The Bastard Within – Better Dead Than Friends (CD, 2019)

Label: Immortal Souls Productions – ISP054
Format: CD
Country: Italy
Released: 24 December 2019
Genre: Metal
Style: Grindcore

Featuring former Dying Fetus and Misery Index drummer Kevin Talley, The Bastard Within unleashed their debut full-length, “Better Dead than Friends”. With technical and brutal riffs abound, this new Grindcore act delivers 22 fresh cuts of ferocity. Despite being just under 30 minutes, the record covers a lot of territory. Starting with “Dead End,” the album is introduced as a technical and dissonant riff salad, a perfect representation of what is to come. It is followed by “Loser Division,” a Brutal Deathgrind track that goes hard and fast while avoiding the use of original riffs. This album is very technically proficient and interesting. It offers a variety of styles from mathcore to brutal death metal to jazz fusion and even different vocal styles here and there. This is truly a unique grindcore release. Mastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound Studios, Sweden. Recommendedfor fans of Napalm Death, Carcass, Pig Destroyer, Cattle Decapitation, Terrorizer.