Swallowing Shit

It seems oddly appropriate that Winnipeg, MB's Swallowing Shit started as a self-proclaimed "sad joke" and ended amidst a hail of outraged religious protestors, with the end result seeing the band banned from playing in Winnipeg and dissolving shortly thereafter. Sometimes bands this good simply arise from mundane circumstances, cause seven different kinds of shit and disappear far too quickly. However, G-7 Welcoming Committee has seen to it that while their career may be dead and gone, their music and views remain. Defunct since June of '97, Swallowing Shit's relentless grind pace, witty/provocative song titles and political ideologies sound just as vigorous today as they did during Swallowing Shit's all too brief existence. Tracks like "If Assholes Could Fly, This Place Would Be an Airport," "Burn Winnipeg To The Fucking Ground," "Pro Abortion, Anti Christ" and "Christian Metal = Nazi Reggae" showcases Swallowing Shit's uncompromising mix of grindcore, power-violence, hardcore punk and anti-right political ranting. Every track on Anthology is a brief (usually little more than a minute) shard of musical violence, designed to inflict maximum damage, yet also reverts to droning respites throughout to give the listener an all too brief moment to prepare for the next onslaught. Overwhelming in its delivery, sometimes surgically precise, sometimes sloppy as all hell in its execution, Anthology acts as a reminder that while sometimes great bands with messages go unnoticed in their time, that as long as someone listened, their message and music shall remain.