Abscess/Population Reduction [coll] – [Tankcrimes]

My first Tankcrimes review for KFJC! May be biased here because I looove Tankcrimes. On this 2009 split, Benicia, CA’s metal-punk veterans Abscess (RIP 2010) met their progeny: Ohio-to-SF transplants Population Reduction. Remember in ‘The Breakfast Club’ when Molly Ringwald refers to Judd Nelson’s weekend recreations as “heavy metal vomit parties?” Yeah, this is the soundtrack. This multigenerational (in metal time anyway) pairing of defiantly dumb metal punks has a full menu of filth on offer, from drunken murder to anti-baby sentiment. Abscess continue to get called a death metal/punk crossover, which I don’t get because what I hear on their (quite superb, Jef-Leppard-produced) side of this record is a rougher, mid-tempo Death. Makes sense, as for this recording Abscess are actually Death’s mighty spin-off Autopsy with a different 2^nd guitarist. These are ooold-school US deathmetallers doing what they do best, and with the stupid turned up to 11. This music revels in gruesome violence and bodily functions. Abscess are hung over and grumpy; they can’t drink like they used to but they can shred like they used to. Their side ends with a sort of sports-chant about diarrhea (A8). Population Reduction’s side is punkier, catching them in fine form (on their most recent release) and sounding more than ever like a cross between DRI and Carcass. They still love goofy clean vocals, funny samples (B1, B5) and weed jokes, but the music is a little bit more sophisticated than previous outings, seeming to owe more to Testament than Repulsion in terms of riff-writing. But: it’s Pop Redux so it’s got its rancid death metal moments too, of course. All things considered I’m gonna say Abscess won this split by a slim margin, but there are no bad tracks on either side.