I never really understood why people of Polish descent have consistently been the butt-end of every bad joke. Could it have been that there was one moronic Polish guy who started the whole trend? Who knows and who cares! At first, the disc and it’s layout leave itself prone to plenty of terrible jokes. However, I always preach that covers and other things really do not matter in the least. And, in this case, this is quite true. This is a monster of a disc and easily takes the cake as the band that blew the socks off of my fungal feet.

At first, I was glad to hear a Polish band that refused to emulate the nonsense known as Vader. Vader never did much for me and this was cemented by their weak live show back in the mid 90s. Third Degree, however, lay out some nasty grind that is chock-full of beefy riffs, pounding drums, and violent interludes of blasting and dissonant melody. Most of the riffs are classic grind in the Napalm Death sense with plenty of variance. At times, this is standard grind in structure but there is so much more to keep the listener on their toes. I was blown away by the sheer power and velocity of the drums. The drummer is quite good but what distances him from other drummers is his power. The drums are being slammed throughout the entire album with such force, reminiscent of a Paulie Walnuts beatdown. With such an emphasis on speed in current times, few drummers can match this guy’s intensity. While other drummers are perfecting their limp-wristed, highly-miked, two-footed blasts, this guy is spending hours on the shoulder press, forearm, and calf machines, hitting the drums like he is trying to pop a hole in them. It is these minor things can place an album notches above all the rest.

The guitars are thick and vary nicely between quick, crusty riffs and slower Nothing era Meshuggah slow grind with plenty of off time beats. It is the variance that makes these guys special. These guys can speed it up and slow it down with the best of them without the songs sounding forced or awkward. It is such an interesting album, something that is rarely stated when speaking of a grind album. The recording is top notch and it does wonders for the songs. The extremely low yet throaty vocals compliment the music nicely. Add to this the slightly comedic sensibilities of the band, and you have got yourself quite an album.

I haven’t heard blistering grind like this (with loud and angry drums included) since I first heard Damaged’s Token Remedies Research. I know this is quite a claim but I back my statement fully. Although not as focused on the stop and go mentalities of early Damaged, Third Degree does share a lot of characteristics with the band. It’s that good and I cannot recommend this album enough especially if you enjoy your grind with a heaping side of innovation. Written By: Double Ds