Nasum
Doombringer
Relapse
The best grinds of my generation
Between September 15, 1995 and December 11, 2004, Nasum played 153 shows. Fifteen days after their last gig, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed frontman/guitarist Mieszko Talarczyk. Grindcore lost one of its most vital minds, and Swedish metal lost one of its most pivotal members. The void remains—no grind band since has expressed their conscience with such fury.
Most of us never got to see Nasum play live. Doombringer is the next best thing, capturing gig #111 in Osaka on January 9, 2004. Live metal albums are usually contractual obligations that render studio songs with inferior sound. This one begs to differ. The live recording not only preserves, but also amplifies the assault. At its best, grindcore isn’t vocals and instruments, but a singular attack. Here, Nasum explode off the line of scrimmage with astonishing force. Even hardened grind listeners will feel a shot to the gut.
Not that Nasum records weren’t so, of course. But their songs pack more punch with Talarczyk’s terse introductions. “Hello, we are Nasum from Sweden.”—boom, you’re on your back. “This is ‘Doombringer.’”—and it does exactly that. The intro to “Scoop” is even better. Talarczyk simply states its title, then smashes your face across his knee. The hail of blast beats can’t cage his vein-popping screams. Just when you pick yourself up from the ground, a monstrous breakdown mows you down again. “Relics” ends with startling politeness: “Thank you, thank you, thank you very much.” No—thank you, Mieszko. —Cosmo Lee
