Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Bandcamp Artist of The Week: Crutch

When a band takes their name from a Crossed Out song, you pretty much know you're gonna get something ripping and powerfully violent (see what I did there?). Such is the case with Crutch, a San Diego powerviolence outfit that strictly plays no bullshit fast hardcore songs. Fans accustomed to the genre pretty much know what they're going to get, and Crutch definitely don't do anything groundbreaking or original, but their songs definitely deliver in all the criteria you need to be a solid powerviolence band. Good recordings, good vocals, good everything. Three of their releases are currently available on their bandcamp, definitely check them out and buy the physical releases if you come across them. 

Also, for any readers of this blog who are also hip-hop fans, I highly suggest you listen to drummer/guitarist Matt Ants self-titled rap project. Dope lyrics and a plethora of different types of production. Listen and download here, my favorite release he has is definitely "TORTUREFUNK". 

~VII

Monday, March 26, 2012

Happy Pill Trauma Finally Have Songs Recorded!

I've been waiting for HPT recordings for quite a while now, and I was afraid I would never get to hear any because of a very brief break-up of the band. But happy days, they've gotten back together and have put up two tracks for all to enjoy. Straightforward, no bullshit, mincing grind fury is what you get. Now for those who don't know, HPT is a grind/mince duo from Los Angeles, California. Front women, Valerie, has been a friend of OG for a long time, and I'm happy to see the band getting things going. They always seem to be playing shows, so if you get the chance check them out. They'll be playing GRANDPAxFEST, along with Bastard Noise, Lack of Interest, Bloody Phoenix and Stapled Shut, which is just fucking awesome. 

Listen to HTP here.

~VII

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Interview With Jason Schmidt (Graf Orlock)

Graf Orlock has been bashing out record after record of their unique style some call "cinema-grind". After completing the "Destination Time Trilogy", and the release of the absolutely beautiful "Doombox" EP, Graf Orlock are back with "Los Angeles". An excellent 7" based around the 90's blockbuster "Heat". This interview was done over email.

Operation Grindcore: Why did you decide to use Heat as the concept for the new EP?

Jason Schmitd: With Doombox, we did a kind of three east coast songs/three west coast songs thing, and this time, in such a concise format of a 7", wanted to focus just on LA stuff. In this case, Heat is great, it is pure 1990s, with all the strange cop-isms and culture-weirdness involved. In that movie, there is so much going on, everyone has endlessly fucked up relationships, and the idea and implications of going for the gold have never been done so clearly.

OG: Do you think all of your releases will be based of a specific movie from now on?


Jason: It is actually was an older thing we used to do. The first 7" in 2004 was specifically Die Hard, and a 2005 backpack split release was Total Recall. Since then, we have kind of moved away from that because it doesn't make sense to use one movie for 14 songs on an LP, but every now and then it is pretty fun to focus on one individually.


OG: What is the song writing process for Graf Orlock like? Obviously there is the added variable of the audio samples, do you guys focus on how those are going to be worked into the music at all while writing?


Jason: The samples almost always are secondary. We write the songs and then decide what they will go along with, except in ones where the riffs are part of theme songs, etc. For this record, the drummer now lives pretty far away on the other side of the country, so when he was here for the holidays we took a week and wrote and recorded this to see if we could make a new approach to stupidity work.


OG: Most of your records have very elaborate packaging, do you think that this is an important element to your bands image?





Jason: I think it is an important part of the band in a lot of aspects. It stems from wanting to do things and see things that no one is doing. If we have the capability to make something worth peoples' money instead of another worthless CD or boring glued jacket, I want to do it. It adds a level of interest for us, and although a lot of times it is a giant pain in the ass, in the long run it is worth it, and no one has any say about what we will do or budgets or all of that shit. If you can think of something ridiculous, there must be a way to execute it in an affordable way. It has both aesthetic and intrinsic value I suppose.


OG: Putting out records like that isn't cheap, and since you put out most of your records on your own label is it kind of a risky gamble, financially?


