Cripple Bastards, Senza Impronte

It’s hard to believe these Italian grinders have been going strong since the late ‘80s. While Cripple Bastards’ overall sound hasn’t lost any of it’s rabid ferocity, it has become more polished and well produced as the years have past. The band’s latest helping of grind is the five track EP, Senza Impronte — “without fingerprints” according to the great Google which means what?… they’re invisible grinding bastards?

At any rate, Senze Impronte is delivered in whole at the ferociously quick time of eight and a half minutes. “Regime Artificiale” gets things started off with rapid fire drum work and viciously delivered barks and growls from front man Giulio The Bastard. The track wraps up in just about two minutes but is fully packed with crushing rhythms and driving riffs. “Agony of a Reformed Band” and the aforementioned opening track are just the appetizer to the final triad of blasting mayhem. Each of the first two songs are quite capable, but its the final three that really are the destructive meat of this EP.

The title track sees Giulio become a little unhinged as the rest of the guys let loose in a grinding wood chipper of fury. “Mondo Plastico” is one of the shorter tracks yet also one of the more potent in terms of it’s grinding blasts and churning riffs while the final song (a combo of two perhaps) is just flat out all over the place. The combination of these last two tracks makes for one hell of a finish!

Senza Impronte is just a tease when all is said and done. Five songs. Eight and a half minutes. The Italian grindmasters are just fucking with us until it’s time to fully let loose on our cranium with another blast of top-tier grind. And we’ll all be drooling Pavlovian style when it finally arrives, itching to get our grubby hands on the latest Cripple Bastards full-length.