The South Has Risen Again (Flesh Parade, Dirty Sweet, 2011)

I consider myself an old school grinder, sticking to the past and liking current releases that show a lot of influence and raw sound from the older stuff I appreciate. This long awaited and overdue release is finally here and much like the album itself, my review for it has been quite delayed due to a tight schedule. Dirty Sweet is the second full length (if you don't count Kill Whitey as a comp) from Cajun Grinders, Flesh Parade. For all the people waiting over a decade for the amazing album's follow up, I think most of us can say it was definitely worth the wait. Although I do love Flesh Parade, it pains me to admit that they are criminally underrated along with possibly my favorite Grind band, Warsore. With Dirty Sweet under their belt and an entirely new generation to infest, I think they will finally start to get the attention they deserve.



Dirty Sweet is a little over 30 minutes and manages to destroy every preconceived negative thought I had about the album. Starting off with kind of a boring Choir Intro I started getting worried and had second thought; luckily this was just a tease, much like the album cover. Jumping right into the next track is a furious blast fest topped with their signature animalistic vocals. This is Flesh Parade at their finest, with upped production and sounding as vicious as ever. Perfect riffs matched with excellently cued blasts and beats, every riff was soon engraved into my memory like a pocket knife carving an oak tree. By far my favorite aspect of Flesh Parade has always been the vocals and the production has them louder then ever. Even though the production has been raised quite a bit, it is not over-produced into sounding lame and stale like most stereotypical Death Metal, this is Grindcore and no Death Metal is in it. I only have two complaints from this album, my first being the amount of songs, with only 17 tracks I would have liked to seen 21-25 tracks on this record, but the final song being as long as it is makes the album stretch out as if it did contain more songs. My other complaint is the album is only on CD for the time being, but the band has talked about releasing a vinyl version so this is just more of a minor annoyance for now. These minor things do not negatively impact the album in any way for me however, I love it just as much as Kill Whitey, if not more and both are extraordinary releases. If you loved Kill Whitey or just want some refreshingly intense grind to melt your brain, give this album a go, as it will definitely go down in the history books. Buy it and support these maniacs, they deserve it. The south has risen again.

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"Like a Crow Attacking a Vinyl Player" (Atomck and Paucities Split, 2011)

One day I was on the train home, when my train somehow ended up taking me to Narnia, and whilst asking the locals of Narnia for directions back to reality, I spotted a man dressed up in a full suit of armour, thinking he also was a local I decided he may very well know the route home, as the other locals seemed intent on finding their way to Mordor for some reason, and knew not of the fair city of London, but said it may lye between the realms of Atlantis and New Vegas. Mustering up enough courage to ask the foreboding man I approached him and asked "Excuse me kind sir, noweth thee, the route one may take to reach the city of Londinium" To which he replied "Fuck knows! I was on my way their also, to go to an art convention, I was supposed to showcase my work in the Museum of fine arts (as us Londoners like to call it "the building which contains overpriced pieces of paper"). Having realised we were both looking for the same destination, we decided to trek together and hope to finally find a path to London. Along our arduous journey I learnt many a thing of this masked stranger, finding further that we shared many a thing in common, from our mutual disdain for dolphins and 8 sided shapes, to our shared passion of Grindcore and Haribo. As we proggressed he delved further telling me of his band Atomck, and he wished to create the greatest pokemon tribute band the western hemisphere had ever heard via the medium of Grindcore.

As it transpired the land we thought to be Narnia, turned out to be Bracknell, and as was southern Railway custom; all passengers are given suits of armour to protect themselves from the drug fiend locals, who have tendency to stab at anything that broadly reminds them of Jeremy Kyle.

Luke's own Artwork

The identity of this masked stranger, is non other than fellow grindcore zealot, and grindtodeathian Luke Oram. Who contrary to their self styled pokemon outlook on grind, play a blend of chop and change grindcore and psychedelic electronica with a pulsating vein of progressive guitar work. I feel I have best described Atomck via twitter, as a crow attacking a vinyl player. The crow being a metaphor for the unnaturally high heinous shrills screeched out at ear drum blistering proportions, who surprisingly hasn't wreaked his vocal chords enough, to allow him to juxtapose the highs with a bellowing booming of equal ear torturing proportions. 

Having pestered Luke in many of a conversation, I am well aware of his love of progressive rock, which shines throughout offering a really fresh injection of new blood to the heaving mass that is grindcore. They have for the purposes of this split and future releases, brought a human drummer to their traditional drum machine operated percussion, bringing a human element to their abstract quasi-death/grind/electronica/prog which in all honesty is a mindfuck to even begin to unravel. Having just spent the better part of the last two weeks at uni stressing the importance of independent judicial review, I feel somewhat of a nepotist hypocrite stating on this site that I really do enjoy listening to Atomck. I feel by well and far you will have a hard time finding a band who are equally as idiosyncratic and enjoyable as Atomck

Taking the remaining 2 songs on the split, we have Chicago's self-styled Repulsion grinders Paucities. Starting off with the traditional gore ethic as established by Impetigo, of sampling b-list horror flicks, we then are introduced to lo-fi high reverb buzzing drumming and guitaring in a manner akin to early grind days cassette days mums basement recordings. Although I do admit I like the general direction the music goes in, I can't say its repulsionesque in any form, the recording quality really does make this half of the split irritable to listen to. Being a child of the 90's I may lack the appreciation of lofi basement grind, that I am sure many a reader here once partook in, but for me the audio quality resembles that of one cassette player recording the output from another cassette player which fails to bring any hope of hearing the finer points of their musicianship.

