Hewhocorrupts – The Smell of Money EP
Eugenics Record Label – ERL001 – August 16th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
Hewhocorrupts, a corporate grind band hailing from Chicago, like to get down to business…literally. But more about that later. For now,
The Smell of Money EP, their latest business venture (as they might call it), wormed its way inside my head a few days ago and has been feeding on my brain ever since. Having already traversed five years as a unit certainly hasn’t hurt
Hewhocorrupts in any way, as this weighty EP is refreshing in just about every sense of the word.
The Smell of Money EP only contains five songs and lasts for eight minutes, but what a ride it is. Adherents and fanatics of grindcore know the drill like the back of their hands: brief, chaotic bursts of instrumentation skip alongside colossal riffs, rapid-fire vocals, and soundclips. Funnily enough, Camaro’s vocals – during the cleanest moments – breach Chino Moreno (
Deftones,
Team Sleep) turf, though the former is never as dreamy or annoying as the latter. And, naturally,
Hewhocorrupts act like a giant cloud descending upon an aural landscape that vanishes soon after its entrance. However, its passing can’t be missed. So after the five tracks elapse, smash the disc into your PC for some enhanced content. Not only is there a hilarious video for “Master of Profits” (a play on
Master of Puppets), but there’s also a humorous interview with Tommy Camaro, who is the group’s CEO. Some of the jokes are hit and miss, though on the whole the inclusions are charming. The stock quotes, which prove to be ever-present on the video footage, are a nice touch as well.
The Smell of Money EP – featuring Scratch & Sniff technology by the way – isn’t near the debut end of
Hewhocorrupts. Unbeknownst to most of us, I’m sure, the associates (a.k.a. guys) have a dozen or so 7” vinyls, EPs, and LPs to their moniker. This particular EP ended too quickly, in my opinion, but I won’t hesitate purchasing more of their catalog if I see any of their releases around. I’d say it’s going to be a profitable fiscal year for the five-piece. Man, I don’t do so well
incorporating business jargon into reviews. Oh wait…
8/10
Official Hewhocorrupts Website
Official Eugenics Record Label Website
