Bleeding Profusely

Bleeding Profusely is seemingly innocuous on the surface (cover art), perhaps a bit of a letdown if you're looking for something sicker. But then, I'd urge you to think back on the Stabwound Intercourse image, and then back to this, and somewhere in there lies a connection, intentional or not... uh, yeah... Of course, the continuity between that earlier EP and this debut full-length is more than skin-deep; the very bones and organs of the music seem lifted directly from the aesthetics of their older material. But once again there is just enough musicality and exploration, especially on the latter part of the disc here, that you get a nagging feeling Gorgasm were intended for more than they've ever gotten. Granted, they also carry forth some of the flaws inherent to the more middling bands of this style; only this time, there's enough explosive, dynamic musicianship and replayability that I can qualify the product as a success, if not a smashing one.

Like the 16 minute EP, Bleeding Profusely is extremely goddamn concise, clocking in at 24 minutes for 11 tracks (including a re-recording of "Disembodied"), which average about 2 minutes exactly. I am serious, when writing these things, the Indianans kept durations dangerously close together, and that right there gives a strict uniformity to the album. On one hand, it means you can probably listen to the whole thing during your daily commute, one direction. On the other, the brevity and precision of the practice doesn't generate a wide level of variation. These pieces are tight, and the band throttles you with as much as they can within their bounds, but a lot of the better riffs zip in and out before you really get a chance to let them sink into your mind and leave an impression. It would certainly not have damaged the pacing and flow of this record to incorporate a few 4-5 minute cuts with a few added repetitions of the better guitar progressions, since some of them deserve more space to breathe and beat on the listener, but at the very least no one could accuse Gorgasm of wearing out their welcome. This is wham, bam, thank you ma'am entertainment...even if that might seem a poor choice of words to describe an album containing "Fisticunt" and "Lesbian Stool Orgy".

But despite blowing its wad faster than a sexually repressed sailor pulling into a brothel after months at sea, there's a lot to admire about this record. The leads are intensely well constructed, and there are moments like that mean solo bridge at around 1:00 in "Severed Ecstasy" where the writing is so harried, dense and evil that they could compete with anyone else in the business. Gorgasm learned pretty quickly that brutality does not necessarily have to eschew musicality (despite what some of the mentally challenged, perpetual 12-year olds haunting the genre's fan base will tell you) and Bleeding Profusely is flooded with tasteful arpeggios and classical shred inspired licks that constantly engage the imagination; a musician's dream. They've got their share of generic 4x-16x chug and bait-the-tremolo patterns, but even when they hit rock bottom with some banal palm muted progression, they're quick to shift up the playbook to something more satisfying. I found that a number of listens through the album helped me pick out some of the more flavorful details, and there is overall a more robust sense of technicality and flair than Stabwound Intercourse.

Not exactly more atmospheric, other than the improved lead/bridges and the use of more samples, but the rhythm section here is simply fucking insane, with the bass flying along a thousand miles per hour, and yet another mechanically taut drum performance, this time from Dave Culross (Malevolent Creation and now playing in Suffocation). I think the sole caveat here was that I found the vocals rather bland. They're the same assortment of grunts, toilet swish gutturals and snarls that they were using before, but for some reason the mix seems a bit dry, and though they attempt some charismatic, punchy staccato lines which feel more acrobatic, I didn't come away with as ghastly an impression. Which I guess is fine, because the lyrics to pieces like "Morbid Overgrowth" and "Fucking the Viscera", among others, compensate with enough of a gruesome jungle of splatter and disgust that you don't come away from Bleeding Profusely feeling in any way unsoiled. It's like a short slasher film in which all manner of debaucheries occur in just a brief span, leaving you ample time to vomit your popcorn into the nearest latrine, woods, or, if all else fails, date's lap.

