Review by Carl on March 23, 2021.

In the late 90's and early 00's, it looked like there was something of a gross-out war going on in grindcore/death metal circles. Bands like Mexico's Disgorge, Flesh Grinder and Rotting Flesh (both from Brazil) and Last Days of Humanity seemed to be doing their utmost best to come up with the most disgusting artwork, and they sure got tongues wagging. That was until Waco Jesus released their "The Destruction of Commercial Scum" debut and took home the award for most nauseating artwork. It is in this spirit that we find Oxidised Razor and their debut. This stuff will upset anyone into clean producing, technical musicianship and elaborate song writing, and you bet your granny's dentures that exactly that is why I love this album so much.

Musically you can situate this troupe of degenerates somewhere in between the usual suspects like the aforementioned Disgorge and Last Days of Humanity, but a less mechanical Mortician is also a point of reference. The guitars are tuned waaaaaay down into the ground and are drenched in distortion, almost to the point where it is hardly audible what is exactly being played. On top of that comes a guttural grunt that sounds like it was recorded while the vocalist was belching out his lyrics with his head stuck in a bucket. This bass-heavy concoction of a-musical rumblings is held together by the percussion. The drummer alternates between savage blastbeats, a sturdy thrash-like tempo and the occasional groovier beat, and is the instrument to follow to get a notion of the songs structures. Surprisingly, the production isn't that bad at all, the rough concoction of death metal and grind comes thundering out of the speakers, submerging the listener into a pit of bloody gore. There is no melody to be found on this whole album, only a powerful barrage of down-tuned, relentlessly hammering death/grind, and it's exactly that "fuck you" to musical niceties that I so love about this release. This is pure grinding raw power death metal.

However, there are some things that rub me the wrong way. There's quite a lot of movie samples here, kind of like Mortician has, and just as with the latter, they get somewhat tiresome towards the end. Another thing is the fact that this cd features no less than 4 cover songs (Gut, Mortician, Carcass and Impetigo), and I would've preferred some more original compositions in their place. Though it has to be said that those covers don't feel or sound out of place in the total picture, the band has really made them their own. And finally, those almost 10 minutes of silence before the hidden track starts playing are bullshit. I never appreciated that on other albums, and neither do I here.

Those things aside, this still is a great release for all who like their death/grind raw and sick. It's heavy, distorted and totally devoid of melody and subtle nuance, and I love it all the more for it.

Rating: 8 out of 10