Ever met an Icelandic black metal fan? You know the kind that insists that the origin of a band, despite the advancements in communication technology, fully informs their sound — transforming music into something akin to a champagne than an artistic discipline that can be studied, imitated, and paid homage to. People who know my writing style will know by now that, whenever I open on something seemingly unrelated, it won’t take long until I willfully out myself as a hypocrite. In fact, I was (positively) surprised at how German technical deathgrind act Feind sound. Given, a lot of that is not surprising. As Ruhr area grindsters, the band surely must have been in contact with regional grind acts such as Japanische Kampfhörspiele or Diarhoe. Feind does remind me of the former to a degree, in fact, that I spent a not insignificant amount to prove a connection to the Krefeld-based JaKa that has been one of Germany’s most unique grind acts for multiple decades at this point — unsuccessfully, I might add.
Feind‘s music is not unlike JaKa‘s music, but more on an abstract level. Where Japanische Kampfhörspiele have a unique influence from classic and pop punk, albeit heavily informed by the band’s collage writing style that always remains centered around Christof Kathers‘ drum performance, Feind approach a similarly jokey and stitched together songwriting approach from a more modern and technical viewpoint. Feind, however, cram a lot more into the short songs than JaKa ever would. Feind transitions swiftly between slammy, chuggy sections and single note lines so tight they sound like a sewing machine had been hooked up to the guitar. Bright, dissonant chord stabs and harmonics often separate sections from each other and help differentiate songs from one another. As many grind albums go, Ambulante Hirnamputation is best listened in one go, and its feeling of constantly being jerked around functions perfectly in a grind sense. Song titles reveal a penchant for satire and humor, just as the aforementioned Japanische kampfhörspiele do. A lot of the joking nature will be lost to listeners not versed in the German language, of course, but for me, this has always been an additional layer of appreciation for German grindcore. This regional offering often seems marginally less angry than other grind, but possesses a smug, satirical bend to it that even translated lyrics can’t really convey (something that, linguists theorize, led to the stereotype about Germans being devoid of humor [editor’s note: citation needed, funny man.]).
Feind is not on the level of Japanische Kampfhörspiele‘s best material, but Ambulante Hirnamputation is an exciting release from a scene that rarely produces new heroes. At not even scratching 20 minutes, there is nothing to be lost by giving it a go even for grind sceptics.
