Mondo gore.

Released in 1962, Mondo Cane (“Dog World”) was an instant sensation, a critical hit, and a source of public outcry. As Alex Brannan writes in Film International, the film “was shocking for how its depiction of global cultures relished in the bizarre and taboo, unabashedly committing to film displays of nudity, sexual situations and violent animal practices.” Brannan continues, adding that the bizarre and taboo are ” juxtaposed [with] moments of pitch-black comedy, as Jacopetti’s narration, dictated in voice-over by Stefano Sibaldi, cheekily interrupts the whimsical score to present a humorous air of authority.” For those who have watched the film, it is a jarring experience not just because of the oddly sequenced vignettes or the moments of violence or the sometimes irreverent narration of Stefano Sibaldi but because all of those things, stitched together, create a sense of horror, sur/reality, and demystification. The opening scene—the first of many scenes depicting agonizing animal violence and torture—is enough to give more sensitive souls a panic attack.

Later this year, Italy’s Golem of Gore will release their latest LP Ultimo Mondo Gore on Everlasting Spew Records, an album that hopes to pay homage to Mondo Cane as well as channel its ethos to nasty goregrind ends. “Every culture, every belief hides grotesque contradictions,” says the band. “Mondo Cane (1962) exposed this raw truth, unveiling cruelty, rituals, and civilization’s dark side. This album is our tribute… Face the horror or look away… but it won’t disappear.” And the band is right. Consider this: every 24 hours in the United States, over 20 million chickens and nearly 300,000 pigs are slaughtered. As David J. Wolfson and Mariann Sullivan argue, “From a statistician’s point of view, since farmed animals represent 98 percent of all animals… all animals are farmed animals.” The cruelty and hypocrisy of factory farming exists simultaneously on an unthinkable scale and also entirely available for all to see. The point here is not that Golem of Gore care about animal welfare. (I have no idea if they do or don’t!) The point is that this is our world, and Golem of Gore want you to know that whether or not you pay attention is inconsequential to what happens in it. It is a truth as brutal as the band itself.

While you’re thinking about that, check out our exclusive premiere of “Chronic Obstructive Caustic Vomit.” This is, to again quote the band, “pure goregrind: relentless blast beats, vomit-drenched vocals, and crushing guitars.” It isn’t gimmicky. It isn’t nonsensical. It is raw, putrid, and brutal. What the band doesn’t mention, but what is impossible to ignore, is that the track is… fun? The pinging snare bounces your head off a brick wall while guttural vocals and callous-slicing riffs tear away at your sensibilities. Then, in the middle of all this madness, the band remembers the grind in goregrind and drops into a hideously catchy chug-a-lug that bumps up to a two-step attack. The production is beefier than on past releases, so the weight of the guitars land with the kind of brute impact one would hope from such a band.

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Be on the lookout for more info on Ultimo Mondo Gore.
Watch the movie as a primer for free on Tubi!
Face down the horrors and atrocities of our world. 
Thank the band for going a different direction
with their album art this time around.