Sweden’s Child have been around a while now, having formed around nine years ago, but they’ve not been particularly productive in that time. The excellently-named Shitegeist is just their second release in that time, but if their work rate is slack then their musical velocity more than makes up for it.
Crust-ridden grind is the name of the game, and Child establish their credentials from the get-go with thundering opener and title track Shitegeist; At their best when they hit a rumbling, Napalm-styled deathgrind maelstrom, the band vary their sound enough to keep things interesting whilst still maintaining a grim, nihilistic standpoint from which to berate the listener.
The best track here is the band’s take on the Al Jourgensen-penned I Will Refuse, which is a glorious old-school slab of madness originally recorded by hardcore supergroup Pailhead, but that’s not to say that the band’s own material, um, pales by comparison; Final track Swiper is an all-in rager that won’t fail in it’s quest to get your blood pumping and your fists pumping into something nearby, and any time founder member Albin Sköld cranks his kit into top gear you can’t help but go along for the ride.
Per Stålberg – who you may know from Division of Laura Lee – and Alex Stjernfeldt combine with bassist Staffan Persson to create just the sort of wall of sound you’d expect from this tip of mullarkey, and Jocke Lindström strips paint on the mic with grim faced efficiency. This is good stuff to be sure, and if the band could maybe come up with a couple of rebel-rousing classics of their own then album number three could be a bit of a ripper!
Shitegeist is out now.
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