STENCH OF PROFIT are a Grindcore band from Italy. Forming in Venice in 2014, they have previously released a split with MINDFUL OF PRIPYAT titled "New Doomsday Orchestration" and an EP titled "Human Discount". "No Place to Hide" is their debut album, released through Lethal Scissor Records in 2020.

The album opens in a rather different tone than the rest of the record. "The Lake of Void" is a kind of Progressive Electronic piece that is more musically involved than the typical "one minute of ambience" that serves as an intro to a lot of extreme metal albums. Perhaps it is sampled from somewhere, I'm not sure, but either way it is remarkably well-composed and sets the album off on a really good foot.

The tone changes immediately with "Earth is Bleeding": blistering modern Grindcore with sharp, dissonant guitar stabs and thunderous drumming stacked with fills. "Permanent Cracks" is even faster, with a brutal introduction followed by propulsive Crust-like drumming and some riffs that even verge on full Death Metal. There are some mid-paced stomping sections towards the middle of the track, walking the line between hardcore and metal, before blasting off again in full Death/Grind mode to finish. The Death Metal influence comes out even clearer on "Has Countdown Started", which eschews a lot of the angular, dissonant guitars for more meaty old school Grindcore/Death Metal-style configurations.

"What's Left 2.0" returns to some of the punkier grind influences but also includes some Goregrind-like vocals aside from the usual growls and shrieks, while "No Place to Hide" weaves various faces of Grindcore together: crusty old school Grindcore, more Metal-oriented Death/Grind and more modern, dissonant, frustrated Hardcore-oriented Grind. This often occurs within the same track: "Ruins" juxtaposes a main Death/Grind riff that wouldn't sound out of place on an early 90s NAPALM DEATH album with more dissonant, noisy, jarring sections. I am sometimes reminded of NASUM circa "Human 2.0".

Most of the tracks are fast, but there is the occasional slower groove - "Hate for Our Counterparts" is mostly mid-paced with the occasional burst into thrashy drumming. Other tracks, like "Aware", are as speedy as they are brief. Vocally, the album has a range of low, guttural growls backed by higher pitched shrieks typical of Grindcore.

The overall atmosphere of "No Place to Hide" is one of corporation-driven environmental destruction. This is clear enough from the lyrics, song titles and artwork, but the mood is carried well into the music - sounding equal parts destructive and frustrated. "There Won't Be a Place to Hide" ends with a sample of an old Cold War "duck and cover" jingle, and it fits in well with the image of apocalyptic armageddon painted in the lyrics and artwork. This lyrical matter is not unusual for Grindcore - the first two NAPALM DEATH records are full of that sort of imagery and sentiment. STENCH OF PROFIT do put more emphasis on it than most though, right down to the band name, and the tone and atmosphere of the music matches the aesthetic well.

Overall, I enjoy "No Place to Hide" a fair bit. Sometimes the riffs and grooves are a little on the generic side, but STENCH OF PROFIT keep things mixed up just enough for the album not to overstay its welcome - it is on the brief side at just over half an hour after all. I prefer the straight, old school Death/Grind riffs and blasting sections to the more modern sounding dissonant parts as a matter of personal taste, but thankfully those sections only exist to build tension and are not relied on to carry full songs. I'd recommend "No Place to Hide" to general fans of Grindcore, whether old school or modern, but I'd recommend it most to those that are fans of both.