(written by Islander)
It’s not valid to summarize the attractions of extreme metal in a word or two. The experiences are too varied. At one end, it can feel like the oppressive pressure of the ocean in the deepest trenches. It can also be mysterious and mesmerizing, or profoundly spiritual. But perhaps the greatest attraction derives from its explosive intensity, its raging nature, the furious violence it’s capable of channeling. And in those aspects it’s probably true that no sub-genre captures the heat or provides that kind of catharsis better than grindcore.
I have friends for whom grind is their meat and potatoes, the rushing red blood of what they listen to. I have other friends that barely have any use for it. Not enough hooks, not enough changes, not enough atmosphere, not enough groove to propel the banging of heads, the songs not long enough to sink in. I’m still going to urge those friends (and you) to hear what we’re premiering today, for reasons I’m about to explain.
What you have in front of you is La tua foto sul marmo, a new EP from Cripple Bastards that’s set for release on June 12th – tomorrow! – by F.O.A.D. Records.
A friend recently wrote that this band, who’ve been releasing records since 1991 and performing live for an even longer time, have “achieved global cult status, so much so that not knowing them almost feels like having lived under a rock.” It’s hard to argue against that claim, even though some consumers of extreme metal probably still do shelter under rocks. Let’s see if we can help expose them today.
We should begin with the following statement we’ve received, from Cripple Bastards vocalist and co-founder Giulio The Bastard:
La tua foto sul marmo marks our return eight years after our last full-length, La fine cresce da dentro. I consider it one of the most solid, mature, and inspired works we have ever created. Over the last few years, we have been able to rely on a stable lineup, strengthened by intense live activity and an increasingly obsessive approach to crafting setlists that are unbelievably tight and fast. All of this allowed us to create a 100% Cripple record: a work that gathers the finest aspects of our style, distills them, and pushes them further, introducing new compositional ideas while remaining rooted in the delicate balance between intensity, dynamics, and violence.
It was a genuine team effort, further enhanced by the remarkable growth of SPVN Studio, run by our friend and live sound engineer Stefano Santi, whose contribution was instrumental in shaping the final outcome of the EP.
On a personal level, I have always believed that any Cripple Bastards release should only come to life when there is a real urgency to express something and to transform a specific experience, condition, or context into music and lyrics. This record arrived at a moment when, for a variety of reasons, I found myself completely immersed in that state of mind, perfectly aligned with the songwriting maturity reached by Der Kommissar, Raphael Saini, and Schintu The Wretched. The result is a creative balance that fully reflects what Cripple Bastards are today: 38 years of uncompromising grindcore fury.
And now we should add a few thoughts about the music. (Okay, more than a few!)
The new EP includes six tracks. In true grindcore fashion they rush by like a surging storm, 13 minutes from beginning to end, with only the title song reaching past the three-minute mark.
The opener “Il respiro si chiude” nearly reaches three minutes, but you won’t be counting the seconds; you might be too busy running for cover or trying to pick up the scattered pieces of your sanity. Unexpectedly, it begins with a guitar melody that seems stricken with grief, but that doesn’t last long — maybe just long enough for the ensuing sonic detonation to be even more shocking.
The explosion really is eye-popping. The drums and bass thunder at blistering speed; the riffing feverishly pulsates, viciously slashes, bleakly blares, and maniacally roils; the equally fast-paced vocals savagely roar and insanely scream.
The music is undeniably violent, but as the guitars eject piercing and often dissonant tones, it also sounds desperate, deranged, and even hallucinatory, especially when the pacing slows, the bass heavily murmurs, and the music shivers and soars.
Yes, the song’s explosiveness is eye-popping, but so is Cripple Bastards’ demonstration of just how many fast-changing sensations and moods they can pack into a sub-three-minute song. It’s the kind of adventurous elaborateness that has enabled them to stand out in such a crowded underground milieu for such a very long time.
From there, “Scarto del rimorso” reinforces those convictions. It too is furious and powerfully blood-rushing, but it too deploys rapidly veering instrumentation in a way that causes the music to sound like grind processed through a filter of psychedelia (or at least that’s what this writer began thinking), or a fast-spinning sonic kaleidoscope.
These opening two songs also show how well-produced the music is. The sound generates blast-force power and intensity, yet still makes all the wildly imagined and technically impressive ingredients easily detectable. That’s part of what makes the EP as a whole so repeatedly alluring – to fully appreciate just how wild and imaginative the songs are, you need to hear the songs repeatedly, and maybe focus on different machinations each time.
For such a short EP it’s probably not a smart idea to continue writing about the songs one-by-one, when this feature gives you the chance to listen to them all.
But I think it’s worth adding that every song will whip your mind around like ball bearings in a spinning industrial-strength dryer, in part because Cripple Bastards continue throwing new ingredients into the mix, such as the manic cries and slowly slithering guitar solo that surface in “Vendicativo” or the distressing nature of the wailing and quivering guitars in the head-hammering and punk-grooved title song.
It should also be underscored that Cripple Bastards change the moods within the songs too. Including through the wide-ranging vocals, they channel bleakness and anguish as well as feral hostility, unhinged mania, and hallucinatory bewilderment.
Almost as if some invisible malign power wills it, human existence can’t be separated (or not for very long) from sorrow and anger. They accompany us through our days like the clothes we wear or even the skin that encloses us. How to process this, how to live with it, is a never-ending challenge with no single solution. Sometimes catharsis is an answer, even a necessity, and so for at least some of us, music like this makes getting to the next day easier.
Occasionally giving ourselves a hard kick in the ass and a swift spin of the mind is a big help too, and this kind of musical experience does that as well. It’s a remarkable achievement, and a thrill to hear a band who’ve been around as long as Cripple Bastards not playing it safe but still throwing themselves head-long into the future.
Now here’s the EP stream, which will move from one song to the next as each one ends.
LINEUP:
Giulio The Bastard – Vocals
Schintu The Wretched – Bass
Der Kommissar – Guitar
Raphael Saini – Drums
As noted earlier, the music was recorded by Stefano Santi at SPVN Studio, while vocals were tracked by Carlo Altobelli at Toxic Basement Studio, with mixing and mastering also handled by Stefano Santi.
For more info about the EP, how to get it, and the further activities of Cripple Bastards, visit the locations linked below.
F.O.A.D. RECORDS:
https://www.foadrecords.com/
https://www.scareystore.com/
https://www.facebook.com/foadrecords/
https://foadrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/foad_records/
CRIPPLE BASTARDS:
https://www.cripple-bastards.com/
https://www.facebook.com/cripplebastards
https://www.instagram.com/cripple_bastards/