Gigantic Brain - Invasion Discography

LO! BEHOLD! I HAVE RETURNED! (Temporarily). And what better album to make a ‘grand’ come-back than with the masterpiece known as The Invasion Discography.
Written by none other than the Brain himself, there’s so much back story between me and this album I’d literally have to write a review on the back story (I won’t obviously, but let’s just say I went through a RIDICULOUS amount of trouble to get the album in both physical AND digital form). Now if ya’ll sitting there figuring why all music is bat shit boring, then this is where you stop thinking that, get up, get yourself a copy of this album anyway you can, and shut the fuck up. Possibly the best Cybergrind EVER, next to The Berzerker (they sound nothing alike, to make that clear), the 64 tracks of pure brilliance are enough to keep any Grindcore fan going for some time, and even some not-so-Grindcore-fans might like it.

The pace in the album is forever changing, from the dam slow, to the brain-numbingly fast, courtesy of a drum machine put to good use, obviously accompanied by some weird-ass noises on some sort of synthesizer…thing, simple guitar for some more depth or something along those lines, and some good ol’ classic Grindcore vocals. While it’s not an album for the weak-hearted, (well it IS Grindcore) it’s advisory for people to merely give it a listen for the experience. Even if you HATE this kind of music, you ain’t finding anything else like this around sometime soon, and it would be a good life lesson to you…somehow.

But still, I’m deeming this one of the best albums ever, because of its pure genius and inventiveness, and because it sounds nothing short of fucking awesome. I would advise it to most Grindcore fans and give the album an official ‘kudos’ (If I have it in physical form, it NEEDS that kudos).

Gigantic Brain - World

This is a horribly late review considering how much I listen to this album...

Gigantic Brain made an impact on the underground grind scene with the mammoth Invasion Discography, and after taking a break he spent a couple of years working on this new project. And by 'new' I really mean it, as this is indeed very different and the Brain took his style in a new direction which focused less on BLAST BEAT CYBER NOISES GURGLING AND INWARD SCREAMS (don't get me wrong, I do love grindcore, especially Gigantic Brain) and had a fresh new ambient touch. This sound was touched upon in the Discography in songs like 'Grizzly Impalement, One by One' and 'My Aftermath', and I thought they mixed with the grind well, so I was happy to see more of it in World, and there is a lot. You will only find about 4 or 5 grind-only songs on this 18-track album, so grindcore purists should probably avoid this.

Many of tracks in fact use only ambient sound, such as 'Bacteria', and are 3 or so minute long tracks of long, sad notes which gives a much more melancholy tone to the album, as if it is trying to make the listener feel like a helpless watcher of the earth's demise, unable to help the feeble human race as it plunges inevitably to its self-destruction. That's not to say the drum-machine has been thrown out the window, extreme blasts of chaotic noise are still featured, with or without vocals, and sometimes even mixed with the ambiance, eg 'The God in the Flames' - arguably one of the best songs on the album. In my opinion this works incredibly well and is Gigantic Brain's sweet spot; I love his grind, I love his brutal vocals, but I love the way he finds a balance between the harshest music possible and his softest.

If I were to find any weak spots in the album, I would say there are a couple of points where you could definitely do with a but more lively sound, metal or not. For example, 'Debris' and 'We Come Together in a Hell' have a beautiful feel to them and add to the apocalyptic/alien life concept, but not only do they sound a little too similar but they also both last at least two minutes longer than they need to. I don't want the ambient sound to go, I just think it could have been used a little more effectively in some tracks.

Apart from that minor point, World is one of the most memorable albums of my lifetime, and would recommend to any metal fans, if only to open their eyes to what can be done without the usual 4/5 band members, riffs, vocals and guitar solo. It contains some of what I believe is the most diverse and creative metal out there, despite John having not a great deal of dexterity with a guitar or a real drum set; this is self-expression at its best.

Gigantic Brain - I Swallow 16 Red Planets (includes Betelgeuse EP)

Ok so Gigantic Brain's last two records (which are somehow NOT reviewed on this site) were amazingly good in their own ways, whether they be blissful, extreme or fittingly nicely between the two. So I had great expectations for his new two records, especially when I realized he was releasing all 32 tracks of them for free.

For starters, the Betelgeuse EP. This is a basically a branch of the new style that was brought in on World, but hugely improved. It is 6 ambient/riff based non-grindcore tracks which are almost entirely instrumental. They are, quite simply, incredible, and vary from hopeful, spacey sounds to doom and melancholy, without a blast beat or scream in sight. A good 25 minute listen will take you to the end of the universe and back, seeing ages pass and galaxies die. Sound ridiculous? Listen to it.

The actual 26 track I Swallow 16 Red Planets is a change from before. While the difference isn't as '90 degrees' as World from the Invasion Discography, don't expect this to be much like anything he's done before. Instead of a concept album which mainly focused on either half-heavy riffs or ambience about our planet and the galaxies beyond, this is more the workings of the delirious and hallucinating mind. It has no constant theme but this doesn't hold it down; this only makes the tracks vary massively from verging-on-funny kind of weird tracks like Pet That Kitty, to a new acoustic style with The Dumbest Thing On Earth, trippy tracks like I Was Molested, and classic Brain from Through His Guilt, The Operation Is Delayed. There is still so much more to this and you will truly feel like you have lost your mind by the end. In a really good way.

The Brain is a veteran at trying new stuff, and even the styles that stay the same hardly get old. This is another great batch of songs to add to the dogpile and shows the Brain is happily going strong and not afraid to express itself in whatever way it feels. I know I'll always be hooked.