Not unlike this goddamned pandemic with whom they share a lifespan, it feels like Pharmacist has been around for much longer than they have. Maybe it’s because in two short years, they’ve now cranked out two full-lengths, two EPs, and six splits, and all of it of uniformly high quality Carcass-indebted goregrind (as though there’s really any other kind of goregrind). Or maybe it’s also because of that debt, because that sound is so firmly rooted in a formula established a long while back. Or maybe it’s simply because the basic building blocks of this type of extremity – great riffs, vicious bloodsoaked hooks, killer solos, inhuman vocals – are eternally timeless, and never really go out of style.
And maybe… no, belay that: definitely, it doesn’t really matter why, too much, because what ultimately matters most is that part above about “uniformly high quality.” Pharmacist has that part locked down tight. They started strong, with the grinding decompositions of Medical Renditions Of Grinding Decomposition, and they’ve only gotten stronger and sharper in the ensuing two years, refining their attack, honing their blades. And the results speak (or scream, or growl, or gurgle) for themselves: Flourishing Extremities On Unspoiled Mental Grounds is not only high-quality, it’s of even higher quality than before. Across those two full-lengths, two EPs, and six splits, this latest is the best that Pharmacist has released yet.
As with last year’s Carnal Pollution EP, Flourishing Extremities shows a clearer, less murky take on Pharmacist’s death/grind, although it’s certainly far from sparkling. They’ve wiped away a layer of the grime that coated Medical Renditions, leaving Flourishing sounding fuller, heftier, but still not quite as (relatively) shiny as Pollution. Taking that slight sonic sideways step for the better, Flourishing Extremities sounds stouter, uglier, bigger, with the biggest benefit coming in the overall tone of Therapeutist’s drums, still live and real but bigger, less flat and dry than those on Carnal.
What remains thankfully completely intact is Pharmacist’s knack for scalpel-sharp death metal, and in that area, Flourishing Extremities’ extremity flourishes. Even with all but one track reaching past the seven-minute mark, between the twin strengths of strong performances and stronger songwriting, nothing on Flourishing feels overlong or dragged out. Therapeutist’s drumming is stellar, shifting between tempos and sections fluidly, pushing the whole of these forty-seven minutes along with an infectious energy. The vocals run the goregrind gamut from garbled pitch-shifted gutturals to slightly less garbled midrange growls, as you’d expect if you’ve spent more than about five minutes listening to this or almost any other similar act. Final track “Nursery Aesthetics” features guest vocals and lyrics from Accursed Womb vocalist Aaron Schnellenbach, distant and vomitous growl offset with sonorous cleans, a combination that waits a full five minutes to enter and is gone again in the blink of an empty eye socket.
No slight intended to either Therapeutist’s spirited performance or to the standard-but-still-special snarling, but even with both on high, Flourishing Extremities is still a guitar record. There are, quite simply put, a plethora of killer riffs here. It’s a veritable riff-ucopia; it’s Riffapalooza 2022; it’s an embarrassment of riff-ches. It’s riff after riff after goddamned great riff, and as (r)if(f) that wasn’t enough, it’s topped off with some seriously sweet solos, once again courtesy of axe-master Andrew Lee, he of Ripped To Shreds, Houkago Grind Time and Archaganini. With the exception of the one-minute “Peroxide Engagement” – which is comprised entirely of an interesting descending acoustic guitar figure that could’ve probably been expanded upon and made into more of a full song – each of Flourishing Extremities’ six remaining tracks is a lesson in stellar guitar work. Each is cut from that seemingly endless well of Pharmacist riffs, each of those as strong as the previous and running the gamut from the carving to the melodic to even a brief almost jazz-y breakdown in “Necromorph.” And then, atop it all, Lee’s catchy-and-chaotic guitar Lee-ads spice up every song with shredtastic greatness. “Corpus Sonica” thrashes and bashes; “Necromorph” flirts with a gory guitarmony before it downshifts into that breakdown, riding a series of variations upon a rising-and-falling melodic riff through a midtempo lilt and an oddly jangly bounce into a perfect death/grind resolution. There are no stumbles, no short-comings, only riffs and retching and solos and screams.
So, if you can’t tell, I’m more than a bit impressed by these Ukrainian/Japanese fellows in Pharmacist. I loved Medical Renditions Of Grinding Decomposition, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every split and EP between then and now, and if I may repeat myself a bit to hammer the damned point home: Flourishing Extremities is the best Pharmacist yet. This is death/grind mastery from the new kids bringing fire back to the old sounds; this is one bloodsoaked great time, and almost certainly a shoo-in for my year-end list.
