Crimewave x Blvc Svnd - HMD (ep)

New Crimewave ep produced by BLVC SVND out now. Listen below

Headless Death - "Poxy Death" EP

Australia Alert!!! Another brilliant provocateur of brutally from the magical city of Melbourne. And honestly a very new one for me. Even though Headless Death have been steadily putting out dynamite material since 2012. A quartet from Melbourne, who play a what I can only call bestial grindcore. Or super heavy, deathy, war grind. A style they bring out in full honest force again on their newest tape, "Poxy Death". On here we have three new songs, and a rerecording of the title track of their last EP called "Under the Mushroom". As well as a track that I guess is a Ringworm cover at the end. But I don't listen to Ringworm, and a quick Youtube search shows me a song much different then HD's interpretation so I'm lost. "Poxy Death" for the most part is perfect example of brutal hyperblast grind done perfectly well. In a very Australian way, I can say now. Distinctly rich with the same sounds that countrymen Internal Rot and Coffin Birth have perfected. Though with a much, much, much rawer recording. The musical performances here are relentless, particularly in the drumming. The speed that Headless Death maintain would make any average-joe-band sweat trying to keep up. The death soaked riffs are here at some of their most primal and savage, HD keep the variation levels nice an balanced. Definitely letting in a lot more space for more groovy, headbangable passages. The opener "Underground Existence" has a pretty sweet hXc mosh part that pops every now and again. The following track "Not A Worthy Death" opens with a very attention grabbing bass and drum riff, and utilizes some twisted dissonance and melodies. I'm not too hot on the closing, mysterious Ringworm cover though. The slow-song-at-the-end cliche is getting way too, well cliche for me. This track unfortunately does nothing to change that. The super sluggish punk beat towards the end is where I especially loose interest. What "Poxy Death" gives we on the whole first half though is completely fantastic. Headless Death are yet another knight in shining armor for Australia's grindcore army.

~VII

Sickmark - "s/t" II"

The name Sickmark might not immediately strike any bells with most of you. If you were around the ol' internet circles a lot last year, you may have stumbled upon their first 7" EP. What was actually one of my favorite records of 2014. A particularly filthy gem of a powerviolence EP. In that super negative/super serious and mean style of the genre. The first self-titled EP met all the criteria I give bands of that style, and more. Displaying serious technical and frantic songwriting chops, and having a very gruff recording and aesthetic that was also loud as fuck. I really dug the bass in one channel, guitar in the other sound too (fun fact, they switch which channels they're in on this record, haha). Sickmarks newest self-titled offering, which has some seriously baddass cover art, yet again, immediately shows that they are comfortably and confidently sticking to their comfort zones. A bit of a more lo-fi recording this time around though, but the band still sounds incredibly tough and relentless. Sickmark are still an impressively quick and tight unit, and the songs they write on here are brutally breakneck. I did pick up on a lot more focus on grooves this time around. Lots of sprinkles of blasts sandwiched between disgusting breakdowns, too a largely great effect yet again. The track "Hammer" has a particularly big WTF groove in it. Very strong influences are taken from the negative heavyweights, maybe even more so now. Bands like Sea of Shit (they even have a track with the namesake on here), Socially Retarded, and Despise You are obvious comparisons. Or like if Spazz really hated life. This kind of style does tend to sound pretty familiar after a while, and the songs on this EP honestly do tend to all melt together. There is almost no real trace of variation here, which is totally not a bad thing at all, don't get me wrong. But a little bit of the excitement is lost for me when I can almost predict what's going to happen next. It's a solid, consistent filth storm, a very good follow up. Their first EP definitely did have a little bit more going on, but this new EP is still a total ripper. Definitely check this band out, and try and see them on their upcoming August USA tour with PA's, Constraint.

