Rødel Records is a very old
and honored German label. This name helped to a lot famous bands with their
first steps; Mr. Keule, the owner and chief, is still out there looking for
units that aren't well known, and vinyl factories still receive orders from
Rødel Records; that's why I'm trying to get a copy of every new record from
this ancient temple. So the new one is a split LP between Italian grinders
Cavernicular and German machine Violent Frustration. These squads have a
different style and sound, and that makes this split even better and spicier.
There is one more curious thing - both sides have different play speeds (33 and
45RPM). Lets go in speed order, the turntable will be set to 33RPM on the Violent
Frustration side.
This is heavy, brutal, and absolutely murderous death
grindcore with dual screaming and growling vocals. For the first few seconds, I
thought, “Why is this music so slow?”; but then these guys punched me with a
huge load of blasting (hehe), followed by strong riffs, and nice song
structures with a good guitar tone that's not super low; and it sounds pretty
tasty. I noticed some nice classic death metal elements here which is nice, and
I would say it is about 70% grindcore and 30% death metal. This grindcore can
crush you - it's really tremulous and I believe that in a live setting this
machine sounds much more brutal.
On the flip side we have Cavernicular; fresh
blood in the Italian grind underground. On a previous recording, these guys show
a big love to hardcore… but these 10 songs are something different. They have
switched to some tight, punchy, riff-first grindcore; that cave grind has
surprised me. Musically, there's nothing on here you haven't heard before or
better, and while that applies to the whole genre, this “new” Cavernicular is
really enjoyable! The visual part is freaking amazing with red and black colors
and anti-Trump art, but most of all I like the background; all of the skulls
and bones look so gloomy. The whole concept is kick-ass, but I don't think that
Trump is enemy number one, because this dude is only the top of the problem.
Anyway, if you haven't heard politically oriented grindcore in a while, than
this LP is a good way to fix that!
Rating: 8/10 Violent Frustration fb Cavernicular fb
