Before they start focusing on the successor of their acclaimed seventh album “Cursed” and just a few days before embarking on a new European tour with Martyrdöd and Enabler, Finnish grinders Rotten Sound release a new EP entitled "Species at War" to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
Consisting of six tracks that last just over a brief eight minutes, this new effort is no different than what Rotten Sound have offered us in past works, that’s a ridiculously intense, fast and heavy grind. Get ready to suffer a mighty beating for "Species at War" is the equivalent of being inside the octagon (that’s a ring for none UFC aficionados) for two rounds, constantly undergoing some punishing and severe blows.
“Cause” opens the hostilities with relentless blastbeats, a fast and violently intense riffing and Keijo Niinimaa’s caveman growls, while the next track “The Game” sees the band adding more of that slower Swedish death metal groove to the forefront, taming their rabid grind into a catchier, more memorable beast. Both “The Solution” and “Salvation” recapture that crunchy Swedish death metal sound, sounding like Entombed on amphetamines. Then, there’s the ironically titled “Peace” at the finale, which sounds anything but peaceful with Rotten Sound playing a furious grind set for maximum destruction.
Needleless to say that “Species At War” is a valuable addition to the collection of any grindcore fan. 

Band info: www.rottensound.com
Label info:  www.season-of-mist.com

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Finnish grinders Rotten Sound have recently launched an official lyric video for the song “Salvation”. The track comes off the band’s upcoming new EP “Species At War”, which is set for release on January 18, 2013 via Relapse and Season of Mist. Pre-Orders are available here.
 “Salvation” is another blast of intense grindcore fury courtesy of these Finnish maniacs and can be seen below.

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Rotten Sound. What can I say. This was one of the first grind bands that I got into a long while back. Their sound is aggressive and straightforward grinding with hardcore punk elements thrown into the mix. This is the style I have gotten used to when I hear a Rotten Sound album and "Cursed" did not let me down in the slightest way.
From the opening track ("Alone"), a force field of grinding fury hits you dead in the face like nuclear fallout. Aside from straight up grindcore, Rotten Sound also pull a killer hardcore punk sound out of that evil little hat of theirs. Tracks like "Choose" and "Hollow" show this sound to work out quite well. Rotten Sound keep my attention more than some grind bands because all of their songs are not just a few seconds long (see "You Suffer" by Napalm Death and "Greenbleeder" by Total Fucking Destruction). Yes, short tracks like this do get the point across pretty quickly, but sometime I need more variety. Rotten Sound manage to grind out damn near 3:00 of pure madness with what seems like ease. Amazing, melodic riffing floods this album as the stringsmen commit to pleasing the listeners ears. The drumming is absolutely fantastic. Complex and heavy, when it's necessary, mid-paced d-beat styled. Keijo's vocals are unbelievably powerful. The dude has a serious set of pipes on him. He enunciates his screams very well so that every word comes across and is instantly soaked into the listeners brain.
I know that I have been giving a lot of 10/10s lately, but I cannot help it. The albums coming out in 2011 have been blowing my mind. Rotten Sound, I believe have topped anything they've ever done. I think this album is absolutely extraordinary. Definitely worthy of a perfect score. (10/10)

Ross Gnarly
Full review at: American Aftermath

Band info: www.myspace.com/rottensound
Label info: www.relapse.com
For fans of: Napalm Death, Gadget, Nasum

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