What to make of a band like Grossty, a six-headed monstrosity that has been popping its head up in the Bengaluru grind, death metal and crust-punk underground scene for a few years now? They are absolutely psycho, that is for certain. When you go by monikers such as Lunch Skipper, Bad Influence, Monk Killa, Pimp, Orphan and Kuchi, it is safe to say the music you make is going to be just as whacked out.
Everything about Grossty is either hilarious, disgusting or just way too brutal. Their first full-length album is called Crocopter , featuring psychedelic yet bizarre artwork that features a part of a crocodile with helicopter blades attached, with a lot of other gooey, flesh-like matter hanging around on a chequered floor. If that doesn’t convince you enough to pick it up and inspect it closely, there are 21 tracks of grind madness on Crocopter , that – in true grind fashion – wrap up the album in 22 minutes.
There is a lot to take in when you hear a grind album – the buzz-saw riffs, the noisiest guitar leads, the non-stop blast beats and drum rolls and the excruciatingly harsh vocals that are definitely
undecipherable. From the smack of the snare drum that kicks off ‘Brink’, there begins a hell of a journey that makes you laugh, but also would get serious props from anyone who loves grind and death metal. Grossty are relentless and superfast with tracks like ‘Burn Baby Burn’, ‘Death Roll’ and ‘Saltie’.
Things get proper psycho on the second half of the album, with ‘Gounder Grind’ coming as a hilarious tribute to Tamil comedian Goundamani, with the weirdest lyrics ever. But everyone loves Goundamani for a laugh and half. Songs like ‘Proud to be a Pervert’ are pretty much a thematic foreshadowing to even more perverse songs like ‘P**** Bun’, but the music stays steadily brutal and groovy. There’s even a five-second song called ‘Rawr’ that’s indicative that Grossty have thrown everything they’ve got into Crocopter .
Even if you aren’t a fan of grind’s neckbreak speed and misanthropy, Grossty can probably convert you, while being funny as hell about it. And if you are a fan of brutal death metal, slam, grind, crust punk and hardcore, Crocopter is the most original thing you’ll hear from India’s underground metal scene this year.