Another critique is that the vocals really are awful, half the time they sound like an angry Alsatian who demands his dinner, and at other times, sounds like the scenes from The Exorcist played on a dusty VCR through a 1950's television.

Committing to purchase splits on the basis of one half being amazing and the other not so credible, on the advice given by a stranger is a risky grindcore related investment, well luckily for you fair lads and lassess of the realm, this release is 100% free so fuck off and download it and make your own opinions for a change (Just Kidding please come back! You guys are my only friends!)

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Atomck

Paucities

Lukes Art Work

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Architects of Death (The Famine, The Architects of Guilt, 2011)

Texan Death Metallers "The Famine" are here with there debut album The Architects
of Guilt. The album starts with an agressive triplet feel riff that reminds
me of early Lamb of God. This band have a no comprimise, blasting death metal
sound with groove laden tight musicianship. It's clear listening to the album
that the band have a mix of influences new and old taking a mix of old school
Europeon Death metal and new age Death metal which is currently thriving in
the U.S and adding there southern stylings to create there sound. For me Track 5
"Bigger Cages, Longer Chains!" Is a stand out track with a blistering intro with
unrelenting drumming from Mark Garza breaking into riffs reminesent of Devourment and the
southern metal stylings can be heard also showing these Texans are in touch with
there roots! Unfortunatly as the album went on I found the screaming vocals becoming
monotomas and the album failed to grab my attension with its lack of vocal variation.
The album has a lot of overtones of thrash also which would attract fans of such bands
as Carnal Forge making this music very accessable with a lot of variation in the riffs
from song to song, the only problem this creates for me is I find it hard to find the bands
main direction, and for me makes the album less memorable. The production on the album is
great, everything you would come to expect from a modern death metal acts.

This album will appeal to a wide range of death metal/ Deathcore fans and should be checked out!

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Josh McMorran

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Texan Chop Shop (Hatred Surge, Deconstruct, 2009)

Last night I had a dream that I was standing in the middle of a massive industrial factory. Machines were working tediously all around me while I could hear the grinding of steel and heavy rumble of pumps and levers. The room stretched far as the eye could see and looked as if the walls, floor, and ceiling were made of copper. As I stood there, looking around, a beautiful pale woman appeared from behind the cogwheels wearing only a thorny rose stem used to tie her hair in a loose knot. Her voice then became that of Faiza Kracheni, vocalist of Hatred Surge, but it wasn’t her. Her eyes were closed the whole time as if they were sealed shut and the expression of intense agony on her face was apparent. She explained to me the Deconstruction of the mind, the body, the soul, society, the world, and ultimately, all life. I froze in awe of the sheer force in her tone.

“The world is Out of Balance, Maladjusted to corrupt ways. Harvest until the earth below your feet becomes no more than Dark Circles upon the horizon. Keep believing what you want, but your efforts prove Weightless. Feeding of the gluttonous leaves them with a Big Smile, and causes The Slithering of the rest."


I replied, “I Hate as well as you do, does it make us any different?” I then pleaded with her to spare the lives of humans. She finally agreed to spare humanity on one condition. I was to inform the world of her message through the music of Hatred Surge’s Deconstruct... to spread realization of our true nature through noisy, sludgy, powerviolence. The powerful drumming, catchy guitar and bass work, and male and female vocals (Alex and Faiza) compliment each other in just the right way to make people violently nod their heads in agreement with the primal message of humanity’s eternal destruction and hate. Many seem to think of this band as Insect Warfare's little sister but HS certainly stand on their own and outshine IW in a few aspects. What makes this such a great album is the noisey as fuck production value, which if recorded cleaner would sound less chaotic and powerful. If you want fast Grindy Powerviolence, look no further. Male + Female vocal combinations almost always work out well in PV and Grind and this is no exception, give this record a spin today. “How will I remember this dream?”, I asked the strange naked woman. She replied, “I am the Sleep Terrorizer, this memory will be forever burned into a Skull Cell deep within your head. Keep my message until Infinity.”

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Assuck Warfare (Cellgraft, External Habitation, 2010)

External Habitation brings into the realm of Grind the unique and interesting themes of  Cytology and Cytopathology which extends beyond the bands name; Cellgraft, and into a lyrical concept of numerous biological orientated dystopian possibilities. If like me you lost all interest in biology when you realized it would require decades to hold the world at ransom with your new breed of murderous cells, then these lyrics are bound to rekindle your fascination with the extreme side of biology.
Cellgraft are Tampa Bays hybrid of both fellow Floridians Assuck and coastal neighbours Insect Warfare in a true old school Grindcore fashion. Adopting Assuckian rampant yet co-ordinated blasting and twisting microscopic observant demise preaching lyricism, and the ever infamous Insect Warfares face shredding screeching guitar work, they have worked out an formula I have yearned to hear in the spotlight of Grind.
Judge them not on how good they are at being either Assuck or Insect Warfare, for Cellgraft are a mechanical beast of their own, who combine what we loved from each; the dexterity of one and the abrasiveness of the other, for their ground shacking 13 phase attack on your ears. Despite all the old school hallmarks including the mandatory cover of one of your influences, in this case non-other than the first and eternal Napalm Death - Scum, these grinding Floridians do offer a few modern twists and turns, not only do the lyrics go 21st century, but Cellgraft go entirely modern with a internet based DIY approach. They offer downloads to their material ala mediafire, and publish updates about the band via their blog here. As one would expect with a DIY band, production quality is not the best, however their rampaging grindcore bursts shine through poor production value, and one can clearly see the makings of a great band worthy of sitting beside the oldies.
Long gone are Assucks howlings of Class Warfare, as is Insect Warfare,but Long Live Cellular Warfare!

