For any fan of old Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Entombed and the first two Cattle Decapitation albums, this is for you. Originally found on as a demo entitled Swallow The Symmetric Swab and a mini-album Nookleptia (Morbid Records), the songs on the 11 track compilation Swallow This (Svart) are remastered for this release to show the bands fully formed ideas of how the songs were supposed to sound on the original tape and vinyl pressings in 1993.

At first listen, the vocals remind me of Travis Ryan or Matt Harvey on ‘The Matter Of Splatter’ by Exhumed, though the strangest moment on this record is on the fourth track ‘Inflammatorius Pulmonectomia’; though it starts out similar to a Punk or early Hardcore song, midway through there is what sounds like a duck quacking as a vocal technique.

Even though this is a re-issue of old material that has been cleaned up, it hasn’t been so polished that it loses its original eighties sound and raw intensity, meaning it’s delivery is still razor-sharp.

7.5 /10

ANDREW FRANCIS