Escuela Grind – Memory Theater
Release Date: 30th September 2022
Label: MNRK Heavy
Bandcamp
Genre: Metallic Hardcore, Grind.
FFO: Wormrot, Napalm Death, Gatecreeper, Pig Destroyer, Nasum.
Review By: Rick Farley
New England metallic hardcore grind band Escuela Grind are frighteningly heavy. Death grind power violence is how the band describes themselves on social media, and honestly, I couldn’t think of any better way to label it. Serving up their newest disgusting helping of grindy brutality, Memory Theater releasing on MNRK Heavy in late September 2022 is a vicious example of grind in the modern age. The band’s debut album Indoctrination, released two years prior in 2020 was just a brief glimpse of a what was to come. Memory Theater which clocks in at a mere twenty-two minutes is a straightforward no frills display of sheer savage aggression with the main goal of destroying everyone in its path. This is undoubtedly pit friendly music, which will surely incite some serious destructive violence.
So, to just get this out of the way early, twenty-two minutes, even by grindcore standards, is pushing it a bit. This album is a raging, smashing beast, sure, but I would still have a tough time justifying the price for a such a short runtime. The songs themselves are a little on the longer side in terms of this genre, but honestly, it’s on the edge of being EP length, which lessens the value for the consumer. In the end, not everyone will care about this, but I definitely do. It however does not change the fact that in that short length, Escuela Grind conjure up the most authentically no bullshit, furiously blasting, heavy grooved display of hostility. A severe musical beatdown if you will.
Produced by Kurt Ballou, Converge guitarist and God City Studio producer, the album sounds ferocious. The guitars have a metallic sharpness, are very loud in the mix, creating crusty and nauseating heaviness. The bulky bass enhances the wall of noisy distortion with oppressive weight. The drums have a thick percussiveness giving them a punchy live feel and the vocals come across emphasized and nasty. In short, the record sounds great, nowhere near muddy, but is just gross sounding nastiness.
The crunchy riffs on Memory Theater from guitarist Krissy Morash and vocalist/guitarist Katerina Economou are a loose battering of skull crushing hardcore grooves and inflamed fits of grind and speed. Katerina’s vocals are of equal ill temper; her shouty, crisp and raspy screams are venomous. The drums from Jesse Adan Fuentes and unnamed recording bassist provide a tight, heaving backbone of unhinged bombast and chaos. On a side note, Thomas Sifuentes is listed as touring bassist. This is not a reinterpretation of the genre or even that far off from being already familiar to every hardcore/grind fan out there, and that’s not really a negative thing. The music has an old school hooky feel to it that’s undeniable and instantly likeable. This is a harsh but recognizable groove based noxious force presented in an ugly, horrendous shell of genuine antagonism. Truly sounding fierce and intensely fighting mad is what separates Escuela Grind from the pack.
The band are also champions of breaking down boundaries and encouraging greater social acceptance of the underrepresented. As stated by the band, the overwhelming spirit behind Escuela Grind is a message of empowerment, destroying musical limits and gatekeeping with equal ferocity. This feels true, as while Memory Theater is brutish, terrifying, and noisy, it’s also very accessible and downright catchy. Be sure to check this band out.
(3.5 / 5)
