Total Fucking Destruction Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction

Total Fucking Destruction, the latest addition to Translation Loss' continually growing roster, is a Philadelphia band that mixes grind with hardcore and metal influences to produce an oddly unique (or is it uniquely odd) release by the title of Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction. On paper, Zen and the Art... is 23 tracks in length, broken up into three different mediums: electric, acoustic, and video. While the video portion of the trio is nothing more than a forgettable amateur recording of a TFD live set, the electric and acoustic passages provide an interesting juxtaposition due to their completely opposite nature. To start, the first ten tracks comprising the electric section are all quite similar, as they incorporate chaotic grindcore song structures with the occasional metal riff and a wide range of shrieks, screams and yells in the vocal department. Except for a few sporadic melodic breaks, such as the bass driven groove in the middle section of "We Are All Elvis Now" or the brief rock guitar leads of "Y.A.R.N.," the majority of these tracks tend to run together into a massive, muddled mess. While grindcore by nature may not be the most melodic or easily memorable of genres, there are very few moments during the first ten tracks that beg to be replayed. Sure, I enjoy the chant of "Youth! Apocalypse! Right! Now!" in "Y.A.R.N.," and the lyrical repetition of "Warfinger pointing at you" over a slow metal riff in the track "Warfinger," but the entirety of the electric portion of this disc simply falls short of holding one's attention. In a startling contrast, Zen and the Art... then progresses into the acoustic section of this album, consisting of four borderline lo-fi acoustic tracks so simplistic and repetitive that they actually tend to be more entertaining and memorable than than the rest of the disc. I can't put my finger on it, but somehow hearing the line "Kill the jocks and eat their brains!" sung over slightly sloppy acoustic strumming has a peculiarly amusing appeal. Hell, even the counting of "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... 6, 6" in "Bio-satanic Terroristic Attack" got a brief chuckle out of me. But while the inclusion of the acoustic tracks on this album has a slightly humorous and entertaining effect, it leads the listener to the realization that if a few crude acoustic songs can overshadow the bulk of the album, then maybe TFD wasn't really doing anything too interesting in the first place. Bottom Line: After a number of listens I find myself enjoying the basic acoustic tracks of Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction more than the actual grindcore content of the majority of the album. But since the appeal of the acoustic tracks relies almost entirely upon the odd juxtaposition with the first half of the disc, neither portion of the album is really capable of standing on its own. So the listener is left with an album split in two, with each half awkwardly supporting the other, such that Zen and the Art... is nothing more than a slightly odd, but ultimately unmemorable release.