It’s been a while since I’ve really hunted out any new extreme metal. Part of that is down to being a little bit detached from the scene nowadays, with it being a couple of years or more now since I ceased the three years of fun that was Stormblast. And to be honest, part of it was a disillusionment with the “scene” – so much in the extreme metal scene just appears to be rehashing old ideas, rather than actually doing anything new or exciting.

Perhaps the problem with extreme metal – in all it’s various incarnations – is that the bar was set so high from the start. This has meant that pretty much every band since is fighting a losing battle with us critics, as we’re going to be constantly comparing it to something that came before. But then, if you as the reader want a reference point to how the music sounds, without descending into tech wankery what else can we do?

So anyway, this short album/EP – fourteen minutes, eight songs! – dropped into my inbox from an old friend a couple of months ago, and this review is, to be honest, being written and posted a little later than it should have been. So apologies for that.

For me the trick with death/grind – in other words, insanely fast death metal with an extremely short attention span – is not to be too serious. After all, with lyrical themes that are little more than short horror movie sketches, what is the point in being all po-faced? And anyway, no-one really cares too much about the lyrics, particularly as most of them are unintelligable amongst the brutal rhythms and riffs. And that is in full effect here, but you can’t help but grin at song titles like Chainsaw Brainsore, Penal Colada or, best of all, Bummed By The Bin Men. And yes, that does appear to sample from and be inspired by the same League of Gentlemen sketch.

All the right elements are here, anyway. There is no flab, no songs that go on for too long, although it is notable that the longest song here, Bummed By The Bin Men (at a comparatively epic three minutes and eleven seconds!) is by far the best song, a brute of a groove underpinning some awesome riffing. Anyway, blink and you might miss this EP – it’s so short that before you know it, it’s all done with. Which is a shame, as while Necrogrinder are not exactly re-inventing the wheel, they sound like they are having great fun trying. Heres to hearing more from these guys and soon.