This isn't their best album, and it's nothing amazingly unique, but definitely a step over the EP in structure and quality, a sadistically pleasurable way to kill 20 minutes or so...again with my shitty choices of words! I'd recommend it to fans of Cryptopsy's None So Vile, or other seasoned murderers like Deeds of Flesh, Lividity or Malevolent Creation; just don't expect the 'Mona Lisa' of brutality here.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

It's a herculean task to inject subtlety and originality into a genre like brutal death metal. The genre requires certain elements to be present for nearly every bar of every song, or else the band risks falling into some other sub-sub-genre: downtuned palm-muted riffs, low growls, violent lyrics, and blast beats.

Gorgasm are a brutal death metal band, and the listener can expect all the qualities the label guarantees. But it's finely executed, and Bleeding Profusely has inspired moments of originality among the brutality when Gorgasm gets their disgusting greasy fingerprints on the material. The guitar solos, particularly in "Lesbian Stool Orgy" and "Morbid Overgrowth" sound almost neo-classical in nature, and the interplay between the two rhythm guitar parts in "Fucking the Viscera" is much more sophisticated than one would expect from a song called "Fucking the Viscera." And slam fans can enjoy a slowdown in "Voracious" that stands out among the near-constant blasting of the rest of the album. The bass parts are clever and the playing is accomplished when the songs provide a chance for the bass to stand out. The clean bass tone offers a contrast from the two overdriven guitars and there are some surprising harmonies among the three instrumentalists.

Death metal journeyman Dave Culross drums on this album and his performance is a marvel of speed. There's a bit of technicality present as well, but largely, it's just fun to hear the endless blast beats Culross can summon. He often transitions between "all-at-once" blasts in the style of Suffocation, and on-beat/off-beat grindcore-style blasts, and he's an expert at flipping that switch. The vocals are delivered by both guitarists as well as the bassist, and all three have a low, guttural style. The vocal delivery is competent but largely unintelligible, which is probably for the best, since the lyrics are, of course, moronic. There's some gross-out humor, and plenty of gore and sexual violence. The handful of samples throughout the album are similarly uninspired and generic. But analyzing the lyrics is missing the point, because the real joy here comes from the riffs, drumming, and the over-the-top atmosphere.

This is a short album of short songs, and many of them blur together with little to distinguish themselves, but the result is like a collage of riffs, blasts, and growls that's remarkably listenable without losing its intensity. Listeners who find brutal death metal distasteful should stay away, because the album does not transcend the genre, but those of us who enjoy the style will find a nice little nugget in Bleeding Profusely.

Calling this album generic is an insult to most generic "brutal death metal" out there. This takes blandness to a new level. Try to picture very generic death metal. Now make that even more generic, and then take THAT and generalize it further. The result is Gorgasm's debut full-length. I swear, these guys got together before commencing work on this album and agreed to implement every possible cliche that plagues "generic death metal." Really, the review basically ends here, but should you somehow not be acquainted with the aforementioned phrase, or maybe you just want to know a little more, read on.

Cookie monster vocals. That's slang for "low, undecipherable growls that sound really lame." Oh yes, plenty of that here. You have your standard death metal drums, complete with blast beats even when they're not needed, or worse, when they make the music worse than it already is. The riffs are very forgettable. In fact, I can't recall any specific riff from memory. I am going through the pain of listening to this as I type, so you don't have to. If I were judging by songwriting alone, this album would get a 0%. However, though songwriting is the single most important factor in determining an album's quality, to me anyways, it is not the only one. Skill matters too. I have heard albums that would've sounded better if they were executed better, but were held to mediocrity by inept musicians unable to carry out their own creation in a viable manner.

Not so is the case here. Gorgasm are a professional team of musicians. Technicality is the one area they excel at. The riffs, sleep-inducing as they are, are played flawlessly. In fact, the precision rivals a computer's, but with much more variety of tempo than computerized music generally has. You'll have out-of-control guitars one moment - don't forget the cookie monster vocals - and then suddenly go in slow grinding mode, then some death metal solos. Yes, you know what I'm talking about. I cannot read your mind, but whatever image of the music you have in your head at this point is accurate. In places I hear a resemblance to Cannibal Corpse, circa The Bleeding era, but it's nothing obvious, and this album is much more technical. Oh yes, the guitars are downtuned. And the production is pretty good. It's too bad that the sound is clear yet the music so underwhelming.

