Amorphis and HIM. When these two bands are mentioned, grind is not the first thing that comes to mind. Hell, with HIM in there, it’s probably the LAST thing that comes to mind. But, alas, the little side project known as To Separate the Flesh From the Bones is a project of members from both bands, and ‘Utopia Sadistica’ is their debut full-length. No, it’s not some goth-tinged grind album, either. This is in-your-face grind. Think early Carcass, like, ‘Reek of Putrefaction’ Carcass. Maybe it isn’t pure grindcore, but it’ still grindcore nonetheless. And it’s actually not bad, surprisingly, it’s pretty good.

The writing is, well, grindcore-esque. It’s scattered. It’s not really all that great. But it’s still something that catches your attention. Opener “Meatbash” is just plain cool, sort of making you wish there were people around to start a pit. There are some slower songs on here, like “The Final Extinction” (which is the longest song at a whopping 2:15), “Drowned in Semen,” “Conflagration” and “The Rot” that add a little flavor and variation to the mix of 25 ‘songs.’ The opening riffs of many of the tracks are actually pretty cool, namely closer “Condition Dead,” which is actually very melodic for all of its four seconds of an intro. And with song titles with “Amputated Whore,” “Reek of Excrete,” “Drowned in Semen,” “Rotten Siege,” “Mutilated Virgin Slut,” and “Drunk and Nauseous,” can you really go wrong here? *snickers*

I’m not much of a grindcore fan at all. Hell, the only grind band I really like at all is Napalm Death, and it’s more of their death-laced grindcore, namely ‘Utopia Banished.’ But when I first heard this album, I thought it was a joke, but I kept listening to it. It fucking rocks. This outing is just a fun album. Lyrics are disgusting but humorous. Hell, if you hear someone yelling “DROWNED IN SEMEN!!!” you’re going to laugh. If you want something different, check it out. It should make for an interesting experience.

[This review was first published on the now defunct scandinavianmetal.info webzine]