If you're a fan of the abrasive, raw power of Grindcore-and in particular, ORGAN DEALER-then I have some good news for you!  After a long eight-year wait, the brutal Grindcore band straight out of New Jersey have finally released their second full-length album "The Weight of Being." It comes after the release of their debut "Visceral Infection" in 2015, two years after their founding.  There is a difference in the lineup between the two albums, however.  "The Weight of Being" is actually the band's first record as a four-piece group.  "Visceral Infection" was made with five musicians. With or without lineup change, the 21-track record (it's a lot, I know) is a grinding piece of Grindcore from the first to last second.  Needless to say, it is not for those with soft hearts or ears.

Everything, and I mean everything, about "The Weight of Being" is punishing.  From Moriarty's harsh vocals and Jeffrey Knoblauch's guitar skills to Eric Schnee's incredible drumming, everything about the musicianship speaks to the essentials of Grindcore.  Scot Moriarty constantly pushes his vocals to the limit, screaming at the top of his lungs without pitching down to a menacing death growl.  "Expiration" is the first and near-perfect example of that on "The Weight of Being," and Moriarty finds a very important topic to shriek about: global warming and the threat it poses to us and our planet.  In addition to sinister themes like pain and death, ORGAN DEALER also tries to bring our attention to human error and how it's destroying society.  Very meaningful and very Grindcore-like, don't you think?

Of course, we can't leave the rest of ORGAN DEALER's members and their skills in the lurch.  For example, to say Eric Schnee's drumming was intense would be a horrible insult.  Blast beats, suffocating double bass, and heavy drum fills are all on this record, thanks to Schnee.  It adds a layer of Brutal Death Metal to the Grindcore sound, along with the shredded guitar riffs and solos of Jeffrey Knoblauch.  Unfortunately, while all of this deserves the highest praise possible, the bass of Trevor Graham is mostly or entirely inaudible.  However, he is credited for contributing vocal duties along with Moriarty.  This seems to be the only complaint I have with the extreme Grindcore skills of ORGAN DEALER on their second album "The Weight of Being."

What I found most interesting and appreciative on this record-and I am sure others will, too-is how short all of the tracks were.  Yes, they are 21 tracks on "The Weight of Being," but don't let that discourage you from giving it a listen.  The length of the album actually totals up to about 23 minutes, which is about a little over a minute per song, but some tracks like "Catastrophic Misadventure" are merely several seconds.  This proves that songs don't have to be 7+ minutes long in order to do their job (I'm looking at you, Black Metal bands).  So to conclude, with near-perfect Grindcore that will only take about 23 minutes of your life to listen to thoroughly, there is really no excuse for you not to listen to "The Weight of Being" by the one and only ORGAN DEALER.