This band is seriously armed to the teeth in almost every respect.

First of all, they have one of the longest, most ridiculous names ever conceived. Second, they’ve matched that with the album title. Third, they have enlisted James Murphy to produce and mix this beast, the Obituary connection continues, at least on the Euro version, as they have got Frank Watkins to endorse their record proclaiming it to be “FUCKING GRIND 2009!!!” Finally there’s the artwork. Cloaked druids clad with skulls and of course, blood (who are strikingly similar to those head cases in Sunn O ))) ) add further to the sheer excess of aesthetics already listed above and therefore, set the expectations for the music pretty highly.

From the moment that piece of circular plastic folds itself into the CD player its instant detonation, as opener “10,000 Sermons, One Solution”, goes instantly for the throat, driven by rattling blasts and a sturdy groove, it forecasts the pattern for the album’s thirty odd minutes (discounting track 14, which is 6 minutes of silence, then two minutes of distorted screams, grinds and eerie moaning, for me, its completely superfluous).

Working in the band’s favour is that the framework of their sound is relatively sturdy and varied enough to prevent sterility settling into the compositions. Each piece moves along swiftly, shifting smoothly from grinds to blasts and chugs and grooves. A great slice of the readership will be delighted that this is largely breakdown free; rather, SWWAATS invest greater energy in earth shaking chugs that don’t slooooooooooooooooow down to a mechanical thud, but rather, keep moving such as the twin peaks of “Despot and A Path” (one of the rerecorded numbers from their debut EP). It’s very akin to Dying Fetus circa 98’s Killing on Adrenaline, when that Maryland killing machine would furiously pump out head imploding grooves such as the brief battering that unfolds on “Of Worms, Jesus Christ and Jackson County”.

Murphy’s meaty production sumptuously crystallizes the playing on The Grand Partition, allowing you to mingle closely with each element and pick out the details. Some may wish for the chaotic clutter of someone like “Artery Eruption” but that would ruin and negate the impact of SWWAATS’s attack, it would also relegate them back to the sweltering underground from whence they came.

SWWAATS are in an interesting position here, it would have been unthinkable that a band of this ilk 10 years ago would sit on Nuclear Blast with the likes of Hammerfall, Dimmu Borgir, Epica etc, therefore it will be interesting to see what new shapes and forms they twist their grinding death metal on future releases.

[Visit the band's website]

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