Nembutal – Pay To Die (Self-released. 2016).

Nembutal – Pay To Die (Self-released. 2016).

London grindviolence degenerates Nembutal return with another helping of hate, despair and anger with the raging Pay To Die, which comes in with seven original new songs and a live song at just under 17 minutes. Several of the riffs on the first song, Repetition, are the same as those from the final track Dosage//Altercation from the previous demo, a good way to link the two releases and easily explains the title. Much like the aforementioned song from the last demo, it is raging piece of powerviolence, but doesn’t quite pack the same punch the second-time round. Oh well, it doesn’t matter, as the rest of the Pay to Die EP is still full of the raw, unhindered anger that made the demo killer. As the rest of the EP continues, expect intense, high-speed powerviolence with raw riffs, decent drumming, some enjoyable bass sections, and the savage vocals of Wayne. A few songs are quite interesting in the fact that there is not necessarily much tempo variation, such as the slower, somewhat sludgy Monologue, which seethes with the sort of misanthropic hatred that easily seeps into those who dwell in London. As it plods along, you can feel the disgust and contempt increase. It acts as an interesting contrast with the rest of the EP. There are also some great doomier riffs around the midpoint of the second song, Sheep, which adds power to the song and enhances the fury of the faster sections. The final song, Mundane, is more up-tempo, with some great d-beat style drumming, before heading into a more doomy dirge towards the end that finishes off the newer material well with a simmering sense of revulsion. There is also a live version of Nembutal from when the band played in Nottingham during their 2015 UK tour. Production wise, it is of similar quality to the demo, and so everything is balanced well with the bass being audible and the guitars can still be deciphered easily when the pace goes into overdrive. Overall, this is still a raging release, it is sad that this is likely going to be the final thing that will be released by Nembutal. 6.75/10.