Bisturi – Bisturí

We’ve been covering Spain’s burgeoning grindcore scene lately, and it’s clear that it’s gaining significant momentum. With bands like Nashgul, Grindfernö, State Terror, Convulsions, Vilmort, Horrible, and many others yet to feature on our site, it’s safe to say that Spain currently spawns some of the best outputs in extreme music. Another unique band hailing from Cantabria is Bisturi. With numerous small releases and splits with established goregrind and noisecore acts like Reeking Cross and Pulmonary Fibrosis, they deliver a sound rooted in raw, old-school mincegrind, featuring lyrics that dwell on horrific pathological conditions.

Their self-titled anthology, Bisturí, contains all the material recorded and released from their formation in 2016 up to 2022, including a 22-minute live track recorded at Orbeko Etxea Laudio in the Basque country—61 songs in total. Released by Base Record Production and Hecatombe Records on September 2, 2022, it is undoubtedly a contender for one of the most extreme and violently sounding grindcore albums of the last 20 years. While their base sound can be categorized as noisegrind, they incorporate groovier goregrind moments and heavy mincecore influences through simplistic, catchy riffs and a perfect drum sound with unmatched rhythmic blasting. These 61 anti-songs rush over you like a high-speed train, leaving you speechless, as if it all passed in the blink of an eye. The atmosphere is heavy and dirty; there’s something about the overall production and the band’s style that is both compact and captivating. You can listen to these songs over and over without getting tired—the album is definitely addictive for those with an ear for supreme noise mastery.

The heavily distorted bass forms a wall of sound. The chaotic and frenetic guitar work never ceases to amaze with its brilliantly crafted riffs. The absolutely insane vocals and unimaginably fast blastbeats blend perfectly together. Bisturi creates a brutal and ferocious atmosphere of death and destruction, reaching an almost transcendental state of musical insanity. With insane tempo changes, devastating riffage, effortless shifts between low growls and high shrieks, a snare and cymbal drum sound that will hook every grind maniac instantly, and occasional slow, utterly devastating moments, they deliver a relentless assault on the senses. Bisturi not only pays excellent tribute to grindcore but also establishes something uniquely their own. This compilation CD is an instant classic and will surely be regarded as such in the years to come; it’s rare to hear such barbaric noise madness executed so well, so professionally, and so pulverizingly heavy. Clever songwriting, an original approach to composition, and a deep understanding of the genre’s specifics go a long way—so much so that the 75-minute duration of the disc comes and goes in a brief glimpse; you won’t even notice it. It is truly a kind of noise sorcery.

Reminiscent of classic acts like Gore Beyond Necropsy, Catasexual Urge Motivation, Warsore, Fear of God, 7MON, Archagathus, Psychotic Sufferance, and Ulcerrhoea, Bisturi—though clearly influenced—manage to add something new to the grindcore genre with their original blend of gore, mince, and noisegrind musical tropes, making it a definite high point of the genre today! Recommended for all fans of raw and brutish old-school grindcore/noisecore with an edge.

Don’t forget to check out this compilation, still available at Hecatombe Records and in many underground grind distros, as well as their new cassette split with Pulmonary Fibrosis on Fistula Records, which continues in the same direction and is better than ever.