Expurgo - Burial Ground (2010)

   The new sound of grindcore - even if it's about an old school oriented direction, just like in the case of Expurgo - just left behind the traditional practice that builds on the contrast of simple punk influenced basic themes and intense grinding.

   This proved to be an advantageous tendency, partly because the music became more unified, and at the other hand because the songs kept their heaviness. That might changed the basic concept of the genre a bit and also turned it closer to grind/death, that meanwhile increased the effectiveness. Not speed was the only factor anymore, some bands wrote better themes and stepped out from the state of musical Dadaism, while those who preferred to stay, tried to sound more exaggerated. Expurgo also had horror and  goregrind as mainly inspirational features, so their style selection was not a coincidence. Their music defititely recalls the early '90s (Terrorizer, Revolting, Napalm Death, early Carcass), but with great sound quality, and that makes it also the part of a new waved movement. So their music is nostalgic and counts modern the same time, compatible with the taste of old school fans, but also could be enjoyable for the lovers of modern sounding brutality. The basic punk influenced themes didn't disappear completely, but because of the heavy, noisy sound they're not serving as contrast anymore. They're more reminding to thrash by this speed and form. Deep growling lead vocal assisting to the intense brutality with second, screaming backing vocal. In total "Burial Ground" is a well made modern masterpiece of the genre.