12/15/09

Comecon - MEGATRENDS IN BRUTALITY

(mini-review)

Swedish death metal is like a cold bowl of Golden Grahams at midnight. It does the body good. The usual suspects of the genre - Entombed, Grave, Unleashed - destroy as much of human civilization as they can, but they need help from the smaller bands. Comecon is one such band that released three albums in the 90's. I'll be focusing on Megatrends in Brutality, their skull-crushing debut. The buzzsaw riffs are gigantic, the production is pitch-perfect, and there is plenty of variety between the tracks.

I'm surprised that this album hasn't had its day in the cruel sun. The songwriting is above average, and it's an easy compact disc to listen to without skipping any songs. There is something noteworthy about each composition, whether it's a sickening melody or a beat that barrels through your boombox. "Ulcer" is probably my favorite song. It's undeniably catchy. By the way, I use the word "catchy" a lot in music reviews because no other word fits a Paul Stanley carillon, or in this case, a Comecon riff.

Other bowel-blasters are "Slope," "The Mule, "Good Boy Benito," "Armed Solution," and "Wash Away the Filth." Does Megatrends in Brutality stack up against Left Hand Path, which by most psychotropic processing is considered to be the ultimate Swedish death metal album? I think so. I've gone out on a severed limb, but I really enjoy this record. It's brutal, catchy (ah, yes) and incommensurable. That's fancy talk for "diverse." I'm pretty sure that "Comecon" is fancy talk for "badass." Geez, I'm getting more infantile by the minute.

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