As the product of humanity’s stymied and murderous future-now state of mind, which only grows more calloused and chaotic day after day, this sophomore full-length album from Seattle, Washington-based death metal/grindcore quintet CAUSTIC WOUND illustrates the horror and torture of the present day appropriately via their unhinged, unrepentant delivery. A natural step taken beyond their celebrated debut ‘Grinding Mechanism of Torment‘ might be a hair more precise in its shot-gunned pursuit of ‘old school’ deathgrind but only for the sake of imposing presence, that same classics-aware fusion holds true. As a heightened experience of frenzied brutality, eye-gouging aggression and hard-cut lines beyond their last expect a fresh angle rather than a full redirection herein, a second application of nowadays death metal’s putrid immensity with primed late 80’s/early 90’s death-grind impact in mind.

Caustic Wound formed circa 2017 between Mortiferum‘s guitarists + bassist, (then) Cerebral Rot guitarist and Fetid honcho Clyle Lindstrom on vocals, plus a key seat for the brilliance of Magrudergrind drummer Casey Moore. The natural result of their commune in contrast to their other bands was death metal inflected grindcore of the ‘old school’ variety aiming for the madness and protest of late 80’s fusion-craft and with the register of pre-’92 death metal in hand. This made for crushed-out ~1-2 minute songs built around boxed-in hardcore punk/grindcore riffs and death metal atmosphere, aesthetics and riffs all compacted into a first demo tape (‘Grinding Terror‘, 2018) which was immediately well-received from what I recall.

Fretboard strangling dive-bombs, chunkier late 80’s hardcore pressed deathgrinding violence, guttural and distant vocals the full impact of Caustic Wound beyond that first tape was even bigger, a terror worthy exaggeration of a classic sound on their debut LP (‘Death Posture‘, 2020), then featuring vocals akin to something like early Incantation for an atmospheric and punishing presence up front. Although that sort of description is functional enough to describe that first album in the moment it plays out a la the more violent ‘World Downfall‘ inspired deathgrind records of the early 90’s… think along the lines of Dead Infection‘s debut ‘Surgical Disembowelment‘ sans the early 90’s production values rather than something even more ‘Reek of Putrefaction‘-stoked. Similarly modern analogues or exaggerations of that feeling might include ~recent stuff from Gravesend or Galvanizer, among many others.

Nothing Caustic Wound‘ve done on this follow-up LP should prove alienating to fans of their debut but from the get-go you’ll likely pick up on the ‘From Enslavement to Obliteration‘-level cracking of the whip on this one, a sound which reads to me a la ‘Symphonies of Sickness‘ and Napalm Death inspired death metal of the early 90’s where skilled double-bass drumming and grindcore fueled battery helps these folks strike into (auld) hardcorish statement rather than mashed action. The album art (via Elle Taylor) is nastier, the bass guitar tone is growling deeper, and the more carefully writ hand of the band’s guitarists pushes beyond blazing speed and noisome guitar wrangling in favor of tighter riffcraft, a hail of sleekened interplay overall. Give it maybe ~3-4 minutes worth of cuts (esp. “Blood Battery”, “Advanced Killing Methods”) up front and the unhurried, mean-ass kick of the band should be well evident as something different but from the same mind palace.

Any decent deathgrind record lives and dies by its riffs in the long run, as much as speed and wilding freakery do count in terms of style and personae. While there is no doubt that topical sociopolitical lyricism is a sorely lacking artform anymore, and these folks’ve done well in that regard, what makes a band like Caustic Wound stand well above average is their abrupt and fuming death metal incensed approach of the riff. Longer pieces have never guaranteed a higher rate of ideas along the greater grind-path but in this case I’d appreciated the slower kicked parts of songs like “Infinite Onslaught” and the downturn, the descent of that song in relation to its surroundings as a point of supreme punctuation. On the other side of things closer “Into Cold Deaf Universe” is the exception, an extended piece which plays the band off for ~six minutes and generates dystopian, ominous atmosphere unto the end. From my point of view it the longer pieces were both the most and least compelling features on an album which, either way, has proper riffs lined up from start to finish.

No longer human. — For anyone whose brains perk anywhere near the mention of Terrorizer‘s debut the stomping threat of “Drone Terror” is probably one of the more obviate standouts on the full listen per its quick charge through vomited guttural + shrieked vocal layers and full-breaking grind. Not exactly as fastidious as say, ‘Enemy of the Music Business‘ but also not that far from that intent/intensity. As we pass from that high through the shouted and burned through “Blackout” Caustic Wound‘s strongest material begins to build a tech-and-violence lain apocalyptic theme, a world rising to all-out war where none are likely to survive (re: “Atom Blast”). There is a serious shit-ripping tear toward the mid-point of ‘Grinding Mechanism of Torment‘ as we step beyond the prime crack of “Advanced Killing Methods” b/w “Blackout” and for my own taste this is where the potency of this material generally makes its most compelling point(s).

The inverse-paced stratagem of the quick ripped through “Dead Dog” + the follow up of “Horrible Earth Death” managed to hit as the deeper impact on the second half of this LP, two of its best songs for my own taste. At that point the range, impact and general sound of ‘Death Posture‘ isn’t totally lost here by any means as songs like “Endless Grave” carry on with simpler riff variations that are quick-cut and offset by wailed-out leads, dive-bombs etc. The band’s sound is familiar enough that ‘Grinding Mechanism of Torment‘ feels like a proper second Caustic Wound album, one which is emboldened rather than restricted by their core sub-genre conceit. Only a couple of these 16 songs feel average/par per the standard set and all of them land well within the known realm of these folks’ increasingly established sound. Per my own experience the full listen was a brain-scatterer, one cross-eyed hit after another ’til some of their bigger death metal grooves began to sink in. For my own taste the more rigidly old school grindcore inspired a record is the better and in that sense certain aspects of this record nail the exact right feeling of the ideal without coming across dry or grotesquely plain. A high recommendation.

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