Having been around for more than 10 years Regurgitate is a name all fans of goregrind and grindcore should be familiar with by now, especially considering they’re so highly regarded they’ve even been the subject of a 46 band, 52 song tribute album on Bizarre Leprous Productions in 2001. After recording three full lengths and EP and countless split releases I’d come to expect a certain sound and style from these filthy Swedes, needless to say when I put in their latest full length offering, Deviant, for the first time, I was extremely surprised to find they’d made some significant changes to their sound since 2002’s Hatefilled Vengeance. First of all, the trademark vocal effects are gone and have been replaced by a cleaner high pitched but distorted shriek rather than the familiar low-end shifted snarl. Secondly, the overall style has been altered, with the booming low end replaced with a high pitched, up-tempo grindcore assault with an old school punk aggression to it, more along the lines of Terrorizer and early Napalm Death fused with Nasum than the gory, sloppy sound I’d grown accustomed to. While a change in style this dramatic may kill some bands, Regurgitate are able to pull it off quite skillfully and though it sounds different than previous efforts, it still has the same venom as their earlier work, and with the production by Nasum’s Mieszko Talarczyk the album has a much more modern Swedish grindcore feel, more along the lines of newer Nasum and Gadget, which is by no means a bad thing. While it’s certainly not my favorite Regurgitate release to date, as I honestly did prefer the sloppier slabs of sickness like Effortless Regurgitation… and Carnivorous Erection, it’s still an extremely solid and satisfying piece of aggressive grindcore. It may not appease all older fans, but anyone who’s a true fan of grindcore will enjoy this effort, even if it isn’t the most groundbreaking music ever recorded. It’s definitely worthy of at least a handful of listens, if not more. Good stuff!

Written By: Teufel