SUFFERING QUOTA - Collide
June 3, 2023, a year ago
(Tartarus)
These Dutch grinders are on their third album, and despite the immediate acknowledgement of loving Assück as much as I do, they've flown under my radar until now.
But the 12 songs here (all with one-word titles) are definitely changing that, the band's approach to grind off-kilter and eyebrow-raising on awesome opener “Out”, which reminds me of Maruta covering Discordance Axis, which means, hi, this just got on my year-end list. Four snare hits into “Rights” give a wink and a nod that these guys know exactly what's up, and “Side” almost physically hurts when it slows down to an ugly, wide-open sludge trawl.
Sure, the vocals are a one-dimensional bark (by the time “Pig” hits, you're going to want to either run screaming or turn it up even louder), but that's grind for you, and Suffering Quota's skill at delivering blasters like the slightly sideways “Time”, the blower-bass onslaught of “False”, or closer “Scorn”'s epic 4:16 of Tragedy gone grind make up for any shortcomings here.
A fantastic grind record from a band I can't wait to hear more of.
