This is the debut album from German grindcore band Feind.
I often think of grindcore as one of my favourite genres, yet it’s one that I rarely get to encounter quality new bands. This is why, when I become aware of something like Ambulante Hirnamputation, I had to make sure I didn’t miss out on it. It’s 17 tracks, with a duration of only 13 minutes, and it absolutely rips the opposition to shreds.
Feind play brutal deathgrind of the most murderous variety, only they do so with personality and a twinkle in their eye. The songs are short and lethal. The longest is 69 seconds long, but don’t let the compact delivery fool you – these tracks are powerhouses of focused grindcore extremity.
Vocally we get growls and screams, as expected, but also more legible vocals that take the form of punkish shouts, cleans and semi-cleans, and other vocalisations. My simplistic description notwithstanding, Feind’s vocal variety is far greater than most bands of this ilk.
When combined with the music, Feind attack with a well-rounded package that’s more diverse and differentiated than you’d expect. A song like Planet det Affen is a great example of Feind’s idiosyncratic approach to grindcore, marrying savagery with a quirkier approach. Other songs adopt a more brutal character, or a melodic one, or a technical one, or a rhythmic one, or a powerviolence one, or a doomier one, or a riff-based one, etc. Also, many of these go together quite nicely too. Basically, Feind’s grind is creative, expressive, and monstrously crushing.
Ambulante Hirnamputation is brutally great fun. Feind have impressed. If you’re a fan of bands such as Cripple Bastards, Cephalic Carnage, Total Fucking Destruction, and Beaten to Death, then you need to check this one out for sure.
Wonderbox Metal 