Blast(beat) from the Past: Mumakil

Mumakil
The Stop Whining EP
Blastbeat Mailmurder
2006
Ponder the following analogy, if you will:

The Stop Whining EP: Customized Warfare :: Obscured By Clouds: Dark Side of the Moon.

Not only is Mumakil’s awesomely titled debut slab o’wax, The Stop Whining EP, one of the best named releases ever conceived, it is a near-perfect dry run of the subsequent grindcore smartbomb, Customized Warfare. Plus song titles (for the most part)! Early on it bears all the hallmarks of the band’s later development into a Euro-grind powerhouse.
This artifact from the Swiss Misters’ Neolithic past is carved from 12 giant blocks of super-dense granite grind that lacks the rounded edges of niceties of some of their later efforts. In fact, it sounds a tad like Circle of Dead Children’s pigsquealed death/grind brawl in spots. From the very first, Mumakil were compositionally gifted. “Tavernik Growl” bucks a groove like a pony that’s never been broken to the saddle. It paces and lopes with a rush of exhilaration and combative attitude.
However, Mumakil were still a young band and there was the occasional misstep. “Breu Breu,” which kicks off the second side is a thudding dud that threatens to bring the whole EP to a dead stop. It’s a poorly thought out doorstop of a tune that mopes in place without going anywhere in particular. But those are exactly the kind of growing pains to be expected before a band hits it stride. They got all of that out of their system before hitting the studio for Customized Warfare. So, if Behold the Failure wasn’t your thing, stop yer damn whining and give Mumakil’s earliest efforts a spin.

[Full disclosure: Blastbeat Mailmurder sent me a review copy.]

G&P Review: Blockheads/Mumakil

Blockheads/Mumakil
Split
Relapse
Put me in front of a keyboard and I’m normally a pretty verbose dude, but I’ve been sitting on this second meeting between these two evenly matched Eurogrind pulverizers for about four months now trying to figure out what to say about an album that’s serviceable, a nice snapshot of two decent bands doing what they do decently and is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from them with no frills or frippery. Can you see why I’ve been stumped? What do you say about that? So thanks to Impure Lard for prodding me up off my ass.
It’s seven inches of France’s Blockheads colliding with Switzerland’s Mumakil. They play fairly similar styles of straight ahead grind. They both do it pretty well. Relapse put their coin behind this EP so the sound is clear without being pristine and sterile.
I don’t know who pissed in Xav’s ratatouille but dude sounds like he’s ready to cram Freedom Fries under your finger nails as rails his way through Blockheads’ “Famin,” bellowing until his lungs damn near burst. Where the French institution really shines, however, is on the anthemic “Follow the Bombs,” which rocks martial tempos and triumphant guitar arrangements.
Flipside, Mumakil have once again been chugging the blastahol on their three selections, like the scathing “Wish You the Worst.” For anyone who was disappointed in Behold the Failure’s lack of songwriting variety, unrelenting blasts of “No Warning” and “Doomed” work much better in this limited format.
Of the two, I’d definitely score Blockheads as the better band, but over all this is a perfectly enjoyable split. If you’re unfamiliar with either, this makes a great taster platter to familiarize yourself.

G&P review: Mumakil

Mumakil
Behold the Failure
Relapse
Where 2007’s Customized Warfare was an unexpected cluster bomb of an album, Mumakil made the most of Relapse’s dime for their sophomore full length, turning in a far more visceral album than their previous efforts.
The Swiss misters’ oliphauntine stomp and snarl lace Behold the Failure with a feral, restless energy previously hinted but not quite achieved. The band’s mixture of Pig Destroyer nihilism (“Useless Fucks,” “Pisskeeper”) and Nasum attack has matured mightily in just two years and not just because the band actually named their songs this outing.
Mercifully, frontman Tom has dialed way down on the deathcore exhalation/pig squeal vocals, letting his charismatic bark lead the pachyderm-core assault. Guitarist Jeje’s songwriting has also vastly improved. Where Customized Warfare was an insidious if rather faceless effort, Behold the Failure has more texture and hooks despite being an unrelenting blastbeat frenzy. Despite Jeje and bassist Taverne’s past service in mathcore dervishes Knut, Mumakil will not be belaboring you about the upcoming sludge album they want to release in the future. This band goes to 11, and they never dial it back during all 35 minutes.
But it may be that breathless and relentless sense of acceleration that keeps the band from joining the ranks of the Relapse elite. Despite the piss and venom of their songs, Mumakil simply lack the infectiousness that laces the label’s other grindcore greats.
Grind fiends will cream their filthy jeans at Behold the Failure’s blasterpiece theater, but the album simply lacks the kind of musical hooks that will keep more casual consumers of the style riveted. But after several listens, you just know Mumakil have the potential for that kind of breakout album lurking just over the horizon.