ninehertz

Believe it or not the charming title or band name was not what attracted me to this release above all else within our overflowing inbox, but the descriptor "progressive grinders", placed upon Copenhagen's Piss Vortex, certainly piqued my interest. These are intoxicating times for extreme metal, with boundaries blurring, genres stretched from their norm, and grind should be no exception.

This is a short (well, it is grind), sub 12 minute 12" EP over six tracks, to the point, blisteringly acute in not wasting time nor vinyl groove. From the opening Default Face / Filtered Rot, Piss Vortex display an unbalanced lurch beyond a full on thrashing grind, that their press labelling alludes to, the unhinged of Today is the Day, the bassy rattle of Unsane, the off kilter of KEN Mode, all potentially hinted at and grafted to the grinding frenzy.

The scalding hardcore of Den Moderne Mands Laenke warmly reminds me of Army of Flying Robots and their like, with a big Pig Destroying riff ending, while Failing the Voight-Kampff Test (the questions used by Decker in Blade Runner to detect replicants) is memorably intense and visceral, brilliantly so.

All in all, a faultless release, subtle variation in aggression (and even, whisper it, pace) - such as the doomy ending of Abyss - and a slight left of centre hardcore approach make this an extremely enjoyable ride.