Prior to the recording and release of the newest full length offering by Spain’s Gruesome Stuff Relish, Horror Rises From The Tomb, drummer Pablo Deodato and guitarist/bassist Noel Kemper along with Daniel Olivar of Superbullits were keeping busy with a new project called Altar Of Giallo. In 2007 the trio released an EP on EMF Records entitled Grind Musick For Giallo Maniacs. As soon as I found out about it, I quickly put my order into Razorback Records.

When the order arrived I ignored the other half dozen discs I’d ordered and quickly shove the disc in my stereo and pressed play. The music that roared out of the speakers is better than I imagined it would be; old school horror death grind! Grind Musick For Giallo Maniacs is a killer blend of Symphonies Of Sickness-era Carcass, Fornication In Delirium-era Rottrevore and Mental Funeral-era Autopsy. The guitars and bass are down tuned, the riffs are sharp and shredding and the vocals are sick and raspy.

Listening to Grind Musick For Giallo Maniacs brings back a flood of memories from my tape trading days in the early 90s and this release would definitely be one of those albums that would have been traded about a great deal back in the day. The songs are mid-paced and catchy with a thrashing rhythm, there are killer old school solos and a dark atmosphere I haven’t heard on a metal album since the days of Rottrevore.

The album contains an intro, somewhat reminiscent of the beginning to Abramelin’s "Human Abattoir"; lots of gory crunching sounds with an eerie giallo feel. The fourth track, "Amazonia: The Catherine Miles Story", is a dark and creepy slow paced track with music that sounds like it’s straight off the soundtrack of a 70s giallo flick. The vocals on this particular track are soft and raspy. The atmosphere makes you feel like you’re on the set of Cannibal Holocaust deep in the jungle being hunted by unseen predators, it’s truly one of the creepiest tracks I’ve heard in a while. Sure, it sounds a little corny, but Altar Of Giallo do a great job of setting the right atmosphere for the song to work.

Grind Musick For Giallo Maniacs is an awesome release by a talented group of Spanish gore freaks. If you’re into old school death metal, especially Rottrevore, you’re going to lose your shit when you hear Altar Of Giallo. For those of you not into old school death metal and horror metal, you won’t like it, and those of us who do will be hunting you down, bashing your skulls open with rocks, feasting on your entrails and screaming “THERE’S BLOOD ON MY FACE! BLOOD ON MY FAAAAACCCCEEEEE!!!!!!!”

Written By: Teufel