Jason: Yes, but what isnt? Touring is. Buying a van is. Putting out records is just another step to that. I think if people want to do things like this but are half asses, it is never going to work and they should quit before they even start. Things like Kickstarter allow people to think they should just get people to invest on the promise of something awesome in the future, but that is usually bullshit. That is the one of the gratifying things about taking risks like that, is that if it works you keep going and if it doesnt you are doomed to fail. Just like government bailouts, some things should just stop if they can't manage their own shit.


OG: Have you tweaked the way you run Vitriol Records at all since you released your first record?


Jason: I suppose it is just pared down and more focused. It has been a pretty crazy two years or so. This Gorlock record is the 25th release, and a new Ghostlimb LP just recorded is going to be the 26th. Distro stuff has been enlarged and other things, but it is still essentially cooperative relationships with people who are trying to do the same type of thing. It benefits everyone mutually and it is great, to do projects and records with friends in different parts of the world.


OG: Who came up with the idea to literally put bullet holes in your EP cover?





Jason: Us. 7"s are typically prohibitively expensive and boring, so to kick it up a notch, I wanted to shoot the shit out of them.


OG: Tell us about your upcoming tour, and what we can expect from Graf Orlock for the rest of 2012.

Jason: Well, tomorrow (March 21) Graf Orlock goes to Japan for a few weeks with my other band Dangers, which should be fun and awesome. A couple months after that we are hitting up Europe for a month or so and going some places we have never been into the Balkans and eastern Europe, and getting into some festivals. In the future, we will be doing some east coast touring and some other domestic ventures.

OG: Lastly, the question we ask all our interviewees. If you were stuck on a desert island, what 3 albums would you bring with you?

Jason: The Weakerthans "Fallow", Propagandhi "Less Talk More Rock", probably a really long Misfits tape (pre-1984)

~VII

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Cover Art For The Extortion/Coldwar Split Is...Different

Don't get me wrong, I think this is a really, really cool cover, but it's just so different from the typical Extortion aesthetic. It's much more subtle I'd say, no one's about to get mutilated or fucked up or anything. It reminds me of Blade Runner mixed with 1984, or something. Anyways, this new split 12" will be released sometime later this year on RSR. 11 new songs from Extortion and 7 from Cold World, who I've never heard before. New Extortion gets me pumped.

~VII

Six New Gripe Songs That Will Grind Your Head In!

Athens, GA grindcore titans, and long time Operation Grindcore homies, Gripe, have just unleashed 6 brand spanking new songs for their upcoming split tape with Malaysian grinders Diseksa. These new tracks are probably my favorite that the band has recorded yet; definitely their best sounding recording, very beefy and balanced mix, with killer riffs and their trademark uber-pissed off delivery. The split will be released on a pro-cassette by Fast Die, Green Peace, Tombs From The Valley, and Opaques Records, limited to 350 copies. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for that! Listen to the new songs here.

~VII 

Holy Fuck, Why Haven't I Talked About The Drip Yet??

Ummm, yeah, my bad guys. I really don't know how a band this gnarly was able to slip by this blog for this long. I've heard the name a lot, but for some reason never decided to pay much attention to them. Possibly because their band name never really appealed to me. But anyways, last year they released a stupidly good "s/t" EP, which had I heard would have definitely made my "Favorite EP's/Splits/Demos of 2011" list. If you like your grindcore razor sharp, metallic, and overflowing with seething aggression, then The Drip should please you for quite some time. Their EP shows incredible talent and a very professional approach to releasing music. They also have a new EP, called "The Wasteland" (see the awesome cover art by Arif Rot below), which should be released next month. I definitely won't sleep on that one!! Listen to their "s/t" EP here. Oh yeah, and that snare drum KILLS!!

~VII

Friday, March 16, 2012

New Column of Heaven Song!

For those who don't know, Column of Heaven was basically The Endless Blockade after The Endless Blockade broke up. However, now it just has the bass player and maybe the drummer. The released a tape EP last year exhaustingly titled, "Ecstatically Embracing All That We Habitually Suppress". Definitely a cult release that I didn't  hear a whole lot of people talking about. Well, CoH are now finishing up for a new release, and have put up an unmastered track called "Barghest Jugend" on their Bandcamp page. Fans of TEB should definitely find a lot to love here, it keeps the same basic sound they had, except with full-time vocals from the bassist. Noise, blasting, sludge break, it's all there. Give it a listen here and await the new release. No word yet on when it will be release. 

