Often considered a clone of early Carcass, General Surgery
do indeed play a very similar sound to the days of "Reek of
Putrefaction" or "Symphonies of Sickness". Although I won’t
argue the notion that General Surgery’s “Necrology” falls into the clone territory,
in its defense, I will say; that’s not always a bad thing. Now, it’s one thing
to copy or plagiarize someone’s work, and try to achieve success without giving
credit to where credit’s due. To my knowledge, General Surgery never tried to
claim they were the foremost authority in goregrind or grindcord, they simply
played their music in vain of the band they worshiped. Some would cite the old
adage; “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” I feel, that applies with
“Necrology”.
As for the music, if you’re familiar with Carcass, you’ll
know what to expect. The guitars are very thick and provide a muddy tone to their sound. This murky sound
helps create somber imagery for the perverse lyrics the band dwells within. The
vocals are a combination of low, guttural sounding growls, and very muffled,
inaudible gugrgles that pass as singing. This, noise that substitutes for
singing, would eventually become a staple in many goregrind and brutal death
metal bands in the future. Bands such as, Exit-13 and Frightmare would make
this muffled sound one of the main vocal features on their releases. The
drumming jumps back and forth on each track providing both a very catchy,
rhythmic beat at times, while others, simply playing a stream of blast beats
and heavy bass kicks. As a whole, the thick guitars and varied drumming
creating a dark harmony that allows the vocals to spew forth and put all the
elements together to create the filthy sound “Necrology” was destined to
become.
Again, the sound on “Necrology” may not be much of an
original product (although, I feel they used the trademark goregrind muffled
gurgle sound more than Carcass), but it is nonetheless satisfying. That being
said, I feel General Surgery's "Necrology" follows the code of
"primum non nocere" and certainly does no harm to the original
formula. This EP certainly has its place in the early moment of goregrind,
which I fell deserves a little attention from both Carcass fans and modern
goregrind fans alike.
Highlights: "Crimson Concerto", "Severe
Catatonia in Pathology"
Rating: 3.5
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