The Relapse Records reissue of
Repulsion's seminal
Horrified (already rave-reviewed elsewhere) augmented the original, 18-track early grindcore template with a second CD containing another 30, mostly unreleased cuts to encompass a virtual anthology of the Michigan band's entire recording history. Dating from between November 1984 to late 1991, these often comprise demo versions of songs ("Six Feet Under," "Eaten Alive," "Decomposed," etc.) later found on the group's only album (ten, to be exact) as well as the odd numbers that didn't make the cut. The earliest of these, including "Armies of the Dead," "Satan's Whores," and "Crack of Doom," still betray a heavy
Slayer influence and were recorded when the band was going by the name of Genocide. Their understandably spotty sound quality aside, they offer fans revealing glimpses inside
Repulsion's speedy evolution from extremity to hyper-extremity so, er, extreme that perfectly high-quality material like "Crypt of Terror" and "Black Nightmare" would ultimately be discarded for not being gore-encrusted enough! Similarly revealing is a pair of live recordings ("Radiation Sickness" and "Black Breath") from around the time of
Horrified's release, and shortly before the band's abrupt demise -- these tunes' raging, uncontrollable intensity helping to explain why it just couldn't last. The final seven rarities on hand date from demo sessions cut during the band's brief early-'90s re-formation in an attempt to capitalize on growing interest fomented by British grindcore success stories like
Napalm Death and
Carcass. But although they show
Repulsion's uncompromising philosophy to have held up, for the most part, undiminished, only a couple of cuts (most notably the amusing "Helga [Lost Her Head]") managed to recapture the inspired, frenzied depravity of old, and the musicians' interest quickly faded away. Alas, maybe some apparently all-too-brief moments in time are best left exactly at that, and so might have been
Horrified's original, unenhanced version were it not so difficult to find in stores nowadays, making this two-disc reissue all the more necessary. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia