Grindcore by its very nature, is polarizing. It’s either unapproachably abrasive or energizingly frenetic; disorganized noise pollution or homicidally refreshing.
No/Mas stakes their claim by presenting a grindcore record peppered with intricacies that are as subtle as they are appreciated. One or two cycles isn’t enough to fully absorb the wonders that lie within Consume/Deny/Repeat (Closed Casket Activities)
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I can just hear my mother now as my former nineteen-year-old self pops this bad boy into the car’s CD player, only for her to extoll me about how this is but a jumbled pile of unappealing, incoherent garbage. Little did she know, I’m into that shit.
Let me be the first to tell you: there is a lot to enjoy about this sonic spectacle.
‘Arson/Repent’ performs its best Lamb of God impersonation with its raspy, dissonant riffing, and ‘Sudor Frio’ morphs into brutal death metal drums. You have to listen closely and carefully, for then you shall be rewarded.
Proving once again less can be more, No/Mas shove a boat load onto the thirty-nine second ‘Against My Will,’ which is awakened by a thick bass solo, because hey, these guys don’t get paid by the hour.
The vocalist, Henry Everitt, who is also the drummer – you read that right – is a personified crash course in maniacal multi-tasking. His arsenal boasts tumbling (‘Interrogation’), stampeding (‘Rabia’) and a threat to the very integrity of Earth’s axis (‘Ciego’).
In concert with his percussion, Everitt exhibits a keen sense of varying styles and presentations. ‘Interrogation’ shows off hellish yells; ‘Police Brutality’ is straight-forward, grotesque and obscene.
All in all, Consume… laughs in the face of outsiders who dismiss the genre by lazily claiming it’s disorganized and can’t be taken seriously. No/Mas have produced a daunting brand of grindcore without sacrificing distinguishable guitars or catchy drum lines.
In a word: Quiero mas…quiero mucho mas.
Buy the album here: https://closedcasketactivities.com/collections/no-mas
8 / 10
MATT COOK