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Narcosis were a British grindcore band. They recorded two full-lengths and several splits before breaking up a couple years ago. Their entire output is chronicled in Best Served Cold: Discography 1998-2007.

The collection is 51 tracks, but it's not a triple or quadruple disc set. Remember, this is grindcore. The typical Narcosis song clocks in at anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute and a half.

Narcosis bludgeons you with devastatingly heavy and brutal songs.


Each track is an assault on the ears, usually played at lightning speed. It's a rampage of unrelenting double bass and creative drum fills along with blazing guitar riffs.

They are able to change things up, however. "Broken Finger Stranglehold" is slow but still intense, and songs like that help add some much needed diversity. There's even a 10 minute opus called "The Sickening Thud," that has a progressive section and ends up with a couple minutes of headache inducing feedback.

The production on Best Served Cold: Discography 1998-2007 varies a bit. Some of the stuff from the splits is pretty low-fi, while other songs are very well produced. Narcosis was more creative than the average grindcore band, although 51 tracks will leave even the most dedicated fan reaching for the Excedrin.

(released January 13, 2009 on Earache Records)