Willowtip always seems to find and sign the best grind acts, and the addition of Texas grinders Kill The Client to their roster only helps build their reputation as a leader in modern undergrind.

Kill The Client‘s 2004 mCD Wage Slave was easily one of the most impressive debut efforts I’ve heard in years. Their savage approach brought me back to a time when Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Assück and Brutal Truth were ruling kings of the grind scene. From the Barney Greenway-esque snarls to their blasts and shredding riffs Wage Slave encompassed the late 80s/early 90s feel with the punch of modern grind outfits like Circle Of Dead Children, Pig Destroyer and Gadget.

Escalation Of Hostility is the group’s first effort on Willowtip and picks up where Wage Slave left off. The majority of the tracks are under two minutes, blazing fast with razor-sharp riffs, psychotic snarls, machine gun blasting and an overall chaotic frenzied sound.

While a lot of the material is a direct continuation of the group’s heavily 90s-inspired grinding, Kill The Client show a lot more versatility on this effort with the inclusion of two snails-pace crushing doom tracks. Not the weakass NOLA-styled stuff, but the evil ball crushing shit that makes you feel completely overwhelmed like Womb or the amazing Halls Of Amenti from Cephalic Carnage.

The addition of doom to the group’s music is the only change; there are a few more subtle changes with the blasting grind as well, it’s cleaner, tighter and more focused than before. Vocally Morgan sounds less like Barney Greenway and has a more distinct approach, often bringing to mind the frenzied shrieks of former Kataklysm lunatic Sylvain Houde.

It is no exaggeration to state that Escalation Of Hostility was by far one of the best grind releases of 2005, and Kill The Client may very well become a band as revered as Napalm Death and Terrorizer in 10 years time should they stay together and continue putting out quality material like their first two efforts. Simply crushing.

Review byTeufel