Remember to catch your breath before Walking Corpse strikes!
Formed in Sweden in 2017 by Henrik Blomqvist (vocals), Fredrik Rojas (guitar, Dead Existence) and Magnus Dahlin (drums), the band announces after two independent releases its signing to Transcending Obscurity Records, as well as Our Hands, Your Throat, its second album.
The album kicks off in the Grindcore tradition with Dreamflesh Navigator, a short, abrasive opening track placing aggressive riffs at high speed. Screams soon join the Old School mix, adding equally wild touches as on Born in Hell, which, though longer, offers a mix of devastating blast and oppressive dissonance. Fury never seems to subside within the trio, even when more groovy passages appear, and then it’s with a scream of terror that Our Hands, Your Throat greets us, letting explosive patterns follow one another to create an effective yet uncontrollable composition. The track gives us a brief moment of respite, before The Wheel draws on the style’s catchiest roots to place its almost playful riffs, followed by a true storm of violence, albeit with a hint of complexity in its heaviness. The track slows down, crushing us, then finally letting Brainworm come in at full speed, giving us a furious desire to let the violence invade us before letting the haunting Falling Through A World of Wounds offer a hint of melancholy followed by a suffocating saturated slumber. The double kick soon reappears to energize the track, which keeps its touches of darkness, but once again gives way to fury on Malediction, a short but very nervous composition with a slight lull before the end. The band continues on The Last Laugh, where a harrowing rhythm meets bestial howls, then Nothing Grows Here takes advantage of its length with jerky riffs to alternate macabre oppression with much brighter, more intense parts. The album draws to a close with Forever Sleep, a hurricane of raw rage that starts and stops at breakneck speed, before Eye of an Angry God takes on the weighty task of concluding the opus with a kind of progression in violence from heaviness to sheer madness.
Whereas Walking Corpse is obviously a master of nasty Grindcore, Our Hands, Your Throat also contains much more thoughtful elements, making heaviness a real asset.
85/100