By James Delgado (Kill The Client)
We never really sounded like any of these bands in the end but the spirit of these specific songs were what we were tuning into back when we started this band up and after digging this little list up and playing it back all these years later… it still makes me want to bounce off the walls, get everyone together and go write some new tunes!
5. Benumb – “Path Of the Righteous” (from Pig Destroyer/Benumb Split)
Soul of the Martyr is probably one of my top favorite albums but this song specifically is the best thing I think they ever did. the over the top vocals, gritty, noisy guitars and heavy drums with the 808 drops are the shit!! I love this band and miss hearing from them.
4. Brutal Truth – “Back Door Mine” (from Need To Control)
A lot of grinders prefer Extreme Conditions over this album for the drumming but I think the overall production and vibe this album has is unmatched. It’s not super fast. It’s not super heavy. It’s just unique as hell and the production tricks on it such as on this song with the megaphone vocal intro is the epitome of badass. Where previously I never had paid much mind to lyrics this album taught me the importance of quality commentary.
3. Employer Employee – “Nil or the Nile” (from [sic])
Unlike today, back in the early 2000s there was nothing going on in Texas at all musically other than two or three bands kinda farting around and this band was my favorite of the small bunch. In a different time like today, they could have been huge. I think they canceled 99% of their shows so I only got to see them once but they were the real deal live and I love this album.
2. Eyehategod – “Peace Through War” (the version off of Southern Discomfort)
How does a band like this influence a grindcore band? You have to make peace with grime and sweat to really enjoy underground grind or punk shows and this band just embodies all of that for me sonically. Turn off your sense of smell, throw in the unhealthy roar of microphone and guitar feedback between tunes or riffs and you have the beginnings of a sick show. This version was originally from a 7″ and has some rapping on it. Not sure it was intended to be rap per se but that’s what I hear and it rules.
1. Nasum – “The Masked Face” (from Inhale/Exhale)
What a fantastic record. Some of the riffs are almost nu-metallish but perfect all the same and it proves that a good followable tune is far superior to a crap load of go nowhere riffs meaninglessly smashed together to be “extreme”. I went to the first Relapse Contamination tour (I think it was ’98 or ’99) and there was about twelve people there and Nasum had already dropped off the tour and returned to Sweden. R.I.P.
Since James is such an awesome dude he compiled this audio package for non-Youtube using Grindiots. Click here to download.
**
Check out the new killer Kill The Client tuneage, “Postmortem Exoneration”, by hitting the play button below.
[audio:https://www.decibelmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Kill-The-Client_Postmortem-Exoneration.mp3|titles=Kill The Client “Postmortem Exoneration”]Kill The Client’s new album, Set for Extinction, is out October 26, 2010 on Relapse Records. Order it here.