P.S You can buy their first 7" here,(A must buy, then review when I have more funds)

Cellgraft @ MySpace
Cellgraft @ Blogspot
Cellgraft @ Twitter
Cellgraft @ Facebook

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Debellatio of Man(Defeatist, Sixth Extinction 2010)

It's not everyday that you are greeted with an animalistic screams of agony and despair, whilst instrumental harbingers of war drum up a bellicose herald of the next large extinction event. That is unless you listen to New Yorks finest: Defeatist. Whether or not they take their name from one of Lenin's more absurd propositions or the more general use is a non-issue, all you have to appreciate is that these guys are hell bent beyond belief.

Screams, screams and even more screams, in fact so many screams you might just find yourself believing that you are in fact a fixture in hell. However in the background of this constant heinous shrieking a pyrrhic battle rages between strings and percussion, with the battlefield being your ear drum. Both are executed with such great awe and professionally, whilst maintaining almost legendary consistency, which has resulted in even the best of us faltering and momentarily falsely attributing it to an illusion of noise, because this is one great boisterous racket. Boxing in Noise, Pain, Frustration, Death and anything else equally negative, Defeatist  release this all as a incendiary cluster bomb of violent noise detonated over a web of extra strength Grindcore. Brief interludes of silence or near silence are merely a representation of the delay between pressing the trigger and the when they let all hell breaks loose, in all its twisted glory.
This album is an unforgiving and menacing skull fuck of Noise mutated Grind, time-signatures are ignored as Defeatist run rampant on a biocide spree fuelled by both blood lust and a general odium to mankind. Take part in the demise of man, and get your copy now!

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UnrEPenting (Phobia, Unrelenting 2010)

Although Phobia felt fit to release a certain questionable release on us and taint there stellar reputation, they certainly have made amendments releasing some killer splits including one with Gadget and another with Extinction of Mankind. So initially I didn't know what to expect from their new EP Unrelenting, was it to be hereditary continuation of their progress, en par with the splits or perhaps a stumble back to the 2008 bastard child of 22 Random Acts of Violence.

Well I am pleased to announce, this without a doubt is Phobia in its fleshed out crusty Grindcore form, with pulses of metal splattering out intermittently like a  severed jugular as screams of agony and despair are bellowed in  a d-beat triumph heralding a policy of punk scorched earth.
Brooding in Orange County these punker than you Grinders, backlash against contemporary socio-politics with a hammer of punk rhetoric sustained in a handle of blasting percussion and rampant riffing.
These guys don't waste any time crushing seventeen songs in fifteen minutes, niceties are stripped to  a primitive alloy of metal and punk, whose appearance is a crusty writhing mass of belligerence and ultra punk rhetoric.
Not their best release, but not far from it, packing quite the crust punch it will certainly satisfy the inner punk whose choice of poison happens to be the highly toxic Grindcore. The second song Rehashed  does exactly as it suggests bringing back Phobia in its all scarred and bloody glory waving the Grindcore flag atop a mass of false punks, of which is a reoccurring subject matter epitomised best in the screaming lyrical backlash "If you used to be Punk, Then you never were". Even for those who don't care about the articulate and somewhat foul mouthed rhetoric, will certainly be whooed over by the unrelenting (see what I did there!) tirade of crusty grind d-beating fury that is sure to spawn a few spinal chord injuries here and there, be sure to put this on your Christmas list lads and ladettes we have ourselves one killer Phobia release!

Official forum @ SMNnews
Phobia @ MySpace
Official Phobia Facebook

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Set for Success (Kill the Client, Set for Extinction, 2010)

Texan Grinders Kill the Client have racked up a third full length instalment to their prestigious résumé, which thus far has taken them well up the chain to establish themselves amongst the greatest Grind bands out there.
Set for Extinction  operates on a stranglehold of wrought knotted obstreperous aggression, that manifests itself  in a strong arm of thundering Grindcore, pounding at your senses again and again all the whilst possessing an abrasive attraction to its  destructive allure.
Opening up with a sample from a how to survive a nuclear war documentary they set a foreboding tone which coupled with their bitter instrumental spewing makes for a dynamic that conflicts the most brutish of instincts; fear and rage, drawing out the primitive man into their lyrical backdrop being the current decay of civilisation. Kill the Client have always had a good formula for presenting a bludgeoning cacophony, however  Set for Extinction has brought out the occasional captivating twist, track 7 Pandemic is an epilepsy inducing overdose of Grind as Kill the Client stamp in just 2 minutes about any influence under the sun to create a Pandora's box of Grindcore, which is executed in a manner worthy of the greats. Additionally we have Kill the Client take a blast at the realm of Gore, The Walking Dead being an odious operetta of gore and guttural clamour, whilst still retaining a heavy presence of straight up chainsaw in your face Grindcore.Throughout  lyrics are en par with the instruments in the hatred department, and they unleash a dark blasting tongue of vehement poetry, touching on topics of war, anarchy and genocide.
Set for Extinction, while rupturing your ear drum will tear apart that inner zen of calm and tranquility you possess, and reduce you to a mindless head-banging slave to its blastbeats, truelly a sign of a masterpiece. May I  welcome Kill the Client as permanent residents to the infamous Grindcore hall of fame.

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Wormrot I Adore (Wormrot / I Abhor, 2010)

The day has finally dawned, I have my much awaited copy of Wormrot/I Abhore, listened to it God knows how many times, and finally decided to spread the word of our Lord and share its Glory!
Introductions with Wormrot should not be needed, but if you so happen to  have been in a coma between late 2009 and now then all you need to know is that these Singapore trio release kick ass more often than a falsehood leaves a politicians mouth. As for the other band present, I Abhor  are a hell bent quintet based in L.A with a grim dystopian approach to some fast paced Grind, and should not be neglected in the shadow of Wormrot's awe.

