RuneWalsh2112 "Rough Cuts" is pretty much what the title makes it out to be, a rough mix of material that would make up the bulk of the band's 2012 full length debut album "Black Mass Hysteria". I happened to stumble upon this EP back in the early 2011 when I was researching other side projects done by the two Polkadot Cadaver/Dog Fashion Disco masterminds Todd Smith and Jasan Stepp. This material seemed a lot heavier than any of the other projects with a clear focus on the metal groove while letting the experimental side of the duo take a back seat for this particular ride.

I found it quite interesting to compare these so called rough cuts of the four tracks with the re-recorded versions that made it to the full length studio album. Unlike many of the classic Dog Fashion Disco tracks that had the habit of re-emerging on later albums, "A Corpse Is A Corpse" made it to three out of the six studio albums in different shapes and forms. Unlike those classic tracks, "Rough Cuts" features complete versions of the compositions from the studio album but with a slightly different mixing done to the sound. This fact makes this EP a lot less interesting, especially after the full length album has been released. Still, one can always reverse the argument and say that the band felt that these compositions where good enough to begin with and thus no re-writes were needed. I'd definitely go for the latter and award this EP a status of excellence!

**** star songs: Surrounded By Demons (4:07) Pink On The Inside (3:46) Swollen Mistress (3:50) Eat Your Heart Out (4:23)