John Zorn - Napalm Death
Split 7"

LA RECENSIONE

So it was inevitable that John Zorn and Napalm Death would meet sooner or later; and the "incident" occurs in the autumn of 1990 with this very brief work in terms of duration. A musical and mental destabilization.

Respectively coming from "Torture Garden" with Naked City the former and "Harmony Corruption" the godfathers of Grindcore. They have known and respected each other for a long time, having as a common denominator the same record label: "Earache Records," synonymous with auditory intransigence beyond any limit.

"Osaka Bondage" (...WOW...) is the title of the minute that opens the commotion; John is accompanied by a team of top-notch musicians: Bill Frisell on guitar, Wayne Horvitz on keyboards, Fred Frith on bass, Joey Baron on drums, and Yamatsuka Eye on (killer) vocals. Uncontrolled screams, Jazz - Swing flavored guitar inserts. John’s Fusion, or melted, saxophone throwing fuel on the fire. Beyond Grind, beyond any categorization; without schemes. Irreverent and heretical; in absolute interpretative freedom. Total geniuses.

The Napalm guys are no less, engaged in the first real turning point of their musical career. They leave behind the Grindcore of their first two works and move to Florida for the recordings of the album from which the track "Malicious Intent" is taken. In those years, the American State was the home of the nascent Death Metal movement and the English "embraced" this sordid musical entity. Three tight minutes with compressed, crushing guitar sounds; in the central part of the song, they slow down the furious race incorporating even more unhealthy and oppressive execution timings. Eventually, they go back to pounding hard in the last minute of the track, led by the furious growl of Mark "Barney" Greenway, who had become the voice of the English combo just a few months prior.

There is a third track by John Zorn; yet another minute of doom. "Shang Kuan Ling-Feng" is its title.

Dedicated to those three rascals called Pinhead, Lector, and The Count. Take this, you scoundrels!!

Now I'm going to bed, that's better.

Ad Maiora.