Evil reveals itself in many distorted forms and malicious intent takes unique shape in the self-titled debut of Canadian metal quartet GREASEBEAST. As soon as the album starts you feel the melancholy of reverb-laden guitar strumming and staccato drums. A build up to the full band entry introduces Julian Merlin's gruff vocal lines. There is a very unique combination of influences including grind, death, and punk thrown in a blender and set to pulverize. GREASEBEAST's release sounds like 60 grit sandpaper in its rawness and texture. You'll not hear layer upon layer of augmented tracks, rather 13 songs of unfiltered emotion and pain bouncing off padded walls at 70 mph.

The tempo and flow of the album is erratic and dysfunctional like a pissed off kid with ADD on crack. Most tracks don't push past the two minute mark with the longest "The Ballad of Brundlefry" clocking in at 4:33. Which by the way is one of the most entertaining "ballads" you'll hear this year. The strength of the short song listings is the variety of content and the come and go moment of head banging inducing heaviness. "Boneyard Rodeo" is a great example of dynamite packed within a two minute track and showing all the band has to offer in diversity. Metal scene veterans recognize the sonic drive to pound beers and jam to this album because it requires little investment and a decent return.

The midsection of GREASEBEAST's namesake album goes hard on the obscurity factor. It's always good hearing band push the boundaries of genre-splicing and mixing different aspects of unlike sounds, however there is a rather high occurrence of a resulting musical sludge devoid of any defining characteristics. Vocals are unique and strong, but guitar patterns and rhythms lose their curb appeal and it becomes a test to power through the second half. There are some hidden gems including "Cavorting with the Witch" and "Breaking Point". Both songs engage the punk element and double time drumming. At these tempos the gruff vocal cries have more definition and impact than the less gruff punk vocals and the low bpm chunking.

GREASEBEAST hits the ground with their boots on in the self-titled release and their weapons set to mutilate. While the technical prowess and intricacy doesn't make an appearance the cd makes up for it in machine gun variety and heart darkening enthusiasm.