Review: Escuela Grind ‘DDEEAATTHHMMEETTAALL’

The third and final piece in the Escuela Grind tribute EPs, following 2020’s PPOOWWEERRVVIIOOLLEENNCCEE and GGRRIINNDDCCOORREE (I absolutely love this, can’t wait for someone to do a PPOOWWEERRMMEETTAALL one someday), DDEEAATTHHMMEETTAALL showcases a genre near and dear to Escuela Grind‘s heart and even features a guest spot from one real death grind legend, who will be revealed later and it’s released through MNRK Heavy.

Ball And Chain kicks off with a massive, bowel-scraping riff that turns into a chugging monstrosity, as frontwoman Katerina Economou growls her heart out. Think Vader or Asphyx heavy, a rumbling force of nature that has become the ‘wall of death’ song in their live sets. That seems to be their main focus in these tracks, a real low-end heavy powerhouse of a death metal style. You’d assume a band that has obvious grind and power violence influences to be a little thinner and more razorblade sharp, but Escuela Grind really have a handle on this crushing, steamrolling style of death metal.

Punishment Ritual and Abyssal Plane both hit with massive breakdowns at various places, proper neck wreckers that are designed to test the strength of your house’s foundations. But it is closer Meat Magnet, with guest vocals by Napalm Death icon Barney Greenway, that is my favourite track here. A heavy but waspish, frenzied track that betrays those grindy roots a little more obviously, and there are times where Katerina and Barney‘s vocals are in such sync you can’t tell which is which.

crushing, steamrolling style of death metal…

A real triumph of tributary songwriting and avoiding any accusations of merely aping their own influences. Escuela Grind sound like Escuela Grind; their 2022 album Memory Theater was a stunning reminder they have their own sound in the genre, and these EPs are merely showing how they can adapt that style to fit their disparate genre influences with ease.

If you’ve never seen Escuela Grind live by the way, I’d get that ticked off your bucket list as soon as you can. If it’s as good as these three EPs, and particularly DDEEAATTHHMMEETTAALL suggest (and if you watch the video for Meat Magnet below, it looks pretty damn good), it’ll be a blast. DDEEAATTHHMMEETTAALL completes the trilogy and finally allows you to get a true taste of what Escuela Grind are all about; powerful, angry music made by passionate people. If you can get all three of them, do that. If not, I’d take this EP over the others on personal preference.

Label: MNRK Heavy
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Scribed by: Sandy Williamson