With their Relapse Records debut, North Carolina’s COLUMNS deliver a merciless assault of Southern-styled grind and groove on their latest full length release, aptly titled “Please Explode”. This NC foursome, comprised of members from current (and former) heavyweights Wretched, Glass Casket, and fellow Relapse grinders Hemdale, breathe a venomous breath of fresh air into an otherwise more ‘traditionalist’ genre. I must admit, it has been a hefty minute since i have truly enjoyed a grind record as much as I do with Please Explode.
Opening the record, ‘Mudfucker’ is a relentless onslaught of blistering drums and grinding thrash, sure to be compared to the likes of grind titans, Napalm Death. Each track on this 16 song record offers a different form of brutality for listeners to break their necks to. Tracks like “Rattlesnake Steps” and “Bear Molester” flirt with a ferocious mix of The Red Chord and Cannibal Corpse, giving headbangers across the ever-expanding genre, a little taste of the old and new. Vocalist Adam Cody showcases an impressive range of guttural blasphemy and lyrical contentthat allows for a slight change of scenery from song to song. Amongst the unbridled intensity of tracks like “No One’s Fucking Waiting” and “A Blind Fight” there lies an extremely humorous undertone to each of these 16 tracks. In the recent video for “Punching Nancy Grace”, the band adds their love for potato chips, manic laughter, and green sludge, to the mix of beards and unrelenting thrash-like riffs. As far as my personal favorite, the punishing track “Our Creation” takes the cake.
Musically speaking, ‘Please Explode’ is unlike most generic or traditional grindcore records. Aside from the pummeling, thrash-like guitar riffs, and circle pit worthy hooks, Columns unleash a firestorm of unmatched brutality with surprisingly memorable and, tasteful musicianship, suitable for any extreme metal fan.
Overall, I highly suggest this album to any metal fan with an incurable itch for the extreme.
Rating: 4 out 5
“Please Explode” is available now via Relapse Records.
