Carrion For Worm

I still remember a copy of Nuclear Death second full length "carrion for worm" lp sitting for years in New Zabrinskie Point's metal section. While flipping through records, every time I bumped into it, I always stopped, grabbed it and stared at the cover. It had one of the ugliest yet intriguing artwork ever. It looked like it was drawn by a very disturbed 7 years old kid. Seriously, a creepy long haired dude with  a dead cat hanging on his belt that's ripping flesh out of what looks like a dying calf with a human face? And a worm shaped zombie looks at it while crawling out of the soil? They definitely knew how to get my attention. But this artwork was too disturbing for 16 years me so I always put it back and went through the rest of the crates. Then one day, while talking with the drummer of a local grindcore band from back then, he mentioned them as one of their main influences and started praising them. So next week I finally asked to the record shop owner to listen to it. I wasn't prepared for what came outta the speakers. This wasn't nor your average overproduced yankee technical death metal neither classic grindcore. Like the cover, the music was ugly, dirty and with one of the lowest production ever. I didn't like it immediately. It took me several years to finally understand and digest it. Nuclear Death was, and still is, the most unique band that came outta US in the early 90s. Fronted by Lori Bravo (perhaps the first female death metal singer ever?), this Arizona trio assembled some of the most original music at the time. While they never stand out for their musical ability, they created a dark and gloomy atmosphere by lowering down their sound as  much as possible. Compared to their debut album "bride of insect" that still show some thrash metal influences, here they tuned down their sound so much to create one of the most depraved atmosphere ever. The only other record that has the same vibe is perhaps Blasphemy "fallen angel of doom", another contemporary masterpiece also released by Wild Rags. Add to that also an original lyrical approach. While everyone was dealing with satanic, horror/gore or political stuff, Nuclear Death went for the darker side of the human mind, its most depraved ideas and perverted thoughts. Something as hard to deal with as their music and artwork. If the word "cult" has been definitely abused in the last few years, well Nuclear Death is absolutely a band that deserve this adjective & status. Scored this copy recently still sealed for a good price.