Prior to 2000 I had no interest at all in the extreme underground grind scene and I found all of the bands to be moronic and boring. My opinion on this subject changed abruptly when I first heard German porn grinders Cock And Ball Torture’s Opus(sy) VI debut full length and Dutch goregrinders Last Days Of Humanity’s Hymns Of Indigestible Suppuration. After hearing the level of ridiculous sickness on both of these releases I was hooked on the ludicrous sound both bands produced.

When I found out both bands were releasing a split 7" on Fleshfeast Productions I cursed their names for releasing material I wanted to hear on such a pointless format. When’s the last time you were listening to their favourite goregrind EP on a portable record player, or when’s the last time you were chilling out in your car blasting the tunes on your in-car phonograph? Enough of the vinyl bullshit, already, its 2005, just because you smoke weed doesn’t mean its 1970, you degenerate hippy! Cut your hair and get a job you leech of humanity! Anyway… as I was saying, I was disappointed to find out the effort was being released on vinyl and not compact disc, but, thankfully, the Tennessee-based brutalitards in Brodequin got the rights to the effort to release on CD on their label; Unmatched Brutality Records.

The material on Cock And Ball Torture’s half of the split does not disappoint and carries on from where Opus(sy) VI left off. The songs are full of short, sharp chuggy riffs and pitch shifted gurgles that sound like a microphone was dropped in someone’s digestive tract. The music is simplistic, but catchy, heavy, aggressive and fun. Unlike their mCDs and full length efforts there is no boring filler material, every track on this effort is high quality and entertaining.

The Last Days Of Humanity half of the split is also similar in style and structure to their previous full length effort, though not quite as catchy, as the group’s overall sound altered when SMES‘ Erwin de Groot joined the outfit The pitch shifted vocals are still there, but lack the goofy repetitiveness of those found on Hymns… As with their split with Stoma there just seemed to be something lacking that was present on the material prior to de Groot’s arrival. The music itself is still sick, heavy and ridiculous, but it just fails to keep my attention for very long, although I admit that I’ve listened to this album many times and have always played it the whole way through, so that must count for something.

At 13 minutes and 40 seconds, this album is a little short, as are all split efforts, but the music contained in that short time span is definitely worthy of repeated listens, even if Last Days Of Humanity’s half is definitely not their finest moment. That said, however, I can honestly say that album is actually a must own for fans of both bands and a definite good starting place for anyone looking to get into extreme undergrind. Worthy.

Review byTeufel