffs are primarily of the thrash persuasion, but they even include melodic parts in some of there songs like on the song Army Of Hermaphrodites. In between all of the insanity comes this beautiful riff, before it gets crushed under the noise. Sadly I can’t say much for the bass on this album, but you don’t really need it, the guitar is just way too dominant.

The vocals are another huge plus on this CD. This guy goes guttural without overdoing it or reverting to squealing like a pig. He also does the higher pitched screams, and the sheer speed at which he executes them makes you think he’s going to have an aneurysm. There aren’t any lyrics, which is a good thing in this case, you couldn’t understand it anyway.

There are several brilliant tracks on this album, some include Jeffery Dahmer Cookbook which contains a killer breakdown that isn’t of the typical hardcore variety. As well as the melodic moments on Army Of Hermaphrodites, and Toilet Tantalizers. All in all if you’re a grind fan or a fan of metal in general this is an album you’ll really enjoy. It’s more than worth a download or even, dare I say it, the ten bucks. Fuck…I’m Dead maybe saving grind music as we know it.