I Abhor start off with a few rogue shacky notes struck out, then accompanied by a simple generic cymbal beat, creating an aura of suspense, then a short lived warping guitar work drags us into the realm of blast beats and shifting screams of anger and despair.  Throughout their tracks the drum work has a eminent echo from  constant snare bashing, and at first glance may sound messy and repetitive, however you should notice that drumming is highly above standard and is the main driving force, behind the songs. The guitars are very much only used to fill space, and when they are used independently nothing exceptional is performed, but nothing terrible either. Vocals are gruff, and compliment the angry raw drumming perfectly , expect nothing but pure energetic low tuned screaming. One can easily identify Assück as being the overall feel the band are trying to achieve, and although it is certainly a good route to go down, I have my own suggestions for the band. 

The band certainly have all the elements that makes them a fantastic band, however I think the way they play out these elements needs adjusting, instead of going the Assück route, I recommend making the drumming more clear and the vocals a bit louder as it was too often drowned out in the snare blasting,and if these where to be achieved the band will never be second rate to Assück, but have their own sound and feel, alongside their already impressive ability.

This is purely and simply 100% cacophonous defenestrative Grindcore. It's rowdy and upbeat nature is only superseded by its addictive temperament which will get you hooked faster than chocolate flavoured crystal meth. They even toy with their audience having the first 13 seconds of their track a tribute of counting to the number 12 before Arif's vocals explode your eardrum in a 3 second blast, powerful enough to give Gulf War Syndrome even to the most resilient of men. These guys are just relentless, at no point do they waiver or pull out a short straw on their instrumental lashing, we have 8 grinding tracks of biblical proportions. "Critical Human Stupidity" is the second track and by far my favourite, with its energetic virulence  one can not find a fault in such a wild tune.
These guys stick a middle finger to the concept of one album wonders, and bash out nothing but Grindcore of the highest order, everything seems to be there, amazing guitar work? check, blast beats galore? check, ear piercing vocals? check, crystal clear sound quality? check, elements all thrown together through a black hole? check, what more could one ask for? A bassist I hear you say? Sorry I can't quite hear that over the crushing guitar work of Fit. The overall Abuse formula has been fine tuned to near perfection, we have a more fluid rhythmic structure in place, but at the other end of the table these guys have brought a more overall Insect Warfare stranglehold to their already mind-blowing songs, and they just make it work as if there was no jump from one to the other, not even a shudder. There is only one way to play this and that's with the repeat button on, volume maxed out and a health hazard warning outside your front door, any other way and its wrong.
Lastly, all I have to say is Wormrot LEAD US ONWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wormrot   -   I Abhore

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(Kill the Client vs Thousandswilldie, 2009)

At 7 minutes, there is not too much one can actual delve into before realising all your arguments and observations have been exhausted before kicking up enough pace, so just like the release the only thing to do is to leave it short and sweet.

Kill the Client  use their 3 tracks to show the listener they still have the Cleptocracy momentum in full swing, and are able to kick more ass than the UFC Heavyweight division combined with chainsaws. Prominent guitar work with an ever uncompromising percussion have been the key features of defining Kill the Client's success, with the vocals adding another layer of awe to the already grindtastic set up. This release is no different to that, and is a nice sign of life and integrity since they last threw out an album back in 2008. Once again strength has been added to the claim that Kill the Client are well on their way to establishing themselves as a Grindcore trademark.

Myspace

Metal Archives

Last Fm

Now Thousandswilldie, have somewhat of a less palatable form of Grindcore, but their fast paced scruffy frantic fury certainly burns a soft spot in my heart for them. I would best describe these guys as what would occur if one was to breed Watchmaker's unconventional approach  with Insect Warfare's razor wire barbarity. Moments of musical mess are untangled fluidly, as Thousandswilldie  shift from more recognisable primitive Grindcore to weird and wonderful things, that leaves the listener in bewilderment as to how they pulled a stunt like that off. They certainly confirm all the suggestions their self assigned tag of Eastbayhategrind implies, this is one giant portion of vehement hatred to feast your ears on.

Sadly Thousandswilldie are no longer active, they have however stated that they will be posting on  a separate website all their out of print material, and also unreleased material, but in the meantime I highly recommend checking out their earlier material to get better acquainted with their hateful music.

Myspace

Last FM

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Misled by Normality, Fuck Normality (Cephalic Carnage, Misled by Certainty 2010)

Denver Colorado's own self assigned: Hydrogrinders Cephalic Carnage, give some proof to the pudding that weed can result in some really creative visonairy works of art, however on the flip side of the table they beseige the listener with an absurd lyrical content featuring conspiracy theories and UFO's, exhibiting classical signs of delusion and paranoia. Although the subject of narcotic consumption and musical ingenuity is quite the classic debating point, my priority is to infact review the album, which in a round about way may reflect on the debate, so onward we go! (feel free to debate it in the comments section)

 Cephalic Carnage manage to shatter any preconceived abstraction you could ever envisage on the technical side of music, they literally present to the listener with a colourful 54 minute segment of writhing sophisticated grind, that continues to shine vibrancy coupled with originality, all the whilst keeping the listener captivated and overwhelmed by the sheer awe that it sprays upon the gracious audience.

