G&P Review: Amputee

Amputee
Convulsions
RSR Records
Chasing their three song dick tease demo from 2010, Amputee go for the full release massage on Convulsions, a 13 song guerrilla grind assault from late 2011 that's filled with tunes that hit it and quit it in 80 seconds or less. The New Jersey grinders don't stray too far from the rampant Assuck-isms that made their demo so enticing with this EP, but Amputee have started to grow into their own and take better command of their sound. The slithery sounding songs allow a little bit of daylight between the band and their most obvious influence.
The most representative and probably strongest of the lot is "Gather to Persecute," a late EP entrant that best displays Amputee's new found proficiency with varying tempo and tone. The song best balances the human metronome drumming with the blurred-no-time-for-nuance guitars, which grasp just enough emotion to convey the thrust and drive of the pounding songs. Each song is pared to a single point and pounds it to sand and then moves on. Even as Amputee branch out into longer compositions on songs like the epic 1:22 "Ass Gen" or the slow-building 1:08 of "Repetition" they make sure they never overstay their welcome.
Amputee still lack that intangible something that gives contemporaries like the similarly-minded Cellgraft that added zing, but this is clearly a band on the rise. Everything I've heard from them has been consistent, concise and played to the point. Amputee are one short step from dropping that excellent album that will garner them the praise they're so gonna deserve.

[Full disclosure: The band sent me a download.]