RBOTD #206: Gore Inhaler
Sketch alert
https://www.metal-archives.com/band/view/id/88241
Country: Ukraine
Location: Shostka, Sumy Oblast
Genre: brutal death metal
Formed in: 2011
Status: Split-up
By the Numbers
Gore Inhaler is the:
58th band formed in the 2010s
Third band from Ukraine
68th band that is split-up
Its genre tags have been seen:
Brutal: Seven times
Death: 59 times
Member Connections
Many. Narrowing this down to:
Schizogen, a brutal death metal band from Kyiv
Through, a black metal band from Shostka, Sumy Oblast
Сказ, a black metal band from Shostka, Sumy Oblast
Insect, a black metal band from Shostka, Sumy Oblast
Ancient Funeral Cult, a black metal band from Kyiv/Shostka, Sumy Oblast
Akoman, a black metal band from Vyshhorod, Kyiv Oblast
Know 'Em?
Nope. I am now 10/206.
Sketch Check
Fail at the member connections level.
The connected black metal bands have released material on Depressive Illusions Records, which deals in NSBM, additionally:
Ancient Funeral Cult cut a split with Tank Genocide, a baddie
Ancient Funeral Cult cut a split with Zimorog, a baddie
Ancient Funeral Cult cut a split with 1389, a baddie
Probably more. That's where I stopped.
RateYourMusic Scores
Gore Inhaler's 2012 LP Welcome to Zombieland averaged a 2.45 score on eight ratings.
That places Gore Inhaler in the 11th percentile.
Adjusted scores are calculated similarly to the Trad Belt scoring system. Please read that column for more information.
Trifecta Tracker
Gore Inhaler did not achieve the trifecta.
A band can achieve the trifecta by titling a song after itself on a self-titled release. Iron Maiden's "Iron Maiden" on 1980's Iron Maiden is an example of the trifecta.
I'll get to the sketch in a second. First, let me say that Gore Inhaler sucks. Coyote Records has always been hit or miss, so this band's suckitude isn't that surprising. I can think of few other labels so heavy on derp that still releases material from bands I like. Still, even for Coyote, Gore Inhaler's debut, 2012's Welcome to Zombieland, is about as big of a miss as 50 Cent trying to find the strike zone. *crowd stomps and chants* HOW. BAD. IS. IT? Well, the early incarnation of the Ukrainian outfit is brutal death metal cut with the worst kind of goregrind. Think if a sleepy Goratory thought it needed Gut parts. Blergh. Of course, the big reason why Welcome to Zombieland misses so hard is because the song titles are rife with incel-addled "depravity." Total trash. I mean, I'm not a prude. I don't mind music about sexy times, but this junk is always lowest common denominator, embarrassingly dorky edgelord-signaling. It's never smart like Vastum, and it generally lacks the schlager vibe that makes the bigger, grosser Obscene Extreme draws entertaining. Nah, it's always stuff like "Ass Ferryman," which I'm guessing is not a Chris de Burgh cover. Boo. Boring.
To Gore Inhaler's credit, it shook off the smut for 2013's Kara Fading Days, switching to existentialism and decrying political apathy. Unfortunately, musically, it's a dull, lifeless clatter, like first-year jazz band students trying to figure out Gorgasm. You could tell they could've gone somewhere eventually if they kept it rolling. But it's an awkward transitional album that happens to be its last album. In other words, Kara Fading Days isn't well-executed or weird enough to justify this band's baggage.
So, the baggage. It was bound to happen eventually. Gore Inhaler is the first band that has truly failed sketch check since the Substack port. I'm still unsure how to handle these sketch-fails beyond acknowledging that, yep, Gore Inhaler's drummer was deep in the turd trenches with his other projects, slinging splits with shitheads and appearing on the labels of noted baddies. That KO's Gore Inhaler because, if we think about sketch like it's the worst version of The Oracle of Bacon, where everything is measured by how many relational degrees it is away from a central source, it has a donkus number of two. If Gore Inhaler was straight up sketch itself, it would have a donkus number of one. Donkus number of one or two? That's the donkus zone. Those bands fail sketch check, no question.
Donkus numbers and donkus zones; I don't want to statsify sketch in this way, turning it into an analytic, because I think that diminishes how insidious and shitty sketch is in metal. Sketch is systemic, wiggling its shit-caked tendrils into spaces that aren't explicitly sketch. Punching nazis within the donkus zone is a start, but doesn't really address the problem. So, I think it’s worth getting into the nitty gritty, enumerating sketchy connections, to drive home how prevalent this stuff can be in certain sectors of metal.
That said, I think a donkus number, if we're sticking with that name, provides something of a framework to approach a band like Schizogen. Those brutal death metallers are related to Gore Inhaler through guitarist Grinder. However, it doesn't seem to be sketch and Grinder doesn't seem to be involved in sketch. Because Schizogen has a donkus number of three, I think it passes sketch check, although I recognize that all of this depends on your particular tolerance for sketch. If one turd poisons the well, so be it.
Anyway, stuff to think about for a deeper dive. For now, I'll reiterate: Gore Inhaler sucks.
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