~VII

Sex Prisoner - "State Property" Review

Sex Prisoner are a band that know how do a comeback in the right way. Not that they were broken up or anything and pulled "comeback" like we usually know, but it had been a few years since there was
any noise from the Tucson, AZ crew. Their first 7" caused a bit of commotion among powerviolence and hardcore circles, and to this day it's still one of my favorite TLAL releases. Three years later, they're back and kicking 2013's ass all kinds of ways, dropping a fantastic 3-way split with ACxDC and Magnum Force, a track for a compilation 7" for Bad Teeth Recordings (alongside The Repos, To The Point and Curmudgeon, among others), and their own 7" EP, "State Property", released by the aforementioned Bad Teeth Recordings. I'm so happy to see these guys getting even more attention, and getting repped by more prominent figures in the powerviolence world (John Hoffman of Weekend Nachos fame is the owner and operator of BTR, for those unaware), because this record is incredible. Basically the only 7" I've been listening to for the past 2 weeks, I can't stop! They definitely continue down the same path they've always gone on "State Property", full on blasting meets completely ignant beat-down hardcore, but they just seem to get better and better every time. I'd definitely say that this is their best work yet. As songwriters, they've definitely stepped up; there is not a dull track out of the 10 on here, and you better believe they're packed with some of the toughest beatdown riffs I've heard all year. New guitarist, Matthew Underwood, brings a welcome mid-heavy metallic crunch to the band, evening out the sound a bit more and leaving the low end to the bass and the punishing drums. And the vocals...fuck, outstanding performances from the Kennedy brother. This record has me fighting ghosts and picking up change in my bedroom every day, and you're a damn fool if you don't buy this right now. And this just in, literally as I am about to post this, I find on their facebook page that they've been signed to a389 Records! Good going dudes!


Rating: 9.5/10

~VII

Damaged Goods - "Terminal" Review

Friends like to support friends. And very fortunately, I have a lot of very talented friends. And look at Terminal", shows the band has only gotten stronger. The recording is once again incredibly solid. All the instruments are loud and perfectly balanced and pummeling. The drums are bone breaking, and the guitars have this super crunchy distortion that's like putting nails through a meat grinder. The recording is a lot more bassy this time around too, it's crushing. The range of influence on "Terminal" also differs from the demo in a few ways. There was a big hardcore punk sound that I picked up on, mostly in the chord progressions and tone of the guitars. There was grind/powerviolences too, but it wasn't totally up front. On here, the band is faster, and way heavier. Less hardcore punk and way more brutal break your face-core. I can pick up on as much Iron Lung or The Endless Blockade as I can bands like Full of Hell, Harms Way or Nails. Which naturally, makes way for some absolutely crushing breakdowns, like in the tracks "Disguise" and "Permanent Solution". It's an absolutely slammer of an EP, and one of the best I've heard this year. This should hopefully be coming out on vinyl soon too, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
that, I am able to share them with all you hundreds of people and tell you how awesome they are. Brilliantly convenient. If you don't know the NJ duo/now trio band Damaged Goods, I gotta say you're kinda sorta missing out on hearing the best young band that I can think of. And when I say young, I mean it. All members are but 17 years old now, but they play tough powerviolence/hardcore like they were born with it in their veins. They dropped a very impressive demo last year, and this first proper EP, "

Rating: 9/10

~VII

10 Great Releases That Are Under 10 Minutes: Part 2

Y'all seemed to really like the first article of these that I did. And I enjoyed doing it, and my jihad against long grind albums is forever active, so let's make like these great records and not waste anytime getting right into it!

10. Extortion - "Control": Out of all of Extortion's EP's, I'd say that this one is their strongest. But considering how fucking solid their discography is, it's really not for any huge reason other than it's just really really really good. Excellent recording, super intense songs, and an outstanding vocal performance from Rohan. Dude's vocals in the earlier days were nearly untouchable, and I'd put him up their with some of the best vocalists in the genre. Their split 12" with Cold World this year was a great return to form for him and the band.

9. Beartrap - "Nailed Shut": A 16 track, under 6 minute release release from these TLAL favorites. Mmm, yes, let the brevity of it all consume you. If you like your hardcore fast, and unrelenting, "Nailed Shut" is for you. These songs literally bleed into each other, leaving absolutely no room to breath between songs (unless you're spinning the actual record, then you have to flip it half way, of course).




8. Thousandswilldie - "A Carcass Is Only Dead Once": Now this record right here, let me tell you, one of the craziest grindcore EP's I've ever heard. NO songs over one minute, hell, most barely reach 20 seconds. This record is all about fucking your shit up, being as crazy as possible, and blasting it out as fast and tight as possible. Excellent musicianship to bring it all together too, thankfully, so it doesn't sound like some amateur noisegrind band having a giggle and blasting out the quickest jams they can. 25 songs in 7 minutes, RIP Thousandswilldie.

