Review Summary: Rotten as ever
If ever a band lived up to their namesake, it's Rotten Sound. Abrasive as a power sander and vicious like a pitbull with rubberbanded nuts, their grindcore hubris on Apocalypse is as unrelentingly unhinged as always. They barrel through chunky, distorted riffs faster than my heart meds allow and unleash their particular brand of hell across a consistently assaultive yet lithe 18 tracks, each one a pitiless miniature orchestrated to squeeze grey matter to a pulp as it is compressed between the two entry points.
Diversity has never been a strength for grind as a genre overall, but there are artists who have managed to decrease the homogenic nature of the sound by implementing structural shifts or other dynamic applications. Apocalypse feels quite bereft of such variety, unfortunately giving the album a slightly one-note feel to its 20 minute runtime. The consistent percussive pattering, chundering guitars and howling hardcore-esque vocals blend into a slightly flat landscape over the course of the release, and were it not for the breaks inbetween tracks it would be difficult to pinpoint song changes. Nonetheless, the violent nature of the musicality is satisfyingly nasty and has definite moments of heated, snarling dynamism.
Grooves such as those found on 'Newsflash', 'Sharing' and 'Denialist' lend dexterity to the experience and imbue the carnage with creative sidesteps, allowing for breathing room amidst the apoplexy. The sound is consistently crusty throughout, and is hook-laden and explosive in a way typical for the band- a pleasing sign after the outfit's lengthiest interval between albums to date during the 30-year onslaught of their career. The socially conscious lyricism is also well-judged and demonstrates a punk tendency in its focus, covering such topics as politics, ecology, society, technological obsession and crime. It's all appropriately hate-fuelled and demonstrates clear passion, even inamongst all the musical chaos.
Apocalypse may not be Rotten Sound's strongest excursion, but it is every bit as ferocious as it needs to be, tackling a wealth of topical content and blazing through its runtime like a souped-up Challenger. It doesn't exhibit the level of re-invigoration the gap between releases would suggest, but it is nonetheless a fine addition to their discography, and certainly shows that the band have not lost their touch. Battering, fierce, and shambolic in the way only grind can be, it is a satisfyingly gritty exercise and completely rotten from top to bottom.
