January 15, 2009 | | 3

Tard, Disgorging Guttural Regurgitations...

This four piece from Vancouver, Canada are the latest incarnation of Tard, a band that has seen many members, played many styles and finally settled into the brutal death metal with a side of grind arena. One look at the title of the album and it should tell you everything you need to know about this spastic, humor filled group: Disgorging Guttural Regurgitations of Dismembered Disembowelment and Effluvious Visceral Entrail Secretions with a Side of Emaciated Malignant Lymphatic Putrescence, a Glass of Ensanguined Malodorous Discharge to Drink, and Coagulated Pustular Rectal Seepage for Dessert (with a Cherry on Top).

While not overly inventive in terms of the music, what really impresses on this disc is the lead vocals. Being the lazy bastard I am, my first listen to this group was without the aid of their press sheet or insert. I was under the assumption that we had a couple of dudes handling the vocal duties: one for the ultra guttural gurgles and growls, another for the higher end shrieks. Well, surprise, it’s a chick. Hilary Muff handles some of the more impressive brutal death vocals I’ve heard from a woman, or some men for that matter. Check it out.

Vegabond
The opening track starts off with a little bluesy singing (showcasing Muff’s true versatility) before being swallows guttural screams and manic drums. The riffing is your of standard grinding, death metal fare. The vocals range from mid-range screams to guttural utterances to higher end belches with ease. The drumming is all over the place from staggered blasts to maniacal jackhammer fills.

Indecent Proposal
“Indecent Proposal” keeps the cranial battery at high pace. The vocals are ultra guttural and gurgling as frenzied guitars lay waste to your face. There’s a brief slow down around 1:20 before a beefy breakdown to end out the song.

Panty Sniffer
This one is a chugging slab of grinding death metal. It’s got a decent groove as the vocals grunt and growl through manic drum blasts.

$500 Punch
Massive slamming riffs and spastic guitar open this one up as higher end shrieks let loose, quickly followed by guttural growls. There are plenty of tempo shifts and noise in this one to keep the most attention deficit folks entertained. The slams right before the one minute mark are heavy as hell.

Trannies And Smak
A great death metal bit of guitar gets this one going as tinny snare blasts wildly. There are some massive riffs and bass heavy rhythms in the middle of this track. More guttural vocal insanity ensues.

Brain Dead Tool
Thick bass and vicious drum blasts greet you and will leave you a brain dead tool once it’s done with you. This track has all kinds of crazy timing and eruptions of noise/vocals. I love the funky bass that makes an appearance after the one minute mark.

Shooting Blanks
Rapid fire drumming and a huge shriek get “Shooting Blanks” off to a quick start. The pace varies a bunch throughout this one as the vocals shift from deep gutturals to mid-range shouts. I’m digging the slow down at 1:20 that precedes massive guitars and crushing rhythms.

Pushing Rope
More rapid fire rhythms and grinding guitars get this one under way as the group settles into a slamming groove. I’m still amazed this is a chick belching out these guttural growls and screams.

Shocker
“Shocker” has some nasty quick Cannibal Corpse like guitar squeals thrown into the mix as they get going with chugging riffs and manic drum work. This is one of the more tame songs as it’s not quite as all over the place as the rest of the disc. It does, however, have some of the heaviest breakdowns on the short album.

Grandmas Gift
I love the riffs and blasts that open this next song up aggressively. Deep guttural growls accompany nicely timed higher end, vocal chord shredding shrieks. The second half of the track has some great drum blasts and guitar work.

Eating Out
The final track, aside from the following “hidden track” is a crushing aural affair. Thick riffs and barbaric drumming dominate as the vocals slow a bit to match the frenetic tempo shifts. It’s definitely a strong finish to the disc.

Hidden Track
After five minutes or so of guitar static and noise the hidden track explodes with a volley of drum blasts and guttural growls that may or may not actually contain any words. There’s some slick fret work and riffing to end out the album on this one.

~ ~ ~

Saying the full name of the album out loud takes nearly as long as the average track length on Disgorging Guttural Regurgitations…, but Tard still do enough in that short time to keep any fan of brutal death and/or grind grinning maniacally.

Favorite Tracks:
All of them

Additional Notes:
N/A