Review Summary: Not necessarily the most original grindcore album, it's sure way more out there than most releases from the genre.
ACxDC are a Los Angeles based grindcore outfit, who over the years, have put out many demos and 7" EP's. After about 10 years of being a band, they finally decide to release their first LP. And oh boy is it a face melter. Length wise, it's typical for a grindcore LP, just a little over 20 minutes. But it surprisingly doesn't feel too short.
This album opens up with one of the heaviest, most crazy intro to any album I've heard. Wicked intense shrieked vocals over a possibly the fastest blast beats I've heard, along side a really weird guitar riff that I can't find words to describe. It's using the bottom higher pitched strings of a guitar, but it's once again, possibly the fasted I've heard those strings get played.
Once you get over the "that just happened shock" of the first track, you soon realize, it's the only track on the album like that. But, every other track happens to add it's own flavor to the album. And this isn't like most grindcore. Once you listen to this album about 5 or 6 times, you soon hear that there's not just grindcore in here. Yes it's a fully grindcore album, but later on in the album, you get to hear very beatdown inspired riffs. And not only that, this album is layered with powerviolence influence, a very overlooked subgenre in the metal/punk scene. This album isn't all "play super fast riffs over blast beats with inhuman screams over it." if it was that case, this album would be so much more boring. The slower songs, such as the 15th track Filicide, add more depth to the album, and in my eyes add a touch of personality. Like it's the band saying "hey we can play super fast, but I don't want that to be what we're known for, lets add some sludgy beatdown riffs guys!" And it totally works in their favor. Yes there's super fast and dumbfounding tracks such as the opener, and then they have half of the closer sounding almost like a sludge metal song. I'm not saying all grindcore is boring and needs to experiment (I REALLY MEAN IT, THERES PLENTY OF GREAT EXP GRIND), but I just would love to see more in this vein. Staying true to the grindcore sound, while also mixing it with flavors from other genres.
I would go in depth more about the lyrics, but it's basically the same thing they've been doing for 10 years. Talking about either really weird and disturbing/gorey/odd topics, or talking about how religion blows. So the lyrics here are nothing new.
Recommended Tracks:
Destroy//Create
Cheap Punks
Blood
Give Up
