I must admit that I am not exactly Mater terra’s most convinced fan of Crust / Grind / Hardcore stuff, though I can appreciate that stuff when I am in the mood. And there are a couple of labels that can convince me with their Grind-edged stuff, like: Xtreem, Relapse, Identified By Dental, Selfmadegod, Unique Leader and so on. And another label within this unlimited list, one that did surprise me several times lately, is Wooaaargh (yeah, I am grunting it out loud, but can’t hear that, I suppose, so imagine me, blasting out my throat, while writing down this German label’s moniker). I did some reviews for them in the (recent) past, in case you might be interested (then, just enter the label’s name in ‘search’ and check them out).
The label is known as well for its many split-collaborations – think Agathocles - Cause Of Divorce, This Ends Here - Conqueror Worm, Oblivionized - Human Cull, Viscera/// - Abaton, Ill Neglect - Lambs, God Mother - Artemis and so on. Now (okay, almost one year ago, but it is never too late to give some additional promotion and support to labels and projects that deserve being promoted and supported!) the label released a new two-way collaboration, this time with two bands from Sweden. It gets released on both CD and 12” vinyl (and via the contemporary digital sources too), and it’s called Hyperakusi, meaning a high-sensitiveness for (loud) sounds and noises. In a period of only thirty-three minutes, you’ll be overblown by sixteen rather short sonic eruptions, twice with a different approach too, yet both times with a same-minded goal too.
First band up is Järnbörd, a three-piece collective (drummer Jocke Unger, guitarist / vocalist Anders Schärberg, and bassist / vocalist Michael Berlin) that formed in 2012 as Den Mänskliga Faktorn. They are represented on Hyperakusi with seven tracks that last in between two and four minutes. They bring an old styled crossover of D-Beat Punk and Grindcore, somewhat Eighties-oriented in performance. Especially the drums remind me of the nastiness from (more than) thirty years ago. Remarkable within these high-speed attacks are the two vocalists, both of them yelling and shouting (in their mother tongue), quite Hardcore / Punk-alike actually (especially when ‘singing’ together), as well as the injection of several samples (especially vocal samples). Their material is very right-to-the-point (I wanted to write ‘simple’ or ‘simplistic’, but that might seem too denigrating, and I do not want to minimalize this sh*t). What I do appreciate as well are the few slowed-down excerpts, which are, in a mostly organic way, like a natural counterbalance to the grinding Crust extremities.
The other band is Resonance Cascade from the south of Sweden, also formed in 2012, and known for their self-called 7”EP especially. This quartet (vocalist Johan Bergström, guitar player Dan Widing, bass player Andreas Johansson, and drummer Arvid Borg) brings nine tracks, eight of them lasting in between one and two minutes, and one clocking almost three minutes. These lullabies are like exploding volcanos, like wild boars on acid, like a cosmic disaster (and hey, here too, ‘disaster’ is not meant the negative way). This is the kind of shit that characterised the scenes from the U.K., the U.S. of A. and, especially, Sweden, three decades ago. Like a whirlwind or a pyroclastic eruption, these elegies smash and splash, finely spiced by a huge dose of timeless Brutal Death Metal. It’s remarkable how Swedish this material sounds – especially the production of the bass and electric guitar lines are oh so Swedish. Like Järnbörd, Resonance Cascade add some slower moments, which I cannot but appreciate, for it opens the somewhat narrow-minded approach that is sort of typifying the Old School. Quite impressing is the sulphur throat of ‘singer’ (oink?) Johan, but here too all members are experienced and crafted.
Let’s conclude with: a must for all fans of uncompromising old styled (and timeless at once) and Swedish-oriented (and universal at once) Grindcore!