Customer Reviews

Shift

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

there is no question that nasum is probably the most punishing and furious grindcore bands ever. since the release of "inhale/exhale", nasum has been torching the grind scene with an excellent mix of all out speed and slow, thick heaviness. with each release, nasum kept getting better. however, i didn't think they could top "helvete", which in my opinion is one of the most brutal grindcore albums ever released. but when 'particles' came oozing out of my speakers, i had a feeling i was in for a surprise.

make no mistake, "shift" is nasum's best release. it amazes me that nasum can stick with the same formula for every release, yet almost every song sounds unique. every aspect of their music hooks onto you, whether it be the all out speed, grooves, and heaviness of the guitars, the pounding drums that simply know no end to the blastbeats, or the onslaught of some of the best vocals in metal. also worthy of mention is the production, which really brings out the fury of all the instruments and vocals.

if your new to nasum or if you're a long time fan, "shift" will not dissapoint. it doesn't stray far from nasum's already impressive discography, but it also sounds very unique, allowing for many repeated listens, which is hard to come by in grindcore.

with that being said, for those unaware, the lead vocalist and guitarist of nasum since "inhale/exhale", Mieszko Talarcyzk, sadly passed away on December 26, 2004 from the devestating tsunami attack. while i really hope this doesn't mean the end for nasum, there is no question that Talarcyzk helped create one of the longest standing and greatest grind bands to date. i send my condolensces to Nasum and Talarcyzk's friends and family, and also thank Mieszko for bring the metal world some of the greatest grindcore and vocal onslaughts ever. you will be missed.

RIP Mieszko Talarcyzk
December 23, 1974 - December 26, 2004

Great band, great new album ... check out their website nasum dot com for video downloads etc, new promo video ... Terrible news about vocalist/guitarist Miezko being lost in tsunami on Phi Phi (Thailand). Could be their last release, although they have been through lineup changes before this is very major.

Rumor has it that a collection of all their stuff is in the works.

In case you didn't know (you probably found out by now), Nasum vocalist Miezko has officialy been confirmed dead after the tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004. It is a sad day for the world of grindcore, for Nasum is one of Sweden's finest. Don't just buy this album cause it rocks. Buy it to support your fellow metalheads and give pity to the other members who must suffer this great loss.

Awesome doesn't even come close. This album is brutal/thrash from start to finish.
The vocalist adds alot to the overall sound, as he is in my opinion, up there with Grady Avanell from Will Haven with how good he can scream. I like the way the album starts too. From nothing, to a slow, heavy riff, to all out thrash. And from there it never lets up.

I can't really point out the 'best' songs on here, as they are all great, and all run into eachother without really a break inbetween. If you really want to listen to some really heavy thrash metal, this is what you are looking for.

The title of this review is not (just) an obnoxious pun in light of the death of Nasum's frontman...it seems a fitting philosophy of one of the most sincere, straight-up grindcore bands the world has ever seen. Shift, Nasum's final studio album, is a fitting tribute to the dedication they embodied, but to write it off as a mere finale hurrah for the band is to sell it short. Bottom line, Shift is a fantastic, unrelenting grind album.

Like many who came to appreciate Nasum following their break-up, I catch myself wondering 'what could have been' had frontman Mieszko Talarczyk not perished in the 2004 tsunami. After all, Shift is such a ferocious, aggressive, genuinely outraged piece of work, it's hard not to ponder if the band could have topped it with subsequent releases (the recently formed Coldworker, featuring Nasum's drummer, Anders Jakobson, might help provide an answer to that question). Grind is a genre that's undergone a sort-of renaissance or at least revival in the 00's, and Nasum were definitely at the forefront of that trend. Shift is their last and greatest work. It would've been hard for anyone to top.

What does the album itself sound like? Well, anyone who's familiar with grindcore knows the drill: tortured screams, mile a minute guitar riffage, and brutal blastbeats all densely packed into tunes under 90 seconds long. No surprises there. What Nasum does to make it interesting is a combination of sincerity and some creativity to make them more interesting than your run-of-the-mill Brutal Truth tribute band. One spin of stand-out track "The Engine of Death" demonstrate the band's conviction, while more experimental tunes such as "Closer to the End" and "The Deepest Hole" suggest a (gasp!) melodic side beneath the machine's ferocious visage.

Nasum were a band who made no bones about their political beliefs, and the majority of their songs adopt some political platform. Because they're Swedish, it is unsurprising that many of the issues they address are global ones (globalization, labor, terrorism, etc.), not isolated to one time or place, yet very relevant to contemporary politics. On their myspace page, the singular influence that the band list on their sound are the godfathers of grind, Napalm Death. This is readily apparent in Shift's sound and intensity, but it's also very pleasing to see another band carry on the genre's history of social and political investment, rather than churning out song after song about death, dissection, decapitation, et. al. Many songs have brief, clever vocal samples that address these issues at face value, but the lyrics, while pointed, are never blunt to the point of stupidity. It's a nice, mature mix of the two.

The reason I bought this album was because a friend of mine burned me a mix cd with two Nasum songs, "Fight Terror With Terror" and "Deleted Scenes" on it. I had heard of Nasum before, especially after the tsunami effectively ended the band's career, but this was my first exposure to their music itself. I was hooked immediately. These are still my two favorite tracks on Shift, and I think the best testament to the band's gift for songwriting, an invaluable trait that many grind bands simply don't hone to much success. Not Nasum, however. I CONSTANTLY get these two songs stuck in my head...not just the riffs (which are great), but the intricate, hyperactive drum lines, and even Mieszko's lyrics and maniacal screams. This is one of the things that seperates Nasum from the pack, and makes Shift worth many repeated listens: songs don't just blur together, there are stand-out tracks, some of which are written very deliberately and intelligently. Skate thrash this isn't.

My only criticsms of this album is that it goes by very quickly (no surprise), as in it seems so short. 37 minutes for a full-length grindcore album is no small feat, but the ride is so enjoyable it seems like it comes to an aburpt halt. A few tracks come off as filler, especially in the album's middle section, but in general, each song has at least one hook that is catchy and worth looking forward to. To state the obvious, because this is a very honest grindcore album, it's perhaps most enjoyable/cathartic when the listener is already in a bad mood, and those unfamiliar with the genre will probably find no redeeming value to this record. Unlike so many other grind bands out there, however, Nasum are not weird or heavy or obscene JUST for the sake of pissing off your parents and neighbors...they have some more subtle, musical aims in mind.

Bottom line, fans of grind would definitely benefit from picking up this album. Shift was my introduction to one of the greats of the ever-widening genre, but definitely won't be my only exposure. Any old-school Nasum/grindcore fans who have their doubts would do well to dispell them now...this album, in spite of a few short-lived dull moments, is a neo-classic, a fittingly powerful final blow from a fantastic band.

Having been as impressed as I was with "Helvete" my expectations were quite high when I heard Nasum was releasing "Shift". Upon first listen, I was floored!!! Song after song and none of the speed or agression faded, in fact it seemed to get crazier and more experimental as the record went on. Well, maybe experimental is the wrong word....different seems more suitable. There are a few songs, on the latter part of "Shift", that sound like they were written with the assistance from the great but short lived "Botch".....and it worked.....Nasum was on to something. However, fate being what it is intervened, and on Feb 17 both the Relapse Records and Nasum web site announced that vocalist/guitarist Mieszko Talarczyk was killed in Thailand during the tsunami disaster. One good thing remains, that Mieszko Talarczyk wherever he may be, can rest assured that "Shift" did it's job and did it well.

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