Full Length, Willowtip Records
October 22nd, 2009
Polish grindgods Squash Bowels returned to action with their 5th studio full length entitled as ''Grindvirus'' which was released in October 2009 on Willowtip Records. The band has been emanating nauseous fumes of goregrind mayhem since the past 15 years now and have developed a cult following of dedicated grind freaks from all over the globe. Them along with Dead Infection are undoubtedly the two best offerings from the Polish underground scene.
At the time of their inception, the band played an unadulterated brand of old school grindgore with influences ranging from Napalm Death and Carcass but with the progress of time and certain line-up changes, their sound has evolved into a dexterous and upstanding version of awe-inspiring grindcore.
These days when you have zillions of bands coming up with tasteless and redundant sounding records, its great to see old bands like Squash Bowels still quenching the thirst for true grindcore with albums like Grindvirus. Going down the memory lane, we have had some spectacular SB releases like ''No Mercy'', ''The Mass Rotting, The Mass Sickening'' and ''Love Songs''; all of them adequately spiced with groove and relentless cacophonies but the new one is a tad different and a step forward from all these above mentions.
The band followed a staunch goregrind decorum by incorporating your typical pitch shifted gurgles, snarls, ample groove and crushing blasts until their previous album ''No Mercy'' but they have seemed to explore a newer horizon with their latest progeny ''Grindvirus'' where they have dropped the usage of pitch shifted gurgles. Yes! The sonic assaults on the new album rely heavily upon deep growled vocals in-synced perfectly with high pitched snarls and shrieks. The vocal attack is so abrupt and fluent that you wouldn't even consider the absence of the vomited gurgles which we love so dearly. While speaking of the instrumentation, these guys have been able to create their tightest and most subtle record till date in my opinion. Everything on the album sounds spot on there is hardly a dull moment.
Taking their trademark grooves forward and incorporating more frenetic blasts than before, Squash Bowels have managed to create a mammoth offspring in Grindvirus. Andrez and Artur's individual string attacks have been merciless and insane. The bassline is pretty audible and it works great with the oozing riffage. Carrying forth their trademark style, they have dexterously raised their musical fundamentals to a newer height. Speed hasn't been given away for spontaniety and the instrumental carnage has been dutifully arranged into a proliferating splendor. Even the production is very thick and heavy which plays a prominent factor in making the 28 minutes of pandemonium so enjoyable.
Its great to see that a band like Squash Bowels isn't afraid of doing some experimentations even after being firmly footed in the grindcore underground and are still getting better with each release. Its a quality possessed by a few bands and its a stern exemplary of the fact that grindcore is still alive and kicking butts. And after playing this menacing record repeatedly and devotedly, I can firmly declare that it has to be one of the best grind albums been released in a long while and would be stuck on my music player for a good amount of time.
A good advise for all the maniacal grindfreaks:
If you like your grind crunchy and chaotic, then come up, join the fun and spread this terrific virus- The virus of true grindcore.
Official Links:
http://www.squashbowels.prv.pl/
http://www.myspace.com/squashbowels
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