Blurring - Blurring

I tried to like this. I really did. I mean, it's got Danny Lilker and Erik Burke! But Blurring's self-titled debut is just not my cup of tea. I've never really heard any of Burke's bands (I only know him by his reputation.) and I'm not all that hot on Brutal Truth, so they're just names. But I generally like grind so hey, let's do this. However. I'm pretty picky with my grind. And I don't pick Blurring. It's all gnashing teeth and rubber-room guitar motherfuckery. It's so intensely chaotic that there's very little to actually grab on to. Hooks? Get outta town. Melody? Pfft. Then again, it is grind.

Scott D'Agostino and Matt Colbert (guitars, both ex-Kalibas) twist and squeeze all sorts of ear-raping noise from their guitars. And for those hell bent on energy and pure craziness, dig in. There's plenty of madness to go around. Burke's percussion follows of course, adding some structure to the din. 

Lilker's basslines sound solid. When you can hear them. You have to really try and pick out the rubbery technicality rumbling away behind the walls of insanity scrambling your brain. Mark Welden's vocals are feral and sickening; more black metal than grind. More werewolf than barking. They change the tone of the grind from anger to hatred, from pissed off to vengeful. So there's that.

But by and large Blurring is one long rocket-propelled grenade launcher of “fuck you” set to fully automatic. Barely controlled chaos rides the knife edge of insanity but never is there any real danger of falling to the right-minded side. I'm not trying to say it's a bad album, it's just not my type. Other than some respites during “Rape Van” and “The Devil I Know” it's just a little too crazy. If you're one of those individuals that can soak up and assimilate madness, you'll get all you can handle. But if you like a little more core to your grind, there's other bands out there to satiate your needs and blur your mind.

Released April 28, 2015 on Handshake Inc.

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