Band : Venomous Concept

Album title : Poisoned Apple

Label : Century Media

Distributor : EMI

Release date : 25/04/2008

Release : CD

The history of Venomous Concept can be dated back to 1989,when Napalm Death were asked to play their first show as part of New York City's annual music & arts festival at the infamous (and now defunkt) CBGB club.

It's where ND bassist Shane Embury and future Brutal Truth singer Kevin Sharp first met and stuck a bond of friendship through their common musical ideas and preferences. Although the two would loose contact, they obviously struck a chord which was to be important in the future. Sharp grew to instant fame (or infamy, it's all about how you look at things) with Brutal Truth , an act which was ended in December 1998, but Sharp had made several good friends in other bands, one of which was The Melvins ' Buzz Osbourne . Over the years, they had talked off and on about doin' a record together (their bands had done a split 7-inch), but nothing really happened. Then, as if by chance, Sharp happens to be the tour driver on 2003's The Art Of Noise tour, which was to bring Nile Strapping Young Lad , Dark Tranquillity , The Bezerker ...and Napalm Noise on a vast US tour. Some pizza 'n' beer, plus old vinyl classics the likes of Poison Idea , Black Flag and Systematic Death (among others) soon renewed the friendship between Sharp and Embury , and suddenly someone voiced the idea, "Why did we never start a band together?"...

Having said that, the two first talked to former NP drummer Mike Harris . Sharp already knew him from having done stuff together in a band called Pain Killer , so Mike seemed like a good idea. And of course Sharp immediately thought of Osbourne (who'd since worked together with Mike Patton in Fantomas ) as a guitarist. Everything was about set, but then Harris pulled out, choosing for a straight job in teaching recording engineering, and raising his family. But no worries, here's Napalm Death drummer Danny Herrera visiting some family in Los Angeles just when you need him, and the four of 'em got together in a cheap LA studio, recording their Retroactive Abortion album with an unknown engineer in 5 days for pocket change (well, it was possibly a little more expensive, but cheap anyway when compared to the prices some "big" studios with "fantastic sounds" and expensive engineers that go with it). Osbourne suggested his then current label Ipecac (ran by Mike Patton ), and as it turned out it was the only one the four ever considered once the suggestion was made. So, the album was released in 2004, and the guys intended to really rock out and bring the music of their new baby to the people through live promotion, but conflicting schedules led to only one gig being played (on February 13 th @ The Double Door in Chicago).

So now we take a step into more recent history. Osbourne 's schedule being as hectic as it was, he simply could not free himself when it came to getting together again with the other guys to write and record a new album, so Embury switched to guitar, and invited his old friend Danny Lilker (besides having been a member of Nuclear Assault – who made a return earlier this decade - also of Brutal Truth fame) to step in for the bass duties. They went into the studio and cut a couple of songs for a split EP with Japanese Grinders 324 , released on the high-energy HG Fact imprint. Three other songs found their way to Australian label Missing Link   for a limited split-EP (only 500 copies, 200 of which apparently covered with actual human skin -uh?) with Blood Duster (contact missinglink.net.au to find out if you can still be lucky enough to get a copy. I doubt you will be, because the release date was January 23 of last)...and then returned to the studio to record their sophomore album. Meanwhile, Embury had become increasingly pleased with the support they'd been getting from Century Media since Napalm Death had signed with 'em, the suggestion to go with this somewhat "major" label (in terms of Metal, anyway) found a positive response.

Musically, the band brings exactly what you can expect from its membership: 17 brutal, fast, sharp shocks of Hardcore Punk with a vocalist screaming his head off, giving the whole a Grind touch to boot! Amazingly enough, the tunes all have a melodic undercarriage, the kind of which will have the pit dwellers moshing and dancing from note one to finish and beyond! If oldschool Grinding Hardcore Punk is your thing, check out the band's music at myspace.com/venomousconcept, where you'll not only find 3 songs off the debut a 2 off the new one, but also two videos. Possible the band's personal website freewebs.com/venomousconcept also has some music/ videos on it, but I ain't sure (ain't at a place where I can get on-line right now, and I forget to check when I could). Personally, I've always had a thing for all-out aggressive Grind with a sense for melody, and so you shouldn't be surprised to find this Poisonous Apple laying in my "Best Albums Of 2008" basket!

98/100

Tony.