Labels: Translation Loss Records
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 20 Apr 2020
Tracklist:
1. ...to be alive at the end of the world
2. violently high
3. light/pain
4. a demonstration of power
5. sound on sound
6. attack of the supervirus 1138
7. stone bomb
8. doctor butcher
9. yelling at velcro
10. the star spangled banner (traditional
It feels like years since I last featured Total Fucking Destruction on the blog. I think it was the Monsters EP in 2013 and their Split with Fubar in 2015. I know they released an album last year via Give Praise Records too, which I need to go back and revisit. TFD don't really need an introduction. Alongside Brutal Truth, Napalm Death and Nasum, they're considered to be godfathers of grind and are still releasing music twenty one years after their formation. That's real longevity for you!
Obviously nowadays TFD is about more than just grindcore and …to be alive at the end of the world shows that. The album is made up of eight fast songs sandwiched between two uncharacteristically long ones. The ‘title-track’ is a melodic pop-like ballad that threatens to explode but never truly does. The ominous guitar feedback resting underneath as the song builds in noise-level and intensity.
It’s all about the grind from here on in, as your senses are awoken by ‘violently high’ and TFD’s dual-vocal screaming. It’s jazzy and bluesy while still being straight-up mad. ‘Light/pain’ is ninety+ seconds of heavy angular grind (especially where the riffs are concerned), while ‘a demonstration of power’ starts out like an instrumental improv session, before ripping your face off. It’s stop/start nature is humorous in a good way.
‘Sound on sound’ is a strange mix of Primus and surf-punk to these ears and works perfectly. Could this be the record that helps a grind band crossover to something approaching the mainstream? We’ll see. TFD prove their ability to be excellent social commentators with the ultra short ‘attack of the supervirus 1138’ and ‘stone bomb’ is even shorter, but somehow there’s a strong whiff of stoner rock coming off of it.
They reach into the fantasies of serial killers and true crime fans on ‘doctor butcher’, but don’t worry as it’s no sub-par goregrind song. TFD’s final sub one-minute song ‘yelling a velcro’ is basically them yelling for as long as they can in one breath while blasting (I hope that’s the right interpretation anyway) and if it doesn’t bring a smile to your face, you’ve got no soul.
The album’s final long-player is ‘the star spangled banner’ and it is literally TFD’s grindcore reimagining of the US national anthem, set to crazy avant-garde grind. The initial song itself only lasts a couple of minutes. After another couple of minutes of silence, you get Rich Hoak playing woodwind instruments, which is joined later by eerie ambience and a repeat verse of the anthem . It’s bizarre but that’s what you expect from TFD.
This album is definitely one that’ll help you forget about all the shit that the world’s throwing at you right now. Total Fucking Destruction knows how to bring a smile to your face. Long live Total Fucking Destruction!
You can stream both the 'title-track' and 'light/pain' below, where the album is available for digital pre-order:-
Total Fucking Destruction - https://www.facebook.com/tfdgrind/
Physical LP copies can be pre-ordered from Translation Loss Records here - https://translationloss.com/collections/pre-orders
Translation Loss Records - https://www.facebook.com/TranslationLossRecords/
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