While examining this disc, I had odd flashbacks of times that I had though I had some type of ulceration. One time, sitting outside a friend’s house during a party, I decided to house an entire bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. In such a fit of hunger, I decided not to chew the spice-laden chips, rather to break them in two and inhale them. As I examined my rather "cool-ranchy" fingertips, I realized that all of these chips had lodged in my esophagus lengthwise, to the point where I could actually feel them poking through the skin. Ulceration, indeed! In another instance, an eight taco at Taco was a rather unwise choice. Ulceration, indeed!

What does this have to do with the band? Not a damn thing! Usually, I have witty introduction but I seem to have run dry for the moment. Anyway, Ulceration has graced us with their debut e.p. on Bizarre Leprous Productions. For a label known more for their filthy grindcore, this was an odd choice. However, this is a solid release. This is American death metal, without catchy nuances like ancient Egypt, Greece, or Mesopotamia. What we have here is a band that has chosen later-day Brodequin, Disgorge, Cinerary, and Liturgy as their inspiration. Actually, this release sounds much like the most recent Brodequin in style and Liturgy in sound. It extremely fast death-grind, with an overwhelming amount of blast beats, gurgled vocals (with some highs), and sludgy guitars. I have grown weary of such clones but this band provides us with a new approach. Of the aforementioned bands, Cinerary and early Disgorge/Brodequin are the sounds that I find most enjoyable. Often enough, these types of bands tend to focus too much on the grind aspect, to the point where the songs all meld into one big mess of riffs. This style is not aided by the muddy production. Although Ulceration does emulate the sounds of these bands, they add various other aspects such as segments of groove, violent mosh riffs, and a bevy of stop/go/stop/and go again parts. The music flows well, which is a feat for a band that plays this style of music. This is aided by the fact that they return to previous riffs and do not create songs that are one new riff after another. In addition, the songs are short, giving us a blast of grind without becoming grating and tiresome.

A debut full-length is in the works for this band, on the seemingly more appropriate Unmatched Brutality label. As I said before, this is a solid release for a promising band. This release is definitely for fans of the bands mentioned in this review. Oh yeah, some of these guys are from Screaming Afterbirth, giving you more insight into the sound of this band. They also include a clip from Death Wish 2, which really sold it for me, considering I have all of the Death Wish series on DVD. This aforementioned fact I often bring up while trying to "kick game," which probably is the reason for an extremely long cold streak.



Written By: Double Ds