Harpoon is a Chicago-based duo (now beefed up to a trio) whose grindcore meets metal batterings are backed by programmed drums, an element that sets a definitive tone for DOUBLE GNARLY/TRIPLE SUICIDE. Coming off as sterile and clinical when artificial beats become inhumanly overbearing (“Throngs”) despite maintaining a crushing concoction of blasting guitars and glass-gargled vocals throughout (“The Cacographer,” “Lefty,” “Frogs, Boils, Locusts…”). Even though shards of Slayer, Napalm Death, and Pig Destroyer rear their heads in sporadic spurts on this 12-track affair, overall these morsels of metallic goodness are detracted by synthetically sounding skin bashing that plagues the entire production. Re-record drums with a powerhouse behind the kit (Dave Witte? Danny Herrera?) and the results would be radically different, but for now this disc is a few steps away from being something to marvel. www.interloperrecords.net -Mike SOS
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