With a name taken from a sci-fi moovie from the end of the 50's, The Trollenberg Terror is a ferocious German band that released some months ago a double EP entitled "Orchid" and "Dahlia" - which in the end has a total lenght of a normal album (about 40 minutes).
I wasn't expecting some peaceful stuff from them but must admit that the first song "About Fear and About to Explode" immediately made a great impression on me with the blasting torrent of brutality that sweats from their amazing blend of Sludge, Grindcore/Crust and furious Punk/HC (the great "From the Womb", "Wake Up Bad")...
Even if this first song is based on a crushing mid-tempo, the pace is most often fast, raw and severely brutal, including in the vocals which are shared by all members (this is a trio) and this diversity of tones -from throaty growls to filthy dejected screams- is the main force of the band's identity.
Riffs are more relentless, sometimes slightly twisted, than original and complex but some songs like "Dead People don't Die" (nice death metal riffage here), "Cosy Gunfood II" (some vocals sound like Accept's Udo singing in Crust mode !!!), "Swept Back and the Dirty Bastard" are effective winners.
Not too short but -for a great part, keeping the immediacy of raw HC power, songs are averagely about 3 minutes long, save the extended "To the Tomb" which clocks at almost 8 minutes, this song has maybe the most Metallic accent in its first and final parts but the rest is a nice descent into doomy soundscapes, different moods that give a more complete consistency to the band's sound.
This 2nd EP "Dahlia" sounds a bit different with more Death Metal overtones (in "Necromancy" and "Damn It" too) where "Orchid" would be more marked by pure grinding Sludge; this is of course not your typical weedy Sludge, it neither contains psyche dementia or melancholic soundscapes, but THE TROLLENBERG TERROR is a great band for those who like their lethal dose of underground stuff very sludgey and crusty with no brainer but application and a serious ability for headbanging hooks !!!
A physical release of those both EPs is planed for March, while the band plans to record new stuff in Spring.
