It’s been a while since I listened to any new grind, so this recent offering from the Pittsburgh-based Complete Failure definitely filled a gap. A re-release of the band’s self-released album from last year, Season of Mist have done grinders a favour here, as Complete Failure have an excellent grasp of what makes good grind. With flavours of Pig Destroyer, Brutal Truth, and Nasum, yet never quite sounding exactly like any of them, the four-piece are now on their third full-length, and have been punkishly grinding long enough (formed in 2006, drummer Mike Rosswog also did time in Circle of Dead Children and Today is the Day) to make The Art Gospel of Aggravated Assault a short yet sharp shock of fun. The opening bass clunks of Mind Compf are an ominous intro before the guitars and almost tribal percussion enter, a grinding breakdown launching you into the track proper.

The following Social Mile Marker continues the speed and heaviness. The band seem to know the value of a good bit of feedback, and throw in drawn-out moments of atmospheric grimness like Drag Migrator and Hero of the Christ Herd, but fear not, speedfreaks! These moments pass by in a flash, and by far the larger amount of The Art Gospel…’s running time is taken up with blasting. Highlights would be easier to determine if the tracks were longer, but they definitely exist - the title track shows off a Pig Destroyer-esque awareness of the value of a slither of catchiness, for one. The heavy battery of Existist, the brief yet threatening Defenceless Mechanisms of Self-Inflicted Heartbreak, the crunchingly early-Napalm Death-esque blast of Disinvictus… No, tracks aren’t especially varied, but serve to offer a different shade of the grinding on offer, making the experience a unified one. And although obviously at just over twenty minutes’ length The Art Gospel… isn’t going to keep you going for forever, it does serve as a capable and solid little listen that will please fans and get newcomers headbanging.