As can be deduced from the moniker, Chicago’s Morgue Supplier do not play deft and jazzy prog, but brutal and blasting grindcore, and have been doing so since 1999. Constant Negative is their latest, containing 21 minutes of in-your-face fugliness which is both throwback and modern, melding influences from several well-advised sources.
The basis of Morgue Supplier’s grind attack is a very brutal form of Brutal Truthish grindcore, further garnished with other influences which reveal themselves to inquisitive listeners. There is near-mathcore angularity (“Degenerate”), Suffocation-ish shuffle (“Convulsive Reoccurrence”), an appropriate amount of Napalm Death worship (“Slave”), and stop-start, blast-then-groove shifts at every turn. Fortunately, the band understands the key to grind success: fitting, if whiplashing, transitions, and instantly memorable moments. Chief among these (other than the heaps of great riffs): the atmospheric, almost Immolation-like slowness in “Mother of Dog” and the drum feature towards the end of “Convulsive Reoccurrence.” The result is that welcome kind of brain-scrambling that only comes from quality grind.
Faults are few. The cover of Metallica’s “Fight Fire with Fire” is given a coarse grind, but the familiarity throws off the EP’s pace a bit. In addition, the vocal production and performance leaves much to be desired, ranging from incomprehensible guttural warbles to incomprehensible screams, all muddled by a mediocre mix. But seeing past these faults is a cinch, as the focus is on face-pulverizing, riffy nastiness, which Morgue Supplier distribute generously. If you need a quick fix of psychotic brutality, give Constant Negative a taste. It will likely (ahem) supply what you’re seeking.
