Haemorrhage – Opera Medica (Review)

This is the latest EP from Spanish grindcore band Haemorrhage.

It’s been a while since 2017’s We Are the Gore, but now we have this new 19-minute EP from the gore-covered Haemorrhage. Containing four new songs and a Dismember cover, Opera Medica offers an enjoyable hit of deathgrind extremity for aficionados of the band to sink their bloodstained teeth into.

Scalpels, Scissors and Other Forensick Instruments opens in typical fashion with a surgical sample, but wastes little time in getting down to business. Rhythmic and catchy, but also brutal and nasty, the song sets the tone well for the release. Haemorrhage are adept at mixing in hooks with their grind, and the increased death metal aspect of songs like this allows them to do this even more.

Polyclinic Abattoirs gets right to it, embracing the grisly carnage that the band are so good at. It’s one of the more relentlessly brutal cuts, all raging speed and serrated guitars. There’s also a rather stirring guitar solo that’s short, but striking.

Up next is Obstetric Phantom, a song that brings forward the crusty punk side of Haemorrhage’s sound. It’s an old-school assault that reminds me of a mix of Napalm Death and Commit Suicide, (with the obligatory side of Carcass, of course).

Nomenclator Pathologicum is a disgusting romp through fields of limbs and entrails, but one that comes with a groove-based soundtrack that you can’t stop dancing to. It’s a very strong song that sounds like a classic lost cut from the 90s, and boasts more melody and atmosphere than you might expect.

The EP closes with a cover of the Dismember song Deathevokation. It’s a largely faithful rendition, albeit one covered in Haemorrhage’s slaughterous ways.

A strong EP from Haemorrhage. Polyclinic Abattoirs and  Nomenclator Pathologicum are the choice cuts, but you can’t go wrong with any of them really.

Highly recommended for fans of old-school death metal and grind.