Stranger

Cretin

Grindcore is a very overlooked form of Heavy Metal. With the exception of much bigger […]
By Danny Sanderson
February 3, 2015
Cretin - Stranger album cover

Grindcore is a very overlooked form of Heavy Metal. With the exception of much bigger bands like NAPALM DEATH and WORMROT, the vast majority of Grindcore acts remain underground and don't garner the attention they so rightly deserve. CRETIN are one such band; They have been around since 1992, and since their inception have released a demo, an EP, a split with CROW, TUMOURHEAD and GRAVE ROBBERS, and two great albums, the latest of which being "Stranger", which was released at the end of last year. At just over half and hour long, this is a solid album made up of great tracks which will hopefully pull them out of the underground and toward larger audiences.

The song which opens this album, "It", is incredibly fast and feral sounding, just the way that Grindcore should be. It's very short and to the point as well, as most Grindcore tracks tend to be. "Ghost of Teeth and Hair", the longest song on offer on this record at just under four minutes, bursts out of the speakers with a thick, galloping riff, and has some awesome guitar leads that are reminiscent of many old school Death Metal acts. The two tracks which follow, "The Beast and the Drowning Bucket" and "Knight of the Rail" are fast, technical and pretty catchy, at least as close to catchy as Grindcore can be.

A lot of bands don't quite get the balance between the Extreme Metal and Punk influences right, but CRETIN do a great job of mixing these two together pretty well. Nowhere is this more clear than on the track "We Live in a Cave", which is incredibly fast and punk-inflected, but has a lot of really classic Death Metal guitar hooks in it. "Sandwich for the Attic Angel" opens with a really awesome bass line, and becomes a track that I'm pretty sure NAPALM DEATH would be proud to call their own. The album's title track is among the highlights of this album, and is a ferocious and unrelenting piece of music. "Mister Frye, the Janitor Guy" is likewise brilliant, and is driven by the inspired and powerful drumming on it. "Mary is Coming" and "Honey and Venom" are two really good, heavy tracks that sound genuinely angry. "Freakery" and "They Buried the Lunchbox" are both blisteringly fast and fierce tracks which are both over before you even realise they've begun. "Husband?" which is the shortest track on the album, is a straight-forward, classic Grindcore song. The final song on album, "How to Wreck your Life in Three Days" is a really good song to close this album on, from the fantastic guitar lines to the delivery of the vocals.

Overall, this is a very solid album with a lot of really great tracks on it. I can see many of these songs going down really well live in the future, and with any luck, they will get to do plenty of touring so that as many people as possible can see them live. If you like Grindcore, you will most likely love this.

8 / 10

Excellent

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"Stranger" Track-listing:

1. It
2. Ghost of Teeth and Hair
3. The Beast and the Drowning Bucket
4. Knights of the Rail
5. We Live in a Cave
6. Sandwich for the Attic Angel
7. Stranger
8. Mister Frye, the Janitor Guy
9. Mary is Coming
10. Honey and Venom
11. Freakery
12. They Buried the Lunchbox
13. Husband?
14. How to Wreck your Life in Three Days

Cretin Lineup:

Matt Widener - Bass
Marissa Martinez - Vocals, Guitars
Col Jones - Drums
Elizabeth Schall - Guitars

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