General Surgery

General Surgery has taken a ton of shit over the years. Most of it regarding the band being derivative. The band that gets thrown into every article about General Surgery? Carcass, yeah that Carcass, the British institution of brutality. One can't accuse General Surgery of not wearing their influences on their collective sleeve. So beyond that the band has managed to get picked up by Relapse and this is their first bit of new music for the label. So with this, a 5 song 11 minute ep, the band get to show off to a new audience hopefully.

Starting with a very brief sample that leads directly into the blasting fury the band don't waste a single second. The vocals sound consistently brutal spouting bit truly horrific lyrics. The guitars do alot within the short songs without playing on being overly technical. really this is supposed to be brutal and to the point. Nothing takes away from that M.O. The band make their riffs rather catchy without ever taking away from their brutality. The drums blast with a sub grind fury that makes everything sound like the band wanted to release these songs on a 5 inch record rather than taking up the extra two inches of vinyl.

Simple to say, General Surgery are back in form. If you miss Carcass or just want a band to be truly brutal sounding without relying on a spate of breakdowns and pig squeals this should be your favorite ep of the year. One can only expect the band to stay set in their ways and continue to carry the torch of brutal DM for years to come.

8.0 / 10 — Jon E.