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Ok, so I\u2019m on a bit of a grind kick. But can we just talk about the fact that Pulpit Vomit may have just wretched out one of the best grindcore releases, secular or Christian, in recent memory? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Formed in 2022 and composed of members of death metal act Mangled Carpenter, Pulpit Vomit released a series of singles that admittedly didn\u2019t catch my eye. I say eye, because I judged a book by its cover. With songs like the Christmas-themed \u201cJingle, Jingle, Jingle\u201d and \u201cTurkey Annihilation,\u201d I figured the band was simply a parody act and left it at that. Zip ahead to 2025, and suddenly, I\u2019m confronted by a band that\u2019s anything but. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band\u2019s first full-length album, Hospital Lens<\/em>, is at once a bizarre prospect. A roughly sixteen-minute concept album based on the fictional rants of what seems to be an asylum inmate named \u201cPatient 103,\u201d the tracks unfold like a disturbing dream would, scenes and images crashing into each other in a storm of barely-connected chaos. Even if the concept\/narrative is lost on you, the music is pure grind bliss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You get about a half a second before the first track almost clean rips your head off. And it\u2019s awesome. And it continues like that. Everything that makes grindcore music so riveting and intense is somehow here packed into a tiny 16-minute micro-storm of full-on chaos. Pulpit Vomit\u2019s sonic madness spans the gamut of influences – Wormrot\u2019s Dirge<\/em>, Pig Destroyer\u2019s Prowler in the Yard<\/em>, Timoratus\u2019 7 Deadly Sins<\/em> and Napalm Death\u2019s Enemy of the Music Business<\/em>. It\u2019s the audial equivalent of being stuck in a padded cell with a maniac that\u2019s trying to throttle you and tell you a story all at the same time. Frankly, it\u2019s nuts. It\u2019s also dynamic, possessed of an unhinged, explosive energy that refuses to allow the listener to pay anything but absolutely full-attention. If you\u2019re not forming a circle pit in your living room by about ten seconds into this album, you might want to check and make sure you have a pulse. Only one track, “Blank Stares in Fluorescent Light” is a bit of a misfire for me, as it almost functions like pulling the e-brake on a car going full speed down the highway. It’s a minor criticism, but worth noting anyway, nitpicker that I am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So what\u2019s the Christian angle to these guys? Well, they\u2019re not as blatant about it on here as they are with Mangled Carpenter, but it\u2019s there for those who are wondering. Grindcore, given its punk and hardcore roots, always seems to have a penchant for critical approaches to any form of societal\/political\/institutional structures, and Pulpit Vomit is no exception, even though it\u2019s not the centre of their attention. I\u2019m sure you don\u2019t need me to \u201cunpack\u201d the lyrics to \u201cSpewing Vomit From the Pulpit\u201d – church corruption, hypocritical priests\/pastors, and the like are the target here. \u201cMidnight Nun\u201d is a strange tale of a religious sister\u2019s betrayal of her vows; again, the hypocrisy angle. If you dug the lyrics of bands like Flesh Incineration and Rehumanize, you\u2019ll be in comfortable territory here. When the band is at their best, I find, is with lyrics like these from \u201cThe Filth\u201d – \u201cBut somewhere beyond this decay a whisper – small and burning calls from the void a voice of old a hand unseen reaching\u201d that echo 1 Kings 9:11-12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What drives me crazy is the sad fact that, as insanely awesome as this record is, Christian bands always have such an uphill battle when it comes to gaining fans and critical respect in the metal mainstream. That said, Pulpit Vomit have been getting rave reviews of this work all over the place, and it\u2019s refreshing to see. If you find yourself enamoured with grindcore icons like Pig Destroyer and Wormrot, or maybe are just a serious grind freak, let me put it to you plainly: you need this record in your collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As I always like to say: MANDATORY LISTENING.<\/p>\n\n\n\n