 Cephalic Carnages  modus operandi has a general inattention for time signatures and abstruse moments are found by the dozen, but all this adds to the appeal of their dexterous speedy riffing with the accompaniment of a grooving bass line and tight , integrated drumming. As per usual Cephalic Carnage like not to be underpinned by genres and release a vast fury of genres across their 14 tracks of boundary slashing mastery, expect a range from the doom, sludge to the loud to the more mellowed out, all the while being underpinned by an ever approaching grinding blitzkrieg. 

The Incorrigable Flame, is the first track and the only bad track on the album, perhaps for a musician it is desirable as it seems to be a fantastic showcase of their musical ability, however not that of a song for your standard listener, due to a lack of hooks,instrumental  integration and engaging moments which give me a feel that it is a weak as a song, and perhaps best left unheard to preserve the sanctity of the rest of the album. Luckily track 2 Warbots AM, brings back the users attention with blast beats and screaming intro followed by a parade of catchy riffs to reach and holds its zenith just over a minute in, with a slow paced grinding onslaught, and then to revert to back to a period of guitarmania, before once again breaking into the a full frontal Grindcore assault.  

Plentiful are moments of zen like slow paced drawn out harmonies, only to have them smoothly juxtaposed by moments of vehemence, all the while the temperance of the nimble guitar lead innovation remains intact, creating a staple flow that holds the polar elements together, namely the marvelous shifts of the speed and heaviness.
Vocals are well assimilated into the tracks, and reflect the constant mood swings of the album, giving another stratum to the sheer alluring nature of the album. One cannot take the application of the genre; namely Grindcore lightly,  albeit their previous releases, this is nothing like any other grind band, and it may be hard to associate with Grindcore's notorius extremity and cold blooded nature. However if you dwell deep into the music, and deep within all the non-grindcore elements you will be acquainted with some of Grindcore's hallmarks in loose application. Even if you struggle to these underpinnings, you will clearly notice in song structure of a return in force back to a staple of Grindcore, which emphasis the fluidity of the music.

Although similar in annals to their previous strongholds of Xenosapien and Anomalies, this album is unique in its own right, and in my opinion trumps the priors, in all fields be it originality, musical professionalism and overall appeal and re-playability. They have refined their game, cutting out elements which were feeble or misplaced, and those that were strong have been reinforced and reforged to give it a contemporary semblance, all the while never loosing sight of the original aim of original grind.
Musical praise aside, the artwork itself is worthy of distinction and perhaps best metaphorically represents the music; with a primeval skull constructed by various avant-garde entities, and in the distance a eye catching space craft, yes I am a sucker for art work
To conclude whoever said originality is dead, clearly never heard  Misled by Certainty, and whoever also said that originality and quality don't go side by side is also a liar. Misled by Certainty is a fantastic album, with every crevice teeming with originality, technicality and equally as good professionalism, this is certainly my favourite release of the year so far, and I tip my hat to them for blessing me with such an exhilarating roller coaster ride of audio ecstasy.

Post Script: Check out this interview with them, interesting read. (here) 

CephalicCarnage@MySpace.com
Cephalic Carnage Forums
Cephalic Carnage @ Facebook
Cephalic Carnage @ Twitter

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Technophobia (Phobia/Gadget Split, 2010)

Gadget take hold of the first 7 tracks, and although the first track Torture starts off a tad slow for my liking after about 43 seconds we become reacquainted with the Gadget we last saw back 4 years ago. Now perhaps it is just me or is Slayer the new "thing" for Grindcore bands, on the second track right at the end, and at the beginning of the 5th  I spotted a cheeky Kerry King like interjection, which was nice given my love of Slayer, but was somewhat of a surprise, and have noticed it quite a bit this year amongst the newer releases. Gadget insist to start most songs of slowly, then after an indiscriminate amount of time, they release their grind and then to tone it down, up to the point of a moments silence, although this gives a more mellowed and approachable feel to it, this repetitive stop start approach doesn't please me, and would of greatly preferred if it was a non stop battery of some very progressive and enjoyable Grindcore. The guitar work as prior releases is excellent, and the same can be said with the drumming, giving a desirable technical vibe to it with the technical moments  highlighted more so with the ever present primitive screams and shouts. The Gadget half is some stupendous Grind, with plenty of examples of creativity and professionalism that reflect their dexterous nature, but their constant stalling sadly fails to fully immerse the listener 100% into it, and leaves it closer to 90% mark.

Opening upon with foul mouthed title Dick Head Life, we are greeted with a scream, a rampant drum beat and a punch in the face, and such ferocity carries on until the end of their 10 minute 20 second siege upon the listener. Although I have never claimed to be able to decipher the groans of the punkish vocals of Shane Mclachlan, every so often I would catch a snippet of a string of crude words such as "Human Error", and it seems rewarding to have finally understood something from his Neanderthal grunts and hollers. Drumming and vocals are the defining elements, of this split, and they work together intrinsically to bestow a crustcore charge, whilst the guitaring gives a depth to the release and aside from some occasional somewhat above satisfactory metal injections, has no prominence, nor is it needed.

Phobia's tracks are a rag tag collection of pissed off, hate-fuelled crusty aggression, a perfect accompaniment to thesprightly and clean shaven approach of Gadget's nimble coordinated defilement. A release highly worthy of recognition.

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I Did This to You (Gigantic Brain, They Did This To Me 2010)

With his DIY keyboard and photoshop ethic, Gigantic Brain has brought an innovative and well received sci-fi feel to what is quite an exclusive and conservative genre, his first release the  Invasion Discography earnt his shot at the title amongst the "frequently played" list among many a fan of the genre. With each following release, the fast relentless drum trigger happy wacko Grind has been slowly been superseded with a more ambient touch, which has overall given it a far more cosmos feel,yet reactions have been mixed and tend to lye at extremities with no one finding it average. And here before us free for all you homosapien's to enjoy is his latest episode;They Did This to Me.

