Gorepoflesh - Gore Fucking Corpses (Self-Released; 2009)

WARNING: This review may offend people who dislike this album. However, it may also allow you to see it in a new light! Read on if you dare.

First of all (and this is again referenced later in the review to get the point across), if you hate this, I hate you.

Barbarity. Inhumanity. Perversion. Terror. An atmosphere of all of these is rife on the new disc by Nicaraguan slammers Gorepoflesh, who, despite their awkward name, churn out an amazing, terrifying debut of slam replete with slow, thick breakdowns, amazing guttural vocals and some of the best blasting on a recent slam album.

We originally covered the Nicaraguan scene about a year and a half ago and, despite its smallness, it packs a surprising punch when it comes to slamming sickness. Gorepoflesh are certainly among the high ranks, and here's why: this album sounds truly brutal, inhuman and disturbing. A lot of people are finding fault with this album for its awkward production (imagine a production value about as awkward as the band's name and you're probably close to approximating it without hearing it). The general guitar tone reminds greatly of Dripping in terms of gain levels and feedback (remember Dripping's feedback-laden riffs that sound truly weird? Yeah, you get some of that here sometimes) and sometimes even drumming (slightly jazz-influenced fills here and there, plus the snare sound is really similar). It's impressive that anyone can actually get such a dissociated tone from guitar as this, and I laud this as one of the first innovations Gorepoflesh are really working with; when I say this sounds perverted, I mean that it honestly sounds disgusting and disturbing, like something not even made by human beings some of the time. It has a rawness to it that makes it hard to get into but intensely rewarding.

Yes, some riffs are hard to pick out because the mids are scooped and the bass drops are just immense by contrast, but really...the songwriting is fantastic and bizarre. They cleanly transition between slam breakdowns of various tempos, the second track, "Carnivoure Vaginal Torn" has a really intense middle breakdown section that has a weird, old-school death-y structured section in the middle, just adding to the respect I have for these guys. They play with conviction, passion and determination and though I realize this album seems to be intensely dividing even fans of this kind of music into little factions, I believe the best art does challenge people's notions of quality. This is one of those albums: revolutionary, terrifying...every single minute, it's hitting you in the face with more slams you can't even digest, more snaking, unheard of songwriting transitions and more of this insane production that threatens to both bludgeon and stab you at the same time. This is perversion. Slam needed this album. I like the really clinical sounding stuff coming out on high-brow labels as much as the next reader, but I feel like this needs to be championed. It's incredible. Yes, I really believe that.

"Devouring Through Fornication" begins with a beatdown reminding mildly of older Goretrade circa the debut, then transitions into a mindblowing guttural breakdown, flailing wildly into blasting madness with undeniably heavy, unknowable riffs with no tone and no obvious groove. Lovecraft would be proud of this, it's surreal, it's frightening, none of it makes any sense, you can't relate to anything on it in a human way, it's beyond the human level of listening and going "yeah, that was cool they did a little slam breakdown and then there was a faster part". It's all awkward, bizarre and wrong. Like Nick has also said, it's the perfect combination of raw and audible. Wrong and right. And it's consistently bashed into your brain so you get it.

I implore everyone to get this at the nearest opportunity, and if you hate it, fucking good. I hope you hate it. I'll know who not to trust, who doesn't understand this kind of music and doesn't appreciate it on any deeper level than "that was a sick slam, bro." Yes, I am being inflammatory. This deserves strong opinions, in my case, strong positive opinions and defense against harsh criticisms coming from people who hear this and think lack of talent, lack of coordination, lack of focus. You're wrong; this band knows exactly what they're doing, and they're doing it in a way that is intent on dividing criticism and drawing out the people who dislike what they do. There's no reason to pick out songs here, every single song is filled with shit you'll either love or hate; songwriting choices straight from Slam Hell, waved in your face to embarrass you with their pummeling brutality and intensity. If you hate revolutions and progression and challenging art and are satisfied when shitty, overhyped bands like Ingested put out new albums, this isn't for you. Move along.

Fuck everyone who dislikes this, you're all dead to me. Get off my lawn. Gorepoflesh are my new gods. Nicaraguan slam supremacy. This, the Philippines and Colombia. Fuck the rest of the world.