the fact that this hasn't appeared on any list i've seen is grounds for automatic nullification. take Miss Machine's dick out from between your ears and fucking recognize.
back in the 90s it seemed like every label had their own Godflesh. Nuclear Blast had Fetish 69, Roadrunner had Skin Chamber, and Relapse had Dead World; the most sinister (and arguably, the most interesting) of the lot, underscoring the trademark industrial metal riffings with scorching Sadean concepts that main man Jonathan Canady would further explore in PE titan Deathpile.
opening with a heavy techno beat that dissolves into a collage of slaughter and crunch, the most accessible album from the prolific Japanese act is none the less a fascinating listen for admirers and detractors alike.
there was a time that whenever someone would say the word "grindcore", the first name that would pop into my head was "Benumb". this is them at their most fruitfully desperate.
unfairly (dare i say cruelly) labeled a DEP knock-off upon release, LC seemed to dissolve upon touchdown. a true shame, as they seemed the most worthy candidate to pick up where Human Remains left off. oh well, at least we got Car Bomb (*cocks gun*)
i can trace a lot back to this album. it acted as a guide for my vocal/lyrical aspirations (aspirations that would be further morphed by the following entry), as well as being my comfort zone during a particularly vile summer. but beyond the anecdotal relevance, it's a truly sick ass "extreme metal" record (whatever that means anymore) that goes where Great Southern Trendkill only whispered.
this album not only said everything i wanted, but said everything in the way i wanted. it might be my favorite album of all time. and much like the previous entry; i'm still ripping it off to this day.
i have been sitting here for like 5 minutes trying piece together an adequate description of what might be Masami Akita's masterwork. no matter what i say, it'll be wrong... but also it'll be right. great noise is both a gift and a weapon. this is such.
tightly wound shriek-grind coupled with swampy sleaze make this a must for any fan of the fast.
no country does Grind quite like Australia. countries need to get on that. if i hear one more pompous ass Nasum sound-a-like i'm gonna pray for tsunamis. get figgity-fucked, son.
honorable mentions:
Cephalic Carnage - Exploiting Dysfunction
and some of my favorite "recent" releases (last 5-10 years or so);
Sayyadina - The Great Northern Revisited
Unearthly Trance - Electrocution
Tombs - Path of Totality
Looking for an Answer - Eterno Treblinka
Noisear - Subvert the Dominant Paradigm
Anatomy of Habit - Ciphers + Axioms
Pyrrhon - the Mother of Virtues
Cretin - Freakery
Indian - Guiltless
Primitive Man - Scorn
and some of my favorite "recent" releases (last 5-10 years or so);
Sayyadina - The Great Northern Revisited
Unearthly Trance - Electrocution
Tombs - Path of Totality
Looking for an Answer - Eterno Treblinka
Noisear - Subvert the Dominant Paradigm
Anatomy of Habit - Ciphers + Axioms
Pyrrhon - the Mother of Virtues
Cretin - Freakery
Indian - Guiltless
Primitive Man - Scorn