Opening up with a synthesised 70s styled electric voice, the first track Heaven appears at first glance to be some electro-ambient traverse sound, only to have it  torn up with a metal build up, which exits at gracefully at its peak. The second track Father is certainly what I was looking forward to, starting in an old fashioned drum assault and its alien styled vocals the Grind dies down and serenades in, an ambient milieu .
Gigantic Brain sticks to this blueprint, offering a nice variation of Grinding moments, and a collection of atmospheric ones, with a strong use of volume control to show the contrast between the two. The drumming has been slowed down a bit, and the grind moments have been elongated to last longer than the traditional 5 second blast, however with the elongation Gigantic Brain  is able to input a more industrious and resolute sound.
As always the space feel to it is ever present, and is exemplified greater in this album than in any other release to date,  however his promise of "taking Grindcore to the Stars" is perhaps no longer applicable. The moments of Grindcore are too few and too far between, and neglecting that cut throat ferocity and bizarreness that made his name in the first place, one could say that perhaps the Grindcore moments have also become somewhat standardised. The song Birds has that boy bandish feel to it with its acoustic guitaring and emotional murmuring, and was a great disappointment to me as it seemed so incongruous, no universe feel what so ever aside from a small rare background alienish interjection, and the following and penultimate track was a disappointment also, and although the final track was good, it couldn't quite counter my embittered left to me after the previous two songs.
Despite a general negative nature of the article, I still have no regrets listening to They Did This to Me, the majority of it was delightful to listen to, although I would of preferred more Grinding madness to it. Overall I would say that he perhaps is a victim of his ultra DIY ethic, had he stuck to his amazing keyboard work, scary alien vocals and insane machine drum beats and even his encapsulating ambient feel, this release could of easily been on my top list, however I feel his experimentation especially with guitars and vocals has been a great detriment to the overall feel of the album. It perhaps would of been best left as E.P instead of an album, some tracks are of excellent quality, and others of questionable nature and had They Did This to Me been refined to the better ones, I am certain that it would of been another solid release to add to his name, yet I hear on the internet that this is to be his last release, and this saddens me seeing that his music is by far some of the most creative out there.

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Jesus Loves Mcdonalds (Assück, Misery Index 1996)

With a band name of Assück, one can easily distinguish whether or not a person of unknown musical orientation is a grindcore fan or not. People who have not been gifted or discovered the sweet musical nectar of Grindcore will most likely laugh at such a name and make some sexual joke, whereas a Grindcore fan will either nod their head in approval or engage in an  in depth educated discussion on how Assück's lyrics on the subject of consumer culture and capital dependency reflect a quasi-neo-marxist-anarchist discourse.

Stemming from Saint Petersburg, Florida; Misery Index was the last release from these old school east coast grinders and one of Grindcore's most pivotal albums and its legacy may be seen still today in one of Death Grinds biggest names, whose legacy is not only titular, but lyrical and perhaps even by extension drumming as well .From the beginning  Assück have been brandishing a  series of well contrived academic like lyrics to justify their stance as Anarcho-Grind, a break from the saturation of the Punk with its "I'm more punk than you" attitude which ruined what was a respectable scene.
With drummer Rob Proctor fresh off his role as Discordance Axis tour drummer for Japan 95, Assück were set to break free from their 3 years of no new material phase, and bring forth the most lyrically profound and best produced material to date. Unlike most bands who religiously play at break neck speeds, Assück made use of heavy deceleration and acceleration, to give there songs an unforgettable dynamic. The most recognisable and beloved trait of the album by far is the blast beating;, standing right in the foreground Mr.Proctor's dexterous technicality on the drums is showcased, and it's primitive and bitter nature is a fantastic accomplishment, which has rarely been pulled off since.

Guitar work is dark and down tuned,and with  low pitch bellow vocals it gives the music that bleak feel to it, worthy of a title of Misery Index which aside from being a snazzy title is in fact an official statistical measure of the unemployment rate combined with that of the interest(read here).
There is only one complaint I can raise against this near infallible album, and that is how short it is, it clocks in at just over 15 minutes, just over the album mark. It will leave the listener yearning for more and more, but no more is forthcoming, although to play devils advocate; it may be argued that a sign of good quality is a demand for more, and quality this release has in great abundance.
Misery Index gave blast beat filled hope to grindcore scene in the mid 90's, whose founding fathers had either dissolved or had undergone an alternate routes,which had put the genre on life support.
Altogether Misery Index has an amazing roster of ingredients; blast beats galore, political discourse worthy of its own following, down tuned down tempo guitars and a long lasting far reaching legacy.

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The Agorapocalypse is upon us (Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Agorapocalypse, 2009)

Scott Hull can not only be credited with creating an audio emulation of epilepsy,  but also as being the front man and driving force for some of Grindcore's biggest names.Under Agoraphobic Nosebleed he used a slew of unconventional methods such as electric drums, masses of microsongs, frantic guitaring & vocals alongside manic music videos, carving a new family of extremity in the metal music scene; known to those who relish in his work simply as; Drum Machine Grind.

