Expurgo
Burial Ground
7.5
I’ll get right to it, bitches: Expurgo is a killer grindcore band from South America (Brazil, to be exact) and their 29-song, 38-minute debut reminded me a lot of another killer grind band that released arguably (one of) the gold standard(s) for grindcore; Terrorizer -- maybe you’ve heard of them? And of course, I'm referring to 1989's World Downfall, not 2006's phone-in, Darker Days Ahead.
These guys fucking rip with a perfect balance of punchy, punky power chords, blistering blasts and thick grooves. The guitar tone is raw but earthy -- just like their peers and part of the reason of the Terrorizer comparison, as well as the structure and delivery of the riffs. Just listen to the likes of “Blast of Truth” (shades of “Ripped to Shreds” straight from the get go?), “Trapped”, “Palestine Guts”, “Interruption Request” or “Time Rips US Out” and revel in the seething simplicity and scathing catchiness that will impress those who are old enough to be familiar with the 1989 classic. And the band shows the ability to really crank up the sub-one-minute intensity with the likes of “Aufklarung”, “Spell or Xenophobism” and "Purging the Phlegm", or with some hefty rumbles as heard on “End of Line” and “Sense Power, Be Dead!” .
That all being said, the vocals are in a bit of a deeper register, and with some high-pitched screams here and there. And the lyrics aren’t quite as fully socio-political as those of Terrorizer, and throw in a few zombie-related samples here and there. And at 38 minutes, Burial Ground is a long listen for traditional grindcore, but the intensity and delivery is on for the whole record and with the longest song at a shade over 2 minutes and the shortest being 4 seconds, you know this is pure, classic grindcore. Though I have to admit that I could have done without the duo of "Nao" parts one and two towards the end of the album.
I love it that traditional grindcore is producing some killer bands from unlikely places such as Beyond Terror Beyond Grace (Australia), Wormrot (Singapore), Looking For an Answer (Spain), and Mumakil (Switzerland) as well as the usual US (Maruta, Kill the Client, Phobia, etc), Eastern European and Scandinavian (Afgrund, Rotten Sound, Gadget) suspects, showing that if and when Napalm Death is ready to hang it up, there’s ample acts in the wings ready to step up and carry on grindcore’s legacy. Real grindcore too, not the spazzy tech shit that’s called grindcore nowadays, for some reason.
Fuck you: Dr Acula is not grindcore.
