Review: GUT “Disciples Of Smut” [Splatter Zombie Records]

Gut is back everyone, and even more dirty and disgusting than ever. With their newest material prior to this album being 10 years old and their last album 14 years old, I was curious to see how their newest album would turn out. To be honest, Gut has never truly impressed me with any single release but had a suitable number of entertaining tracks to cement their position as the fathers of pornogrind in my mind as well as reality. But I’d be flat out lying if I said the singles or previews leading up to this release didn’t turn my head as they were all crushingly brutal, catchy and memorable. Disciples of Smut not only exceeded my expectations but chained them up, gagged them and made them their perverted and demented slaves! I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is another solid contender for album of the year. Every aspect is an impressive display of grindcore that fills the mind with dingy, dark, dank thoughts of perversion.

Now to allow me a bit of a history lesson, in their 30-year stride, Gut has always been more of a punk-based grind outfit. Their modus operandi was groovy, short and sweet, with occasional 2-3-minute songs inter-cut with mostly less than minute-length filler and bloated with samples from films. I bring this up for anyone who believes this album to be a venture into the familiar, as that couldn’t be further from the case. Disciples of Smut is Gut’s most metal output bar none and acts almost like an act of maturity from the band, if such a thing were possible. The riffs are often akin to black metal tremolo riffing and more technical than anything seen before. There’s also a doom/sludge metal slant to everything as well, with the band taking the time to deliver slower tempos and riffs that create an impending and intimidating atmosphere. Its genre is not only more metal, but more unique as well, a combination of blackened goregrind, death metal and doom/sludge metal. Gut innovated pornogrind once and now they’re up to their usual tricks again, turning the genre on its head with a perverse act of sexual monstrosity. Tracks like Empire of the Centipede of Pigs and Hoes or Myth of Perversion are slow sculptures of sexy sludge metal as well as dark demonstrations of sexual doom metal. Their shuffling tempos combined with their simple structure and repetition are not only the longest tracks but powerful monuments of doom in the album’s favor. On the other end you have tracks like The Well of Ghouls or the album’s self-titled track, which offer some of the album’s fastest moments, rich with that blackened goregrind tremolo riffing. Of course, the band hasn’t completely done away with the more traditional punky grindcore style either. While it’s not my favorite style in general, here it’s still maddeningly catchy and makes you want to shout and growl along with it. Tracks Smothered with Austrian Chloroform and Dickslapped and Shrinkwrapped are coming straight from Gut’s punk roots and work exceptionally well interspersed among the album’s more metal tracks. Every track has at least one riff, chorus, or beat that is as unique as it is unforgettable.

This unique blend of animalistic styles is only matched by the intensity of its atmosphere and sound. If I had one word to describe the album’s presence, it would be: cacophonous. From the tortured and echoed shouts of the vocals to the reverberating evil of the guitars and bass to the maddening pounding of drums from the tomb, everything combines to create a sound of pure sexual Armageddon from the depths of hell. A real standout are the vocals, courtesy of Bukkake Boy. Not only does he roar out some of the most aggressive death growls I’ve heard in a while, but his barrage of other styles is truly impressive. His sickening screams, guttural bellows and pitchshifted vomits are all used to great utility whether on their own or layered on top of one another. Case in point, the intro track Summoning the Befouled Servants of the Bizarre has the most disgusting and inhuman pitchshifts I’ve ever heard on a grind album. The variety is not only neat, but great for breaking up monotony, as no one vocal style gets too overused or underused. The patterns and lyrics are also fun as all hell, not only perfect for headbanging, but belching along too in all their dirty bliss. The bass may not be clear compared to other albums, but its diseased fuzz is still present in the mix, keeping in tune with the almost murky and demented atmosphere. As for the guitars, they are delectably down-tuned and deliver those riffs of pure destruction. They sound as if ripped straight from hell and are kind of reminiscent of an old school death metal sound, building the foreground of the album’s powerful climate of chaos. The drums have a near perfect echo to them and deliver a devastating blow in the album’s favor. Instead of blast-beats, the drums provide simpler, catchy beats that captivate the listener’s ears as well as their mind.

There is no dearth of songwriting here folks, as nearly every single track off this album hits it out of the park. From the barbarous and demonic invocation of the opening track to the slow descent to hell of the last, it’s an electrifying display of pure grind innovation. It’s almost insane to think that after a drought of new material for almost a decade, a band like Gut can not only make another comeback, but one that’s as creative for the band as it is for the genre. This album is a trip through diabolical debauchery of the highest caliber and refuses to apologize for its testosterone infused tunes. It’s a black and white horror brought to life by an impossible level of creativity, songwriting, performances, atmosphere and lives to be listened to. I only hope this isn’t the end for Gut, but instead a new beginning of a more metallic Gut. If this is the unfortunate end however, what an album to end on. A near-perfect testament to all things grind. GUT!