Embalming Theatre / Swarrrm – Split 12″ (2008)

September 21, 2013

Another record that I have been meaning to buy for years and years and years. I finally got it cheap at Obscene Extreme (like, Obscenely cheap ;D) and whilst I was chuffed to pieces to pick up a split 12″ for roundabouts the price of a split 7″ I was gutted as fuck to find out that the material here is all live! Maaaaan, why can’t I ever research these things properly? The amount of surprises I’ve had just by spinning a fucking vinyl is bloody unbelievable! I know it’s my fault but I cannot shake the disappointment.

I am not familiar with the works of Swarrrm so less than ten seconds into the horrendously recorded live set I’ve turned the bastard thing off. Embalming Theatre on the other hand have bizarrely placed a 7″ worth of original material before their live tracks, which is a proper strange move but one that I applaud them for as it totally saves this 12″ for me. The band never fail in their blast and gurgle approach, and kick things off with the oddball track “Tsunami Pt I: Survived to be Gangraped”. Well, isn’t that an unfortunate set of circumstances?

The live set that follows the studio tracks isn’t that bad either; the quality is very acceptable and is probably a sound desk recording or something similar. There’s a few Embalming Theatre classics here as well so that’s more reason to be happy; “Someone Else in my Coffin” and “Get High on a Dead Dog” still sound amazing live. This 12″ was put out by the possibly Pig Destroyer-obsessed Jennifer Grind Records, and is limited to 500 copies.