Massacre – From the Womb to the Grave

1986 • Ataque Frontal

It's always neat to hear genres branch out geographically, like non-US hip hop and things like that. You often get a style fused with a regional/folk influence, but sometimes you can get something incredibly generic, just sung in a different language. Finnish punk band Massacre's From the Womb to the Grave is sadly in the latter category.

See, I don't give free passes for bands simply because they're foreign and therefore inherently more interesting. Massacre simply plays some very simplistic and generic punk rock. Granted, it doesn't get to the same level of irritation that the Ramones create. Massacre's riffs and songwriting aren't terrible; they are just uninspired and uninteresting. It's like they listened to a few US punk records from the late '70s and early '80s and decided to copy what they heard—in 1986, when punk had already gone way beyond what they were playing here.

Also immediately noticable is the poor production—incredibly muffled and tinny, with guitars that sound like vacuum cleaners and underwater drums. I guess it goes with the general lo-fi DIY aesthetic that tended to go with early European punk (in my experience), so I won't knock the album much for it, but it is a bit annoying.

Sure, From the Womb to the Grave might make decent background or party music (and it probably wasn't bad live) but don't think about what you're listening to, or this will put you right to sleep. For punk virgins only.

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