Rotten Sound - "Species At War" Review

Hard to think of better ways to close out the first month of 2013 than a new EP from Finnish lords of the blast, Rotten Sound. A band that you can pretty much be guaranteed will deliver the goods with each new release. This new 6 track EP, entitled "Species At War", is the excellent follow up to their 2011 full length, "Cursed". A record that I am still a huge fan of, and that I feel has gotten pretty under appreciated in their discography. "Species At War" continues the "blast then groove" style of grindcore that RS have perfected over their last few releases, and stands out as one of their least subtle releases since the "Napalm" EP. From the almost crude looking cover art, to the EP's lyrical concept (*hint*, they wrote a bit about war*). Right away, this EP blares out of your speakers with "Cause", an absolutely unrelenting opening track that pounds and bombards like machine gun punches to the face. But I wouldn't call this EP, as a whole, unrelenting. At least in how it impacted me. The songs here are pretty typical for Rotten Sound at this point, and very little (okay, nothing), stands out as anything new or really all that exciting for the band, and there a couple things that keep this EP from being 100% solid. Such as the 2nd track; which is an under one-minute slower jam, which just sounds like the breakdown to a full song, but they just decided to scrap the fast part. It just sounds incomplete, which is one of the few gripes I had with "Cursed"; the slower tracks lacked substance, or any real need to be included. This is a record that seems like it's made to tide people over before something much larger. I'd be very surprised if the band wasn't working on a new full-length right now. But hey, if you've liked anything that this band has done in the last few years, and you want some good, quick grindcore songs, it's hard to go wrong with this.

Rating: 7/10

~VII

Updates On The New Rotten Sound EP

Remember earlier this year when Rotten Sound just threw the new's out there that they had a new EP coming out? Well, after not many updates (kinda forgot about the whole thing, honestly), a whole bundle of details have been announced regarding the new release, entitled, "Species At War".

This new 6-track EP will be released on CD and a single-sided 12" with a B-side etching. From the sound of it, this whole EP was apparently recorded, mixed and mastered by the band. Interesting to see how this DIY approach will sound, maybe a rawer attack from the band this time around? In addition to that, this will be the first release the band puts out since signing on with Season Of Mist for exclusive European distribution, with Relapse Records handling the rest of the world. The EP is actually available for pre-order right now, here, and will be officially released on January 22nd. I expect a few tours in support of this, and hopefully a new full-length isn't far away. Can't wait to go ape shit to these guys at MDF!

~VII