Carbonized - For the Security
Review: History moves in cycles, iterating circularly both in context and internally, as if analyzing its effects against its guts, and in this method Carbonized negotiates the rigid rebellious nature of grindcore in combination with the introspective and ludic elements of metal, using each to transcend the other in an alluvial panopoly of techniques that elevate the grindcore cynicism toward human politics to a metaphysical formula.
Starting deliberately with one of the most basic riffs in the underground, this album struts into existence by blasting out a declaration of simple rigid conflict, then breaks it to divide its more boisterous complementary half into a series of high-speed riffs backed by a simple melody; this archetype repeats through exuberant rhythm riffs like those favored by the more aggressive moments of Discharge or Repulsion contrasted with strikingly euphonious melodies and aesthetic dissolution of any single form, including offtime yells and goofy singing. This fragments the grindcore-safe thinking of rigidity, dissolving it into the emotional, and then melding that into a brutal realism that approaches pure Zen nihilism. These tendencies underscore the theme of the lyrics of the title track, which emphasize how individual fear produces control systems of increasing power, not the other way around.
1. Recarbonized (4:07)
2. Hypnotic Aim (1:44)
3. Euthanasia (3:33) 
4. Blinded Of The Veil (3:28)
5. Syndrome (2:10)
6. Reflections Of The Dark (2:38)
7. Third Eye (2:14)
8. Purified (From The Sulfer) (3:32)
9. For The Security (1:58)
10. Monument (2:51)
Riff for riff, this release exceeds in intensity other early releases of the grindcore genre, but because like other undersung grindcore (Dead Infection, Blood) it chooses to express itself in metaphor and context instead of direct symbolic assault in a linear affirmation of the tangible aspects of material reality being exactly what they seem to signify, it never garnered the praise of the grindcore community. The largest influences for faster parts are Repulsion and Napalm Death, but the deliberate inclusion of contrasting elements like disco beats, surf guitar riffs, and inverted chords seems designed to thwart the idea that anything can be as a whole exactly as it is represented. While this could easily veer into the trivial re-configuration of known elements to produce a baffling but "unique" exterior, Carbonized avoid it on this album by always having a narrative of expression, even if one outlined in the consistency between disparate parts.
Guitars, bass and drums interact in the integrated style expected from genres like metal and grindcore yet interrupted by dynamic breaks from the onrush of sound return in solidity, giving the album a firm base of listenable material upon which to build. It deviates from this foundation into the inner world of imagination, contemplative and vaguely mystical, which it develops through wandering melodies that drift without beat emphasis in the noctilucent style of early Therion. Like a scientific occultism, this reminds us that good people create evil when they mistake the appearance of good for the process that recreates good; where metal reminds us ("only death is real") that trumps emotion, Carbonized aims to stealthily slide under the symbolic level of perception with a cycle of renewal within its momentum of revolution, replacing aggression against the tangible with an enduring awareness of possible, and escapes becoming the next iteration of the dogma it would replace.