Where they from?
Lille, France. Is it just me (it’s just you–ed) or has France just completely taken over the international grindcore scene in the past few years? Seems like every day there is another killer new band from the land of cheese and wine. Seriously, if you don’t believe me, check out this article from yours truly.
Why the hype?
Honestly, when I band call themselves “Gummo,” I expect it to be bad. Harmony Korine’s demonic masterpiece from 1997 will always have ties to extreme metal and powerviolence, but I have found that way too often the tiny micro-genre of Gummo-worship bands tend to suck, more lazily relying on their loose affiliation with an edgy independent film than actually putting any effort into their music.
So I was pleasantly surprised to find out these guys don’t suck! In fact, they in many ways, totally rule! They are like a super bass-heavy mix of Converge and Rotten Sound but aren’t afraid to experiment. They also use the HM-2 pedal rather tastefully, which I didn’t know was possible. Like, it actually doesn’t sound like shit here? I didn’t know it could do that.
Latest Release?
“A Fresh Breath to the Neck” out now on No Time Records. I really love when extreme metal bands put a couple of songs on their album that are not the usual sub-genre they play (See Origin’s “Redistribution of Filth” as a prime example). This band does it a few times on this album, most notably the sort of bouncy Top 40 hardcore of “You’ll Pay The Bill to the Styx” and the absolute masterpiece of a closer, the gore/pornogrind vibe that is “Dr. Hill is a Pervert.” I have no idea who Dr. Hill is, but if he could inspire more songs that sound like vintage The Day Everything Became Nothing, I would most certainly not mind one bit.
