Review by Michael on January 19, 2025.

De Tyfus, De Teerling is the long awaited fourth full-length album by Dutch chaos hordes Grafjammer hailing from Utrecht. With its predecessor De Zoute Kwel they achieved a lot of attention in the scene and so, there is the urgent question if they can fulfill the high expectations that come along with the new album. So let's dig a little bit deeper into that one.

After the short intro "De Dijk Is Dicht", you get a dirty pinch of black n'roll with some hateful vocals and gangshouts. Groovy parts that sound like some cool classic Norwegian bands mix with some more chaotic drumming and even some blackened blues. I guess if Autopsy would play black metal they would sound like that, fucking hell, this is really great.

What I really like on the album are the sick, almost vomited vocals by Jorre. I guess he did his very best to sound as sick as possible. And, what I already often stated when it comes to Dutch black metal, this language really fits perfectly to that style of music. This guttural language always sounds slightly disgusting and contemptuous both when it is sung (at least in a black metal style). So let's talk about a few tracks more in detail although there aren't any better or worse ones on it, it is just on a constant high level.

Apart from the vocal performance, the rest of the band does a really cool job too. Sometimes the drumming is a little bit chaotic but maybe this is a deep bow to good old fucking Venom. In a song like "Bloedbruid" you also get so many 90s vibes when you listen to the guitar riffing, it is really a pleasure and sounds fresh and trusted at the same time.

And just like every orthodox black metal band a little bit Celtic Frost (Darkthrone?) worship must not be missing. "Krengenslagers" breathes Swiss air with every single pore. Kept in a slower mid-tempo this one is a very catchy banger you can listen to in every mood. At least I love songs that are written in that style, just like "Leave No Cross Unturned" by Darkthrone.

A very big surprise is "Bertken" because of the acoustic introduction and the rabid break after that. This is not what you might expect while listening to the acoustic guitar. This one is a sheer inferno with thunderous drums and a lot of fury. But when the rage has gone a little bit, the song turns once again into something totally different. Just let me throw in three words: keyboards, female vocals.

Apart from the black metal influences there are some dirty punk borrowing to find so, you actually cannot talk of a pure black metal album. "Rampokker" has this typical punk drumming (apart from the title that sounds pretty stinky, too) that shows once more that black metal has much more in common with punk than you might expect.

Lyrically the album deals with the dark sides of society and with Dutch history. Self-deception, destruction and religious insanity are topics on De Tyfus, De Teerling and when you follow the vocals and even if you can't speak Dutch (what is a very cool language to speak though and if you want to say something that not everybody is allowed to understand also a fine way to do so) you will get that they don't sing about clogs and windmills. I haven't been to Utrecht but I can smell and grab the atmosphere from their train station literally when I listen to the new Grafjammer (I guess that train stations are everywhere the same shit, expect maybe in Malaysia and fucking Victoria Station in London). Urine, feces and some rotten gouda cheese – yummy! So grab your own typhus and learn Dutch or die!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on August 9, 2021.

Because American Line Productions is the label that brought the world less than subtle acts such as Kabak, Disgorge and Domain, I immediately thought that Cangrena would be a band of the same mold, but (in part) because of the production they have going on this album, there isn't a whole lot of resemblance. Let me tell you all about it.

Cangrena plays death/grind alright, but in a way more old school style than the remorseless brutality their label mates have on offer. In a big part this is because of the rather peculiar production on this album. The kinda muffled sound mix reminded me of the first albums of South American bands such as Sepultura, Psychic Possessor and Sarcofago, with the latter being pretty similar in style to Cangrena as well. Frantic blast beats and aggressively tremolo picked riffing fight it out with gargling down-pitched vocals, immediately bringing to mind what bands such as Sextrash, Holocausto and the already mentioned Sarcofago did on their debut releases. The riffing has a Possessed edge to it as well, upping the old school factor even more, but the influence of the 80's output of Carcass and Napalm Death should be mentioned as well. At times I even hear a faint crossover thrash influence (think Cryptic Slaughter or even Righteous Pigs) in the riffing as well. The music sounds awfully familiar throughout the whole album, and if someone would have told me that this was a lost South American death metal album from 1988, I would have readily believed them.

As mentioned before, the production sounds pretty odd here. Even by 1999 standards this sounds hopelessly dated, with its dry sounding drums, thin guitars and effect vocals, but lo and behold, it works for them! Yes, it does sound dated as hell, but at the same time it (unintentionally?) gives the music an old school vibe that a lot of throwback bands nowadays would kill for. I certainly dig this cd a lot, despite the peculiar production and the mistakes the band makes throughout the album's runtime. It all makes this album ooze a certain underground charm, and that is something that I am particularly susceptible for.

This is not a release that I'd say is recommended or a must-hear, but I would say that this is an interesting oddity for sure, a kind of insider tip for all who are into old school death metal or 80's South American thrash/death metal for sure. It won't fill some kind of gaping hole in your collection, but if you find it for cheap (or download it), it sure is an enjoyable rarity worthy of your time.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10