Besta is a Portuguese grindcore band signed to Lifeforce Records. Through them, they've recently released "John Carpenter (Redux)," a reimagining of their 2014 LP, "John Carpenter." Call it LP if you want, as this re-work is only seventeen minutes - they still crammed eleven tracks in. Personally, I like my songs to last longer than a couple seconds, but if those couple seconds are good, then I'm all ready for Besta.

A redux is essentially a revival of something. The differences between "John Carpenter" and its 2025 re-work are hopefully prominent, as you'd might as well re-release the original album. Ehh, on with the music. "O Regresso Do Mal" is the longest track by a large margin, clocking in at four minutes. A four-minute grindcore song may not work, and it didn't, because it's not grindcore! The track is quite slow and takes its time building a soundscape of guitars and harsh vocals. I'm going to miss this song, as the tracks get shorter, faster, and crazier down the road. The first example of this is "Estrela Negra." The song is hardcore, but the band fits a "calmer" guitar section in at about thirty seconds. Thirty more seconds, and "Assalto A 13a Esquadra" is next. This track is even shorter, and the crust comes alive. The vocal delivery shifts from gutturals to bursts of shouts. "Cidade Dos Malditos" keeps up the routine slow-segmented grindcore. "O Carro Assassino" creates a cool atmosphere with the waves of riffs, but the song ends too quickly for me to get lost in it. Speaking of ending quickly, "Nova Iorque 1997" starts and finishes in twenty whole seconds.

"Fuga De Los Angeles" actually has a rhythm - something it can brag about to the other songs. "Eles Vivem" introduces the clunky, metal-stringed bass for a couple seconds, and I appreciated its inclusion. There's even a guitar solo, and by what I've heard of this genre, those come few and far between. "O Nevoeiro" is simple fun, just like "A Biblia De Satanas." "A Biblia De Satanas" has way more groove than its predecessors. Finally, "O Principe Das Trevas" ends the album. With the song clocking in at 2:24, the instruments have some time to flow together, just like the opening number, "O Regreso Do Mal."

I find grindcore hard to write about because usually, if you hear one song, you've heard the rest of them. Besta is a bit different, as the band takes their time musically, even if a song is under a minute-and-a-half. I can say for sure I'm not going to listen to the original "John Carpenter" because I don't want to listen to the same album twice in a row. Maybe if I had more time, I'd compare the differences. Any amount of prescience will probably strip the fun right out of "John Carpenter (Redux)."