Squash Bowels - Tyndril Review
by Matt Hensch
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Let's face it: Squash Bowels is not the most attractive moniker ever, but these Polish maniacs probably didn't give a rat's ass when they formed this underground smash of a goregrind band back in 1994. "Tnyribal," the group's debut album, captures a quick hammering of slaughtering brutality that weaves through a pathological nightmare of unrelenting sickness and depravity that most goregrind bands attempt. Part of the groups gimmick comes from the inclusion of weird industrial/electronic passages which force the listener into an ocean of terrible emptiness and futuristic horrors, at least when the butchery has had its fill of nonstop, indecipherable guitars, technical percussion, and more gurgles and shouts than a dumpster-dwelling monster drowning in trash. Yes, this is an abrasive listen, but an enjoyable one? Well, not really, unfortunately. Yea, blood spills like a flooded slaughterhouse, but that's the only focal point of Squash Bowel's rampage. The various outbursts typically follow a strict equation that includes intangible death metal/grind riffs constantly shooting corrosive gunk while the band's drummer somehow fries every cymbal and piece of his kit in some otherworldly, exhaustive pattern of nonstop savagery that surprisingly fits this onslaught; its all included with shouts and low, guttural vocals and frequent, minute jabs of bass on occasion. As a goregrind band, Squash Bowels sadly remains a face in the crowd, but only because they don't mix it up enough. Sure, the mid-paced sector with a groovy lick or drum pattern enters the scene every now and then, or maybe a punk-inspired riff (looking at the final section of "Black Thing" in particular) appears somewhere between the acidic assault of malevolent cannibalism as well, yet "Tnyribal" just seems too piecemeal and humdrum when all is said and done. However, those industrial pieces I mentioned do a remarkable job leading the listener to an unexpected place, one often filled with anticipation and the essence of a predatory kin about ready to assassinate its unsuspecting prey. Unfortunately, the short-lived transitions are too open-ended and arbitrary to make an honest impact on "Tnyribal," although those unique samples are certainly the climax of the album. However, the lack of memorable hooks and defaulted musicianship strongly impacts "Tnyribal" negatively, and I'm fairly confident that even the most experienced grinder out there will consider this to be a vapid exploration of goregrind's armpit with some unexpected strokes that are interesting, but acutely trivial to the final product.
Squash Bowels - Tyndril Rating:5.0
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