Stooge
This is a very well put together compilation of Nasum rarities spanning their entire 12-year career. Recordings span from the Blind World 7’’ split recordings through to outtakes from the Shift sessions. While the recording quality varies greatly from track to track (there are 152 of them spread over 2 CDs), the intensity of the music remains consistent throughout. This package includes tons of original material as well as numerous covers of bands such as Carcass, Napalm Death, and Discharge, along with more obscure acts.
I’m quite impressed not only by the collection of songs, but also by the album’s packaging. Founding member Anders Jakobson provides detailed insight on each group of recordings, and the lyrics and songwriting credits for each song are included. The back of the packaging states that the album is dedicated to Mieszko Talarczyk, who passed away in the tsunami disaster in Asia in 2004.
I feel this package does a great job in capturing the spirit of grindcore music, as well as highlighting the evolution of one of the grindcore subgenre’s most significant bands. This package should please fans of Nasum since quite a bit of the material may be quite hard (and expensive) to track down in it’s original form. New fans of Nasum, or even those unfamiliar with grindcore, get an intense crash-course in this extreme music style. There is virtually no overlap between this compilation and their studio albums, making Grind Finale worth holding onto in the long run (a rarity with compilation packages).
An excellent example of grindcore that is worth checking out!