White Eyes (Germany) - Beastmode (2009)

I don't know why anyone but me would remember so I might as well note that I raved about German (somewhat experimental) grind outfit White Eyes around the time they released their only full-length effort, Beastmode (as far as I know, the only other release that followed was their 2012 split with perhaps the highest peak of Australian grindcore, i.e. The Kill). Believe it or not, I stumbled upon them like I did with countless great bands, tracing the footprints of Discordance Axis in the collective web of blastbeats, as I often did, to great effect and sweet satisfaction, but also due to the fact that the drummer is Christian Bass of Bloodred Bacteria (and many other bands) who did a split with Swarrrm back in 2002.

Composed as a triptych with eerily robotic chapter-intros reminiscent of Pig Destroyer's Prowler in the Yard, the quite modern Beastmode offers a slick aural hell by the extremities of extreme music, grindcore and sludge, the latter more along the lines of DA's A Leaden Stride to Nowhere twisted into a self-referential digital drone fit for a Nadja album than any actually slow or even powerviolent band, as evidenced by the trod of the ultimate & (at a whole six minutes) longest track, Posthistorics (a rather successful experiment). With every bit intentional, elaborated, the album houses no semi-improvised noise tracks other than A Crying Intermezzo, an uneasy downpour of barely 16 bits sobbing to no avail, with memorable forays into discordant post-grind territories on tracks such as Asphalt Licker, a voivodesque robmartonism at once compatible with Swarrrm and general -core of the Converge type.

Besides being violent as in murderous, the atmosphere is pervaded by unease fit for a cyberpunk crime novel set in a cold, alien future, action-packed and with no trace of noir whatsoever, although I may have hoped that I have finally found my Blade-Runner-in-blastbeat form. Such is not the case, obviously - White Eyes shoots first and asks question never (not even later).

Listen / buy @ Bandcamp (Blastasfuk)