So in a recent mail package from the always reliable FDA records, I got the promos for the new Rude and Wound albums, and you’d think that in itself would be enough reason to be excited. However, tucked away in the package was a CD from a band called FUBAR, a band I was not familiar with.

I little research showed the band hailed from the Netherlands, and the album Weltschmerz (‘weariness’) was the band’s third full length album on top of numerous splits and EPs. I gave it a go and was greeted with some killer grindcore/crust/d beat that’s was equal parts Tragedy, Wolfbrigade and Rotten Sound/Nasum.

On the 14 songs, the band shifts effortlessly from brutal, short bursts of Swedish grindcore, complete with the crushing, buzzsaw, mid range production ( “Storm”, “Shadows”, 48 second “Repent” and ‘Tombs”) to more emotive, melodic , but still powerful crust/hardcore (“Dead”, “Light”, “Paranoia”, “Hell”) or both (“Consumed”, “Exhaustion”, “Forsaken”, “Demons”) in the same track. There are some rousing power chords in most of the songs, and the purer grindcore tracks also pack a punch.

The vocals lean more towards the crust and hardcore side with an array of hoarse shouts and gang shouts, with some occasional deeper growls rather than more guttural styles. The only downside is the album’s two similar instrumental bookends (“Weltschmerz” and “Void”) which neither start or end the album in a particularly memorable manner. But everything in between is pretty killer and a nice little surprise for the year so far.

[Visit the band's website]

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