CHAINSAW TO THE FACE – Agonizing Pain And Perpetual Misery – LP

I’ve seen mentioned somewhere this New Jersey Power Violence band were straight-edge…And while I’d have to see that with my own eyes, it would certainly explain this band’s extra layer of bitterness and cranky nihilistic rage to their stuff, an abnormally high level of discontent only a sober lifestyle can produce! Being a discography collection made out of several different sources, this LP is something of a bumpy ride, not that their music is anything smooth anyway! This is frenzied & brutal Power Violence/Grind with short blazing short songs, abrupt blastbeat outbreaks, plenty of stop and go moments & false starts, something not too dissimilar to repeatedly trying to crank-start a chainsaw! Rumbling bass lines, grinding austere guitar riffing and a very blunt drum sound… Vocalist covers the high to midrange tortured roaring and lower grunting registers pretty much equally. I’m not that well-versed in terms of Power Violence but Infest comes to mind at times, although perhaps alot rawer and more primitive, just the really angry kind of fast hardcore often going to brutal extremes. Getting through this cd in one sitting is a bit daunting, this is seriously hardcore hardcore, 64 songs all in a row without too much variation can get pretty nerve-racking at times! It all starts with four songs from “This comp kills fascists” which sound pretty raging, the following tracks off a split w/ Humminbird of Death are probably my favorite and the best sounding part of the whole LP together with the unreleased material that appears later in the compilation; it offers more bass in the mix and better compressed drum sound. You’ve also got a slew of demo material that’s probably the roughest sounding stuff on there but overall still quite listenable. The most fucked up recording pops up at the end but is still very interesting and unique sounding with a ragged guitar sound and oversaturating drum beats guaranteed to destroy your brain cells even if you’ve given up booze a long time ago…Chainsaw to the Face is definitely one of the most furious and angriest bands out there, no compromise…