Dropthehammer – Greed Misery
Dropthehammer – Greed Misery
No Profit Recordings
Release Date: 02/02/24
Running Time: 26:43
Review by Dark Juan
7/10
Dark Juan is your friend regardless of what religion you follow (or don’t), what color your skin is, what your heritage is or what the fuck ever. We all bleed the same colour and Dark Juan will not stand idly by while other people are hurt or discriminated against. Too much of the art of debate has been taken from us because of the scum sucking maggots in suits who are politicians and the current vogue among people to argue from an entrenched point of view, and to not be able to accept that there are other people who have points of view that are equally as valid as your own and to descend instantly into insults and demanding that others accept your viewpoint as the only correct reasoning for anything.
This is not correct. Nothing is solved by being black and white. You see this in every conflict – be it nation against nation or dickhead against dickhead (I count myself in that description) on the internet. Part of the problem, it seems, is the lack of any form of retribution that can be meted out to keyboard warriors and therefore they do not have to be concerned about repercussions. Dark Juan tries to be a reasonable person at all times, but it is made difficult when there are people out there who are so misinformed about everything, that they are actually a danger (in sufficient numbers, with a vote) to the stability of nations.
This makes Dark Juan tired and jaded. You truly can’t argue with stupid. Or people who are indoctrinated. Hence, this is why I expand brain power and time on music because then I don’t have to think about wankers or geopolitics. In that frame of mind, then, I have dragged out the bloodstained Platter of Splatter™ and have thrown the latest release from Dropthehammer of Pula, Croatia, upon it.
Well, it’s fucking noisy and no mistake. There’s no point trying to dress up the music in fancy words, because it is utterly uncompromising Grindcore/ Death Metal. Blastbeats, savagery and face-ripping grunting are the order of the day here – the music is not what you would call original or ground-breaking, as it is a combination of the Morrisound era of classic Death Metal and the snarling, stabbing sound of Carcass.
However, there’s simple, untrammelled joy to be found in uncomplicated aural murder. The band are vicious and deeply misanthropic in sound with a strong bent towards the primal. The production on the album is rich, thick, and all encompassing with the vocals especially sitting forward in the mix but not overpowering the guitars or drums. And joy of joys! The bass guitar is easily heard – all too often in Death Metal the bass is pushed further and further underneath the bandsaw-like guitar tones – this album rather more follows the Napalm Death blueprint of actually making the bass audible and using it as another lead instrument rather than just a component of the rhythm section. The drums are also easy to listen to, being distinct through the satisfying heaviness of the stringed instruments, and the cymbals slice through the rest of the racket with uncommon clarity. Clarity not usually being something you would say to describe Death Metal, which normally sounds like the band are fighting their way out of a brimming tank of blood, offal, and dismembered limbs. And generally, look like they have been formed out of a chimeric combination of ill-suited limbs and the voice boxes of many different forms of roaring mammal. I’m looking at you, George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher and your neck of corded steel and elephantine size…
The record opens with ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ and it is safe to say that the band aren’t fucking about. There’s no gentle introduction, just a hammering slow (for DM) grind of sampled vocals and guitars that are only intended to rip off your arms. And mucho screaming and grunting. After which the band pick up the pace to rather more normal Death Metal velocities. Vocalist Karlo appears to have had his vocal chords replaced with concrete rods and steel wires as he causes endless damage to his throat with his deep-lunged, rage-filled grunt. Obviously, being Death Metal, Dark Juan can’t understand what the fuck is being roared about but Dark Juan also doesn’t care.
So yeah. If you like your Metal to be brutal, rapid, very well produced and utterly incomprehensible then Dropthehammer are a welcome addition to the ranks of Death Metal and Grindcore. However, it is an unoriginal album insofar as it doesn’t bring anything new to a genre that is very much stuck in its own history and hasn’t really developed beyond screaming, roaring, vomiting up your own anal tract and calling it a vocal performance and coming up with new and exciting ways of describing dismemberment, fucking corpses, or threatening violence to every living creature within a mile radius at speeds that threaten space/ time. And that’s a problem because Dark Juan fucking loves Death Metal and just wishes it wasn’t so much of a homogeneous genre.
To summarise then: “Greed Misery” is a fucking great classic Death Metal album which would have been absolutely massive in 1993. It’s still a fucking fun listen, but Metal has moved beyond this blueprint now and Dark Juan can’t help but think that Croatia is a bit late to the party this time.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Patentirani Dark Juan sistem ocjenjivanja prskanja krvi, za nekolicinu Hrvata koji bi mogli pročitati ovu recenziju. Pozdrav iz UK! Ja sam potpuna jebena truba) awards 7/10 for a damned fine album that is unfortunately 20 years too late. Still, I’d rather have them here, playing music, than not, and there is a massive audience of fat guys of a certain age who will dig the fuck out of Dropthehammer.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Me To Your Leader
02. Pyrosadomasochist
03. Cut Off
04. Osveta
05. Without Remorse
06. The Comedown
07. As Your Mind Becomes Ill
08. Humanity Lost
09. Incompetence
10. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
LINE-UP:
Alex – Bass
Luze – Drums
Viktor – Guitars
Karlo – Vocals
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
