Sometimes you just need some filth in your life and Swedish band Septekh are all too eager to provide it in buckets. It seems like they pull every stop they can think of to make the whole experience as uncouth as they can, pushing their death-thrash riffs through a sludgy, somewhat dark production and injecting it all with sleazy blues themes and gutter lyrics as if with a used needle.

When your first song has such a great title as “Fuckslut from Hell” you’d seriously better back that shit up. And after just under three minutes of Discharge-influenced riffing and strained, frenetic vocals that resemble bitching more than singing, I think it’s very clear that they have.

Septekh explore different moods and colors over the course of the EP. “Shoot Them All” and the title track are rollicking thrash songs punctuated with huge chunks of dirty groove, while “Not Quite What I Had in Mind” is filled with highly effective blast beats that work so well because they’re completely absent from the previous songs. They’re kept like an ugly secret until you’re not really expecting them and then unleashed in a frenzy.

But things get really insidious with “Blunt Force to the Head,” which begins with a deliberate, relentless stomp of a riff that seems to go on forever like a roaming dinosaur. The vocals and drums misdirect several times, giving fake cues that the riff is going to change, but it goes on for a full minute and a half, just drilling deeper into the mind. Then when the tension is at its highest, it erupts into blasting drums and fiery, hateful riffing.

But to me the highlight of the EP is “Eating the Maneater,” which despite its double kick drumming and lyrics that conflate cannibalism and cunnilingus, is really just a big, balls-swinging blues song. And although it’s totally contrived, it gives me a chuckle every time I hear Nils Meseke say “known to modern maon.”

Although not featured a whole lot, guitarist David Wikström’s bluesy, traditional solos provide a burst of energy any time things even begin to look like they might drag. Meanwhile the variation in riffing keeps things interesting. Let’s face it, the whole concept is juvenile, misogynistic, and… well… stupid. And you know it’s really easy for that sort of thing to get old even over just six songs. But with the shifting speeds and moods it’s never boring. The stupidity of it all doesn’t matter because it’s just so much headbanging, filthy fun.

In the end it’s the vocals that ultimately steal the show. Meseke uses a lot of pitch variation, which really enhances the intensity of the music. I’m not talking about high-low switching like Black Dahlia Murder, but rather a whole range covering all of the ground from a full-throated death bellow up to a piercing screech. He shows versatility that is uncommon to harsh vocalists and his delivery is just so volatile it’s infectious.

This collection of songs has made the rounds previously under the title Not What I Had in Mind, but has received some production enhancements for this retitled re-release. Honestly it gives me the impression that they’re spinning their wheels if they’re still pushing an EP from two years ago. I’d really like to see a full length from these guys because, as good a job as they’ve done keeping my attention for 22 minutes, I want to know if they can do it for 35 or more.

[Visit the band's website]

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