In this addition to the House of Grindcore's Split Level Housing we are reviewing a 3 way split record between Polish bands Psychoneurosis and Herida Profunda, as well as Suffering Quota from the Netherlands. The 3 way split is nothing new to the House of Grindcore, but 3 way splits and even 4 way splits might be something that the casual listener or collector may not be as familiar with or may intentionally look over. Records like this are a great way to fall into new bands or hedge your bets by taking risks on unknown bands that are paired with bands you may know and love. Two out of the three is well worth admission. Three out of three is a ripper.
First up on this crustcore trifecta timeshare is Sosnowiec's Psychoneurosis, an upperclassman band in grindcore founded in 1991. They offer up two track, one being a cover of Extreme Noise Terror's "Believe What I Say" from Law of Retaliation. A pretty faithful rendition that comes complete with the marble-mouthed vocals and that Disrupt style of songwriting. Unfortunately, in a sad synchronistic twist of fate, much like that of the passing of Extreme Noise Terror vocalist Phil Vane in 2011; Psychoneurosis vocalist "Sonia" Pason passed away in 2019. Making this split a posthumous release from the band who just released a split with Agathocles and a full-length in 2018. Both only a year prior to Pason's death. Their second track is a previously released track called "Where Are We Heading?" on the aforementioned 2018 full-length, The Fall of Humanity. This blast-fest of a song is an on/off style of grindcore that is pure momentum. A collection of sharp blasts broken up with aggressive punk snare hits and a breakdown that reminds me of a Strong Intention hardcore style of grind. If this song peaks your interest, I'd highly recommend The Fall of Humanity because there's a lot more of where that came from.
Secondly we have Psychoneurosis' fellow Polish countrymen, Herida Profunda. A punk as fuck, crusty grindcore band that has been releasing material pretty steadily since 2013. Their sound straddles that transition between old school and new school fairly nicely. The band uses grindcore to step up their early to mid 2000's style of crust-punk that could have easily found a home on Profane Existence or, in their case, Skuld Records. This is most notable in "Remembrance Day." As a whole, the band has an Accion Mutante comparison that I don't think I'd be out of line in making. Although the songs selected for this release seem to trade-in their thrash riffs for some punkier grind riffing. And for Herida Profunda's part, they serve up four tracks that were recorded live at 161 Fest in Poland. A fact that is barely distinguishable when compared to the other bands' tracks on this release. Herida Profunda's tracks are perhaps lacking the polish of their past studio efforts, but still sound well-rounded, especially for a live recording. The only real telltale sign of the songs being live is the crowd participation in the fourth song, "Alerta 161!" This track is, at the time of this review, currently the only previously released track. Having already come out on the band's 2015 split with Hell Bastard. The three preceding tracks are scheduled to be rereleased later on the band's upcoming second full-length. I love that the Anarchist political ideologies are so upfront and vocal with this band. I like the rawness they bring to this and all their releases.
Lastly, hailing from the northernmost parts of the Netherlands, Suffering Quota provides the coda for this triadic group effort. As a band, they are submitting less of that old school crust sound and more of that modern grindcore tone. Suffering Quota is a band that I've been following for awhile. Ever since their 2012 split with Grinding Halt. I've watched them grow into their current sound over the years. The leaps from that 2012 split to their 2014 self-titled full-length to 2018's Life In Disgust full-length are pretty educational. Since that 2018 release and including the tracks on this split, I'm reminded a lot of Finland's Rotten Sound. Suffering Quota, like Rotten Sound, play an aggressive, "vac-metal" grindcore that draws upon those Scandinavian hardcore and crust-punk influences that have become so popular with the post-Nasum bands. Suffering Quota lend two tracks to In Fear We Trust. Both of which were recorded during their sessions used for their 2017 split with My Minds Mine. Their track "Rage" also appeared on Life In Disgust as the song "Anger" with only the slightest of differences in vocal tone and incidentals. "Bastardized Yesterday" is a longer song bookended with some down-tempo doom/crust trampings. Think Cursed era Rotten Sound.
On the whole, In Fear We Trust is a brief but solid split record. It's a nice little slice of what's currently happening in central Europe as far as grindcore. I really enjoy how well the bands mesh together. There's a congruence in sound that is both modern and a throwback. Sadly this most likely will serve as a swan song for Psychoneurosis who, from all appearances, doesn't seem to be positioning themselves to continue after the death of their frontman, "Sonia." But with a track record like theirs, I wouldn't ever really count them out in this band or another.
My only real gripe with this split is that it's nothing really original or exclusive unto itself. Most songs appear or will appear on other releases in some form or fashion. Making this split really a glorified sampler with far too few songs. You can't really complain about brevity with grindcore, but with the usage of recycled songs you feel like you'd want more. And with the amount of labels and fanfare involved with this release and the fact that this was released digitally, on CD, on etched 12 inch vinyl and on custom boxed cassette, it just seems curious. Contradictory at the same time: why shouldn't it get such a wide release? By itself it's a great record that delivers fast moving, aggressive grindcore via some tried and true crust-punk. Very much like a sampler, it begs you to look into the bands and their back catalogs. Just in case you hadn't heard of them beforehand. Which for motivated listeners will be very rewarding.
FFO: Massgrave, Extreme Noise Terror, Disrupt
Listen to the record:
