Catheter?!?  What the hell?!?  It’s been seven years since these guys have dropped a full length, and having not heard much from them at all since then I had written them off for dead.  After doing a little research I found out that they have released two or three splits in that time (depending on where you look), but I’ve never been a fan of split albums and managed to miss all of them or hear any buzz in the metal news world that they were even still alive.  I own their two previous full lengths, Preamble to Oblivion and Dimension 303, and always found a lot to like with their style.  So needless to say I was quite stoked to see this album available in the download queue.

After a throwaway intro, you’re smacked upside the head with the realization that these native Coloradans haven’t missed a beat.  They still have the same corrosive, blistering grind sound not unlike Phobia, Kill the Client, and Rotten Sound.  And that’s one reason why I think I like these guys so much, is I hear a lot of Rotten Sound in their style.  That comparison is most obvious in the filthy, chainsaw guitar sound that is pure grind through and through.   They also know when to slow down into a nice chord driven groove to let the pit slow down for a bit, before jumping back into a blast riddled noise-fest that makes you want to start kicking over speaker towers.

The songs stick mainly to the short bursts of fury in classic grind style, with the whole album clocking in at just under 30 minutes.  One thing I feel sets Catheter apart from run-of-the-mill grind is their use of a tri, and sometimes quad vocal attack.  They use a standard death growl, raspy scream, and then one style that can only be likened to an 85 year old lifetime smoker yelling at you to get off his lawn.  It’s a hollow yell that’s hard to describe but is 100% Catheter, and it works; you’ll just need to listen to the album to see what I mean.  Check out the beginning of “Bullshit Business” for the best example.  You’ll also at times hear a kind of mid-range yell, and maybe even a fifth or sixth style.  Hell with all that’s going on it’s hard to count, but the best part is it all fits together extremely well.

The final track, “In This Moment”, is by far the longest at 5 minutes and really ends the album on a high note.  You get an impressive drum driven intro before a doomy pace leads to some spoken vocals, and a hefty lurching close that brings it all full circle.  A solid album overall and a must listen for fans of no frills, relentless grindcore.  Let the beatings commence.

[Visit the band's website]

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