How about a song about a guy who fats himself to feed his pigs by giving them something of him? Like little snacks, meaning his fingers and toes, or his leg... Talk about natural cycle, ha! Well, you can now hear it from Finnish deathgrinders Napalm Ted.

They keep on going like they're used to: Coming in fervently and leaving fast. No matter if it's a full-length album, like 'Mouthful' is and their debut at that, NT do not spend long time getting their act done. 22 minutes and 9 tracks, they still are far from offering shortest songs know to man, though. Probably this has more drum and string hits than the whole Skepticism discography.

Saying "short but sweet" do not go hand in hand with NT. There is nothing sweet here. Their rather unique-sounding music is about grindcore with some death metal and hardcore punk thrown in to make you dance. Heavy-handed, low-tuned riffing meets oppressive open-string sonicscapes, like Napalm Death, Nasum, Discharge and Killing Joke combined. At times I also feel Swedish death-thrash influence, like e.g. Defleshed vibe happening. The songwriting is jumpy, as short-ish songs can include many, many different parts; the music can definitely be distressing or pogoable, and really doesn't have too much hooks to tell the truth. Loads of rhythms, not much memorable riffs and zero melodiousness. I suppose it is the intended torture tactic. Mostly it is on fast and very busy side, often blasting, but there are slower, stomping bits to catch some breath. Napalm Ted sound a tad more serious here, as no nursery rhyme melodies sensed here, even though this is not fully a wack-free release.

The guitar tone is thick or chainsaw-like, playing is finger-bleeding, but there are finger-twisting moments, too. The drums sound natural and in constant motion from beat to another, also flashing some technical ones with weird time signatures (anyone remember Deep Turtle?). There are two kinds of vocals: Slimy and gravel-y cement mixer growl and agonising shouted and screamed high-pitched human voice. Many of the lyrics are about business(men) and profit, but more exotic theme is kuru (people eating human brain, and their diseased brain eaten by human again... lovely), and then cannibalism of course. The bass guitar mauls in lower frequencies. The production has a live vibe going on. Probably the fattest-sounding NT to date. Piggies will like.

Due to its progressive, jumpy nature, 'Mouthful' is not an easy-listen grindcore release. I personally couldn't get much out of it if I really didn't target my thoughts on it. It packs more than it gives on surface, though. Napalm Ted also have never sounded this unique on their previous outputs (surely a song here and there, yes), and they are mainly going for grindcore here. Try it if you're looking for some nasty fucking noise.

Rating: 6½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
11/03/2018 18:06