Review by Ryan Harding

ENGORGED: DEATH METAL ATTACK II Razorback Records

From Oregon comes some of the most inspired, slaughtering grind in years. With traces of S.O.D., CARCASS, MACABRE, and others, ENGORGED lays waste with the insane vocal range of Akkad, the wanton blasting of Destro, Cobra Commander and Major Bludd's fretwork, and Zartan's four stringing. Lyrically you cannot get more underground than this, with ENGORGED's trademark giallo allusions, "XYY Triad's" hymn to Argento's CAT 'O NINE TAILS, the chaos response to zombies in "House of the Dead," the CARCASS/I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE/Bobbit homage "Genital Finder," the very S.O.D. inspired "In Support of Multinational Corporations," and of course allegiance to COBRA in "Cobra H.I.S.S." Samples from GET A LIFE, CAT 'O NINE TAILS, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, TENEBRAE, and others run throughout, providing amusement with their relative obscurity. The cover is from a favorite Argento film, and the borrowed liner note artwork brings back many memories of G.I. Joe's bullshit victories over the elite Corbra terrorist operation (hail Cobra!!).

Included on the cd is the first ENGORGED demo, featuring rawer versions of a couple tracks from DMAII and older favorites like "Raping the Full House Twins" and "Legalize Child Porn." I'm not ashamed to say I enjoy by-the-numbers grind, but this is far from that, being quite evolved. There are many dimensions and surprises throughout the 40+ minutes, such as the sudden lapse from near-rock to grind frenzy in "F.A.N.G.S.," and scattered riot vocals (though Akkad by himself has enough voices to front ten bands). Not only are the song titles funny, but the lyrics live up, such as this sequence from "Genital Finder:

"Brought home flowers for what it was worth/
Dry, shriveled tissue's what's became of your girth/
In battle with the fairer sex/
Casualties are bloody and missing their dicks."

I think in a few years ENGORGED will be talked about like REPULSION, IMPETIGO, CARCASS, GUT, and other elite grinders. Best to join now, before world domination.

5 Perplex Skulls

This review copyright 1999 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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