Golem of Gore – Ultimo Mondo Cane (Mondo Goregrind or, Perhaps, Mondogrind)

 

I was uncertain about reviewing this one at first because, well, goregrind sucks. But this one is coming from Italy, and the Italians certainly got their gore right in the film industry, and with the cover art for Ultimo Mondo Cane, which combines practically all of the Eurotrash horror imagery from the 1970s you could want, I figured these guys were structuring their sound a bit differently. I was largely correct, though it is goregrind so you ultimately get what’s coming to you. But, alright, this is the first goregrind review I’ve done for awhile and Everlasting Spew Records knows his gross shit, so I knew this was going to be something better. So, alright, Golem of Gore, let’s see if you can puke to leave a lasting stink!

   

After an actually disturbing intro that sounds like a mashing of real-death footage, horror film clips, and dogs barking (WTF), Golem of Gore starts to lay on their licks, roaring, soloing into a void, and then… Goddamn. I think I’ve come to the conclusion, through this band’s work on Ultimo Mondo Cane, that actually good goregrind consists of finely-placed samples, not merely at the start or end of the album or particular tracks, but interwoven with the churning musical mutilation for which the genre is known. For example, in “Fucked by the Shovel, Thrown into Violent Screams” the expected porn sample was mixed with a slow-build crush and a variety of guttural vocals and what sounds like sampling from a Fulci zombie flick that made the juxtaposition just disturbing. This isn’t sampling as per the usual, that is just placed upon the rest, it’s in there, used as a further tool as Golem of Gore turns the pages of their clot-encrusted tome we call Ultimo Mondo Cane. Definitely more variety than some of the best, and more creativity than most of the worst. It’s pure Italian gore, like they used to do, capitalizing on disgust.

 

Golem of Gore Official Instagram

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Golem of Gore – Ultimo Mondo Cane
Everlasting Spew Records
Cover Art: James C. Wilson, Strange Creature Collages (Adam Medford, interior art)
4.2 / 5