CD review VENOMOUS CONCEPT ‘Politics vs. the Erection’

The foundation for Venomous Concept was created in 2004 when Kevin Sharp and Shane Embury decided to start the band together. After having had a complete line-up in place, with Danny Herrera (d) and Buzz Osborne (g), the quartet started rather quickly to work on songs that ended up on the debut ‘Retroactive Abortion’, which was released in summer 2004.

The second album followed four years later before radio silence took over. It was pretty quiet for a while with the band returning fully charged and with a new guitarist, John Cooke, in 2016. The third longplayer loudly ended the hiatus with twenty Grindcore smashers that brought the band literally back on stage.

Going back to a four years release cycle, the guys release this year a next wrecking ball called ‘Politics vs. the Erection’. All the craziness that’s ongoing right now in politics and social matters seems to be a fruitful soil for the Grindcore veterans to release a no-nonsense album with an artwork being the perfect visualization.

Venomous Concept doesn’t need a lot of time to get things going and many layers to transport their message. More than two minutes can be seen already as a musical epos on ‘Politics vs. the Erection’. Most of the songs, like the smashing ‘Hole in the Ground’ deliver this spot-on approach and 53 seconds can be enough to unleash a raging Grindcore beast.

Although being wild and furious, the longplayer contains songs ‘Lemonade’ too. Hardcore, Punk and Grindcore are the base for this track that belongs certainly to the highlights of the album. An anarchic vibe makes this very groove- and rhythm-based track to a real knockout. A song that belongs to the same category is ‘Promise’, also showing Venomous Concept in a broader perspective than only pushing the pedal to the metal.

‘Politics vs. the Erection’ is a blast, forged by guys that follow their heart when it comes to hard and heavy music. Venomous Concept finds the sweet spot of unbound Grindcore and anarchic Punk, both together being the base for an excellent album that lives by its fierce and intransigency.