Extreme Noise Terror are the underclass of British Grindcore. Unlike Napalm Death, they never made it, whatever ‘making it’ means in terms of brutal Brit Grindcore. Their last album, 2001’s Being And Nothing, was a nasty little bastard of a record, more Brutal Death than Grind, knocking your pint over and making it perfectly obvious that they weren’t going to buy you another. Quite why it’s taken so long for a new album to come out when the likes of Napalm Death are knocking them out regular every two years, I have no idea, but here it is, and the band (featuring more or less the same line-up as last time, including Desecration guitarist Ollie Jones and both Phil Vane and Dean Jones on vocals) have returned to a much crustier sound.

Yes, it’s Discharge worship all the way, baby, with only hints of the Death Metal brutality of before, and as such you’ll either love this or hate it. Personally, it’s a bit of a disappointment; where Napalm Death have more or less transcended the genre and become a law unto themselves, Extreme Noise Terror seem content to be playing the sort of Grind that you can hear any day of the week from a legion of underground Grinders. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, ENT are veterans and all the members of the band are playing like it’s 1986 and last orders have just been called (especially drummer Mic Hourihan, also of Desecration) but compared to the sheer hatefulness of Being And Nothing, Law Of Retaliation is a huge step down.

Aside from the odd sample, most of the songs sound the same, short, fast, blastbeating slabs of Grind that only occasionally remember to insert a catchy mid-paced section or brief solo. After the second play or so, you realise how dull Grindcore can be without good songwriters behind it, and that, sadly, is the best way to sum Law Of Retaliation up; dull. Good Grind has been steady this year, great albums coming out from Agenda Of Swine and Phobia, and this just doesn’t measure up. When the best track on a Grind album is the sweary rant at the end (Death Message) you know that something’s off. A decent album, just about, but veteran Grindsters will be wise to look elsewhere.