Review Summary: Chaos in a condensed form.
Grind, as a genre, is quite possibly the most extreme music out there. The vocals are often undecipherable and the instrumentation is usually a frenzy of brutal riffs and spectacularly quick drumming. I'd never heard of Lurid Panacea prior to this release. Yet after listening to The Insidious Poisons I can conclude that these guys definitely know how to deliver uncompromising, technically proficient grind with elements of death metal thrown in for good measure. Chaotic and cacophonous, The Insidious Poisons demonstrates to the listener throughout the forty seven tracks that they are more than capable of auditory devastation.
Guitar riffs of the highest technicality, pulled off with extreme flair combine with tight and precise drumming to produce what I can only describe as some of the most impressive grind I have heard in a long time. The vocals (as predicted) are not particularly understandable but they are still of a high quality. Ferocious and guttural for the most part, they fit the music well and sound truly demonic n places. One negative I will point out is that it is very difficult to differentiate between the songs. The majority begin with a count-in on the snare and tracks never really exceed any longer than one minute. That aside, the album flows well and even if everything is similar, the quality of the instrumentation is enough to keep the listener engaged. I'd liken the sounds of the riffs to perhaps Discordance Axis but with a death metal flavour attributed to the majority of the guitar work.
While this may not be AOTY, Lurid Panacea have proven that they can grind with the best on their debut. If you're into grind of any sort then this is definitely worth checking out. A solid effort from a band that shows promise for the future.