The skill present is not enough to save this album from oblivion. There is not even a single aspect of the music that you could label as a trademark of Gorgasm's. I'd rather listen to Deicide, at least their older stuff had scattered hints at "remotely listenable." If you like brutal death metal without any memorable passages, you should definitely look into this because that's what you're getting. I'm giving this album a 20% for technicality, the production, and the previous EP's cover art. Yeah, not even the cover to this one stood out. This is Gorgasm's worst, if that's any consolation to potential listeners.

Speaking from a death metal lover’s stand point, Gorgasm’s “Bleeding Profusely” is another follower album in the death metal world. The material is nothing innovative, particularly catchy, or outstanding…but you can’t help but like it for what it is. Sameness isn’t exactly shunned by most death metal goers – then again, being a stand out death metal band is hard work when you’ve got millions of mediocre bands that are doing the same thing on a lower level and somehow manage to saturate the market. So, this is another one of those follower bands…it can’t really be that good. Often, one would assume so, but I don’t find that to be the case here.

With no subtleties and remaining short in their deliverance (23 minutes would immediately insinuate that this is not a drawn out epic), Gorgasm get straight to the point – relentless brutality. Gorgasm make music without putting the baiting rhythm on the hooks and expect listeners to go rushing to bite it; except it actually manages to work. Yep, we all know that death metal evolved from thrash, and this is pretty much a pure testament to that fact, albeit thrash riffs are generally tamer than anything you’ll ever find in death metal. Pure accelerated death metal arrives, carrying a load of hefty blast beats and high speed picking that somewhat makes one resentful for having gotten themselves into listening to this in the first place. Somewhat complex, yet effective guitar riffs are the hooks without the bait for this entire album, as that’s how it is with most common death metal releases – going straight for the jugular without caring for the appeal of the masses.

Though not technical by any means, it’s impossible to deny that some of those guitar riffs are pretty damn difficult and, at times, mind boggling. Think along the lines of Suffocation and Nile, except tuned down a little in the technical badass department. The aforementioned bands are usually much more difficult to follow, while this remains very straight forward and blunt with more of a malicious battery and barrage of riff storms. The melodies are more subtle than the brutality that reigns; they emerge from the shadows of the night and cut the throats of the non believers to pieces. Oh yeah, this is brutal all right!

For a first full-length the mix is more serene than to be expected, but keeps a little bit of the dirty grit of punchy production. With Gorgasm, it’s all out war, all the time. After all, peace is over rated. Violent lyrics, lots of brutal riffs, portly drums…you get the picture.

Yeah, yeah, it’s nothing new, but what did you expect?

A hand full of brutal, sick and skilled musicians make up this sick Death Grind act. The band is extremely tight and precise in the recording. With a combination of fast picking riffs as well as grindey, chunky ones, mixed with deep vocals and fast drumming they are one of my favourite Death Grind binds at the moment.They like using a hint of melody in some of their songs that gives them a very unique style when it comes to Death Grind. They are now signed with Unique Leader Records the label off the great Deeds of Flesh, and have recently recorded a new Album

Songs to look out for are definitely “Voracious” which has a simple yet extremely catchy riff that is introduced by a fucking excellent growl of around 8 Seconds. “Stripped to the Bone” has a sick and brutal intro where this guy mentions the ripping, cutting and mutilating of the innocent…The cover art is quite cool. Its very basic, but at the same time grave. It’s basically this knife drenched in blood surrounded by a pool off guess what…BLOOD. Sound quality is good but what didn’t impress me much is the fact that the songs are all quite short more or less all under 2.30-3 minutes.