ALBUM REVIEW: The Infinite Mirror Of Millennial Narcissism – Born To Murder The World
When it first came to light that the lovingly adorned “Grindfather” Shane Embury of NAPALM DEATH fame and ANAAL NATHRAKH‘s Mick Kenney would be putting their skulls together to forge something completely new and harrowingly dark to its core, the extreme metal world couldn’t really ask for much more. Completed by MISTRESS bandmate and FUKPIG frontman Duncan Wilkins, BORN TO MURDER THE WORLD could well just be the extreme metal supergroup you never knew you needed.
The Infinite Mirror Of Millennial Narcissism is everything you could want a searing 15 minutes of visceral grindcore to be; tight as anything and unrelentingly savage. From the opening track Brutality Alchemist it’s apparent that this leans far more on the clinical end of grind, though this is in no way a shortcoming when the punch packed is as meaty as this is. Further still, the opening song serves as an awesome showcase as to how the blending of the musician’s spectrum of extremity materialises. It’s apparent that there’s a lot of riffs and rhythmic ideas in the vein of NAPALM DEATH‘s latest record Apex Predator but with Kenney‘s immediately recognisable vocal wretches accompanying, it’s a match made in heaven (or more accurately a nihilistic wasteland where all that exists is sweet, sweet grindcore).
As you’d expect with a band of this calibre, there’s enough speed on here to make Lemmy blush. However, nestled between the furious flurries of blasts are these pacier sections that stand brazen and bold in the tracklist, such as in the one-two-three knockout of Poisoning Purity, Negativity Plague and Corruption Feeds Deception. These are the strongest moments on the record and where the band excel. Little more can be said though, and the fact is that if you like fast, heavy grinding metal, there’s no way you won’t love this. There’s virtually nothing to turn your nose up at on here.
The only “critique” you might make is whether BORN TO MURDER THE WORLD are greater or even equal to the sum of their parts, but this would be to miss the point of this project altogether. Not only are we talking about two of the best, most fiercely independent and iconic extreme metal bands in its history, this record (if its length warrants that title) should really be understood for what it is. Rather than being held up to such lofty standards, The Infinite Mirror Of Millennial Narcissism is the product of a two decade long friendship and a shared lust for the obscenely extreme and it’s awesome for it. All that’s left undone now is hassling the promoters of Damnation Festival to give them a slot seen as their comprising bands all share the bill. Let’s make it happen.
Rating: 8/10
The Infinite Mirror Of Millennial Narcissism is out now on Extrinsic Records.
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