Finally, Edinburgh’s Cancerous Womb can stop that “This song’s from the album… they’re all from the album” joke at their live show as they add an extra four tracks to their catalogue courtesy of this disgustingly tasty EP. It Came To This is a slight shift in direction for this guttural grouping with a little bit of experimentation around the slamming grindcore.
Guitarist Mike has this to say about the new songs and straying from “the usual death metal lyrical theatrics of gore/violence/horror/shock and the likes and heads down a more self-analysing approach with a grindcore appeal”.
This is the first born of the experiment. It’s more about the protagonist’s own internal workings, his crippling self-degradation and his drowning uncertainty, than our predecessors’ desire to slice apart women and shout about blood.
Not that there’s anything wrong in shouting about blood, of course.
First track “The Shrieking of Idiots” crashes in with some wonderful “hitting a brick wall” bass drops and quite a death/extreme metal tone mixed in with the expected grind. Whereas Born of a… was very much a sludgy, biological beast It Came To This demonstrates a more evil sound. Harsher, sharper.
“Formless” is a bizarre 54 seconds of right out noisy brutality, descending further into chaos as is proceeds. And ending with… a saxophone? Erm, OK then.
Back on track with “Isolation Frenzy” which is closer to the older material but which still demonstrates a different tone. Despite being plentifully savage, there are little segments where the guitar work could almost be called tech. I think it’s more the tone than anything, but it does make things a little more interesting. What is good to hear is the bass clanking along in the background, especially as – according to the blurb anyway – it’s Joe Mortimer back on thick-string duties.
Joe was out of the band for most of a year due to some nerve damage and I was lucky enough to be at their Brujeria support slot when he, unplanned, borrowed a bass from Party Cannon and stepped up for a song despite the discomfort and pain it caused him. If he’s back to playing full tilt then that’s fantastic news.
I think the band saved the best for last with non-stop violence-fest “When All Is Said And Done” rounding out the EP. As well as the usual splattery grindcore, there’s an edge of hardcore to this one making it something you could actually mosh to rather than just headbang. It’s interesting, it works, and I’m glad the guys have had some fun playing around with their sound – and with Napalm Death’s, seeing as it’s a cover of the track from their Smear Campaign album.
The digital version ships in full (four tracks) on July 5th and is only £3, or more if you’re feeling generous. For those of you who like the physical form, a CD is available for a fiver (or more) and they’ll ship around the 14th of July.
It Came To This is out on July 5th and costs virtually nothing so you should just buy a copy
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