The thrash-turned-grindcore project Violent Testimony released their first "full-length" LP "Aggravate" via HPGD Records. "Full length" is used lightly in a grindcore sense, as the twenty-one tracks in "Aggravate" only take up twenty-six minutes, with some tracks reaching lows of under five seconds - are they even songs at some point? Whether they're songs or not, Violent Testimony has a brutally quick assault on the ears waiting, and I mustn't wait any longer.

This review will not be in a track-by-track fashion, as there's not many unique things I can talk about with every single song. Another immediate standout is the album cover, which looks like the infamously famous deathgrind album "World Downfall" by Terrorizer. This isn't pure grindcore, either. Many thrash and death elements are violently sewn into their music, as if we get technical, grindcore has roots in hardcore punk, not metal. Call it fusion, if you will. The first couple minutes are taken up by short bursts of the likes of "God Complex Massacre" and "Piss Vomit Acid Corrosion." Songs like those, plus other standouts from the first half of the album like the thrashy and dynamic "Perpetual Self-Execution," the seven-second song that's just feedback, and the use of samples in "Psychotic Episode" help this album not be as one-toned as it usually has been. There's plenty of thrash, hardcore, and death metal influences sprinkled in to keep most listeners on their toes, but for me, the first half of the album has felt pretty boring - and I can appreciate grindcore on special occasions.

The next batch of twelve songs is about as rowdy and dense as the first. Thankfully there are more standouts in this portion: "Rider In The Night" simply sounds good, "Obligatory Manifestation Of Infinite Grind" is only four damn seconds long, "Aggravating Circumstances" brings some much-needed melody to the mix, "S.O.W." introduces the most prominent hardcore influences yet, and "DrinkFightFuck" is a cover in honor of Blood Duster. Phew! This half of the album is way more musically varied - remember the genre, now. The playing is tight, and there's no lack of talent for any half of this album.

A shorter review this is, as there's not much going on beyond grindcore with some interesting elements chiming in. While grindcore is absolutely not my favorite genre, and most of this album felt pretty mundane, there's no deniability of the talent needed to play this tight and this loud. I personally may not like "Aggravate," but in this case I feel like I have to give Violent Testimony some credit overall. An homage to the angsty, punchy times of grind where lyrical content wasn't entirely about gore, misogyny, or whatever the hell you can fit into a song that I can blink and miss.