PHOBIA "Generation Coward" BIRDFLESH "Extreme Graveyard Tornado"
PHOBIA “Generation Coward”
BIRDFLESH “Extreme Graveyard Tornado”
Here’s some revered veterans of the grindcore scene still dealing out the punishment. Is the beating still severe or have they lost a step?
PHOBIA have been around a LONG time. They are one of the earliest American grind bands, but they’re not ready to bang bedpans together in the old hesher’s home just yet. “Generation Coward” is much more correctly called a mini-LP because not one of the 13 tracks here goes over two minutes in length. They have stayed true to the philosophy of “get in quick, fuck shit up and get out in a hurry”. Some cuts like “Bozo of Grind” clock in under 10 seconds! But this is a violent affair full of hurricane blurs, D-beat skanky bits and rumbling low-end destruction, almost all of it viciously political in nature. PHOBIA continues to be America’s answer to NAPALM DEATH, only maybe with more purity, because there’s none of the dissonant or industrialist experimentation one finds on modern day NAPALM releases.
Sweden’s demented BIRDFLESH have been around almost as long as PHOBIA, but they don’t take things quite as seriously. With song titles like “Guacamolestation of the Tacorpse”, “Botox Buttocks” and “Amish Girl”, how could they? Unlike “Generation Coward”, “Extreme Graveyard Tornado” is bulging with grind and bursts with 24 manic tracks. It’s been almost 10 years since we’ve heard from these masked weirdos but their style is roughly the same. This album has a somewhat cleaner and more produced guitar sound than past exploits, but it still grinds. There’s also more of an overt thrash metal influence and BIRDFLESH often remind me of GHOUL in more ways than one, even down to the goofy pseudonyms and masks. They also have “micro-songs” like PHOBIA, but they do have some that go more than two minutes where a healthy mosh can rear its head. And for that reason, I give BIRDFLESH the slight edge over PHOBIA this time around.
Considering the length of time these bands have been in the trenches, it’s amazing that they sound as fierce and fresh as they do!
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