Masters of Grind – 95%
orphy, January 18th, 2010
The debut album by Sweden’s Nasum is without doubt a classic grindcore album, despite the fact that it came out in 1998, long after many of the classic grind bands had been laid to rest. “Inhale/Exhale” is a brutal record that is performed with a lot of fury and wrapped in fine musicianship. Consisting of 38 tracks, each song will crush you as the album flies by at lightning speed. You’ll want to experience it over and over as Nasum places enough hooks throughout the recording.
At this point in Nasum’s career, they had already released a lot of splits and other smaller releases, and had really started to find their sound as they approached this record. Taking the best of classic grindcore bands like Napalm Death and Repulsion, brutal punk bands like Discharge, and the overall power of many Swedish punk and metal bands, Nasum had really been on to something. For “Inhale/Exhale”, the duo of Anders Jakobson and Mieszko Talarczyk were certainly on their A-game, and wrote some really angry, really powerful grindcore.
Bursting open with the 24 second micro-song “This Is…”, the listener should get a good idea of what to expect. Songs will rush past you, but not without throwing a bunch of great riffs into the mix. Everything is right to the point; each song blasts away a few different riffs, with the vocals sounding just as angry and blunt as everything else here. By “The Masked Face”, you’ll have already heard the d-beat punk influence in their songs, as well as the band’s tasteful use of breakdowns. Not chugga-chugga breakdowns, but ones that really act as a powerful counterpoint and build up.
Some of the songs here especially ooze of anger, and prove to be an anger management class in themselves. Such examples are “I See Lies”, and “Disappointed”. Other tracks have a bit more groove to them, such as the title track and “Shapeshifter”. The tracks are arranged in such a way that there’s a bit of catch-and-release in terms of groove and total brutality. There’s some other micro-songs thrown into the mix, like “Digging In” and “Lägg Om I” but those even prove to be memorable tracks.
The production is certainly heavy as hell here. Considering the band tunes down to A, the guitar riffs are pretty clear and easy to catch, and have that classic Swedish heaviness to them, comparable to death metal greats like Entombed and Carnage. The drums sound nice and organic, with the snare and bass drum sitting really well in the mix. Both members contribute vocals, and the contrast between highs and lows are certainly effective.
Every Nasum full length is fantastic, and this one is no exception. The songs here are definitely more straightforward when compared to say, “Shift”, which may be preferable to some, but I think the sheer amount of tracks and the fact that each track has its own little hook works just fine. This album is definitely a shining moment for modern grindcore, and should be a staple in any grind fan’s listening habits.
rafazardly 