An Exercise in Thought Provoking Velocity

Written by: Tom Wilson - Sense Music Media

VENOMOUS CONCEPT is a supergroup made up of people who probably hate the term “supergroup”. Currently three-quarters of NAPALM DEATH – guitarist John Cooke, bassist Shane Embury and drummer Danny Herrera – and fronted by BRUTAL TRUTH/PRIMATE vocalist Kevin Sharp, VENOMOUS CONCEPT is what happens when musicians famous for making grindcore get together to make punk music. Their last album, 2016’s Kick Me Silly – VC III was a high benchmark. Could they possibly top it?

Album Review

The band floor it straight out of the gate on Simian Flu, a circle pit igniter driven by John Cooke’s supercharged riffage and Herrera’s urgent drumming, its first few seconds reminiscent of NAPALM DEATH’s Silence is Deafening. Lead single Lemonade is an aggro mid-tempo stomp, riding Shane Embury’s concrete-heavy bassline to a fist-pumping chorus. It’s got all the subtlety of a punch in the nose, and it’s the highlight of the album. Eliminate is absolutely furious – Sharp’s vocals speeding up to an inhuman jabbering - and there really isn’t a more appropriate song title for 2020 than Colossal Failure.

VC ease off the accelerator a little on Promise, expanding their agitated grind-punk to more thoughtful terrain, as Sharp flexes his growling repertoire and Cooke brings the rock riffs. It doesn’t take long for things to speed up again, as they crash headfirst into Dementia Degeneration. Danny Herrera’s playing on this album is more punk than previous VC efforts, dialling back the full-tilt grind blastbeats in favour of simple, urgent propulsion – a gnarly snare drum at the forefront.

The current American political landscape is a chaotic, ugly state of affairs, but don’t let the Trump-inspired cover art fool you – Sharp has plenty more to say about the Divided States of America than just calling the president a dummy. The dark, brooding title track brings the album to a weighty close – the thundering bass and howling distortion conveying the gravity of the predicament we find ourselves in as 2020 grinds onwards.

The Verdict

When the harshest criticism you can throw at an album is that the first half is better than the second, you’re doing pretty well. The tone of this record is perfectly encapsulated by the angry sample at the beginning of Lemonade, of what sounds like a football hooligan: “You know what we used to do for entertainment? Fighting! Fucking fighting! … Getting pissed off, and having a good old fucking beat-up!” It feels like how we might one day talk to younger people about the mosh pits of the pre-Covid world. I can’t tell you when we’re next going to be able to hit the pit at shows, but when we can, Venomous Concept will provide one hell of a soundtrack. Snarling, angry and dripping with grindcore pedigree, Politics Versus the Erection is an exercise in thought-provoking velocity.

8/10

Download

Politics Versus The Erection comes out August 28th across all music platforms and streaming services

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