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NAUSEA
Condemned To The System

Willowtip (2014)
Rating: 8/10

Wow, this takes me back! The mid to late 80s, and all those fuzzy, catchy blast-beat grindcore records, trying to impress school friends with the brief strains of Napalm’s Death ‘The Kill’, only to be met with gazes of bemusement.

Anyway, Nausea is an old school grindcore act who should appeal to anyone brought up with those old Napalm Death records, the first Terrorizer album (1989’s World Downfall) and pretty much anything in between from around that time.

For me, this is a massive sounding record in that the riffs are as catchy as hell from start to finish. It’s no shock that Nausea understand this type of dirty, groove noise because they’ve been going since 1987, and were ripping out throats in 1991 with their debut composition Crime Against Humanity. Of course, the biggest crime of all is the fact that they were on hiatus from 1994 until 2001 and have only really made a career out of demos, with the long-awaited Condemned To The System being the follow up to that debut opus.

Those who know of these Californian gods will know of their connections to grindcore heroes Terrorizer, although there have been many myths surrounding the connections over the years, with the only real link being vocalist Oscar Garcia, who appeared for both bands. Even so, Nausea’s new album is a corker and one that should be lapped up by anyone with a taste for rotten death metal and socially aware grindcore.

The band also features drummer Eric Castro, bassist Alejandro Corredor and guitarist Leon del Müerte. With only Garcia and Castro surviving from the first album, I’m relieved that this 11-track album is still an infectious disease. Yes, there is a hint of hygiene this time round, mainly due to the fact that the debut platter was recorded with a low budget.

Those old, crusty bass lines, although still volatile and loose, aren’t quite as foetid. You can hear a few tweaks here and there, but that’s expected with today’s technology. Nonetheless, it doesn’t take away the fact that this is one big putrid record full of sonic blast-beasts, chugging guitars, fuzzy, distorted bass and Garcia’s deathly grunts.

It could be argued that Nausea aren’t quite the same as they used to be, but hey, times change. Detractors may argue that this is a little too close to that Terrorizer brand of extreme metal at times, but one can’t argue with the opening riff of ‘Freedom Of Religion’, which reeks of old Napalm Death as Garcia blurts “Judgement, religion, politics… what to choose? Preaching, wisdom, blinded anguish”.

Yes, the speedier parts come in predictable fashion, but that’s how this sort of deathly grindcore works. Mind you, there’s even a hint of Autopsy at times with the messy rumbles and rancid growls. ‘Does God Need Help?’ – with its barrage of drums – ‘World Left In Confinement’ and the strange addition of ‘Corporation Pull-In’ (which first appeared on Terrorizer’s World Downfall) are all catchy mixes of speed and riffage, but Terrorizer do keep cropping up on a number of tracks, leaving me to wonder if there’s some eternal beef between the two camps? Either way, this is still a real assault on the ears and a rewarding half-an-hour of aural battery.

Neil Arnold

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