Monday 29 March 2010

Professor - Academizer [ALBUM REVIEW]



1. Professor
2. Immatriculation
3. Into the Auditorium
4. Numerus Clausus

You don't come across a record with the lyrical themes about University and studying too often, so you'd be forgiven for thinking 'Professor' are a joke band. 'Academizer' is their only release and they are virtually unknown. Forgiving, this is not, the EP is an intense barbaric assault of Death Grind done the traditional method, light speed blasting, putrid gutteral growls and grinding guitar riffing. The heaviness of this record lays waste to everything that calls itself grind these days, this is grindcore paying homage to the genre's forefathers Napalm Death, Carcass and Terrorizer, but with it's own unique twist. Where as the aforementioned bands were more into their politics and thinking of fun things to do with the human anatomy, Professor are more like three discontented students who got kicked out of university, and could think of no better option to vent their anger than through a blistering piece of grind on seven inches of black wax.

Opening track 'Professor' consists of three and a half minutes of pure sonic obliteration, the guitar playing is unbelievably fast and even sometimes breaks into an almost groove like thrash riff while the vocals sound like someone dragging a sheet of plywood over a concrete floor. 'Slayer on steroids' would be an apt term to describe them. Unlike a lot of grind, each track is distinct in many ways from its predecessor, 'Immatriculation' sounds like early german thrash only doubled in speed with an underworld demon for a frontman. There is even a strong nod to early Bathory in 'Into the Auditorium' with the ragged, loose guitar riffing and feral nature to the song. Closer 'Numerus Clausus' again keeps up with very thrashy riffing, and at forty nine seconds, clearly play a section of the infamous 'Reign in Blood' riff, which I would say is more a homage to their heroes than blatant plagiarism.

Grind isn't a genre which interests me at all, apart from the main players, I tend to find a lot of it banal and brutal purely for the sake of it, but with Professor my attention didn't wane a single moment as the music is so diverse and incorporates many different styles of metal, from thrash to Black to Death. The music is surprisingly dynamic for a grind record and this is what sets it apart from the sea of other acts, it's a shame this is all the band produced as there was a mountain of potential in this release. If you're a student who is feeling the stress of exam time, and want a musical outlet to vent your frustrations, certainly let the grinding juggernaut Professor give you a hand.

83/100


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