Ultra Vomit
M. Patate

THE REVIEW

ULTRA VOMIT “Mr Patate”
Technique 70 Listenable 70 Extremism 70 Total 80

Ultra Vomit is a French trio formed recently, and whose members are recently born (absolutely very young), devoted to crazy Grind: while most of the bands saturating the scene aim for dark humor, they end up falling into an embarrassing bad taste, ours are proponents of humor perhaps more immediate but certainly much more effective and tasteful.

Starting from their name, one can infer how their goal is precisely to demolish the stupid Horror facades of many bands. Their approach is exaggerated, but it’s a deliberately idiotic and adolescent exaggeration meant to mock the zeal of other bands in writing increasingly disgusting lyrics. "Mr Patate", released in 2004, is their third work and contains almost all the songs from the previous LP “Kebabized At Birth” (a clear sarcastic reference to the famous Cannibal Corpse album “Butchered At Birth”). The songs total twenty-two (including a Ghost Track, parody of Pop Rock bands) lasting about half an hour; this will make you understand that the main structure is that of canonical Grind. But in reality, they are far from playing this genre; their style is perhaps closer to traditional Death, but without those suffocating and dark atmospheres typical of the genre. In all their songs, there is a certain “melody” which brings them closer to “death metal” rather than Grind.

Ultra Vomit, despite being very young, already show good instrumental mastery: although their music is not very difficult to execute, the work of all three (the singer also plays the guitar and is a fan of Angus Young, the legendary AC/DC guitarist) is excellent and very precise. It’s pointless to analyze their performance within individual compositions: only by listening to all their work can one get an idea of their promising abilities. However, the greatest virtue of this trio is undoubtedly their compositional skill; the band is absolutely mature and capable of writing good pieces, very well-structured, all distinguishable from one another. Furthermore, which is uncommon, these Frenchmen manage to create a truly personal sound: you won’t find in the Grind scene even one band with a similar sound, almost devoid of influences (except those of Carcass, but quite remotely).

Their music is much more than engaging, it is captivating: it is the product of three metal-loving kids joking around and saying genuine nonsense, who enjoy playing (well) and just want to have fun. And they manage to encapsulate this mindset in their notes and communicate it directly to the listener: the songs are powerful, impactful, and, above all, possess spontaneity to which one can only bow. To complete the picture, there is a perfect production: and when I say “perfect,” I don’t mean “good,” I mean it is absolutely impeccable! The instruments are all distinguishable yet well-blended, and the singer (who masters screaming, growling, and silly voices well) manages not to be in the background and not to overshadow his bandmates. I can’t give the highest marks to a CD that is played just for fun and probably doesn’t have a shred of reflection behind it, but this effort is certainly very good; the freshness of nonsensical titles like “Phoned To Death” (“killed by phone calls”), “I Like To Vomit” (“I like to vomit”), “Poil Pubien” (“pubic hair”) or “Une Souris Vert” (“a green mouse”), leave no doubt about the band’s ironic intent. Other wordplays, such as “Judas Prost” (referring to the historic metal band and the Formula One racer), “Laetitia Casse-Toi” (“Letizia break away,” alluding phonetically to the famous model) or “People=Frit” (mocking a song by Slipknot”), clarify the kind of irony I referred to throughout the review.

A very good album that is worth the expense for a straightforward band to whom one can only wish deserved success (which, judging by their participation in the Fury Fest, one of the most important extreme metal festivals in Europe, will not take long to arrive). The songs are absolutely hilarious (and on that note, I invite you to check their website, link below), well-written, well-played, and full of personality. Well done.