Everyone has some sort of guilty pleasure that they enjoy above the rest, when it comes to anything and everything. All heterosexual men like women, but some may prefer floppy breasted, chunky women with large asses. Most people enjoy sports but some may enjoy watching a car travel endlessly in circles and claim it is a sport. And when it comes to music, especially death metal, we often travel outside of our normal boundaries just to listen to something refreshing and violent, regardless of musical talent, song quality, etc. Sanity’s Dawn, for me, is that band and representative of a small genre of death metal that I find much joy in. I must admit that I do listen to a lot of music people consider crap but that would ruin my whole train of thought here. This disc is fun, its violent, and its quite enjoyable. For most people, they would rather listen to Wham! nude than listen to this but such is life.

This is one for the fans, so to speak. Sanity’s Dawn play a form of grind that is sloppy at times, all over the damn place, and slightly irritating in a most pleasant way. The guitars and bass are fuzzy and messy and most of the riffs sound like a grind version of Minor Threat or Black Flag (I should get a lot of shit for that comment). The drums are either blasting to no end or playing quite simple beats and I must admit that I enjoy the "real" or non-produced sound of the drums. The vocals are, for the most part, a scathing scream but there is the occasional pitch-shifted vocal and low-end grunting. Now, according to what I have just said, one would be lead to believe that I would bash the crap out of this band but I can’t. I just can’t stop rockin’ out to this disc as most of the songs are simple, short, and catchy. Fun is the word of the day. This disc is loads of fun. If this disc was in the jukebox on the set of Happy Days, the main character would have to change his name to Arthur Funzarelli or "Funzi" for short. This disc is one of those rare gems, challenging the stereotype that all death metal incites violence, because this disc always puts me in a great mood, the kind of mood where you would want to skip to the deli and buy potato salad, German that is.

For the true Sanity’s Dawn fans out there, this is a bit of a change from their previous release. Apparently, SD has evolved over the years from their humble beginnings. I can only speak knowing their previous release, Mangled in the Meatgrinder. That release definitely leaned towards the Exhumed/Hemdale gore-grind style that would have slid in nicely on the Razorback roster while this disc is a bit more "crusty" so to speak, sounding much more like Nasum than Exhumed. The screamed vocals are also much more prominent on this disc that the previous. Of course on both discs you get the Carcass tendencies but this disc leans more towards Symphonies of Sickness. This is great disc for grind fans, without the excessive blasting and a focus on simple songs that are enjoyable. My favorite tracks on this disc are "Chop Copper", "Constipation Conservation", and ironically, "Punish Me For Being Dumb". Track 17’s title reminds me of the old college dormitory days. Conserve your constipation and go out and buy this!

Written By: Double Ds