Decibrity Playlist: Rotten Sound

Not only does Rotten Sound have a new EP coming out later this month, but the Finnish quartet is also celebrating its vicennial. So when bassist Kristian Toivainen suggested putting together a playlist with picks from a certain year, it took us back to a feature we used to have in the magazine. Back in the day (circa 2007), the Upfront portion used to have a section called “Will Consider Trading”. The concept was simple enough: a Decibel writer picked a year and put together a mix tape highlighting that twelve month period along with a brief intro and one sentence explanation for each pick. Apparently great/grind minds think alike, as what he sent along is in the spirit of our printed playlists. Check out Toivainen’s introduction and picks below and feel free to listen along here.
I think it would have been too boring to list the best grind albums or something like that, so I wanted to do something else. Because Rotten Sound is celebrating the band’s 20th anniversary this year, I decided to take a trip back to 1993, the year Keijo [Niinimaa, vocalist] and Mika [Aalto, guitarist] formed the band. I have no idea if they were listening to any of these albums in 1993 (and I was only 10 years old, haha), but I realized there were a bunch of classic albums that came out that year. So here’s what I picked.

Eyehategod’s “Blank” (from Take As Needed For Pain)
This is probably my favorite Eyehategod album. Really heavy and pissed off.

Sleep’s “Dragonaut” (from Sleep’s Holy Mountain)
Black Sabbath worship at its best.

Entombed’s “Wolverine Blues” (from Wolverine Blues)
All of the Entombed albums have their unique touch and this album really brought rock ‘n’ roll to death metal (well, of course there was also Xysma). All time favorite.

Carcass’s “Arbeit Macht Fleisch” (from Heartwork)
Heartwork was actually the first Carcass album I got my hands on. It still has a special place for me, although I listen to Symphonies of Sickness or Necroticism more often when I’m in the mood to blast Carcass. For me this is also the best melodic death metal album, together with Slaughter of the Soul.

Death’s “Overactive Imagination” (from Individual Thought Patterns)
I remember being really blown away by this album. It was the most technical stuff I had heard at that point.

Neurosis’s “Raze The Stray” (from Enemy Of The Sun)
On this album Neurosis was on their way to the perfection that they gained on Through Silver in Blood. Really atmospheric and dark stuff.

Dismember’s “Reborn In Blasphemy” (from Indecent & Obscene)
Can’t get enough Swedish death metal, so I am happy that this was released in 1993. Great songs, great sound and Matti Kärki is one of the best death metal vocalists ever.

Napalm Death’s “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” (from the Nazi Punks Fuck Off EP)
Every playlist has to contain something from Napalm Death, so here you go! I believe this is the only thing they released in 1993.

*Order a copy of Species At War here.

**We update one Spotify playlist for each new Decibrity entry, so feel free to subscribe to that here. Past entries include:

Ancestors (Part 1) (Part 2)
Kowloon Walled City (Part 1) (Part 2)
Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride) (Part 1) (Part 2)
Early Graves
All That Remains
Bison B.C.
A Life Once Lost
Fight Amp
Witchcraft (Ola Henriksson) (Magnus Pelander)
Vision of Disorder
Grave
Anders Nyström (Katatonia) (Part 1) (Part 2)
“Best of” Rush (Part 1) (Part 2)
Dawnbringer
Ufomammut
Shadows Fall
Horseback
Greg Mackintosh (Paradise Lost) (Part 1) (Part 2)
Torche
“Best of” Meshuggah
Astra
Pallbearer
Barren Earth
Shane Embury (Napalm Death) (Part 1) (Part 2)