Fierce and fun grind of the highest order is what Birdflesh offer on their latest for Razorback. These are older sessions from 1998-99 but sound just as current as their more recently recorded Night Of The Ultimate Mosh CD that Razorback released to strong reviews in ’02. Sweden’s Birdflesh delivers neck-snapping tempos and solid riffing that has a pronounced old-school grind feel. The tracks on Alive Autopsy / Trip To The Grave occasionally stray from more familiar territory into goofy breakdowns and absurdist departures. Their sense of humor keeps things fresh without resorting to irritating gimmicky distraction. Lyrics about limp-wristed He-Man, headless mice infestation, and drinking pee make for a great comic book style read and reinforce the old-school LP feel where the whole package defined the listening experience. Birdflesh employs a rather restrained style of goofy that shouldn’t repel the obsessively serious. For a band with a great sense of humor they still sound fairly pissed off and showcase a caustic and feral intent behind every riff. The tight three piece lineup keeps things fairly straight-forward with killer arrangements and rapid fire power chord changes that any self respecting Napalm Death or Nasum fan will be unable to ignore. Although Razorback is considered to be a gore label by some – this release has little to do with goregrind apart from some of the subject matter. This is lean and ripping grind in the traditional style. Birdflesh is at the top of the Razorback roster and that means they are making some of the best grind available at the moment. As always – Razorback did a great job with the packaging with succinct liner notes, well-crafted lyrics and killer artwork that looks like Roger Brown after electro-shock therapy in Japan. People that don’t like Birdflesh need to choke to death on clown sperm. Go buy it and learn the words so you can sing along and feel real cool that no one at your school will understand when you maniacally exclaim – "MY HEAD IS IN MY ANAL".

Review byMr. Budd