During the end of the 80s, Grindcore wasn’t supposed to be a genre of Death Metal. It was a brutal and updated form of Hardcore and D-Beat, but as Death Metal itself has a heavy load of Hardcore on it, both genres were becoming nearer and nearer. And no one can deny that NAPALM DEATH had a pivotal part on the whole, because albums as “Scum” (1987) and “From Enslavement to Obliteration” (1988) caused a roar into underground due their brutality. But people can think of “Harmony Corruption” (1990), “Purity Dilution” (1989, released by DEFECATION), “World Downfall” (1989, the classic release of TERRORIZER) and releases of MACABRE and EXTREME NOISE TERROR of those days are the ‘guilty’ for many considering Grindcore as a part of Death Metal. And the North American trio SHOCK WITHDRAWAL, hailing from Los Angeles, is here to destroy years with “The Dismal Advance”.

The band hired Arthur Rizk for working with the mixing and mastering. The result is something brutal, aggressive and with a massive sound impact, in an updated model of what Scott Burns created. It has that ‘filthy’ idea, but it’s impossible to not understand what’s being expressed by the band. And the cover is a clear reference to old Grindcore and Hardcore releases of the 80s. As the words above state clearly, the fans are dealing with a Death Metal/Grindcore act with a classical appeal, that one that was usual between 1990 and 1995, when things sounded rough and brutal, in the most uncommercial and unaccessible way possible. Short songs (some faster, some slower, as heard on “No Closure”), contrasts between grunts and screams, blast beats in profusion, nasty guitar riffs and all those good features that the fans of the genre love. But beware with your ears.

Songs as “Constant Fear of Annihilation” (the contrasts created by bass guitar on the rhythms are excellent), “Autonomian”, “Built to Suffer”, “Oblivion Seeker” (some slower tempos allows the perception of fine guitar arrangements), “Resentment”, “Nightmare Conduit”, “Pain Absorption Threshold” and “Misery Calibration” are enough to pierce your brains and to stomp your necks flat. And they’re full of hooks as well! “The Dismal Advance” is just their first full-length, so the fans can expect more, so praise SHOCK WITHDRAWAL.