Lord Gore
Resickened

The Lord Gore, an American band signed with Bones Brigade (a very active French label), wanted to make their musical intent clear from the name choice: although I always have serious doubts about works of this type, I must say this left me favorably impressed.

Among a mass of Gore Grind groups truly unworthy of being admitted to the ranks of metal bands, these guys stand out for their compositional skills and professionalism. The sound of this album harkens back, I would say more than openly, to that of Impetigo and the early works of Carcass, the English band that "invented" the Gore Grind genre, and particularly to the essential “Reek Of Putrefaction,” their debut. This assertion of mine, on the one hand, may accuse Lord Gore of plagiarism, but on the other, it gives an idea of the path our guys have taken: in fact, there aren’t many bands that, from 1988 (the year of release of the aforementioned milestone) to today, have undertaken the task of continuing the discourse started with that album. Actually, to be truthful, current Grind bands compete to see who produces the least listenable and most annoying record (this is the case with various bands like Intestinal Disgorge, Artery Eruption, and many others), effectively offering listeners inferior and useless products.

This band, on the other hand, delivers a work that has only a veneer of roughness, but is actually quite refined: indeed, although it attempts to recreate the unhealthy atmospheres typical of the genre, it is clear that it is an intentionally pursued aim and not at all accidental. Even the technical level is very similar to that of Steer and company, meaning not excellent but high enough to play precisely and support not-so-easy tempos and passages. The guitarists stick to decent standards (quite simple riffs and undoubtedly powerful but moderately challenging chords), although not infrequently they indulge in scales they couldn't execute without good technique. The drummer also does a very good job, shifting from typically Metal tempos to more punkish ones, as the Grind tradition dictates. The vocals, as expected, range from classic growling to the usual "brothy" sounds typical of this Metal subgenre.

But the real cherry on top is the dirty, rotten production, which manages in 2004 to sound exactly like what made so many works of the past great: perhaps this is the element that, more than the others, brings this CD closer to masterpieces (excuse the term) like “Reek Of Putrefaction” or “Symphonies Of Sickness.” And to complete the work, there are the usual porno-demented intros which fortunately, unlike many others, never become excessive and don’t take themselves seriously at all. It’s clear these guys aren’t inventing anything new, but the strong retro flavor of “Resickened” can’t help but captivate anyone who loves or has loved the first albums of the genre, those from which it all began. Unlike other valid Gore Grind groups like Impaled, who preferred to draw from the more Death side of Carcass (we're talking about the “Necroticism…” era), this one goes on to exhume (it’s really appropriate to use this verb) the sound forgotten by everyone, the one most genuinely and sincerely Grind, the one born out of exaggeration and the desire to play, and nothing else.

We mustn't forget, in fact, that this album consists of very, very well-structured songs, featuring continuous tempo changes and very varied riffing (which in many cases crosses into the Death-Rock of Entombed’s “Wolverine Blues”). A product that leaves extreme Metal lovers satisfied and sends the nostalgic into ecstasy, a well-played product (within the limits imposed by the genre) and strongly anachronistic, which adds nothing new but provides a breath of fresh air to a musical landscape that is inexorably moving towards ever lower levels.