CoC : Excruciating Terror - Divided We Fall : Review

Excruciating Terror - _Divided We Fall_
(Pessimiser, 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10)

This is speedy grindcore with the traditional mixture of raw guitars, plenty of blasting and lyrically inaudible vocal screams. In some ways this reminds me of the Hateplow CD [CoC #33], in that its greatest asset is its virtually unrelenting speed and viciousness. Musically, though, Excruciating Terror definitely lean towards grindcore's tendency to emanate punk rather than to be indiscernible from some death metal. Some great drum rhythms and simply crushing speed assure that Excruciating Terror's first strike is devastating; it is the aftermath which they need to work on. What so many grindcore albums lack is longevity, and Excruciating Terror doesn't break the mold in this respect. Where an album like _Sounds of the Animal Kingdom_ throws in plenty to mix things up and keep them interesting and an album like _World Downfall_ is quite simply classic, _Divided We Fall_ is impressively hard-hitting, but leaves a far-from-deep impression in the mind.

Contact: EXCRUCIATING TERROR, c/o Jerry

(article published 1/10/1998)