Review by Allan on February 25, 2003.

If you called The County Medical Examiners an early era Carcass clone, they’d be sure to thank you. They like Carcass that much, yes. Usually I’m not for bands that don’t have an ounce of originality in them, but what can I say? The County Medical Examiners just happened to have made a great slab of grindcore, with the one and only Carcass as their sole guide. Complete with real medically certified pathologists and a medical student, this trio’s debut album “Forsenic Fugues and Medicolegal Medleys” makes a surprisingly deep incision.

The County Medical Examiners keep things pretty straightforward, and are probably the closest thing to Carcass that one will find. “Forensic Fugues…” tends to wander around the “Symphonies of Sickness” or “Reek of Putrefaction.”

What might be important to most is the production of an album. Many seemed to be turned off from Carcass’ rather limiting production jobs on the aforementioned albums. You’ll be glad to know that the production on “Forensic Fugues…” is good. The instruments ring out loud and clear for the most part. One thing to note is that there are only three instruments coming out though. Fairbank is the sole guitar player. Understandably that might put a few people off, but it comes off well with the riffs since there is quite a lot of noise made by the blast-beat happy drummer and three vocals.

Vocally it’s important to mention that The County Medical Examiners have that multi-vocal attack. Pretty much two types of vocals are present; the low gurgle and the higher pitched scream. The low gurgle works, I suppose, but it tends to sound like one of your friends who make a poor imitation at what death vocals sound like when you let them listen to something in your death metal collection. The higher pitched vocals are excellent however, and really carry a grotesque and dirty feel to them, just like they should!

Bottom Line: Even if you aren’t a big Carcass worshipper but you enjoy grindcore, I can’t think of a reason why not to check out The County Medical Examiners. Well-done grindcore. Nothing more, nothing less.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Production: 7.5
Originality: 4
Overall: 6.5

Rating: 6.2 out of 10