Friday, March 20, 2009

Blast(beat) from the Past: Cyness

Cyness
Loony Planet/Industreality
Sound Pollution
2003
Apply German engineering principles to grindcore and you’re bound to come back with these Berliner lugnuts. The Germans are so damn efficient at everything they do Cyness conveniently included the words “grindcore” underneath their logo to avoid any confusion on debut long player Looney Planet/Industreality, a 20 minute tutorial in lock tight Napalm Death with a drafting degree grind.
And like that band, Cyness set these 22 songs to tape during two sessions between 2001 and 2003 with all the requisite line up instability. For all of that, though, both halves seamlessly fuse Voltron-like to form a single Nazi-stomping, God fucking, nationalist smearing engine of anger.
“Godkiller” boasts a hooked bit of guitar noodling that could have graced a later period Amebix tune. And given the cyclical nature of human stupidity, “Holy War,” a pissed little ditty about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still just as relevant today. Cyness could also run a clinic on the tried and true grind tic of ominously rumbly opener giving way to eyebrow singeing grind on “Mangla Son Agg” (with a bonus lesson in gang shoutalongs for no additional cost). The band even spatulas in those frigid black metal gone grind riffs at which northern Europeans seem to excel on “Bush – Krieger,” which called Dubya’s removal (by force if necessary) for the safety of the whole world.
While I doubt Cyness will be penning any paeans to Obama in the near future, I hope the Germans don’t beat their grindcore bayonets into plowshares just yet. Because Looney Planet/Industreality and 2006 followup Our Funeral Oration for the Human Race should vault Cyness into the realm of grind elite.

3 comments:

Apoctosis said...

YES! This album is the shit! Haven't listened to these guys in a long time, good call!

Unknown said...

Grindcore and gang vocals are two things not heard together nearly enough.

Rosemary said...

Great band! They have a recent 7 inch that is quite good as well. I think Sound Pollution put out the release after the one reviewed. They have a cool t-shirt entitled "I heart blast beat". Also, check out another insane German grind band, BOLZ'N, with female fronted vocals that destroy what that chick in Landmine Marathon does.