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Nasum

Doombringer

Written by: EW on 02/05/2008 13:39:43

Mother Nature vs. Grindcore? You would think the no-holds-barred assault of your average grind band would be enough to defeat the beast of Mother Nature but alas, we are all at her mercy as Nasum and grind fans realised in the Asian Tsunami disaster of Christmas 2004 when vocalist/guitarist Mieszko Talarczyk was killed with many thousands of others. Since that fateful day when the name of Nasum was continued no more by the other band members, the remaining members have released a spectacular 152 song (!) best of/compilation and now this live album recorded in Osaka, Japan on their last tour of the country.

Now, I should never want to pay any disservice to a man and a band like Talarczyk and Nasum whom have done so much to benefit the world of grind, making this review a little more difficult than others. What we have is 16 face-destroying songs of screaming, blasting and the odd discernible riff in 23 minutes of aural extremity, which leaves me at this point to suggest to anyone who favours melody, cleanliness and subtlety on their musical platter to leave the hall immediately. Infact the only \'nice\' bits are when Talarczyk announces the upcoming song names and introduces the band, which pleasant enough as they are have yet to become a reason to buy a record for myself or anyone I know. Yes this is grind, made by grindheads, for grindheads and for that reason I can\'t see it appealing to anyone but those already converted. Fans of the originating grind bands like Terrorizer and Napalm Death, myself included, will find a different flavour here altogether as although the production isn\'t bad per se for a live recording there are few moments to pick out any musical needles from the haystack of grind as every song blasts past at the speed of an F-Zero X racer who has sneezed on the hyper-speed button. There is undoubtedly talent at work and some moments of chugging groove in the likes of \"Just Another Hog\" and \"A Welcome Breeze of Stinking Air\" but only on rare occasions such as \"Doombringer\" and \"Scoop\", the albums highlight, does the pace slow down enough to catch breath and at these points it is actually rather a good listen. I\'m not going to make suggestions for all the grind bands out there but perhaps sometimes less is more...

If you were already a fan of Nasum before this listen the sheer intensity of the action should make you soil your cotton panties as \"Doombringer\" serves as a fitting tribute to a man held highly in grind circles, but for the unconverted it may be hard to find a way in. If you ever feel like going on a killing spree then this record should do for you - it reminds you to take no prisoners and do whatever the hell you feel like as to some it will be a very pleasant experience.

RIP Mieszko Talarczyk.

Download: Scoop, Löpandebandsprincipen, Doombringer, The Masked Face
For the fans of: Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, Brutal Truth
Listen: Myspace
Buy: iTunes

Release date 10.03.2008
Relapse Records
Provide by Target ApS