When I find myself taking the occasional trip into the world of grind, it feels as though I keep finding myself in the midst of creations that lack form and thrive in chaos to the point where it’s a clear detriment to the effort itself even if that was the intended effect. It’s all well and good to want to assault the senses in an unorganized, vicious way that leaves nothing to chance and no survivors in sight whatsoever, but there isn’t anything that can compare to a work of grind that has even just a little bit of attention put into its DNA. Consisting of musicians that are quite skilled in every regard, I had hope that Ernia would be one of the few in far too long for me to deliver a slab of grind that caught me off-guard. Fortunately, I sit before you pleasantly surprised.
Even in the smallest of amounts, color and structure can really make any body of work stand out where many others are self-destructive and burnout damn near instantly no matter how bright their flash may be. Grind has always been a style for me that works in only the right hands with its stigma of being a glorious, shambled mess something that I find just a tad off-putting at times, but it’s with the inclusion of bands like Ernia that I’m not able to find myself fully turning away from what the style has to offer. In every way from the death metal influences to the very title of the album itself, “How to Deal with Life and Fail” is a work of grind that holds no shame in steeping itself in what the style has always been known for while still making its 13-track, 33-minute runtime overflowing with excellence for us to sink our teeth right into. Whether Ernia finds itself tackling more of its death metal aspects, experimenting with a different approach to chaos like we see in the apocalyptic finale, or melting our brains with melodies faster than we can keep track of, it’s the very whole of “How to Deal with Life and Fail” that keeps the listener guessing as to what precisely is coming next while the reality always leaves you spinning, unable to recover before the next assault is already underway. There’s nothing that must be underestimated about this record whether or not you’re a fan of the small finesse that makes this sound solely Ernia’s, for if you find yourself not taking this vicious craft seriously then you will quickly find yourself under the steel boot of Ernia with no remorse or mercy anywhere to be seen.
It’s because of works like this that I cannot help but feel that I don’t venture into the realm of grind often enough, but maybe it’s because works like this aren’t exactly a dime a dozen that I find myself absolutely enamored with them when they do cross my radar. All that Ernia brought forth for this chaos really does feel like a rare occurrence of the right talent in the right place at the right time, and it’s with all that they delivered in order to bring “How to Deal with Life and Fail” into existence that I can’t help but feel they did everything they possibly could’ve done right.
“How to Deal with Life and Fail” releases on June 22nd via Transcending Obscurity Records!
LISTEN to advanced tracks from “How to Deal with Life and Fail” on Bandcamp here.
LIKE Ernia on Facebook here.
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