When people say Deathgrind, they can mean many different things. It is a hybrid genre, after all, and it can run the gamut from what is basically punk with growls to relentless, chaotic blasting. Walking Corpse however fit into a third category. When Death Metal and Grind were still basically the same scene and artists like David Vincent would perform in both Metal and Grind acts, there was a classic style of grind that is heavily riff focused, but plays it looser and more straightforward than a Morbid Angel or Death would. Walking Corpse, in many ways, harken back to this style of Grind. Relentlessly supplying riff after riff after riff, Walking Corpse makes no prisoners.
There is a risk in playing music this straightforward, of course. The simple, one minded approach lends itself to a lack of variety and will often try to solve this with injecting elements foreign to the genre into the mix. In Grind this has recently often been an increased Electronic influence (I myself have dabbled in it) but these grinders are content to take a spoonful of dissonance and call it a day. The dissonance mostly manifests in the chords the band uses in their riffs and the band does not succumb to the temptation of ever producing something atmospheric. Yet, the album is reasonably varied. Walking Corpse seems to be aware that this style is in danger of becoming a one trick pony and approaches their riffs in many different ways. Be it the subtly technical scale run approach of the opener, the more groove-oriented riffs of “Malediction” or the Butt Rock Punk stylings of “The Wheel”, the songs are easily distinguishable. I also would like to highlight the vocals, which mostly remind me of Misery Index, but possess more range and are often doubled. The complete loss of control resulting in painful howls at the end of “Malediction” is appreciated.
I enjoyed my time with Walking Corpse overall – probably not surprising to the reader, as I have found nothing to criticize the band for in my review so far. Yet, I don’t quite feel like I can commit to a higher score. Grind as a genre has been getting better and better and I feel my baseline is changing for what the genre can do. It’s important to acknowledge that, even for an album that doesn’t do anything wrong and does many things right, I still have to rate on a gradient. I have heard Grind this year that was better and I would soften the score I gave to those albums if I rated Walking Corpse any higher. I would, however, give a blanket recommendation for fans of the genre and the classic style in particular.
