Blast Rites #11: Rashes – Necrotic Cultivation Review

Great big gobs of greasy gory grindy goods…

I don’t know much about these Swedish slashers except that Rashes is a duo and this is their debut demo, released on cassette by Neuro Habitat Productions in a limited run of 50 and forthcoming on CD from Mexico’s Sindrome Productions. Beyond that, all I know is that Necrotic Cultivations is fun as hell, classic-styled goregrind in the usual Carcass-indebted vein, balancing punkier and groovier bits against the usual carving death/grind. I tried to Google more, but looking up “rashes” and “necrotic” in one search probably got me flagged by HR and now I have to have an awkward conversation with my health insurance company, so…

Of these five tunes, the title track rocks out of the gate with one of those groovier bits, one that’s undeniable and immediate, a huge steamroller hook that pushes Necrotic Cultivations forward at full power before abruptly launching into a scalpel-sharp blast-driven pounding. Rashes’ vocals alternate between a lower growl and a higher one – not exactly a groundbreaking approach, but every bit as effective here as anywhere else it’s been used. A second mile-wide groove drops in for the song’s back half, balancing against these almost Swedeath-tinted riffs and the overall Carcass-y vibe, and it’s goddamned glorious gore, with all the appropriate oozing and dripping qualities.

Onward from there, Rashes rips through three more tracks, four solid minutes of sharp-edged grinding, before closing with another highlight in the positively vicious “Malignant Staph Intrusion.” That one’s another blast-happy blazer that drops halfway through into a doomy guitarmony riff offset against guttural screams, splitting the difference between ethereal and afflicted, the whole of it riding into the sunset on another bulldozer drive that finally crashes to resolution in a gurgling swirl.

Sure, this is goregrind, so you’ve heard all of these component parts before, assembled in much the same manner, but don’t let that stop you in the slightest. If you’re in the need for some hooky and horrific bloodspattered blastbeats, then look no further because Rashes can – and will – absolutely scratch that itch.