General Surgery – Like an Ever Flying Limb 7”
5 songs on a 7”? Maybe if they were Anal Cunt song length, there would be hope for this 7” to sonically sound good, but I’m doubtful and suspicious that they would. But as I review the digital files, there is no crackle or annoying fuzz that often washes over a 7”, allowing me to focus on the crushing death grind so expertly exhumed and consumed by Sweden’s General Surgery. Even though I have always appreciated this bands output, I only own the Necrology 7” and one newer release as this style of music tends to rarely cross my interest outside of older Carcass and other notable bands that helped shape the genre. I realize that GS emerges from this era as well finding members of Dismember and Afflicted once filling their ranks, but the focus has turned away from the old school probably due to a revolving door line-up, to embrace more of a modern grind aesthetic. For what it is, GS still handle their craft with ease and a violent attention to technical detail, but the short tracks on this slab are more about sound and attack than substance to linger with the listener after the needle lifts off of the record. Perhaps this is one of the many negative points that surface when dealing with a 7”. Either way, General Surgery sound very much alive and well written, sure to appeal to fans of grinding death, but again… give me Symphonies of Sickness, or give me the will to refrain from pointing out the unoriginality of a bands use of white aprons splattered with “blood” on stage. Oops. -Marty
Relapse Records
Worm Gear 