Grindcore often finds its way back into my life after several years of sitting dormant. Back in the mid-2000s, I was obsessed with Agoraphobic Nosebleed. It was raw, aggressive, and anyone who’d hear me listening to it generally hated it. It’s not for everyone, but you can better believe that it was for me. Cut to 2026, grindcore is still present in my music library, but consists of only a few records. It’s not really a genre I hear much about until I saw Decrepitizing Din Of The Cerebral Psyopticon by Fake Dust and heard those first smacks of the snare in Mind War Deployment; I knew we were so back.
While I’m not overly familiar with the timeline of Grindcore, I have a feeling that the 00s were when the genre was at its peak, especially seeing the feedback on this album, and I can see why. Fake Dust have managed to capture that raw aggression of bands like Daughters and Agoraphobic Nosebleed. It’s fast, loud, and at times incoherent. Songs barely last a minute, production is tastefully raw, and its only intention is to make your head explode a couple of minutes at a time.
This is an album I would have absolutely blasted out of my crappy PC speakers back when I was a teen, and despite being a new album, it feels somewhat nostalgic. It brilliantly squeezes so much into just a few minutes at a time and perfectly encapsulates that vomit-inducing sound that Grindcore was back then.
Decrepitizing Din Of The Cerebral Psyopticon is technically sound even though it may at times sound like guitars being mashed against a wall, and that’s the point. It’s not trying to be kind. It’s a huge neon fuck you sign that’s unapologetically bright. The most stand out instrument here, however, is the drums, and the driving force behind this band, which may sound bizarre. The tightly tuned snare, the blast beats, the barrage of cymbal smashes, all sound insanely chaotic but also incredibly tight. This is what brings order to the chaos of Fake Dust. While the guitars, bass, and vocals all go insane, the drummer follows along in suit but somehow keeps things together.
I will add that if you’re relatively new to grindcore, this might be a little hard to cut your teeth on. While tracks span no more than two minutes at most, the album hops from track to track with pauses between songs feeling purposeful, not just the end of the song, so first listen might feel like A LOT. Those familiar with classic bands like Napalm Death, The Locust, or even Daughters may certainly put this up there with the greats, and I’d have to agree.
Overall, Fake Dust’s Decrepitizing Din Of The Cerebral Psyopticon is a modern classic in the world of Grindcore. It’s chaotic while also being musically tight. The vocalist brings a fantastic mix of high and low screams, and the rest of the band back it up with a showcase of absolutely nuts playing. Definitely recommend for those into grindcore or looking to explore the genre.
Score: 8.5/10
Fake Dust dropped Decrepitizing Din Of The Cerebral Psyopticon on May 15 via Iron Lung