Candiru

Most specifically a cross between Malhavoc and Pigface, Pennsylvanian industrial metallurgists Candiru were one of the earliest bands signed to the then-fledgling Relapse Records. Their one and only full-length, 1992’s Unloved And Weeded Out, was a mishmash of retarded techno backbeats, unsettling samples, and poetically twisted spoken-word lyrics. After extensive gigging, Candiru began tedious work on their second album, which was shelved when the label’s interest evaporated. The band folded, and founder Kipp Johnson forgot about the group until, ten years later, Ontario’s digital-hardcore artist and D-Trash label head Schizoid covered Candiru’s "Poison Mouth” on 2001’s Covered In Metal. Johnson then offered the label his heretofore unreleased second album, hence its witty title. Mastered from cassette tapes, the record naturally sounds dated and primitive, though the vintage electro-metal mood heightens further into the album. Patrick McCahan’s lyrical style remains difficult to swallow on "Ministration Of Termination” and "Hatred,” though Johnson’s sampling/programming and bass lines are as beefed-up and intriguing as ever. The ponderous "Omnivorous In You” and (possibly) its remix companion piece "Omnivorous” lope along like old Godflesh, while "Stained” is more accessible with its linear thrash chords. "Residual Damage” and "Subjugation” are akin to Premeditated Murder-era Malhavoc, and the relatively tame "One Night Under A Grate” and "Nova” are even danceable. Guitar noise erodes "And Justice,” while "Mute God” features a snippet of Medicine Man and Sean Connery’s reference to the band’s namesake spiky fish in the Amazon basin that enters the urethras of bathers. Henceforth, Candiru slither into the metal scene a full decade after their demise and lodge themselves permanently in the collections of those still jonesing for Dead World and Soulstorm.