Squash Bowels/Parricide: Old Grindfathers and Their Grind
Ahhh, grind, probably the one genre in metal that refuses to go anywhere, it’s completely content. You see the same thing with older veins of hardcore. If you appreciate it for what it is, then hey, why not? Otherwise ‘not’ is your only option. Squash Bowels is a goregrind band from out of Poland, which has its fair share of beefy acts, and splits, so they decided to do another one here with Parricide, who play the same style of grind, though they originally started out years ago as death metal. Goregrind as a genre deserves quotes, big quotes, because really, at times, it’s more of an excuse for lifting old punk 4/4 chords, distorting the shit out of them, and then attempting to confront the masses via references to body parts and unorthodox sexual usages of them. Old Grindfathers and Their Grind does a nice job of explaining everything it’s about in its own title. If a bunch of guys who’ve been playing grind with some gore in it for about twenty years got together and kept playing same way they’ve been with some “darn tootin’ you young whipper snappers” thrown in there, this is exactly what they’d put together. We are completely correct in telling you you know exactly what this 7″ sounds like before you even start to spin it.
Released by Fat Ass Records, a high-quality Polish grind label, since we need to specify to understand its greatness, Old Grindfathers on Their Grind is a proper split. Each band has about the same amount of material to provide. The question is, however, why they decided to put it together for anyone, even for the hardcore grindhead who can’t get enough of the same. This takes same to the level of “why do I live?” Squash Bowels opens the foray with typical grind. Thick, raw, with high/low vocal spreads to tie it together, and occasional effects over said vocals to derive more variety out of them. This is something of a hit-or-miss approach. On one hand, it provides an additional layer of sound, but on the other it’s something one can never be impressed with, since it’s entirely created via technology. For the chipped ham of the split, Squash Bowels provide an adequate amount on which you may chew until too salty. The last three tracks, including a cover of the Regurgitate song “Carnivorous Erection,” are provided by Parricide. We’ll just ignore that, suffice to say who in the hell does a cover on a split this short? Parricide are more of the “modern” sound. Cleaner approach, easy-to-comprehend chords, vocals delivered sans effects, and the same style of drums, but of a cleaner quality and with plenty of cowbell (literally, not a joke). Take the tracks provided by Squash Bowels, run it through some bleach, and here you are. Essentially the same sound, just a bit, hmm, whiter.
So what’s the deal? The deal is the same deal they’ve always been dealing. The same cards, the same hands, the same chips, the same regret. Grind of any style has been beaten into the ground via blastbeat for ages now, and to see something this typical released is more than disappointing, it’s enough to cause a religious revival in the opposite direction so you don’t have to hear it anymore. You’ve heard the chords, you’ve heard the grunts, you’ve heard the screams, you’ve heard the drums, even the title doesn’t make an attempt to impress you with anything than the usual. It’s old, and quite shriveled. If gruesome or crude references to life are their thing, then let’s say this thing could barely expectorate a single drop upon whatever mangled body part you choose. We can’t even provide a track selection for you to listen to, but you could practically select any grind band with a swampy logo from Youtube and pretend it’s the same thing and never notice the difference. Hell you can run any single one of these tracks on repeat and it sounds like the entire split. If that’s your kind of thing, by all means this might be a 7″ to snoop, otherwise move on.
Squash Bowels Official Facebook
Written by Stanley Stepanic
Squash Bowels/Parricide: Old Grindfathers and Their Grind
Fat Ass Records
2.5 / 5
