White Mice, "BLasssTPhlEgMEICE" (Load Records, 2007)

White Mice, BLasssTPhlEgMEICE
Load Records, 2007

Blassst! The White Mice have done it again! After 2005's brutally fun ASSPhiXXXEATATESHUN, I didn't think I had any face left to melt. Well, I was dead WRONG! On BLasssTPhlEgMEICE, the tortured lab rat Providence, RI power trio of Mouseeattoungue (bass), Euronymouse (drums), and Anonymouse (oscillator + electronics) will eviscerate your ears and leave your mind reeling in the dub noise wastes of utter annihilation. This shit is so grim and raw, only the rodents and roaches will survive BLasssTPhlEgMEICE's thirteen selections of grinding, blackened noise metal.

When compared to other bands on the legendary Load label, I've often felt that the White Mice have gotten the short end of the stick. If you're looking for a scapegoat, blame it on their schtick: costumes and constant mouse-related puns. Musically, there is no good reason why this terrifying trio should be held in any less regard than Air Conditioning, Sightings, Gang Wizard, or even Lightning Bolt. Their cacophonous combination of screeching oscillations, sickening, bowel spilling bass, and bludgeoning double kick drumming has never sounded better than it does on BLasssTPhlEgMEICE. For forty minutes straight the White Mice set your balls on fire and watch as your writhe in pain while they laugh and perform unnecessary surgery on the rest of your body: switching from grinding torture-porn doom grooves to mid-tempo black metal blender noise. The production of this record is a definite improvement over ASSPhiXXXEATATESHUN, a subtle shift I took notice of just before it violently grabbed me by the throat. Their sound is fuller, more pronounced, and every sound shines with an alarming clarity: the blinding flash of a knife's blade before it fatally plunges into your fat belly.

For my money, BLasssTPhlEgMEICE is the best full-length Load has released this year. The White Mice have a new album due on Blossoming Noise any day now, so you'd better hurry up and bite into BLasssTPhlEgMEICE before this tasty cheese is moldy!