7. No Comment - "Downsided": If by reading this you are just now learning about this record, you need to stop right here and learn up before going on. Widely considered one of the best hardcore/powerviolence records EVER, and it's not hard to see why. The importance and influence of this record can not be understated, you can hear it's influence in almost every modern fastcore band today. TIght musicianship, constant riff and tempo changes, and creative ones at that, and tons of stop/starts. A classic.

6. Spazz/Lack of Interest - Split: This is an essential powerviolence record, in my opinion. Not only because it pairs two of the best WCPV bands, but because, duh, it has some of their best stuff. Particularly the Lack of Interest side, goddamn son, it's just so good. The first song, "Mislead and Deranged", unf. Track this one down.

5. Parlamentarisk Sodomi - "Regnskog, Fred Og Vegetarmat": I really can't get over how fucking incredible Parlametarisk Sodomi was/is. This one guy, all by his lonesome, made some of the best and creative grindcore I've ever heard. His first EP didn't really have as much of the unusual riffing as his full-lengths, but the impact is more visceral and pulverizing. I love the almost blown out recording too, everything just sounds like it's exploding off the record. And the vocals on the track "Sakkosekk, Kaos Og Anarki" always put a smile on my face. RIP Parlamentarisk Sodomi (come back, please).

4. Sidetracked/In Disgust -  Split: Hey look, my favorite fastcore and grindviolence band made a split record. I love when that happens. This fut rucking monster of a split has my favorite material from Sidetracked on it, rivaling the near perfect, "Uniform" EP. Best sounding recording from Jay and co. and crazy great riffs. The In Disgust side is incredibly solid too, more of the same stuff from them, but the Sidetracked side is a real winner here.

3. Defeatist - "In Praise Of False Hope": My favorite EP from a band that was criminally underrated while they were still active. Great "tech-grind" that I never really thought was all that technical though. The riffs they made though were always intriguing, and they definitely gave Defeatist a recognizable sound that was all their own. Heavy as iron knads too. This EP is a total ripper, pick it up. RIP Defeatist.

2. Quattro Stagioni - "S/T": If you're looking for the fastest fastcore bands there is, I bet you Quattro Stagioni can keep you satisfied for quite a while. Inhumanly fast drumming, like the dude injected a cocktail of testosterone, cocaine, and speed into his arms right before recording. The first time I heard this, I was blown away just from the sheer ridiculousness of it all, but in a good way, of course. If your curious about where The Afternoon Gentlemen got a lot of their sound from, it's these guys.




1. SFN - "Itching": I'd say these guys are on of the most promising modern fastcore bands right now (I hope they didn't break up, please tell me they didn't). "Itching" is a lo-fi, distorted little gem of techy-fastcore. I'd almost say it's a little too lo-fi, since a lot of the great riffs don't really shine through the mix that well, but you can tell these dudes have their shit together and know how to write interesting and pulverizing music. This EP is progressively getting harder to find, so pick it up if you can. I hear a posthumous split with In Disgust is somewhere down the line too, let's all hope that's true.

~VII 

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

Sea of Shit - "S/T" EP Review

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: this may be my favorite EP of 2011. Sea of Shit's long awaited 7" EP(previously released on cassette and limited to 100 copies) has finally come out on PRGNT records, and it is a beautifully ugly slab of audio torture. These Chicago boys have definitely stepped their game up since I heard them last on their demo. They've kept the low-fi grit of that recording but made it bigger, louder, fuller, heavier and 100% better. This EP is violent and aggressive the whole way through, leaving very little breathing room and what little slow parts there are, are so caked in distortion you might as well be listening to chainsaws mating. The vocals have also gotten a major improvement since their demo. They sound more urgent and are pushed back in the recording a little bit, it just sounds way more aggressive. Goddamn, this EP is just so damn ugly and violent that these words I'm writing don't do it justice. Listen to it yourself and you'll see what I'm talking about. Listen to/purchase it here and get ready to have your balls rocked. Bravo Sea of Shit, bra-fucking-vo!!

Rating: 9.5/10

~VII