Oh how that infamous “buzzsaw” guitar sound has made the rounds. Starting with Swedish legends Entombed, that fat, heavily distorted and tuned down familiarity has been kept alive for two decades, thanks to the likes of Trap Them, Rotten Sound, and a bunch of Swedish death metal bands. Add Australia grindcore act Beyond Terror Beyond Grace to that list, whose Our Ashes Built Mountains utilizes that famous sound for an aural assault that rarely lets up throughout its nineteen tracks.
The opening notes of “Mannequins” are wonderful because of this; guitars are fat and fast, and the rest of the band follows – lightspeed blastbeats on the skins, rabid vocals, and finger-cramping bass playing. This becomes the norm throughout. Fortunately, the band keeps it fresh with different track-lengths and interludes (oh how grind can get boring when every song is thirty seconds long).
Therein lies one of the big strengths of this record – the band lets ideas play out, experimenting with different types of song structure, even trying out different sounds; sludge makes its way onto “Tumour”, while the eight-minute “Murakami” works with one post-rockish chord progression, creating an epic landscape with the help of clean guitars and build-ups and come-downs. Additionally, songs like “Information Scars”, “Exposure”, “Flightless” and “Control” all have well-timed ambient interludes that help break up the record.
Beyond Terror Beyond Grace will undoubtedly be compared to Rotten Sound because of the buzzsaw tone and grindcore classification. That said, Our Ashes Built Mountains is a rather unique experience, and a welcome addition to anyone’s grind repertoire.
(7.7/10)
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