Review by Jack on May 27, 2003.

Formed at the end of 2001, Papercut Homicide is an outfit comprised of members from Red Sky, Fire @ Zero Gravity, Nemo and The Creature. The press statement released by Retribute Records lists Papercut Homicide as an 'incredibly effective mix of grind, death metal, hardcore, jazz and rock.' "From Filth Comes Grace" is the sort of record that will simply appeal to a wide variety of people, from all walks of the more extreme music life.

Each of the sixteen tracks from "From Filth Comes Grace" sufficiently mixes it up with interesting guitar breaks, alternating vocal styles, and huge variations in tempo. 'A Will to Arson' for instance is possibly the slowest moving and is one of the more somber tracks from "From Filth Comes Grace," but is complete with amusing lyrics, and a rather grim atmosphere. Skip to track fourteen, 'The Thread,' and you are greeted with a far more furious opening riff, insane drumming and doppelganger-like vocals from Jon Burdick. Which brings me to one of the strongest points of "From Filth Comes Grace" – the drumming, its absolutely brilliant, and possibly one of the most consistently interesting performances I have heard for some time. Due to the large variety of styles incorporated by Papercut Homicide (think elements of Killswitch Engage, Dillinger Escape Plan, Pig Destroyer and Eyehategod), you were probably going to assume that each instrument would certainly play a more than standard role. This is certainly true of Phil Hogan who seems to certainly know his way around all extreme music fields and shows enough flair to warrant some extra listening.

Bottom Line: A really diverse, and more importantly, attention-capturing first effort from Papercut Homicide. Combining diversity, easy-going lyrics and songs that don't outlast their welcome makes this a winner in my books. "From Filth Comes Grace" is certainly deserving of an inspection.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 6
Originality: 7.5
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.1 out of 10

Review by Felix on September 16, 2020.

17 years ago, the German underground unit called Mordgrund released 300 copies of this 7”. I am happy that No. 174 leads a comfortable life while having a safe place on my shelf, only interrupted by an excursion to my turntable every now and then. Both 'Gottlose Dunkelheit' and 'Sehnsucht nach Ewigkeit' deliver generic black metal with a pretty complex and multi-layered song structure. Whirring guitars with a harsh basic tone form cold and lightless leads that dominate the sound of this vinyl. Neither the raw vocals nor the varied drumming can challenge the guitars. Especially the voice does not have adequate space. However, this blemish can be ignored, because underground productions do not suffer from imperfection – quite the opposite. In particular their little weaknesses give them their special charm, not always, but sometimes.

The here reviewed single with its wintery, stylish artwork is one of the pretty charming releases. The songs do not fall victim to a lack of substance. Instead, they are meticulously designed, energetic and uncover a surprising maturity for a then new band. Influences of the well-known role models are more or less a matter of course. The rolling leads of Darkthrone and the spooky atmosphere of early Mayhem are ingredients Mordgrund don’t want to miss in their own sound. They also master the art of creating minimal melodies that rather spread demonic vibes than pleasant harmonies. Thus, only a very small number of sequences is at risk to go nowhere. Usually, the formation stays on target. Summing up one can say that the cleverly and variedly arranged tracks avoid repetitiveness and boredom successfully.

Mordgrund’s last output - their only full-length - dates from 2010. From this follows that I am sceptical whether or not the band still exists. Moreover, it will probably be difficult to find a copy of Gottlose Dunkelheit to buy. Nonetheless, if you are interested in typical, manually crafted Northern black metal, you should try to get in touch with this release and / or Mordgrund in general.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

Review by Felix on September 16, 2020.

17 years ago, the German underground unit called Mordgrund released 300 copies of this 7”. I am happy that No. 174 leads a comfortable life while having a safe place on my shelf, only interrupted by an excursion to my turntable every now and then. Both 'Gottlose Dunkelheit' and 'Sehnsucht nach Ewigkeit' deliver generic black metal with a pretty complex and multi-layered song structure. Whirring guitars with a harsh basic tone form cold and lightless leads that dominate the sound of this vinyl. Neither the raw vocals nor the varied drumming can challenge the guitars. Especially the voice does not have adequate space. However, this blemish can be ignored, because underground productions do not suffer from imperfection – quite the opposite. In particular their little weaknesses give them their special charm, not always, but sometimes.

The here reviewed single with its wintery, stylish artwork is one of the pretty charming releases. The songs do not fall victim to a lack of substance. Instead, they are meticulously designed, energetic and uncover a surprising maturity for a then new band. Influences of the well-known role models are more or less a matter of course. The rolling leads of Darkthrone and the spooky atmosphere of early Mayhem are ingredients Mordgrund don’t want to miss in their own sound. They also master the art of creating minimal melodies that rather spread demonic vibes than pleasant harmonies. Thus, only a very small number of sequences is at risk to go nowhere. Usually, the formation stays on target. Summing up one can say that the cleverly and variedly arranged tracks avoid repetitiveness and boredom successfully.

Mordgrund’s last output - their only full-length - dates from 2010. From this follows that I am sceptical whether or not the band still exists. Moreover, it will probably be difficult to find a copy of Gottlose Dunkelheit to buy. Nonetheless, if you are interested in typical, manually crafted Northern black metal, you should try to get in touch with this release and / or Mordgrund in general.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10