Gruntsplatter was started by American Scott Candey from the USA in 1994. He has been involved in numerous other projects, labels and magazines in the underground industrial scene, but Gruntsplatter is probably his main vehicle. I have heard only a small part of his extensive output, but the Gruntsplatter music I heard was usually dark and atmospheric, somewhere between noise and ambient.
The new limited vinyl record, which came out in the same month as a cd on Eibon Records, surprised me a little in its harshness. The six tracks appear to be denser and noisier than I’m used of Gruntsplatter. An important cause is probably the significant role of aggressive vocals on some tracks in a power electronics style. The mood is grim and menacing, a feeling which is conveyed in a consistent manner.
Some tracks are quite aggressive, like opener ‘The Defoliant’. Others are more dirty obscure soundscapes with lots of sonic waves, rumbling machineries of death and distorted electronics, like ‘Fire Behind Locked Doors’ and ‘Fracturing The Phantom Limb’, where rays of light are not allowed to enter. My favourite piece is probably the loud and powerful ‘Through A Hewn Throat’, with a nasty in-your-face sound. A solid record with 26 minutes filled with a gritty sound and a torturous atmosphere.
