CRUSTCAKE REVIEWS: ROTTEN SOUND - NAPALM

by theseseans (NYC)

Rotten Sound's Napalm EP is short but damn good. Side A delivers three new Rotten Sound originals while Side B features the band covering three Napalm Death songs. The new Rotten Sound songs demonstrate the band's full comprehension of grindcore; both "Mindkill" and "Brainload" surprised me how each song is just over a minute long and how the band is clearly comfortable playing such high speeds and is not afraid to incorporate real compositional changes into a one minute, sixteen seconds. The result is a very satisfying grind. Side B also shows attention to detail but in different ways. The production is different than Side A's (I didn't find any notations about this on the liner notes), and the sounds have a rawer feeling to them. I can't help think how this, too, is a nod to Napalm Death's albums. Vocalist Keijo Niinimaa takes his usual range and embarks lower for "Suffer The Children" from Napalm Death's classic Harmony Corruption. Drummer Sami Latva also does an excellent job at stepping back from his usual speeds to play slower blasts and more standard rock beats. When the eleven minutes, thirteen second runtime has come to a close, the songs have enough variety and strength that leaving the digital tracks (provided by Relapse with vinyl purchase) on repeat might just be your favorite part .

The physical product is simple, yet enjoyable. The art continues with the Napalm Death worship with nods to Scum's cover art. The neon green reminds me of one time when I was 16 when my friend Dan Bartlett drank too much Mike's Hard Lemonade and puked in the middle of the street. His vomit glowed in the moonlight. I'm not kidding—his vomit was glowing. If that doesn't make you want to buy this, I don't know what will.

The accompanying DVD, Live at Obscene Extreme, isn't as satisfying. Simply put, the DVD doesn't capture Rotten Sound's intensity. The DVD is one full set filmed in a large venue where the crowd interaction was either edited out or just plain nonexistent. Rotten Sound perform with the kind of extreme execution that grindcore demands, but they don't have a noteworthy lively stage presence. What makes this worse is how the camera work constantly jumps around and never provides a steady view of the actual live show. The one exception is a lingering broad shot that though it shows the full band, it's from a distance that removes any intimacy. The camera work has the almost awe-inspiring way of filming each member without letting you see them actually play their instruments. It's incredibly frustrating when the camera first zooms in on guitarist Mika Aalto as he plays, then crops in on only the first three guitar frets in the shot as Mika clearly plays just outside of view on the fourth or fifth fret. Before you know, the shot splits to Sami drumming as you see his back for just a few seconds before the shot jumps. Although the DVD is enjoyable enough for the audio, I doubt I'll be putting it on again. Makes sense that this DVD is packaged with a release that I would recommend strongly for purchase because there is no way this would sell on its own.

[Buy]: Rotten Sound releases from Relapse Records.

Front Cover


Back Cover


Record (The record is a very transparent neon green, it photographed slightly dark. Its actual color is very similar to the back cover, seen above)


DVD front cover


DVD back cover