Shock Narcotic unleash a destructive whirlwind of erratic grindcore on their debut full-length, I Have Seen the Future and It Doesn’t Work.

Comprised of current and former members of Child Bite, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Battlecross, and The Black Dahlia Murder, the ruckus this Detroit-based band makes is as impressive as its pedigree. Brimming with battering grooves, hyper-speed rhythms, and a caustic mix of bitterness and irreverence that rushes by over the course of 14 tracks, Shock Narcotic‘s debut is as fun as it is furious. This 19-minute riff-fest gets straight to the point and lunges at the throat with jaws wide open.

After the chugging introduction of the album’s title track, the album immediately mows the listener down with the frantic one-two punch of “Erratic Smearing Vitals” and “Seed Shooters.” The former track viciously pummels with an unstoppable array of spiraling, seizure-like grooves, and dissonant accents to keep things as off-kilter as possible. The latter track comes rampaging out of the wreckage caused by the previous tune with murderous thrash riffs, and a taste for blood. Everything is propelled by vocalist Shawn Knight’s (Child Bite) eclectic mix of vocals, which range from acidic barks to madman wailing.

Another duo of shorter tracks, “Aimless Slogging” and “Offspring Hobbled,” keeps the chaos flowing seamlessly with their bombardments of blast beats, angular riffs, and grimy noise chords. Longer tracks like “Pray for Paralysis” attempt to blend all of the album’s elements into the one. The particular track in question opens with a nauseous, dissonant attack, before transitioning into tried-and-true super-speed grind, and finally arriving at a mid-paced sprawl of sludgy riffs. The sludgy tendencies make a reappearance in the track “An Obsession Supreme,” which crawls among swirling noisescapes and Knight’s specter-like moans.

There’s a lot of interesting ideas at play on this record, and it possesses a unique personality. However, some tracks are less memorable than others and wouldn’t sound out of place on any run-of-the-mill grind record, instrumentally speaking. However, there is a lot of undeniable character and top-notch musicianship here, and the record could be seen as the first step in the right direction.

I Have Seen the Future and It Doesn’t Work is a pretty solid, oddball grind record that balances savagery and zaniness.

Rating: 7/10

Release Date: August 16, 2019

Label: Housecore Records

Favorite Tracks: “Erratic Smearing Vitals,” “Mutually Beneficial Subterfuge,” “Pray for Paralysis,” “Sliced Self/Multiple Lives,” and “Failure as Tradition”

For Fans Of: Pig Destroyer, Napalm Death, Blockheads, and Antigama

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