When I saw that this EP was a mix of death metal and pork grind, and that the band said they were influenced by bands like Toto, Cardiacs, Fishbone, and Frank Zappa, I knew this was something I had to hear. Formed in 2016 by Brian Worth (vocals, guitar, kazoo, and programming), the only official member of the band, he is joined here by Michael Russo (guitar, bass, and programming) and Dan Guenther (guitar, bass, and programming), while there are additional collaborators and guests, including Chris “The Crypt” Grant and David Ingram of Benediction, as well as Brian Worth’s wife and daughter.
The first two songs are more than six minutes in length, although opener “Pork Grind (You Are What You Eat)” has a lengthy comedic introduction, but then we settle down with a couple of numbers at less than three minutes (including a cover of Clutch’s “Animal Farm”), and finally getting a song at less than a minute before we end with a series of outtakes and bloopers turned into a “song”. There is a sense of humour throughout this EP, and while I cannot hear much Cardiacs or Zappa in there, we do get plenty of Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Necrophagous etc. The vocals are solid, with a very Lee Dorian style at times, and when they want, they provide complex death and grind, but in many ways they are doing themselves a disservice as they would have way more impact if they played this straighter and down the middle, but they have taken the joke just too far. If it was brought back a tad then I could see them in the same vein as Agoraphobic Nosebleed, but while this may not be a classic this is something which will make metalheads smile, and that is not something which often happens with music of this style.
Rating: 6/10
