Band – Walking Corpse
Album – Our Hands, Your Throat
Country of Origin – Sweden
Genre – Grindcore
Release Date – December 1, 2023
Label – Transcending Obscurity Records
Author – Hayduke X
Merciless violence that is less song than it is a battery of noise, is what you get with Born In Hell. The second track takes about forty-five seconds of its nearly four minutes before it starts to resemble even a grindcore song. This is not a complaint. Grindcore is supposed to be an anti-music genre. It’s as it’s supposed to be. The rest of the track is a blistering blight of blasting agony, which you should certainly hear for yourself. Press play, and then drop down for my full album review.
Back in 2013, I graduated with a Master of Teaching Mathematics degree. One of the courses I took as part of that program of study was Non-Euclidean Geometry, where we considered the study of geometry on a non-planar surfaces, such as spheres or ‘saddle’ shapes. I have often heard grindcore riffs described as angular, a geometric term. I submit that the riffs found on this sophomore full length by the Swedish trio require the more advanced understanding of Non-Euclidean Geometry to begin to sort out what is actually going on. They seem to rise and slide, shift and jump, stop and start in ways which don’t seem to make sense on the more basic level of typical grindcore. A deeper look shows a stunning grasp of how to control chaos, and then the (anti)music begins to make sense.
Of course, it’s not just the riffs, which are provided by Fredrik Rojas. It’s also the bass, a rumbling insanity in its own right, which is shared by Rojas and Magnus Dahlin. And it’s also the drums, which sound like they must be performed by the six-limbed robotic General Grievous, as there’s no way one person can perform that precision artillery right? Magnus Dahlin is also the perpetrator of the rhythmic attack. That leaves vocals, which are credited to Henrik Blomqvist. There seem to be at least two different vocal styles, a rabid growl, and a banshee shriek. It’s entirely possible that Blomqvist is responsible for both, and they are just tracked over each other at times, or perhaps one of the other two join in for some of the eardrum shattering fun.
I love good grindcore, which means I love Our Hands, Your Throat. Like a pulsating globe of razor wire and broken glass, the album chases you down intent on psychic destruction. The band have mastered dynamics in pacing, attack, and style in a genre that sometimes suffers from a lack of dynamics. The songs are distinct from each other in the way that apex predators are distinct. Each is brutally deadly, capable of untold violence, and on the hunt for prey, but each in their own way.
Preorder the album at the Transcending Obscurity Bandcamp or web store.
Biography: Hayduke X has been writing for MoshPitNation since June of 2016. He is also a contributor to The Metal Wanderlust. Prior to joining the MoshPitNation team, Hayduke published reviews on his own blog Rage and Frustration. In addition, he has DJ’ed an online metal radio show of the same name as his blog, written for TOmetal.com, done interviews for Metal Rules, and collaborated with The Art of B Productions to create video interviews with a wide variety of bands.
