At a certain point, it almost seems like a good idea to simply plagiarize my own reviews in order to come up with something to say about the plague of generic music that cursed my household. Rotten Sound, despite being "extreme", are just that: rotten. And certainly there are plenty of good one-liners that I've used for other bands over the years that could be applied to Rotten Sound.

Okay, fine, I'll write the damn review. This is where I rundown the basic sound for the album: blastbeat based grindcore/death metal played fast. Oh, right, blastbeats imply fast. Sorry to be redundant. The only reason I was redundant is because Rotten Sound is freakin' redundant from first note to last! What did you expect? Poetry? Rotten Sound may indeed be one of the most intense bands out there, but they offer exactly one musical idea and beat it into the ground. There is no differentiation between the tracks, scant dynamics and absolutely nothing for those who want something from music besides an aural battering ram. And because this band relies so heavily on this single musical approach, the impact is lessened considerably.

Redundant isn't a strong enough word for Rotten Sound. Perhaps we shall simply call them "irrelevant".

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 03/2004

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