UMUR
"Swallow This" is a compilation album by Finnish death metal act Lubricant. The compilation was released through Svart Records in March 2017. Lubricant formed in 1988 under the O.V.D. monicker and released one 1990 speed metal demo under that name before changing their name to Lubricant and with the name change also their music style. Lubricant released two primitive and amaturish death metal demos in late 1990/early 1991 and it wasn´t until November 1991 when they released their third demo "Swallow The Symmetric Swab" that they showed what great potential they had. It took a few years before they released anything else though, but in 1993 they released the "Nookleptia" EP/mini-album through Morbid Records, which ended up being their last release in their original run as they disbanded in 1994.
"Swallow This" is not a chronological full career compilation as it only features the material from the "Swallow The Symmetric Swab" demo and the "Nookleptia" EP/mini-album, which is eleven tracks and a total playing time of 41:17 minutes. But as the first two demos really aren´t that interesting and quite amaturish in execution and sound, "Swallow This" contains everthing you need to hear from Lubricant´s original run.
Lubricant were part of the Nokia scene along with artists like Convulse and Purtenance, but they sound quite different from the other acts on the scene. The five tracks from the "Swallow The Symmetric Swab" demo open the compilation, and they are absolutely brilliant Carcass influenced death metal with a great aggressive and brutal edge, but also quite a few groovy heavy riffs and rhythms. The six tracks from the "Nookleptia" EP/mini-album follow and here Lubricant have evolved into an experimental/eclectic sounding death metal act which were still influenced by Carcass but also incorporate quite a few groove laden riffs and rhythms and a death´n´roll influence to their music. It´s an interesting but also slightly frustrating release, because it´s inconsistent and also features a few oddball silly moments, but the material from both releases are worth the price of admission, with the material from the "Swallow The Symmetric Swab" demo being the most consistent and well working.
Upon conclusion "Swallow This" is a perfect compilation release, which serves the purpose of introducing the listener to the best material released by Lubricant and considering that the two original releases are probably very hard to find, this is a good way to get to listen to them. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.