I first heard of Japanese grindcore weirdoes Bathtub Shitter when I received the re-release of their 2002 MCD Wall of World is Words for review earlier this year, an album I found to be okay. Now I sit here with their 2003 full-length debut Lifetime Shitlist which I actually like better than the MCD and there's several reasons for this. The band knows how to vary their song writing and the music doesn't appear as being one long pummel. The songs vary from being ultra fast over to something more moderate and even slower. As on the Wall of World is Words MCD Bathtub Shitter also uses acoustic guitars on this album. I didn't like the high-pitched screams that frequently appeared on the MCD very much, but they actually work very well on Lifetime Shitlist, particularly in songs like "Fuck Hip Raper" and "Control of Own Hole". They add some variation to the vocals which otherwise would only have been guttural growls.

The sound is far better this time compared to the MCD. The production occurs to be more balanced and less muddy, but without compromising the sincere brutality of the music. The band has once again chosen to include a cover song and this time it's the Witchfinder General song "No Stayer". All in all I find Lifetime Shitlist to be a good album and in particularly songs like "Fuck Hip Raper", "Control of Own Hole" and "One One One" is worthwhile, but the remaining material is pretty decent too. Lifetime Shitlist is a pretty amusing and entertaining experience that can stand numerous listens without losing its appeal.