REGURGITATE

Adjectives like "wet" usually don't come to mind when you're listening to extreme metal. But the new REGURGITATE is just that. Rickard's vocals are so disgustingly moist and phlegm-soaked, it's enough to make you swear off headphones forever — there are several nasal-cavity-draining moments on "Sickening Bliss" where you feel like you've been told a secret by a leprous hobo, and had the side of your face spattered with a few choice gobbets of snot, coughed-up blood and skin in the bargain. Grotesque!

Of course, this is the band whose second full-length album artwork featured, literally, a "Carnivorous Erection" -- an anthropomorphic penis taking an angry bite out of the tongue of its would-be fellater (is that even a word?). With absolutely no sales in the chain stores assured, these Swedish bastards set out on a path to create some of the grossest, gore-soaked grindcore on earth, heavily influenced by early CARCASS and the usual crowd of European noise merchants (most of whom were a bit more politically inclined than enamored of splatter lyrics).

"Sickening Bliss" may be the band's finest moment, full of enough chaotic blasting, old-school riffing and over-the-top depravity to start mentioning them in the same breath as heralded bands as NASUM and b>JAPANISCHE KAMPFHÖRSPIELE. The production is raw, dirty and gurgling, with just enough clarity to make out the more tasty guitar hooks that bubble up out of the muck. This is grindcore you could mosh to in places, but make no mistake, it's not the slightest bit accessible — it's as depraved and hopeless as anything you might expect, and that's just the way it ought to be.

Fans of CARCASS's early days, old PUNGENT STENCH, and the absolute fetid bottom of the gore-grind swamp (I say that, of course, as a compliment) should scope out "Sickening Bliss" at their earliest opportunity. It's a warm, throbbing bag of guts just waiting for you to dig in, a cut above most bands of their ilk both in presentation and production, and you're not likely to find a more nauseating listen anytime soon.