Nausea- Crime Against Humanity DIGI-CD on Hammerheart Rec.

Grindcore classic re-issue, limited to 500 digipacks! This is an evil album. What made “Crime Against Humanity” unique is that it blends high speed blasting with a slow, plodding heaviness that makes for an interesting intense ride. For you culinary folk out there, mix 3 cups of Napalm Death with 2 cups of Black Sabbath add some Terrorizer and bake at 400° for about 23 minutes and you’ll produce a rough approximation of this album. Naturally, being a lesser known project of Terrorizer frontman Oscar Garcia (on vocals/guitar when playing with Nausea), this album can’t help but be compared to said band’s awesome “World Downfall” record. Unfortunately, such a comparison made “Crime Against Humanity” seemed worse than it really is. Judged on its own merit, its a solid slab of doomy grindcore. Or grindy doom metal. Or whatever the hell you want to call it. It’s very bass-heavy, giving it that really dark, gloomy feel. Garcia’s roaring vocals sound like they were recorded in an underground cave. The guitars are deep and super distorted. Bass guitar has a sinister pitch to it and is well-placed in the mix. I believe the snare drum is a large empty paint can, and if you strain hard enough you can actually hear the bass drum. The album starts of at slowly, but kicks into high gear by the third track “Point of Discharge”. Don’t be mistaken, though. There are some lethal riffs to be found here. The opening “Mind Dead” is perhaps the best track on the record. The lyrics are largely political based, with names like “System Breakdown” and “Make More Profit” being rather self-explanatory in their content. The solid riffing and general “doomy” approach to grind are what makes this album stand out. If you’re fortunate enough to bump into a copy of this, by all means pick it up. Contributing is the fact that Nausea is playing live again and is active. There is a European tour happening and a new album is being released. This one is considered a classic, originally released on the notorious Wild Rags from L.A., and we decided to keep it in its original playing-length, so no additionals, just this classic recording from 1991!