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GUTREFAXION
Elevator Music For Headbangers EP

Self-released (2022)
Rating: 7/10

Look beyond the daft titles and succumb to this rattling heap of Finnish grindcore. This is all the work of an individual named Sanni who has clearly spent too long in their bedroom thinking.

Titles such as ‘If You Are Into Animal Torture…’, ‘Battlefield Baseball’, ‘No-One Thinks You’re Something As Ridiculous As An “Alpha Male”’, and ‘Using The Word “Gay” To Describe Something You Don’t Like Is Embarrassing And Lame’ are typically grindcore in their cheese, but musically this is a real hailstorm of brutality bolstered by machine gun drum programming, some cool little film samples, and vocals straight out of the D.I.Y. demo days of short but snappy grindcore expressions.

There are some great monster riffs on offer too amidst the blurring speed, but for the most part this is hyper grind with death metal flourishes. ‘Screaming Carnivorous Maggots’ churns like muddy soil ploughed by a tank before it just speeds up into oblivion, ‘The Explorers In The Further Regions Of Experience’ samples the Hellraiser movie and then embarking on a killer riff before the hardcore mash takes over, and ‘Bloodsucking Pharaohs In Pittsburgh’ is rapid thrash grind at its best.

It’s amazing the diversity of bands Finland has coughed up over the years. Never quite resting as death metal innovators, they’ve taken on the power metal market (Emissary) and now the grindcore scene.

As ‘Rabid Weasels’ grins in Carcass-cum-Napalm Death fashion with its infected bass fuzz and eventual grimy chug I wonder why I’m so easily pleased by such fiendish battering.

Gutrefaxion is the musical equivalent to watching a cheap video nasty (on VHS, of course) where you can never combat the hazy tracking issues but yet remain glad to own it.

Neil Arnold

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