Even though The Roman Catholic church still has a strong hold on the Irish societies, that doesn't mean that the Vatican has control over all inhabitants of the Green Isle. Heresy is brewing under the surface. Proof of this is the Northern Irish act Scald, who seem to be well-versed in the subjects of ecclesiastical history and religious terminology. Previously I wasn't aware of the existence of this band from Belfast, but this theologically knowledgeable and rather uncommon progressive grindcore group has already released two albums. On the last day of 2007, this EP was added to their discography. And believe me, this is a solid piece of heavy calibre fireworks. The explosion that obliterates a cathedral in the beginning of the movie Appleseed: Ex Machina pales in comparison!

This cd has been divided in two parts: Act I and Act II. These have, in turn, been split up into six psalms. The first five psalms form Act I. The songs offered here are prime examples of well-balanced deathgrind in the vein of the very best material of Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror, even the capricious God of the Old Testament with his numerous extermination campaigns based upon unreasonable wrath will probably think twice before facing such musical extremity. Act II consists of a single psalm, but this monstrosity of a track has a duration of 25 minutes and as such is almost eight minutes longer than act I. The lyrics of the first five psalms have been recycled here, but this time they've been translated in Latin. The solemnly declaimed texts are accompanied by a diabolical concoction of death industrial and dark ambient in which the pernicious influences of Melek-Tha and MZ.412 can be noted. If shrewd scoundrels would manage to have Psalm VI reverberate over the sound system during a council, I would suspect more than one stressed-out cardinal to declare that the Youngest Day has arrived.

For the superficial observer "Fluke" may seem schizophrenic, but all aspects of this mini-cd with its bifacial appearance are quite convincing, according to my humble opinion. Scald is a band worth keeping an eye on, even though the widely branched clerical apparatus would probably rather draw a veil over this group and pretend they never even existed.