Grind-O-Matic, Welcome to Grind-o-Land
I’m not sure what sort of toxins are flowing along the Seine’s currents, but if Grind-O-Matic‘s latest helping of theme park inspired death/grind is any indication, it’s some unholy, hellish stuff. Welcome to Grind-o-Land is a raucous, violent ride through 48 minutes of pummeling grind that teeters on the insane with tunes cultivated from the deepest, darkest bowels of carny hell.
If you weren’t afraid of clowns as a young child you will certainly suffer bouts of coulrophobia with every subsequent listen of each of the 17 tracks on this album. Disguised behind the thundering rhythms, caustic guitars and guttural screams of the dual vocals is an unstoppable evil that will not be denied.
Welcome
“Welcome” is just that, a sound clip of a welcome message to Coney Island. Hope your stay is pleasant.
The Hurricane’s Terrific Gravity Force
“The Hurricane’s Terrific Gravity Force” gets off to a violent start with thick, sludgy guitars and barbaric drum work. The vocals vary between deep guttural growls and indecipherable screams. Man, this is one sick and nasty carnival ride of grind bones in the gears of rusty mechanisms.
Caught in a Perfidious Net
Aside from the absolute pummeling of the drums, there’s some pretty technical shit going on with some of the guitar work. The tempo shifts are on the precipice of ADD territory as this song crushes your skull for just over two minutes. Sweet Jesus.
Girl Trouble in the Double Whirl
I love the swirling circus tone to the guitars on this song. It’s down right diabolical, leaving you feeling dirtier than if this were just your run of the mill grind. The vocals are raw, incoherent and more than appropriate for the violent nature of the song. The bruising riffs that dominate the end of the track are beefy as hell.
The Incredible Yell from the Carousel
A brief sound clip introduces discordant guitars, manic drumming and layered vocal mayhem. I could listen to this song over and over. More of that circus feel to the guitars leaves you dizzy and nauseous — in a good way, of course.
The Umbrella Jump
I love the opening to “The Umbrella Jump.” The guitars are ragged, unfiltered and freakin’ awesome. Here’s another massive grind attack with dual vocals on the verge of manic breakdowns and driving drums that won’t relent until you’re a puddle of vomitous goo at the base of the Tilt-a-whirl.
The Unfortunate Somersault Fault
The higher end screams open up this next one with chaos in wake. The guitars are all over the place as the drums pummel and smash like the Hulk.
The Groundbreaking Looping
Sound clips of screams fill the first 20 seconds before a huge, tortured scream lets loose like nobody’s business. The guitars are thick and crunchy, fitting the swirling rhythms nicely. This is another dizzying, grinding bit of nastiness. More please.
Tragic Artistic Acrobatics
I love the title of this next one. It’s, like, classy or something. Actually, I just love the gleeful images of spinning tightrope walkers plummeting to their deaths. At any rate, the music of “Tragic Artistic Acrobatics” is thick, chunky and run through some sludgy amps. The animalist blast and accompanying scream that ends the track is a nice touch.
Nigger Segregation vs. Honky Arrogance
This one fades in with creative drum and bass work over Tibentan monks? Maybe?.. dunno. It’s certainly a strange ass song, that’s for sure. The guitars finally come in at 1:53, just as you’ve dosed off due to alcohol consumption. The rest of the track is a fast paced ride through a wood chipper. I hope you’re wearing your safety glasses.
85-Feet Drop
“85-Feet Drop” starts off with rapid fire drum work before a production muting job distances the vocals and music for a good bite. Everything comes back in at :28 with thundering drums and infectious guitar work. The latter half of the song is pretty catchy with maniacal screams, drum blasts and bruising guitars.
Bizarre Ice Cream Break
A 20 second sound clip starts this one off before the distorted guitars and screams come in. The drums again are intent on serious damage to your senses with a barbaric delivery and off-kilter tempo shifts. This is an evil sound song with some beastial blasts (see 1:46).
Demented Breakneck Ride
The title of this next song should have been the album title. After 13 tracks of demented grindcore, I’m not sure my neck is going to recover. “Demented Breakneck Ride” continues the band’s fervor and frenetic grind attack in all its glory. I’ve be loving the vocal trade-offs throughout the album. At first it felt chaotic and unstructured, but after a couple of listens there’s some thought behind their timing.
The Pachydermic Chair
I’m not sure what an elephant chair is. Perhaps it’s that ill-fated ride on the back of a great beast waiting to break free and run rampant over the audience like the peanuts they throw at its feet. Or, it could just be a chair made out of decaying elephant material. Either way, this song is vile and suffocating with plenty of texture covering the guitars and manic drum work. I’m loving it.
High Commotion Mountain Dive
This next one opens up at about 78 MPH in a breakless semi tearing down the interstate. Right from the start the band never lets off the accelerator, delivering a minute and a half of insane grindcore with crushing force.
Fright at Freight Sight
I’m almost a little disappointed with this next song. It’s pretty standard grindcore. Sure it’s delivered with the determination of a madman, but it’s missing that nauseating carnival feel. I still love it! The song ends with plenty of guitar reverb, noise and sound clips of good folks screaming.
Freakshow
“Freakshow” transitions smoothly from the previous track, carried along the same guitar noise and sound clips. The music through this final song is a mid-paced jam to accompany a lengthy sound clip touting the features of a freakshow. It’s actually a nice showcase of what the band can do and more than appropriate for the album’s ender. At over fifteen minutes in length, it’s also comprises nearly a third of the album.
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Favorite Tracks:
All of them
Additional Notes:
N/A