Credit Earache Records for tirelessly scouring the globe for grindcore bands near and far, because they've found a real gem in Singapore's
Wormrot, and their incendiary debut album,
Abuse. Check that: they may have also found some future political refugees, because the band's uncompromising aggression and incendiary lyrics are bound to get them booted from their notoriously buttoned-up homeland (where even a casual obscenity may get you caned!), but then, that may be everyone's ultimate unstated goal here anyway. Why, you ask? Well,
Abuse begins with an audio sample of the infamous cell phone video showing an Iranian-American student being tasered at UCLA after refusing to show his ID to security officers ("Lost Swines"), and proceeds to skewer religion ("Blasphemy My Ass"), the NRA ("Double-Feeding"), everyday posers ("Scum Infestation"), and all forms of authority ("Freedom to Act," "Overgrown Asshole," etc.), while engaging in foreign policy on "Indonesia." But the trio also makes room for more lighthearted, fun-filled fare like "Exterminate" (sample lyric: "There is no fucking future"), "Born Stupid" ("You stupid fuck shall be impaled"), "Fuck...I'm Drunk" (errr, "Fuck...I'm drunk"), and the 15-second "Sledgehammer" ("Hammering your face; grinding on your fucking brains"), before tearing up
the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Rich" beyond all recognition! Through it all, the group unleashes a disconcerting barrage of consistently memorable, even infectious riffs, and
Wormrot certainly do genre tradition proud by presenting 23 decapitating cuts in under 22 minutes. In other words: duck and cover! ~ Eduardo Rivadavia