Agorapocalypse is the latest in a long line of beasts unleashed by Scott Hull and Co, and is by far the most "normal". Normality by no means that Agoraphobic Nosebleed have lost their touch, this beast of an album is untamed and livid as ever, enough to induce you into a raging fit any time someone mentions the terms; drugs or crime.
Abandoning the mass micro song concept, they flex their metaphorical musical muscles into the realm of conventionality with generally songs lasting between a minute and three, and all this across an unlucky number of tracks, namely 13, again breaking away from their infamous barrages of 100+ tracks of mind bleeding mayhem.
I think for the first time in the age of the Compact Disc an album art is 100% representative of the contents that lay within. Symbolising a flurry of narcotic abuse, police brutality, corporate greed and mass media to name an array of topics covered, this enveloping and vivid art drowns the viewer with all manner of social chaos which not only complements the lyrical themes touched upon, but also the way Agoraphobic Nosebleed force feed you their electrifying  360 degree Grind attack, which will deprive the listener of any coherent  line of thought.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed  greatest call to fame was the fact they had a disregard for the rules of music, and perhaps much like Anal Cunt actively sought to create a stigma and taboo attributed to their names in the peaceful world of music. And just like AxCx Top 40 Hits they decided to break their own rules and follow the standards they so actively desecrated and mocked.
The transition from rebel  without a cause to teachers pet has not hampered nor compromised the integrity of the extreme nature of ANb, the addition of female vocalist Katherine Katz has much to my surprise added a thick layer of aggression  to the music which I had no idea existed in the fairer sex. The twinning of the male and female vocalists are ideal, as they proceed to give you a verbal beat down, you come to realise that it is the girl is in fact the harshest of the two, and this is a scary realisation that such a femme fatale has probably  the harshest vocals on the planet.

The drumming has slowed down to a humane level of speed, and the introduction of a drum solo gives the drumming a touch of reality to it, betraying the fundamental digitally triggered fast as fuck rampage of mechanised drums in  their spawned genre Machine Gun Grind. Slowing the drumming down and elongating the songs forced the take on drumming to adapt to a more cohesive and coherent nature, and by doing so the role of the drums has fallen in line with the stereotypical metal drummer experience. However I cannot deny that despite the "degrading" of the role of the drums, the drums are still as kick ass as they always have been and are en par with the best drummers of better Grindcore acts. I can assure for the unconvinced more die hard ANb fans that the drumming will still beat you into a pile of blood and dust, personal guarantee.
As for the guitaring, expect your standard Scott Hull fast picked no bass present guitar only 7/8 string with plenty of amps assault, and unlike the shift in electric drumming his guitaring is one thing us fans will not allow him to go in a break away form, at least not without a universal vote.

Agorapocalypse  although breaking the mould of traditional ANb and lacking in its genre defining nature, it still will bestow upon the listener a considerable amount of unexplainable blunt force trauma alongside a fear of substance abuse. A perfect unison of man and machine on instruments, with the vocals which have redefined the term harsh, this album showcases Scott Hull's ability to kick as much obeying the rules as he did breaking them.

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Ascend into Blogger (Dying Fetus, Descend Into Depravity, 2009)

My love for the more extreme ends of the metal genre can be traced backed to being a young teenager and discovering a band known as Dying Fetus;  they were much heavier than anything I had ever heard and it was a love at first listen. Since then Dying Fetus have always had a special place for me, and have always impressed me with their music. I find that generally people are divided by Dying Fetus, they play a strong brutal sound, but then go technical and people feel that this has negated the harshness of what they had just player, while other listeners  having a general abhorrence for any form of technical playing. Luckily for me, I quite like the manner that Dying Fetus juxtapose the technical moments with those of pure audio terror, and I think they are one of few bands who have successfully manage to pull it off.

Stop at Nothing, Grotesque Impalment  and most importantly Destroy the Opposition  established Dying Fetus as a top rate band who are more than capable of putting out good music. Sadly War of Attrition  was generally terrible, although I did enjoy it was felt not just by myself but the metal community it was nothing to its predecessors. In a bold move by
Relapse Records, they decided to put their faith once again into Dying Fetus, and put the upcoming release Descend Into Depravity  as their poster boy for the record label for the latter of 2009, a number of music videos were recorded and plenty of money was spent advertising it. So the big question must be asked did it pay off?


Descend Into Depravity  certainly was a come back to form by force to the Destroy the Opposition era, much like after the fall of Rome a period of decline existed only to be swept away by the Renaissance, well this certainly may be seen as Dying Fetus' rebirth. Dying Fetus have gone back to the glory days of Destroy the Opposition but with a twist, they have decided to follow a more traditional metal formula of solos, conventional structure,sweeps and melodic overturns. There is one time when I did question whether this new formula had altered the integrity of a death metal sound, and had created some generic metal sound with heavy elements creating a very undesirable effect,named: Hopeless Insurrection this song is the third on the album and ironically "hopelessly insurrected" from the solid amazing impression from the first two songs. Luckily this song is the only bad apple in the barrel and the rest of the barrel are certainly up to scratch and well beyond the quality of your average song.

