REVIEW: The Arson Project – Blood and Locusts

Sweden's The Arson Project have long been on my list to keep an eye out for since the band sent me a copy of their impressive demo 'Good Morning Vietnam' back in 2005. Their demo debuted a fast paced, frenetic grinding style that was topped off with scorching vocals that made me envisage scenes of mass-destruction brought about by widespread napalm bombing in Vietnam. Their name fit the aural intensity perfectly which is a rare thing is seems these days.

'Blood and Locusts' offered a similarly caustic experience; while the music is definitely more mature and developed, I was again met with an absolutely crushing wall of powerful blast beats from the second I pressed play, backed by those familiar raspy, scorching mid-range vocals and devastating guitars underscored by an appropriately thick distorted bass.

The Arson Project clearly owe a lot to the Nasum school of grindcore. I'm sure the band have a hard time avoiding such a comparison to their iconic countrymen. The main difference between Nasum and The Arson Project though are the song structures; The Arson Project are not content to let grooves settle, refusing to let listeners gain a sense of comfort. Their jagged song structures are aimed wholly at creating a volatile atmosphere of chaos and unpredictability. Listening to these short and potent grind tracks played at breakneck speeds with multiple tempo changes throughout is a thoroughly disorientating experience.

This is the style of modern grindcore I really enjoy; while the songs are short (I'd say the average clocks in at around 1:20) they don't fall victim to lazy songwriting. Each song is structured in isolation without reverting to irritating and predictable punk beat-blastbeat verse-choruses - and each song borrows from a wide range of extreme genres from grind, various schools of death metal (old school, melodic, progressive), hardcore punk, and crust. The track 'Mentalt Avrättad' even has a slight doom and melodic post-metal meditation as both Nasum and Rotten Sound have had a tendancies to do.

While this MCD is sure to have old school grind fans in a huff (and seriously who gives a fuck about them anyway? Boo hoo it doesn't perfectly rehash your favourite sloppy, poorly recorded nostalgic grind release - what a travesty) fans of modern grindcore should waste no time in getting. If you're into Afgrund, Rotten Sound, Sayyadina or Gadget then grab this album as soon as possible, because I believe it just might top any of the past offerings from either band.

This is crushing, violent, high-intensity grindcore done right. The songs are poweful and potent; crafted for maximum impact. Congratulations guys. This is definitely going to be one of my premier grind releases for 2009.

http://www.myspace.com/thearsonproject