There have been a multitude of humorous bands come out of the grindcore sub-genre, a genre which is already known for ridiculous speed and extremely short songs. Take Knottingham’s Brianblessed, for instance; named after the British actor of the same name, the duo have written songs with titles like “Drilldo” and “Dubstep Wankers.” Now they have unleashed a new atrocity on the senses in the form of this year’s EP, Things To Make And Do.
Though many grindcore bands tend to only have humorous song titles, Brianblessed take it a step further by adding some goofy vocals and musical interludes into their otherwise fairly straightforward grind. With songs like “Selfie Stick Sodomy” and “Crapoeira,” you get the feeling that the guys don’t want to be taken too seriously. Musically, they mainly play some pretty fast, furious grindcore with some old-school death metal influences, as can be heard on the fierce album opener “Bonnie Langford VS Shit Bastard.” The lack of bass isn’t super noticeable, as the guitar has enough low-end to really fill out the sound, similar to Pig Destroyer. “Luddite” has a pretty evil-sounding riff reminiscent of the early material by Deicide, and it definitely had me banging my head along to the beat.
For the most part, Things To Make And Do is a pretty enjoyable grindcore record, but there are a couple flaws that keep it from being great. While I enjoy seeing a band not take themselves too seriously, the humor on this EP can be downright irritating (and, ultimately, distracting) at times. The call-and-response vocals on “Selfie Stick Sodomy” made me want to punch things, and the melodic bits on “Cavernous Tooth” sounded like a cock-rock version of Torche. Also, bearing in mind that this IS underground grindcore, I feel the overall record would have benefited from a slightly cleaner mix, and maybe have the cymbals and kick-drums taken down a notch or two. Still, there is plenty to like here and, for the most part, Brianblessed have made a pretty fun record. Not quite a must-have for your grind collection, but definitely worth a spin or two.
