After the success of the first This Comp. Kills Fascists release, it's no surprise that two years later Relapse Records churns out a follow-up. Composed of over seventy tracks and minutes of Grindcore, Hardcore, and Punk from legendary bands in the style, as well as underground and unsigned up and comers, this compilation features so great tracks reallly showcase the talent that lays seething in the worlds of these styles. However, the obvious shifts in sound quality, and some horrible acts, make this release far from enjoyable from start to finish.
There's plenty of enjoyable tracks on here, such as a good amount of the tracks that kick start this comp, like "Fail Me Not" and "On Your Own", as well as "Bludgeon". Many of these have a decent recording quality up to a very professional quality. It's nice for the compilation, but there are just some tracks on here that stand out like they were recorded on a tape recorder and then drafted over to digital. Considering the number of bands on this release, and the number of tracks, it's not a surprise that there would be a varying level for the production quality levels, but a little more time in placing tracks on this compilation would have been nicer, sticking most of the more professional quality recordings together, then going down the list to the worst quality recordings, instead of having a profesional sounding song followed up by a raw recording that has everything at a much higher pitch. Luckily, the audio levels of the EP are all about the same, so it seems that was taken into consideration somewhere along the lines.
Another problem lies in some of the more grating material here. This Comp. Kills Fascists Vol. 2 does feature some rather wretched tracks. The material provided for this release by Marion Barry is pretty horrendous. First of all, there's an audio clip of a woman having a bit of a freak out, which is rather hysterical, but it eats up so much time that there's barely even a Grindcore track after it, as well as for the audio sample in "Brainfuck". You also have a high pitched noise the starts off "Where Would Jesus Bank" that is just awful and migraine enducing. Even if the recording quality were better, it would still give you a terrible headache, and it really doesn't have to be there other then to act absolutely obnoxious. The same can be said for "Fleshwound" which is nothing but a Noisecore track that sounds like it's usinging sound effects from an old Atari racing game. The rest of Septic Surge's material isn't that great either, but some of the tracks do sound somewhat better then that, such as "Budmonster".
Going off and naming a lot of specific kick ass tracks and bands on this release would be pointless considering how many are on here, but since Marion Barry and Septic Surge are really the only ones on this release that are very annoying, it's safe to say that pretty much the rest of the line-up on this release is solid music. Sure the production qualities and their constant shifting around may get on your nerves, and some bands don't sound too different between their own songs provided, but there's still enough grinding madness and Punk attitude on this compilation that makes it worth checking out if you happen to be a fan of the styles, or are just looking for some new bands within these fields to check out, as there's plenty to choose from. If you're in the mood for this kind of material, then pick up This Comp. Kills Fascists Vol. 2 from Relapse Records, as it's a nice collection of songs that delivers enough bang for your buck.
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