Late in 2017 Nervous Impulse drummer, Yan Chamberland, sent me the music files of his band's most recent releases: the Atomic Grind three-way split and the Grind Cuts four-way split in the hopes that I would review them for the blog. I felt like a huge dick when I had to break the news to him that the blog was defunct for a couple of years at that point, but that I liked the tracks. He was really understanding that sometimes in life shit happens and we both hoped the blog would return one day. Well serendipitously, the rebirth of the blog coincides with Nervous Impulse's 2019 release of The Daily Grind three-way split with Swedish gore-grinders Anüs and Unsu from France.
Nervous Impulse starts off the split doing what they do best, the ripping death-grind that we are familiar with from our boys from Quebec. House of Grindcore readers might remember our review of their 2015 full length Time to Panic which appears to be their last full length. Instead the band seems to have opted for multi-band releases with bands across the globe. Despite whichever bands that they are sharing releases with, Nervous Impulse stays consistent in their sound. The production on all of their tracks is top notch. I saw Yan's name on all of the recording liner notes so he's doing something right besides just amazing drumming. I will say that the production on The Daily Grind sounds more cohesive compared to Time to Panic. The drumming sounds more natural, albeit still triggered sounding, and the instruments as a whole gel a lot better and presents a more aggressive finished product. Eric Fiset is still here with his large array of vocals. Frothy gutturals, screeching highs and literally everything in between. I'm fairly certain I heard some cleaner screams and some curmudgeony yells. The vocals seem to change as frequently as the tempo. Musically, this band is constantly in flux, in a good way. It makes me think of that scene from 1982's Tron where the lightcycle is making manic, constant right angle turns avoiding the maze of walls. Once again Nervous Impulse proves that the are one of the more dynamic bands in their genre.
Anüs is a new band for me. And honestly I am not the biggest fan of gore-grind so I apologize if this is at all biased. But in the the spirit of impartiality, here we go. Anüs, at first listen, deviate very little from the gore-grind formula that I am loosely familiar with. Foremost is Anus Kristus' vocals. Gurgly-bubble-gutty-rooting-gastral-pig-snorting lows and his squealing-squelching-tortured-pig highs. He's throwing out brees and some noises that resemble sick barnyard animals. I'm not exactly certain what all he's doing here, but whatever it is, it's on point! Musically speaking, the production is tight. The mix is bright. The guitar is standard Line 6 metal preset. What I do like about this band is that they seem to be a gore-grind/grindcore hodgepodge (a la Squash Bowels.) While some songs are more your basic hop-and-a-skip gore-grind bounce; there are others that seem to get the standard grind treatment. With straight blast beats and the more traditional screaming vocals I find these songs easier to enjoy. Although I think they seem to stick to the former rather than the latter. That and poo humor.
Last and certainly not least on this split is France's mighty Unsu. House of Grindcore patrons might remember my review of their 2014 full length K.I.A.I. Compared to that release a few thing have changed, mainly in the tone. The production sounds fuller and louder than K.I.A.I. This presents a more vicious, driving edge to the songs. It reminds more of past Unsu like 2012's CDEP The Filthy rather than future Unsu. The songs seem more to the point. Short and sweet. As it should be. Any slower portions appear to have been saved up for the trudging song "The Demise" and in the outro to closing track "Never Fed Enough." Gone is drummer Adrien's hollow, wood block sounding snare which is replaced by a tighter snare that falls back in line with the other instruments creating a more comprehensive wall of noise rather than standing out against the music as a whole. This contrast returns, however, in their newest full length Darkest in the Sun that was released earlier this month. But that's another review. All the instruments act as cohesive cogs propelling the gears to this grind machine. Another change is in the vocals. If I'm reading correctly, K.I.A.I. vocalist, Dam has passed vocal duties on to Mic. Mic tends to lean towards the higher end of the spectrum as a vocalist, which I love. Even the lows on these tracks are more of a gravely mid-range. They feel right at home with the band's prior albums so that Unsu's catalog doesn't ever sound too dissimilar from one release to the next. I'm going to go ahead and say this is my favorite band on the this split and my favorite material from the band to date.
Last and certainly not least on this split is France's mighty Unsu. House of Grindcore patrons might remember my review of their 2014 full length K.I.A.I. Compared to that release a few thing have changed, mainly in the tone. The production sounds fuller and louder than K.I.A.I. This presents a more vicious, driving edge to the songs. It reminds more of past Unsu like 2012's CDEP The Filthy rather than future Unsu. The songs seem more to the point. Short and sweet. As it should be. Any slower portions appear to have been saved up for the trudging song "The Demise" and in the outro to closing track "Never Fed Enough." Gone is drummer Adrien's hollow, wood block sounding snare which is replaced by a tighter snare that falls back in line with the other instruments creating a more comprehensive wall of noise rather than standing out against the music as a whole. This contrast returns, however, in their newest full length Darkest in the Sun that was released earlier this month. But that's another review. All the instruments act as cohesive cogs propelling the gears to this grind machine. Another change is in the vocals. If I'm reading correctly, K.I.A.I. vocalist, Dam has passed vocal duties on to Mic. Mic tends to lean towards the higher end of the spectrum as a vocalist, which I love. Even the lows on these tracks are more of a gravely mid-range. They feel right at home with the band's prior albums so that Unsu's catalog doesn't ever sound too dissimilar from one release to the next. I'm going to go ahead and say this is my favorite band on the this split and my favorite material from the band to date.
Overall, I of course enjoyed The Daily Grind split and was pleasantly surprised to see two House of Grindcore alums working with one another. Each band here offers up enough blasting grindcore and metal laced guitar work that all three mesh well together. This group effort is a great example of the varying subtleties of what death-grind can entail without being to polarizing to the more casual grinder.
FFO: Murder Construct, Jig-Ai, Human Cull, Mumakil
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