Stomping into view with a sound somewhere between Dying Fetus and Blood Duster, Finland’s creatively named Cumbeast is finally delivering album number three after a 7 year wait. I vaguely recall crossing paths with these guys somewhere in my journalistic endeavors, but they didn’t really stick with me, but the aptly named Groovy Massacre certainly does.
With a back bone of slamming death metal a la Dying Fetus and the tongue in cheek, sample laden porno groove grind of Blood Duster, Cumbeast‘s sound is a bug burly, slamming style of grindcore/death metal with some killer grooves and slams along with the dual Jon Netherton styled vocals. But where these Fin’s throw a curveball is the injection of some truly oddball sections, including rap. Yup, I’ll let that sink in for a bit.
The opening title track pretty much sums up the band’s entire quirky but brutal and groovy sound. The well produced, huge slams and grooves are punctuated by a rap injection that’s awkward yet oddly enjoyable. The heavily accented rhymes, cadence and lyrics are terrible, but it works somehow. Luckily, the band don’t rely on these moments, so it’s never too gimmicky and not over used as the majority of the songs are full on, beefy Destroy the Opposition styled lopes (“Hobo Christ”, “Germ Addict” , “Analconda”, “Inhuman Savagery”) that by themselves would make for a damn solid album. But when the band do something a little different like the title track or “Night of the Hormongoloids”, “Grindiana Jones” ( yeah, it uses the movie theme) or closer “Hoodlum Funeral” with it’s groove/funk break.
Like Composted’s recent Plump Up the Volume, this a fine, humor laced album, full of brutal but fun grooves and some odd side bards, but it comes together for a pretty good slam death metal album regardless of its quirky bits.