~VII

+HIRS+ - "NUNMILK" Review

Is there still anyone among the readers of this blog that still don't listen to +HIRS+? Are there any non-believers of the Dog in the theater? GET UP AGAINST THE WALL! That's a Pink Floyd reference for ya right there, I'm getting fancy over here. If there are any non-believers, a listen to their new EP "NUNMILK" should convert them. This EP tears my face off with it's perfectly manicured fingernails, throws it on the floor, and then stomps it in the ground with it's hot pink heels. +HIRS+ are still doing the dissonancey, ANb-style grindcore, and they do it masterfully. For one, this is probably their best sounding recording to date. The guitars sound great and full of range; the low end, palm muted riffs are crushingly heavy, and the blasting dissonance riffs are devilishly piercing. I also notice a ton more groove and breaks in these 9 songs too, which might help make their music a little more digestible for new listeners. Obscure, kvlt samples once again serve as segways  between songs(I really wonder where they get all these from). There's a nice bass break in the song "Pink Heels" too, I can dig it.
This EP ends with a 5 minute remix track of their entire "Worship" EP by someone named True Neutral. Very much in the same vein as The Endless Blockade's - "Advanced Directive" remix on the CD version of "The Red List" split. This remix is waaay more reserved though. Definitely not as glitchy and chaotic, still a bit noisy, but I think this actually works more as a legit song. The remix fluidly goes from noisey dissonance blasting to slow, sludgy doom tempos. Mixing in samples and chopped & screwed riffs and vocals. It's really damn cool. All in all, "NUNMILK" kicks fucking ass! Listen now and worship or be slain to appease the great and powerful dog! You can download it on their bandcamp, or pick up the cassette version at Human Beard Records.

Rating: 9/10

~VII

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Pig Destroyer/The Black Dahlia Murder Split To Be Released?

Well, here's something I didn't expect to hear. The fine folks at Metalsucks.net have posted that a split between grindcore gods Pig Destroyer, and melodic death metal band The Black Dahlia Murder is rumored to be released this year. Apparently this split has been in the works for quite a while now, and the recordings have been finished. Both bands are covering old punk songs, so sadly, no new material from PxDx on here. Honestly, this pairing is pretty darn random if you ask me, but any Pig Destroyer is good Pig Destroyer, so yeah, I hope this gets released. No word yet on format or what label is involved, this is still in the "rumor stages".  

In the mean time, keep bugging the Piggy dudes to release that new album already!!

~VII

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Another Studio Update From Antigama, with a Sample of New Music!

This might be the last one, I'm not sure. Hot off the heels of releasing their split CD with Italian jazz-grinders Psychofagist, and currently finishing up their material for their 3-way split with The Kill and Noisear, and their "Stop The Chaos" EP. The video is nicely shot (it actually looks like a music video), but the real benefit of watching this video is to here the brief sample of new music at the end. It definitely sounds like the Antigama I know and love, particularly like the "Resonance" record, which is fine by me. No word yet on when these are getting released, but if should be very soon!

~VII

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Wanna Hear 5 New Weekend Nachos Songs?

Dumb question, of course you do! The Chigaco titans of sludgy powerviolence have recorded 5 brand new songs for an upcoming split 7" with the legendary west coast band Lack of Interest, and were kind enough to put them all up for download via mediafire! That sure was nice of them, huh? As is to be expected, these 5 songs are straight slammers. Any fans of their last album "Worthless" will find plenty to love here. Download the tracks here, and be sure to pick up the actual 7" when it's released later this year on Deep Six records!

~VII

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Listen to Merdarahta!

Grindcore may be closest to our hearts, but we here at Operation Grindcore are also huge noise music junkies. A genre of music that many may find even more abrasive and challenging than even the fastest grind band. We've dwelled into noise with our own projects and groups, and when you look at it, noise and hardcore/grind have had a special relationship for decades. Bands like Man is The Bastard, The Endless Blockade, Insect Warfare and more recently Sea of Shit have all shown appreciation for the distorted and grinding textures of noise. With members of said bands and many others branching off into their own decibel shattering projects. 

