Tuesday 27 May 2014

aAnd? - aAlbum? (CD Review)


01.Some Shit!
02.Innit!
03.This Is Why We Have No Female Shotput Champions!
04.Last Place In The Sack Race!
05.I’m A Mighty Pirate Prepare To Die
06.Dogs!
07.This Little Piggy
08.If You See Me Run!
09.What Is Wrong With Your Face?!
10.I Pity The Fowl!
11.Girls!
12.Tours, Whores and Closed Bus Doors!
13.Proclivity For The Purple Velvet!
14.Last Of The Summer Swine!
15.Makin' Bacon!

Dan (Vocals/Guitar)
Pip (Drums/Vocals)
Lewis (Bass)

Si Genaro (Guest Vocals & Harmonica on This Little Piggy)


Bournemouth band formed in 2011 the purpose of which was to write the heaviest music they could think of to impress girls, tax reasons and get free beer.
Dan and Pip had previously played together in 'HFM' in 2002 and in 2004 Pip and Lewis had been part of the band 'Animosity'.
All three of them got together just as Pip was leaving the band Al.B.Damned.

They dress in B&W body suits and masks and have a fearsome reputation for anarchic live performances.
Last july their song 'Girls!' appeared on the "Devils Rejects" covermount cd with Metal Hammer magazine.


Screaming vocals and blast beats seems to be the order of the day and 'Some Shit!' delivers a powerful punch to the head, its unrelenting speed and agressive attitude crash through the speakers like a tank in a poppy field.

'Innit!' starts with a weird sound and some laughter before smashing once again the senses into oblivian, a dual vocal of screams and death grunts blend with the relentless onslaught of instruments.

More weirdness with the intro for a serious and moving song that deals with one of the great modern issues of our time, that being - 'This Is Why We Have No Female Shotput Champions!'
Well im only kidding its another headfucker of a song that also has a donkey and a yodel thrown in!
The song flows straight into 'Last Place In The Sack Race!' the pace remaining the same.

Then we come to 'I Am A Mighty Pirate Prepare To Die', this one has a different feel to start with reminicent of Primus, sure the song soon moves to a heavy drum driven piece, but there is a strange almost hypnotic rhythm running throughout, throw in some different vocal elements and a few samples and you have a very intresting and stand out song.

After 'Dogs!' with its Meshuggah like beat, things just get weird...

'This Little Piggy' where do you start? 'Dig the fucking evil groove' are the opening words followed by harmonica and whistling over a thrash metal guitar riff and drum pedal driven drum beats, i'll keep going because there is some melodic high pitched vocal harmony thrown in as well.
This could be the start of a death/blues hybrid as yet heard of in the world of heavy metal OR some sort of mental breakdown from the band members accidentley recorded and put on the album in an attempt at a type of shock therapy, either way it just has to be heard to be believed and then played again just to confirm your original suspicions!

What follows are two homages to classic Grindcore, the first is 16 seconds with 'If You See Me Run' and then 33 seconds of 'What Is Wrong With Your Face', two excellent short blast of power.

Melodic guitar riffery? Well fortunatly Mr.T saves the day with 'Pity The Fowl' another off the wall avant-garde tune (wait did i say tune?) this is more madness with screaming and full on metal assault interrupted by the A Team legend and them some farm noises!

Next is 'Girls!' a song some of you may already have heard if you got that Metal Hammer CD last year, but for those who have not then this one starts with some samples of an orgasmic lady (probably from Pip's own personal collection of filthy dvd's!), the samples in fact run throughout this monster of a song, distorted guitarwork and furious drumming all held together by solid basswork.

As to be expected with any typical modern metal album we come to the ballad, thank fuck this is not typical and the song 'Tours, Whores and Closed Bus Doors!' is not a ballad, but hey i got you worried for a second there didn't i?

Gotta love a song that starts with chainsaws and screams, but 'Proclivity For The Purple Velvet!' does not follow the rules and turns out to be a strange cover of 'We could have been anything' from the Bugsy Malone film!!! Oh plus an added death grunt at the end!

You know by this point my brain is totally fucked, this is just some stupid shit, im trying to write a review and keep laughing and banging my head, so now im listening to the intro for last of the summer wine on harmonica for the 'Last Of The Summer Swine' song that im just waiting for to explode into another wall of sound and it does, there are a few timing changes in the mix that make this one part thrash and part hardcore.

Finally we end with a short story called 'Makin Bacon!' no music just a story about picking up girls told by Country Joe who has a pet fish, so electric music for mind and body and a clue as to the state of mind of the band?


Like a strange mix of early 'Johnny Truant', 'The Locust' and early british Grindcore this is one of those debut albums that makes you sit up and listen, then run to a nice quiet place and calm down.
A brilliant and very well concieved album drawing on numerous influences designed to entertain on all levels.

Rating 10/10
For Fans Of: Lawnmower Deth, The Locust, Meshuggah, Anal Cunt, Johnny Truant, Napalm Death

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