Thursday, December 13, 2012

Violent Restitution- Self-Titled LP




One of grindcore's greatest casualties of the last 10 years (and for a genre with an attention span like this, there have been scores of excellent ones) is unquestionably the noisy, grinding Texan powerhouse that was Insect Warfare. And since its passing in 2009, there have been more than a few bands pegged as the second coming of IW (Wormrot and Cellgraft being the two most notable examples).

The latest band to receive this questionable compliment is the Canadian grind trio Violent Restitution, and from the cover art of this debut LP to the band name itself (really a Razor reference) the surface comparisons are obvious. However, beyond sharing a noisy, no-nonsense approach and a violent, confrontational sound, on a deeper level the two bands are no more similar than any other two old-school-inspired grind acts; to stereotype Violent Restitution as little more than an Insect Warfare tribute band means missing the full scope of what they bring to the table.

Violent Restitution deal in ugly, old-school patterned grindcore of a fast, noisy character. What is immediately apparent about the songs is a sense of militant social consciousness and the anti-oppression attitude that permeates most aspects of the record. For fifteen angry, neck-snapping minutes, vocalist Mya delivers missives against animal cruelty, vivisection, racism, colonialism, genocide and patriarchy in shrapnel bursts of screams and growls over guitarist Sarah’s nasty, mangled-sheet-metal riffing  and drummer Pierre’s frenzied blasts.

“Evisceration” is a brief, vital shot of pure grind that doesn’t get mired in pleasantries. Barring a 2-second intro and an equally short breakdown at its end, the track remains locked into blasting gear with a satisfyingly single-minded sense of purpose.

Raw-throated, unaccompanied growls open “Acculturation,” before guitar and drums kick the track into overdrive. Eventually it finds a thrashy, speed punk groove that is occasionally abandoned for vicious bursts of grinding, finally giving way to a sludge-drenched breakdown and a final burst of speed punctuated that’s punctuated by a tortured high scream.

After the b-side is opened with an animal-liberating audio sample, it is followed by the face-smashing, limb-swinging grindthrash of "Murderous Colonialist Assimilators." Besides being vicious sonically, its lyrics decry colonialism and the slaughter of indigenous peoples with bite-sized, highly screamable couplets like "Mutilation, colonization/Disgusting human greed" and longer lines such as "Ancestral practices of a colonialist regime/Built a nation of shame and deceit." There's nothing like well-placed outrage to get the blood pumping, and this entire record has that by the bucketful.

While the LP’s most notable trait is its speed, Sarah’s jagged tone is periodically trained on slow, heavy
 riffing, like the pit-forming assault of opener “Intro/Liberate” or the second half of “Burning Rage of a Dying Planet.” This technique occasionally comes off as a songwriting crutch when breakdowns drop in out of nowhere, but otherwise serves to add variety in a structurally homogenous genre like grindcore.

This refreshingly dirty chunk of Canadian grind, while far from revolutionary, manages to be one of my favorite pure grindcore experiences of 2012 and almost unquestionably holds the title for this year's strongest debut. Sonic similarities (or lack thereof) to deceased Texan grindcore bands aside, this record rips, and I've been itching for more material since my first dozen or so spins.


The LP is available on vinyl from Mercy of Slumber and Black Banana Records, or as a free download (split into its A and B sides) from Violent Restitution's Bandcamp.

9 comments:

  1. Man I love this release, at times it reminds me of Suffering Mind too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I can definitely hear that. I think SM are for sure an influence.

      Delete
  2. sounds great, i'll need to check this one out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's some good stuff. Noisy, but not noisegrind-level. I wish there were individual songs to link, but the album stream on Bandcamp is pretty much the only place to hear the studio material.

      Delete
    2. The bandcamp sounds like shit quality...is that just the LP or are those particularly bad rips?

      Delete
    3. No, that's what it sounds like. I don't know, the opening of each side does sound lower fi than when it gets going (especially the zoo sample on the second side) but in general it's a dirty-sounding record.

      Delete
    4. Did we ever talk about Conqueror's War Cult Supremacy? It's a black metal staple, but i think it'd appeal to your noisegrind sensiblities. As an album it only has one gear which is OVER THE FUCKING TOP

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaIM45GZn0A

      Delete
    5. You've mentioned War Cult Supremacy before, but I've never really commented on the record at all. I hadn't listened to it before, but that shit's pretty awesome. It is insanely single-minded, but it definitely does have a grind-esque character in that respect. Definitely something I need to listen to more.

      Delete
  3. hi! since you recommended Violent restitution to me I suppose you'll be interested in reading this interview I just did, with the guitarist and drummer answering to my questions :
    http://theblastingdays.blogspot.fr/2013/01/violent-restitution-st-2012-i.html

    ReplyDelete