Archagathus - Canadian Horse LP

This is the first of five reviews that will make up my To Live A Lie Records Series. The Canadian Horse LP was released in August 2011. For those you who don't know, Archagathus are a fast as hell grindcore band from Winnipeg, Canada. They've put out countless split 7"s and cassettes, including a previous split with the might Agathocles. This is their latest full length LP.

Tracklist:-

1. Intro/Mincecore Fabio
2. Perennial Loser
3. Brain; Dead?
4. System; What?
5. Soap A Dope
6. Society's Dinner
7. Das Monkey
8. A Stupid Question
9. Insanity Dog
10. Intoxicating Aroma
11. Sexy Grinder
12. Hey Metallica
13. Fuck The System
14. Canadian Hoser
15. Hernie Dans Un Voyageur Chagrinant
16. Endoparasitic Girlfriend
17. The Night Wolf

No song on Canadian Horse is over two minutes long, with the exception of final track The Night Wolf. Archagathus have a sense of humour clearly, as the Intro track contains some pretty funny horse noise samples. The music itself is pretty gnarly, with pig squeals and low grunts, alongside fast drums and buzzing riffs. Like most grindcore records, this is rough and ready. The production is very organic and rough, but that's what it's all about. It wouldn't be a grind record if it had clean, precise production. Just listen to Perennial Loser and you'll see what I mean. Also, good luck making out the lyrics, because your head will just explode if you try. It's best to sit back, chug a beer and rock out!

The songs follow in quick succession and just completely blast. I'll admit that it's the first time I've properly check out Archagathus, but as I'm partial to a bit of grindcore,

It’s a good experience. Even with the short, sharp songs on Canadian Horse, they seem to make them sound longer than they are. Society's Dinner is one of the record's fastest songs and is a thrashing delight! A Stupid Question sounds a bit more like a hardcore song, with the lower pitched screams taking precedent over the high-pitched vocals. It's still fast and could whip up a huge circle pit though.

Insanity Dog sees them back at their grinding best. Furious music mixed with insane vocals make it one of my standout tracks. I like the chunkier guitar riffs they use on the record. Unlike some other grind bands, they're audible and easy to pick out amongst the racket. In Intoxicating Aroma, there's some subtle sludge influences going on, as the pace of the song is slower and the low end is nuts. The live sound that Archagathus use brings you a lot closer to the band and you can easily picture what one of their live sets would be like.

More thrash metal riffs are present at the start of Canadian Hoser and I like it's ability to get you headbanging like a loon. Before you know, you’re at the albums last two songs. Endoparasitic Girlfriend is one of my favourite songs, thanks to sludgier, slow riffs that break up the breakneck pace of the song. The Night Wolf starts with ringing feedback and a slow dirge or awesome riffs, which show that Archagathus are strong musicians, inspite of the chaos they portray.

The punky influences show where their brand of grind came from, but Archagathus seem to be able to weave is other genre snippets, making Canadian Horse an invigorating listen from start to finish.

You can listen to a sample song, Intoxicating Aroma via To Live A Lie's website at http://www.tolivealie.com/index2.html.

At the moment though, To Live A Lie's webstore is down, but may be able to pick this up from distros like Give Praise and Ebullition. The full list can be here http://tolivealie.com/webstore .

Archagathus don't have a Facebook page that I know of (correct me if I'm wrong), but you can find them on Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/archagathus.