Polish band Rotting Head alloyed grindcore and death metal into a package that sounds like Napalm Death worship for a big part. One of them RH guys even sported a ND shirt on a photo on the band's demo tape, so they didn't bother hiding the fact. The Brits had put out 'Fear, Emptiness, Despair' in May 1994 and RH recorded this, their sophomore album, in December of the same year, and these two albums aren't a million miles away from each other with their sonics. The two tapes this Polish quartet put out prior to this (1993 & 1994) sound like earlier ND, see... It really feels like these fellas were following ND. Very. Fucking. Closely.

Well, the paragon was more than okay, so how is 'Backwardness'? Well, if you enjoy ND's stuff from the first half of 1990s, this is an okay, even good, listen. Sturdy and heavy, rather slowly played riffs (of which some remind of another British band, namely Benediction, but also US legends Obituary) are all around here, with exception of faster, higher pitched tremolo riffing. It is the drummer who really made it all sound very ND-ish, thanks to his Danny Herrera style beats; metal stuff like double kick drumming and blast beating, and hardcore punk stuff alloyed into vivid rhythmic structures. There are some bits that bring in dystopian vibes, such as open string guitars and effected vocals.

The main complaint from me is that that the band know how to throw interesting riffs, tempo change (there's loads in many of the songs) and stuff, but the compositions are jumble. The final product is not catchy, music-wise, but it certainly can make one's body move. I mean, going through this a hundred times might leave some memory imprints, but I think the compositions do not encourage for that kind of arduous work. I feel I'm going with the flow alone here...

The production sounds somewhat hollow, and it is due to the bass guitar that is shrouded under everything else. The drums are about weak slapping, basically. The guitar tone is raspy and it is loud, too; similar to Obituary's 'The End Complete' album (1992). The vocals are mainly growled with throat, so they do not go very low, and they are also accompanied by shrieky growl, giving them a ND stamp, too, even though done by one vocalist. Anyway, the band sound enthusiastic here, even if the production is dry and quite feeble.

Lyrics-wise this is about real event going on, or historical things. Polluting Earth, fanatics (political and religious ones, and Nazis), killers, societies... They aren't written in perfect English, but something like 'Infanticide', telling about fear of a new-born waiting to die, really did hit me. World is a shitty place, thank you for reminding!

The band slipped out of the radar in 1998 releasing nothing after this album, but returned in 2016. They are recording, or have already completed recording, their sophomore album. So it makes one me wonder if they're still this heavily influnced by Napalm fucking Death or have they possibly found a sound more of their own...

Rating: 5½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
08/16/2021 19:11