Internal Rot

Australian grinders Internal Rot’s sophomore LP ‘Grieving Birth’ is a killer return

While Max Kohane was out doing Brain Children with Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Supression Ring)), death metal with favorites Faceless Burial and experimental music with PIVIXKI, the Agents of Abhorrence drummer had left one loved project on the back burner– Internal Rot.

Released in 2014, Internal Rot’s debut LP Mental Hygiene caused a stir in the grind community upon release and the band celebrated with a round of US dates including a stop at Maryland Deathfest. A series of short releases followed, including a live session recorded in Ridgewood at Menegroth Studios (Colin Marston’s studio), but none of them hinted at the jaw-dropping return effort that the band would unknowingly unleash via Iron Lung in 2020.

With a still of actress Rebecca Hall from the mini-series Red Riding Hood 1974 gracing the cover, it should be evident that Grieving Birth isn’t your run of the mill grind release. Across twenty-two blasts of unmitigated venom and vitriol, Internal Rot dip into death metal and grind to create the most muscular yet listenable record in that cross section in years. Grieving Birth is a series of memorable riffs stacked on memorable riffs stacked on memorable riffs– a speed demon of an LP that somehow gets better and more insane with every listen. For years, the jaded have lamented the death of grindcore and that its creative peak in the past 10 years or so was with Insect Warfare. While I tend to disagree with that statement wholly, Grieving Birth is yet another testimonial to the fact that there is still a lot more blasting to look forward to.

Internal Rot is Christoph Winkler (drums), Brad Smith (guitars) and Max Kohane (vocals). Winkler also serves in the incredible death metal band Contaminated, who released their massive Final Man LP in 2017 via Blood Harvest. Brad Smith served with Winkler in Die Pigeon Die and played with The Borkenlayne, who released their Pain is the Fearminder LP in 2018. Kohane released the massive Speciation LP with Faceless Burial this year, a band he shares with Alex Macfarlane of The Stevens and Twerps.

Stream Grieving Birth and watch video of a live set Internal Rot were able to play this year before global lockdown ensued, below.