CoC : Grog - Odes to the Carnivorous : Review

Grog - _Odes to the Carnivorous_
(Shock Wave Records, 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)

Combining darkly humorous gore with death/grind, Grog are clearly one of the main exponents of the Portuguese brutal death scene. _Odes to the Carnivorous_ is their first record for the French Shock Wave Records and the follow-up to their 1997 effort _Macabre Requiems_. Having to replace their drummer during the album's recording sessions mustn't have helped, but the new skinsman does quite well in keeping the rhythmic section competent as the band crushes and grunts through just over half an hour of enjoyable death/grind. Grog may not be a very technical band, but think not of mindless grindcore blasting. On this new effort, moreso than before, Grog harvest influences from bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Carcass and Suffocation. Frequently varying rhythms and occasional guitar flourishes are added to the crunchy guitar riffs and deep grunts that populate most of the album and the delivery is very competent. Some spoken intros are also used, and they all seem redundant, contrarily to what Carcass did on _Necroticism_. Grog do have the tendency to bring to mind several other bands, but they generally succeed in convincingly delivering some very acceptable and varied death/grind. Quite enjoyable, but certainly not fundamental.

(article published 12/8/2001)