Blast(beat) from the Past: Terrorism/Runamuck

Terrorism/Runamuck
Genocide/Up to My Neck
Morbid Reality/Beat the Meat
2005
A friendly sticker on this EP tells me that due to a pressing plant error, the sides of this 7-inch are mislabeled. Good thing for that because you’d be hard pressed to tell. I’ve never heard two bands on a split before that were this perfectly matched. Runamuck have a tinnier snare tone but otherwise this California trio (since grown to a foursome) sounds a lot like the other (relatively) better known California quartet.
With songs like “Every Time I Watch Porn I Think of You” and “You Want to be the Dildo That J-Lo Uses to Fuck Ben Affleck in the Ass,” who’s surprised to find out Runamuck’s top MySpace friend is Anal Cunt? The songs have more structure than old A.C. tunes and whatever lyrics there may be backing up their titular conceits are swamped in a sea of blurred production and yapping Chihuahua chattering. Lo fi, low brow, highly entertaining.
Terrorism bring their usual noise but now evil troll rasps war with the grunted groans and swiped samples. Though this was released the same year as Atrocities of Reality, I was kind of disappointed that, lyrically, Terrorism just weren’t as sharp. Instead of beautifully subversive morality plays wrapped in gore, we get pretty straightforward declamations against genocide (“Concentration Camp”), dangerous nationalism (“Fascist Patriotism”) and metal sell outs (“Mainstream”). Musically, however, Terrorism know how to work a blast beat. The amateurish (not an insult) production turns the guitars and bass into a faceless, monolithic wall of background noise while the death rattle mouth music and drums mud wrestle for your attention at center stage.
It’s hard to argue for originality from two bands who sound identical on a split, but this hits my grindcore sweet spot nonetheless.