Infanticide - From Our Cold Dead Hands

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Release: 2010
Type: CD
Label: Willowtip

Dear Emetic Records,

Thank you so very much for not releasing the latest album by Swedish grinders Infanticide. I know your decision must have hit the band pretty hard initially. It might have even caused them, for the Nth time, to question why they ever got together in the first place. But in doing so you also helped further prove the old adage that "Good things come to those who hate." As, instead of waiting around, seething and potentially splitting up - the band, in true DIY fashion, got pissed, took matters into their own hands and found a label willing to distribute what is indeed a must-have album.

Thanks in part to the law of unintended consequences, your decision has single handedly provided the band with the exposure they deserve. Now there is world-wide distribution, which means the album will always be available. Now there is a marketing department with the skill and budget to get the word out. Now there is the potential for a huge tour with some of the best grind acts in the world. And if that was not enough, at the same time you managed to make life for this reviewer ungodly easy. Instead of having to explain (to those not fortunate enough to know) just how Infanticide sounds and what the production is like, I can now sum it all up in one quick hitting sentence fragment: Mastered by Scott Hull and released on Willowtip Recordings.

That's right, kids: Willowtip. And I couldn't think of a better home for "From Our Cold Dead Hands." So what is it? In a nutshell, it's 26 minutes of some of the best D-Beat focused Swedish Crust Grind of the post Nasum era. And if I said the same thing about label mates Afgrund it's because Infanticide play a grittier version of the same game. The foundation is d-beat crust. What they build on this is constantly changing, both in cross genre riffing and tempo. There are 40-second attempts to break the land speed record, two minute mid-tempo excursions and every thing in between.

I am always a "whole is more than the sum of it's parts" guy when it comes to grind albums. But a few songs stand out as being representative. Two-riff wonder "Lifeless." The proto death metal intro of "A Worse Today," accurate right down to the traditional polka beats. The blistering "Shitfaced and Armed to the Teeth" comes to mind with it's one line manta, "I'm Your God Now." The track I enjoyed most the first time I spun the disk was "It Ends Here," featuring an extended thrash intro that leads into trade offs between full-speed ahead grind and classic death metal.

This album is guaranteed to put up a good fight for control of your CD player. But what really excites me is anticipation. Having Infanticide on Willowtip means I get to anticipate a US Tour with other bands releasing albums this year: Maruta and Defeatist. Seriously, send me the fliers. I will blanket Seattle for that one.

You are strongly encouraged to buy the album here (wink, wink). For more good times check out their debut, "Extinction Scheme" (nudge, nudge). And the Sonic Punishment 7" EP is mandatory for anyone who owns a record player (Say. No. More).