Ottawa's Fuck The Facts might have got themselves something of a grindcore tag over the years but they really are a quite unique band, mixing all manner of extreme styles. Their latest album, 'Die Miserable', sees them mixing their maelstrom of extreme influences in devastating fashion.

'Drift' is a stark opener, kicking off with some black metal riffing, before it goes grinding in a Brutal Truth kind of way. Next up is 'Cold Hearted', which could be the perfect description of vocalist Mel, who really does have the most tortured female voice imaginable. The track has a real lumbering menace to it and is brutally heavy to the end. 'Lifeless' kicks off with a driving, thrashy riff and is probably the most orthodox metal song on the album with great drive and rhythm.

The variety on the album is quite refreshing in such an extreme genre and songs like the harrowing BM-tinged 'Alone' are challenging but very enjoyable. If you want out-and-out speed, it's there in spades on 'A Coward's Existence', before it again slows itself into a great guitar solo and a really angular riff-fest. Closer '95' also keeps you on your toes, switching from speed to heavy, to a stark, off-kilter bit of guitaring, complimented by some clean singing in French. All in all a very enjoyable, if challenging listen and certainly right up there setting the standards for any releases to come from Pig Destroyer and their ilk.

They say variety is the spice of life and based on that cliché this is one spicy motherfucker.

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