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Music
doesn’t have to progress. At least not necessarily. I am getting
sick of listening to all those modern sounding and super
polished releases by melodic death metal bands. It’s all
sounding the same by now. Don’t get me wrong it’s good that
musicians are putting so much work in refining their chops and
to some extent, it’s cool that underground music is attaining
such level of professionalism. But on the other hand, such
approach dissipates the spirit of raw death metal, drains brutal
music’s blood and results in sterile sounding records with too
much shine and not enough grit. So it is greatly refreshing to
hear a band as straight forward as Brooklyn’s Asra; who like it
low fi, rough, violent, straight ahead and brutal.
The Way of All
Flesh
is this trio’s debut and is all about grinding shit to tiny
molecule size pieces. Clearly, it doesn’t bring anything new to
the table, but asking for that would be missing the point. It’s
great that out of all the extreme genres, grindcore seems to be
the one that’s retained its main core values (anarchic speed and
relentless brutality). Sure thing, some bands have evolved, but
even the most seminal ones who at one point offered a more
accessible sound ended up opting for a return to sheer brutality
(read; Napalm Death). And that’s what Asra is about; a grindcore
sound that’s not been filtered. A throwback sound with a nod to
the late 80’s and early 90’s. This is dirty music in need of no
wiping; it’s a controlled mess that lacks total harmony. And
because of that it works.
MySpace
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