Album Review
Escuela Grind – ‘Memory Theater’ [Album Review]
Escuela Grind’s new album ‘Memory Theater’ explodes like the proverbial angry bull in a china shop, and the band is quickly becoming impossible to ignore.
As a reference point, Memory Theater, the new album from Massachusetts grind/power-violence crew Escuela Grind, clocks in at seven minutes shorter than Slayer’s Reign in Blood. Couple that with the fact that the album has been produced by Converge guitarist/producer extraordinaire Kurt Ballou, and that should be enough to dictate what you can expect from this vicious little outburst.
The follow-up to their Indoctrination effort, from the moment Memory Theater screeches into existence with “Endowed with Windows,” there can be no doubt that the next twenty or so minutes are going to be truly violent. Unleashing wave after wave of hellish rage on your skull, Escuela Grind tears through the likes of “Cliffhanger” and “Faulty Blueprints” like the musical equivalent of a bull in a china shop. Utterly destructive and something you don’t want to get in the way of, this Massachusetts wrecking machine leaves a path of destruction in their wake as their grindcore blueprint flattens all in its way in a blur of punk-drenched, frustration-pumped fury.
With bands like Napalm Death, Converge and Pig Destroyer as reference points, Memory Theater is a raw, at times unhinged expression of musical rage. Katerina Economou’s caustic voice spits out her politically-inspired words marrying up perfectly with the raw production job provided by Ballou. Through “Forced Collective Introspection” and “The Feed,” this is the kind of extreme tear-up that will leave you a cowering wreck in the corner of your room.
At twenty-three minutes long, there is simply no room for excess fat on Memory Theater. With such a brief playing time, the record cannot afford any filler tracks. Thankfully, what you get for your money, is a devastating, savage set of songs from a band who are still rising their way up through the ranks of the extreme music scene but, on this evidence, are quickly becoming impossible to ignore.
Memory Theater Track Listing:
1. Endowed With Windows
2. My Heart, My Hands
3. Cliffhanger
4. Strange Creature of Nothingness
5. Faulty Blueprints
6. All Is Forgiven
7. Forced Collective Introspection
8. The Feed
9. Memory Theater
Run Time: 23:00
Release Date: September 30th, 2022
Record Label: MNRK Heavy
-
Music2 days ago
Paloma Faith Puts on Empowering Performance at York’s Barbican Theatre [Photos]
-
Alternative/Rock6 days ago
Fletcher Encourages Self-Expression at Sold-Out Manchester Victoria Warehouse [Photos]
-
Hip-Hop/Rap2 weeks ago
Formz: “I was always the confident kid in school, with a passion for entertaining and being the centre of attention..”
-
Alternative/Rock7 days ago
The V13 Fix #013 w/ Six Feet Under, The Day, BlackGold and more
-
Hip-Hop/Rap1 week ago
Ice Cube Discusses His Canadian Tour, Growing Up in South Central, and the Need for Feel-Good Music
-
Music2 days ago
Kaya Hoax Premieres Music Video for Fierce New Single “Kicker”
-
Interviews2 weeks ago
Kill The Lights Michael ‘Moose’ Thomas Talks Success, International Bandmates and more
-
Festival News2 days ago
Damnation Festival Confirm Dragged Into Sunlight Special Performance