 We certainly see that Dying Fetus have been rehearsing religiously, the tightness, precision and speed of what they play  puts the form of most titans of death metal world to shame. As aforementioned Dying Fetus have looked back at the roots of not only their own music, but of the genre, and have also looked to the peers for guidance there exists a faint but strong presence of Decrepit Birth. A constant and well established orthodoxy in Dying Fetus is the vocals of John Gallagher (alongside him being an original member), I cant think of any vocalist who sounds more raw and brutal and this is a strength that Dying Fetus have used on every release and Descend into Depravity is no exception.  The bass and drums have been moved as much into the foreground as the guitars, breaking away from guitar-centric War of Attrition  and into a more coordinated assault. The three work together in synch and compliment each other so well, it begs the question can guitarists, drummers and bassists work together without bickering (those of you in bands know what I am talking about), I shall reserve judgement for now.
Considering Fetus once had one of the worlds greatest drummers, Kevin Talley they have done an excellent job of gaining a replacement who comes near to the break neck speed, ingenuity and flexibility of one of his many predecessors. I never thought I would see the day that I said that the bass is as active,varied and free as the guitar, luckily Sean Beasly  uses this new found freedom to compliment and accompany Gallagher's fine guitar
Your Treachery will die with you and Ethos of Coercion are certainly the best tracks on the album and highlight best everything that this release implements, and would recommend to even the most avid Dying Fetus hater. At times there is a feeling of mediocrity and sluggishness, but such instances are short lived and destroyed by the vocals of Gallagher heralding the oncoming of  a tri-unionised instrument genocide.
Before I end this review, I most reiterate with heavy emphasis how tight the playing is, I am yet to hear a band that can top it.
This release has all the hallmarks and makings of what could of been the best release of their career, sadly there are just those little elements that don't give it that completeness we desire. To me it seems that the experimentation was a good idea, but they need to refine those ideas a bit more. Overall this release is by far much better than most releases out there, and is an amazing album that I think everyone I know should own a copy of. Additionally I would go far to say as the 2nd best release they have put out, so hopefully with a bit more practice and comfort with these "new" elements, Dying Fetus will have in their grasp a strong chance of toppling the legacy of their predecessor and create one of the best albums in all of Deathmetaldom.

The Official Dying Fetus Webpage
Dying Fetus @ myspace
Official Forum @ Metal-Realm.net
Dying Fetus Official PureVolume

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Zaphers First Review (Death, The Sound of Perseverance, 1998)

As promised long ago I said I would bring in a new author to this Blog, and being a man of my word it has come true. He goes under the name of Zapher and is rooted in his NWOBHM, but has a strong appreciation of some Death Metal and Grind, and luckily for me his critical reportage is en par with his knowledge of Iron Maiden,(which is bordering on the encyclopaedic/stalker phase) so his contributions I am very much grateful for, so lets give him a nice GrindtoDeath welcome!

It is apt that a band named “Death” have become so synonymous with Death Metal and have provided the genre with many of its classic and requisite records. Their basis was laid in place by the Bay Area Thrash Metal Movement, a fast and heavy take of Metal music laden with New Wave of British Heavy Metal influences. The band became a major factor in the Florida Metal Movement, as an answer to the music being provided by the West Coast thrash bands.

The Sound of Perseverance is the last album in a stream of revolutionary Death Metal albums, introducing many genre staples. Containing the usual savage lexicon focused on violence and terror. Only instrumental track “Voice of the Soul” takes a break from murder and atrocities. This voiceless track trades Chuck Schuldiner’s fierce and dominating vocal growls for beautiful guitar harmonies. Amongst tracks of high energy and brutal subject matter the track stands out more, especially as an example of Death’s talent as song writers. But the violence stems not just from the perverse poetry but from the sublime guitar work of Schuldiner and Shannon Hamm. With opener Scavenger of Human Sorrow being a constant barrage of doom bringing riffs that drives the rusty nail right into the skull of another victim.

Deaths malicious musicianship is terrifyingly clear in their cover of Judas Priests Painkiller, its inclusion on the album being a sign of how the band wore their influences on their sleeves. The song is mostly a straight cover with little changes to the structure of the original the song, but the band make it seem like an entire reinvention. The song most importantly seems quicker and heavier, despite being the quickest and heaviest of any Judas Priest song in existence. The clean cut solos of Downing and Tipton are replaced with the wailings of Schuldiner and Hamm. Rob Halford’s powerful shrieks are handled surprisingly by Schuldiner who adopts a vocal style un-similar to any of those he used previously. His Halford borders on impression at times and is a clear illustrator of his powerful voice and range. He gives the “terrifying screams” lyric of the song new meaning and his verse outro screams are no less than outstanding. Painkillers famous drum intro is played fierily by Richard Christie, adapted to Deaths sounds with their shrill crash cymbal sounds making the cover instantly unique.

The albums opening “Scavenger of Human Sorrow” is akin to Painkillers opening, with a fierce drum intro of heavy double bass pounding and multiple cymbal crashing being met with a screeching guitar. Christies drum work is as impressive as the musicianship of every other personnel on the album, working beautifully with bassist Scott Clendenin on an album containing little beauty. Clendenin’s bass work is at its best in “Spirit Crusher”, with his slow bass fills working as great transitions between riffs barbarous enough to signal the apocalypse. The bands strong rhythm section provides the perfect basis for the intense vocals and riffs. The bass is allowed to step forward into being a lead instrument in the epic track “A Moment of Clarity”, at times the bass leads the track with a quick succession of fleeting bass lines. The bass styles of the album are clear and almost clean. A vast contrast to the heavy and dirty sounding guitars and powerful drums accompaniments. The bass is always distinct and penetrating during sections that the guitars blend and mesh together, at times mirroring the guitar work but with an entirely different sound because of its clarity. 

The guitars work as a unit utilising the twin lead guitar style introduced by Wishbone Ash and popularised by artists such as Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy. The unite to play the albums famously ferocious riffs before breaking to play individual solos. As well as harmonising during the albums sparse subdued but sections. The duos trading solos are among the albums highlights. Despite being influenced by the styles put in place by Maiden and many other bands the album is miles away from the stunning guitar harmonies of “Children of the Damned”. However, the emotional impact is just as strong, despite being of a polar opposite spectrum. It is an album that oozes violence as much as the infected wounds that serve as the albums lyrical basis. Unpleasant in everyway but a sheer joy.

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