Avagoyamugs

A lot of you are probably familiar with the name Intense Hammer Rage, as their second full length, Avagoyamugs, was presented by the very revered Razorback Records way back in 2001. At the same time, I'm betting that most of you don't own this CD, or have even heard a single note by them.
If you fall under the category I just mentioned, I'm really not surprised.
There is a long amusing story behind this album, but I'll sum it up short:

When Billy Nocera and Jill Girardi first signed these guys, they were just starting to get somewhere in their career, and barely resembled the label they are now. There was no Carcass-inspired gore-thrash bands like Ghoul or Splatterhouse back then. Really, if I remember correctly, Razorback only had a few compilations, C.U.M.'s Encyclopedia..., Engorged, and this. Billy and co. really put the hype on this album stating that it was one of the sickest, most bizzare, chunky goregrind albums ever created. As soon as I could, I picked this not really knowing what to expect, only going by the expert advice of Razorback.
Unfortunately, these three lovable Aussie men met with some harsh legal issues regarding the album's cover and content. It was apparently seen as a child abuse product, and 200 copies were confiscated. After about two years, the album was banned, and IHR got off the hook with a mere fine. Razorback Records of course stopped production of the album, as it could not even distribute the music any longer. Anyhoo... even though they have not recorded in years, they are still around, and hopefully will make a comeback this year.
Okay! Review time. Intense Hammer Rage, as I said earlier, do not play standard goregrind. In fact, I doubt I could classify it at all. Hmm... if any of you have listened to really old Cephalic Carnage, this is slightly similar... but only very slightly. The music is insanely technical, incredibly confusing, full of start-stop riffs, and overall, just plain unusual. There is no melody whatsoever. Just pure hatred and sickness. The drums don't really blast, as there doesn't seem to be any time for that. There's just too many weird fills and time changes for generic pointless blasting (a message that really should be given to Suck-capitated and Suck-tician... just sayin'...). Bass is similar to The Day Everything Became Nothing. Not in delivery, but it's just so goddam heavy, you'll feel your eardrums pressing into the sides of your brain. Production is slightly weak, but fits the music completely perfectly. There's no real mud here.Then... there's the vocals. Ohhh... the vocals. All three members perform in that area, and sound completely insane. This is not Nile-esque triple assault. They actually have no real vocalist. THEY ARE "THE VOCALIST" COMBINED. Weird shrieks and growls and burps and gurgle shooting around everywhere, and get this, actually carry the music. Oh! And there are no harmonizers! They actually can do this stuff without technology. Good luck finding another band like that (besides early Carcass). One of the coolest pieces to the puzzle are the samples, though. There are pieces taken from The Simpsons, South Park, Dogma, and even a line from Harry Potter. Realize that you'll never be this cool and GIVE UP NOW.

The imagery is actually on par with the bands music, so just look through the lyrics to see what I mean. There are songs about coprophagia, child rape and murder, bestiality, and whatnot. They're just so ridiculously disturbing, you can't help but love them for it. But even after all that, I can't guarantee you'll enjoy this. In fact, I'm sure a lot of you will just dismiss this after one listen. Why?
Because this stuff is not easy to get into. Not for the average grind listener at least. This is very, very bizzare stuff with song structures almost impossible to follow at first. Most likely, you'll have to listen to this 4 or 5 times to really thrash to it. On a similar note, this kinda reminds me of Cryptopsy's And Then You'll Beg. There's just so much there, you'll never take it all in at one listen.
If you're interested, begin the hunt now. This is pretty friggin' rare, and chances are you'll only see it on ebay once or twice. Hmm... I'm sure you can still find the re-release of Gory B, which is equally cool to the power of 10. Hmm... a split with Vaginal Carnage was scheduled for 2004, but that never happened. Ah well, we can only hope for good in the future, right?