And so we now have Merdarahta, a relatively new band featuring members of Fuck the Facts and The Sun Through a Telescope. Merdarahta go for more of a brooding, slow moving approach to noise and sound. Definitely more of a dark/harsh ambient style, with more more traditional instrumentation like drums and guitars sprinkled in, which reminds me of groups like Yellow Swans. Some of you may have already heard these guys if you listened to the B-side of your "Die Miserable" cassette tape. They currently have two releases on their bandcamp page, both of which are also featured on Grindcore Karaoke, with many more releases and collaborations to come. 

~VII

Monday, March 5, 2012

Suffering Mind Will Dominate 2012

People who pay attention to this blog should know that I have a soft spot for the Polish grindcore band Suffering Mind. Definitely one of the bands on my "Most Criminally Underrated" list, over the course of their existence they've made nothing but visceral, ferocious grind, and created what I consider to be a perfect grindcore album in their "s/t" 2010 full-length. All while managing to keep a strong DIY ethos, in particular with their recordings which they occasionally do at their practice space. Something that they proudly display in print on their records.

In their relatively brief existence, they have managed to be quite prolific, releasing many splits and EP's. But it looks like 2012 will be the year where Suffering Mind will dominate the underground. Already having released 2 splits (a 7" with The Afternoon Gentlemen and a 5" with S.A.T.A.N), and with a shit-ton more on the way. Splits with Phobia, Protestant, Needful Things, P.L.F, Catheter, Massgrave and Powercup are in the works. As well as a live 4" picture disc, a new 5" which will be released on 625 Thrashcore/Crucificados Records, and 12" for Give Praise Records. Holy fuck right? Just trying to keep up with this band is exhausting. I hope that they manage to release all of these records this year. For a fanboy like me, the anticipation for some of these is just painful. You can hear choice tracks from some of these upcoming releases on their bandcamp.

~VII

Friday, March 2, 2012

A New Greber Track? Yes Please!

Okay so this track isn't exactly "new", it's been available for streaming since the beginning of February. But that being said if you haven't heard this new jam "No Thanks", you should cause it's fucking dynamite! It's a groovy sludge dirge with elephant stomping momentum and hard, memorable riffs. It's an all around great listen. True, it's not grindcore, I wouldn't even call it hardcore. But I think Greber's grind cred is undeniable   seeing as how bassist/vocalist Marc Bourgon also plays in a little band called Fuck The Facts. "No Thanks" will be featured on an upcoming split 7" with Indonesian grinders Proletar. Listen to it here, and while your at it also download their debut EP "Hometown Heroin". 

~VII

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Graf Orlock - "Los Angeles EP" Review

Graf Orlock are a band that really have developed their own unique schtick. They've managed to take a gimmicky and tongue-in-cheek nuance like movie samples and turn it into a refined style that a few have dubbed "cinema-grind". Unfortunate subgenre name, but still very fitting. All of Graf Orlock's lyrics and album concepts are based around Hollywood blockbusters we all know and love, and they tie in the choice audio samples to actually complement the lyrics and help progress the story instead of just adding them for comedy. Though I do still chuckle every now and again from some of their choices(i.e.: this songs outro). So now, Graf Orlock have returned with "Los Angeles". A blazing four track EP based around the 1995 movie "Heat". Al Pachino samples galore, but the songs aren't over saturated with them. Which is nice since they honestly do break the momentum and intensity of a song if they're slapped right in the middle. The music on "Los Angeles" is very solid; keeping the usual Graf Orlock heaviness, but the hardcore influence really dominates the grindcore on this release. Minimal, dissonance-y blast parts and way more chugging riffs and hardcore fury that should please fans of the more intense Deathwish Inc. bands or any fans of the old-school Victory Records roster. The blast beats here are definitely not used as the backbone of these songs, it's more like how bands like Touche Amore or Converge use them: tastefully and when needed. And honestly, if you ignore the lyrics and the concepts of this EP, it's definitely not the most original sounding music hardcore music you'll hear this year. But, "Los Angeles" is still a solid ten minute release. Pre-orders for the 7" should be available soon on VITROL Records. In the mean time, stream a new song on Metalsucks.net.

Rating: 7.5/10

(Disclosure: OG was sent a promo)

~VII