Execution Ground is a double CD by Painkiller

Painkiller (band)

Painkiller is a band originally formed in 1991. Their style can be described as a mix of avant-garde jazz and grindcore; later albums also incorporated elements of ambient and dub....

, a band featuring John Zorn

John Zorn

John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...

, Bill Laswell

Bill Laswell

Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....

, and Mick Harris

Mick Harris

Mick Harris commonly known and credited both as Mick Harris or occasionally M.J. Harris, is an English musician....

. The second disc contains ambient

Dark ambient

Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music that features foreboding, ominous, or discordant overtones. Although it had its roots in the 1970s, Dark ambient emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of newer, smaller, and more affordable Effects units, synthesizer and sampling technology...

 dub

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

 versions of two tracks. The album was also released with alternative cover art and, in Japan, as a 3-CD set containing a live concert called Live in Osaka.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Maurice Rickard awarded the album 4½ stars stating "The first disc of this inventive and unsettling two-disc set features three long improvisations that show off the band's dub influence. The second disc, subtitled "Ambient Dub," is a rethinking/remix of the third and first improvs on the first disc. Overall less thrashy than some Painkiller excursions, the improvisations here are striking for their greater sonic space without sacrificing any of the heaviness. At times, the band rests, making way for ominous breathing and distant sustained screams, which recur throughout. The transitions from silence to groove to noise and back are relentless and dramatic. Harris proves to be an astonishingly inventive drummer, consistently varying the foundation in surprising ways. Laswell's tone varies from the brightness of flanged round-wound strings scraping the frets to a clean, menacing low-frequency pulse, and sticks mostly to elemental, non-flashy lines that keep the mood deep and dark. Zorn's playing is excellent here, varying between extremely overblown piercing tones (perhaps the best way of being heard over such a rhythm section) and nearly conventional jazzy lines that confidently ride atop the din.".

Disc 1

1. "Parish of Tama (Ossuary Dub)" - 16:05
2. "Morning of Balachaturdasi" - 14:45
3. "Pashupatinath" - 13:47

Disc 2: Ambient

1. "Pashupatinath (Ambient)" - 20:00
2. "Parish of Tama (Ambient)" - 19:19
   • Recorded in June 1994 at Greenpoint Studio, Brooklyn, New York

Japanese Bonus CD: Live in Osaka

1. "Gandhamanda" - 13:00
2. "Vaidurya" - 9:00
3. "Satapitaka" 11:00
4. "Bodkyithangga" - 13:00
5. "Black Bile" - 1:45
6. "Yellow Bile" - 0:58
7. "Blue Bile" - 2:41
8. "Crimson Bile" - 1:46
9. "Ivory Bile" - 1:26
   • Recorded in November 1994 by Oz Fritz

Personnel

• John Zorn
  John Zorn
  John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
  
   – alto sax, vocals
• Bill Laswell
  Bill Laswell
  Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
  
   – bass, samples
• Mick Harris
  Mick Harris
  Mick Harris commonly known and credited both as Mick Harris or occasionally M.J. Harris, is an English musician....
  
   – drums, samples, vocals
• On Live in Osaka Yamatsuka Eye - vocals (Tracks 4-8)