All Falls Down/Reanima - Split

As promotion of their upcoming album, gindcore band All Falls Down released three tracks as a brief EP along with a fellow metal band, Reanima, from Vienna. The two are similar in sound, but with a few distinct differences. While both very technical in their work, All Falls Down is aggressive grindcore that just refuses to let up. Track after track (the first three), the band hammers out bursts of grunting vocals, squeals, high pitched guitars and drumming that goes a million miles a minute. However, unlike most grindcore bands who just shell out everything at once and refuse to stop, All Falls Down actually like to segment their work with pauses in between the instruments so everything can actually be heard. It's almost like a deathcore outfit when it comes to a track like "The Tongue Of A Martyr," which blasts off at first, and then quiets down a bit on the drumming with some cymbal work side to let the guitars have a few technical moments in brief chugs, right before the drums trade back the favor. Vocals are mostly gutteral, but not so much they feel completely chopped up and ruined. On the other hand, a track like "Eugenics," just takes off and doesn't stop. There are no momentary pauses for technical work or anything like that- it just pulverizes.

Reanima are more of a hardcore/ metalcore outfit. They also tend to switch between gutteral low growls and higher pitched shrieks, but the music is not so technical and relies more on bursts of chugging riffs that add a bit of groove to the music, especially when it comes to "I Would Like To Kiss You..." Think of them as similar to earlier All Shall Perish and their gloriful brutality. Of course, not all of their music is just stop and go, stop and go. Some parts just seamlessly flow together without giving up any part of the groove bits. "Thanks a Bomb" is more of slow, churning song that seems more like a death n' roll track, but the guitars are a bit more technical in their tone and the track doesn't repeat as much, and there is a brief war sample at the end that some fans may find interesting, and others may just consider it filler (especially since it goes on for a while). Still, if you're looking for a good hardcore outfit with death vocals, then Reanima is worth looking into, just as All Falls Down is a good grindcore band with lots of potential to rise above the usual mediocre stuff.

  1. The Tongue Of A Martyr
  2. Venice_Colma
  3. Eugenics
  4. I Would Like to Kiss You, But There Is A Needle In Your Arm
  5. Concrete
  6. Thanks A Bomb (Or Two)