FUXACHE / IMPULSEALER split 12" (2024)

Straight up - if you like old school Aussie and 2000s-era Euro-grind, I can safely say that This Is An EP You Want!

Having seen Darwin maniacs FUXACHE a few times now and thoroughly enjoying their rough 'n rowdy crusty grind stylings, I'm pleased to say that they sound almost exactly the same on record, i.e. much like WARSORE, CAPTAIN CLEANOFF's looser years, old NAPALM DEATH and the like. Dirty, chaotic, old school beatings are dealt out with every track, and the presence of a bass guitar (it seems an uncommon opinion these days that bass is actually a necessity for grind... thanks INSECT WARFARE and INTERNAL ROT!) means that the bottom end isn't neglected. A smattering of looser 2000s Euro-grind stylings is detectable across some of the songs too. The way FUXACHE plays is the right kind of loose - not so much as to sound like a complete mess, but just enough to bring a palpable feeling of rage; you can hear that they're smashing it flat knacker!

Not being familiar with Czechia's IMPULSEALER until getting this split, I was pleasantly surprised with their straightforward and blast-heavy '90s ROTTEN SOUND and NASUM-influenced style of grind. Normally, anything described as having anything to do with NASUM (and most ROTTEN SOUND for that matter) would turn me right off, but luckily for IMPULSEALER, to my ears they are one of the few to actually do it right! Thick, fat HM-2 guitar tone, razor sharp blasting drums, mid-range HC-inflected vocals and a few (tasteful, might I add) breaks and mid-pace sections. Overall, despite being so tight and together, their side is absolutely raging. I would think a band like SUFFERING MIND could do with taking some hints on how to do what is an ostensibly European style of grind. Zero fat to be found here!

My only small gripe is that it could have been longer to fill out the format, but since the record runs at 45rpm, each band at least uses the majority of each side. All round, a solid split and definitely not destined to be a throwaway shelf trinket, unlike the vast majority of grindcore splits. Co-released by PSYCHOCONTROL, So Dense Were The Flies... and Sober Heads Tinitus Collective.

LISTEN/BUY:

https://fuxachegrind.bandcamp.com/album/fuxache-impulsealer-split-12-free-digital-download

https://impulsealer.bandcamp.com/album/paradox-split-with-fuxache