Conor Fynes 'Noistalgia' - Bent Sea (6/10)

A tribute to the old greats of grindcore, Bent Sea's 'Noistalgia' paints an unrelenting and vicious impression. The artistic expression of 'Napalm' Dirk Verbeuren, who has also lent his efforts to the likes of Soilwork and Aborted, among others. With song titles like 'Blast Beat Barrage', Bent Sea aims for a tongue-in-cheek onslaught of heavy chaos, never letting down for a short rest. Even at seventeen minutes, this is a lot of grind to take in at once!

Napalm Death is the big name that comes to mind when listening to Bent Sea. Joining Dirk is growler Sven de Caluwe, and metal mad scientist Devin Townsend plays his hand on the bass. Dirk himself is the center of attention however, playing both the guitar and drums. Although Dirk is a capable guitarist with a keen ear for thrashy riffs, it's obviously that drums are his calling, and as a result, Bent Sea is built around furious rhythms, often to the point where the rest of the band sounds like icing on the cake. At only seventeen minutes long, I would almost always criticize an EP like this of being too short to properly grasp a band and their music, but Bent Sea is clever to keep the length on a leash. 'Noistalgia' is largely defined by its pure devotion to intense speed and heaviness, and had it been a full album's length, it would have been difficult to take in and appreciate all at once. As per grind mandate, these songs generally range from the under-one-minute to just-over mark, although 'Noistalgia' feels more like a single, flowing piece of chaos, as grind should.

It's a matter of taste and mood, but Noistalgia could have felt even more intense, had there been moments of respite to make the rest feel more crazy by comparison. Other than that, Bent Sea is a very technically proficient grind act. Dirk Verbeuren creates a haven for drum fiends here, although the rest of the sound suffers as a result.

UMUR "Noistalgia" is the debut release by Belgian grindcore act Bent Sea. It´s a self-released 11 track digital EP available through the band´s website. According to the same website a limited vinyl edition is scheduled for release a couple of months after the initial digital release. "Noistalgia" was released in November 2011. Those who purchased the EP in the first week of it´s release were treated to the Extreme Noise Terror cover "Bullshit Propaganda" as a 12th bonus track.

Bent Sea is the brainchild of drummer/guitarist Dirk Verbeuren, known for his work with among others Scarve, Soilwork and Aborted. For this release he has recruited Aborted frontman Sven de Caluwe to provide vocals and Devin Townsend to lay down the basslines. The latter also functions af producer on the EP. I guess that lineup more than qualifies to be called an all-star cast.

Dirk Verbeuren created Bent Sea to pay homage to his old grindcore heroes in band´s like Napalm Death, Repulsion and Nasum and that´s imidiately audible when listening to the music on "Noistalgia". Lots of blast beats and aggressive hardcore punked riffs. There´s a more mid-paced and catchy death metal element in the music too though which is also helped along by the vocals by Sven de Caluwe. Anyone familiar with Aborted will know what to expect. Aggressive sneering vocals complimented by deeper growls. Most tracks are short outbursts of aggressive grindcore. The kind of tracks that last between 0:30 to 1:30 minutes, which is pretty much the standard for old school grindcore tracks.

The musicianship and the quality of the tracks are generally high, but I´m not completely blown away. Less is sometimes enough though and that´s certainly the case with "Noistalgia" which is overall a very enjoyable release that fans of the genre are recommended to give a listen. A 3 - 3.5 star rating is warranted.