Blunt Force Trauma: Vengeance For Nothing Album Review!
Music Review:
Japanese brutal slam grind purveyors Blunt Force Trauma unleash their debut full length album after a couple demos and a split album. Out of the ashes of another band titled Jenovavirus, who released a highly regarded demo, disbanded and the three members formed Blunt Force Trauma. Not to be confused with the American counterparts adopting the same name, this is a Japanese three piece slam/grind outfit. Blunt Force Trauma caught my eye or “ear” immediately with their punchy groove-ladened style of slammy grind with mouth watering breakdowns and creative chops.
Many similarities to Dying Fetus have been mentioned and that the band has opted for replacing the original sound and style which made their previous band Jenovavirus so well known and liked and take a backseat to a Dying Fetus clone of technical slam death. Dying Fetus are a monster of a technical death metal band, no doubt, but saying Blunt Force Trauma are a clone is like saying every brutal death metal band that sings about gore is a Cannibal Corpse clone — it’s nonsense.
Vengeance For Nothing opens with a groove punch of a get up and fuck instrumental Intro to get the blood flowing before smashing into A Terror With Armed Intervention. The album is definitely a beginning to end listening experience but given time constraints, if I had to pick some eye openers off the disc, I would go with the title track Vengeance For Nothing and the John Rambo inspired song, titled, Live For Nothing Or Die For Something. Other special mentions are Forgotten Absolutely and Blackboard Jungle. There are no weak tracks but that speed tempo change in Live For Nothing Or Die For Something is remarkable.
Vengeance For Nothing a chugging bulldozer of grind. The sound of the drums is very thick and they kick into mid paced blast beats, but nothing lightening fast, just the mid pounding tempo, except for that tease in the intro of Inconsistency Politics when it blasts freely and then slows. The groovy breakdowns and tempo changes are key in this album — very catchy and addictive — it never gets dull and holds interest. The vocals are switched up with a couple of different styles, ranging from a more fuzzy guttural style, to a higher pitched ear scorching scream. It’s cool because usually the gurgle vox is key during the slower slam break downs and the higher vocal style is used when the music speeds up.
This Japanese three piece are a wrecking crew on this release. It’s a very well put together album and memorable. For a debut CD its like the guys have numerous albums under their belt and are holding their own with more established bands. If you’re into mid tempo slam/grind type stuff, then Blunt Force Trauma deliver the poison effectively and relentlessly. You can’t even hear an accent on those vocals, LOL!!!! I couldn’t find a working page for Macabre Mementos Records. They are on Facebook but it seems their Facebook page hasn’t been updated in quite some time. Blunt Force Trauma can also be found on Facebook (here). If you want to order the CD, Sevared Records has it, because it’s worth checking out.
Album Info:
Band: Blunt Force Trauma
Album: Vengeance For Nothing
Members: Shuhei Toshinari, Takatoshi Kuriyama, Hirofumi Taniguchi
Produced by: Blunt Force Trauma
Year: 2012
Country: Canada
Recorded: Studio Q. Osaka, Studio 246 Namba
Runtime: 30min 46sec
Label: Macabre Mementos Records
Official Website: facebook.com/bluntforcetraumajp
Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. A Terror With Armed Intervention
3. Forgotten Absolutely
4. Empty Lies And Broken Promises
5. Blind Devotion
6. Vengeance For Nothing
7. Blackboard Jungle
8. Live For Nothing Or Die For Something
9. Exploitation Of Humankind
10. Inconsistency Politics
