The smart grind bands are the ones to hone in on metal, for frankly, those plug along with punk and/or crust could not be more uninteresting. The fact grind is such a limited form of music isn’t much of a secret (and is something DR has probably run into the ground ad naseum), so the fact long-running Italian grinders employed producer Frederick Nordstrom (he of At the Gates, In Flames, Soilwork productions) speaks to the band’s want to hang out in metallic territory, which they do on their new Nero in Metastasi.
Per standard form, there are 18 cuts here, a lot of them short. Again: Standard form. One could cite the band as a wayward, less jocular Napalm Death, a claim that could have some merit once deep into the album’s belly. The distribution of good ideas across the album seems to be pretty even, although there’s fang-age to “Regime Artificiale,” as well as “Nemico A Terra,” which is the most slippery song in the lot. And don’t fret about the all-Italian song titles and lyrics – no one can make out the rabid vocals of Giulio the Bastard anyway.
While it would be a reach to call Cripple Bastards a grind institution, they have established themselves as one of Europe’s better bands of this style. There’s not a gonzo sample size to pull from, though, but Nero in Metastasi gets settled pretty quickly, and without incident. Not much else one can ask from a grind album…