New Music Round-up: Suffering Mind, ACxDC, To The Point

People who haven't "liked" the Suffering Mind Facebook page should seriously stop what they're doing and do that right now. If you're like me, an über-fan, getting updates from their page every day about what new split they're working on, or recording, is like Christmas every day. The bands latest gifts to the grind world are 4 new songs, coming from their upcoming split 7"s with N.I.B.I.R.U. and Archagathus. I knew about the N.I.B.I.R.U. split (which I think was originally going to be on an 8" record, and is now coming out on Haunted Hotel Records), but the Archagathus split has seemingly come out of nowhere, and I couldn't be more excited to have these two bands paired up. Solid songs from both splits, give em a listen. And check their facebook page for daily updates.

Next up is a brand new track from westcoast violence grinders, ACxDC, from their upcoming split with To The Point! I say pretty often that that their are "best splits of the year" when I hear about them, and you can definitely add this one to the list, because this split will be fucking incredible. They've put two songs from their split on their bandcamp page, entitled "Fiction Monger" and  Bone Claw". Each one keeps their super sharp sound, but the grindcore influence has taken a step back for a more direct powerviolence attack. Longer slower parts, and a more shouted vocal delivery. Maybe due to who their splitting with? Who knows. Who cares? These songs rock.

And speaking of To The Point, they also have just put up a new song from their split with ACxDC! Neato, right? This track that the cavemen have grunted out to pleasure our ears takes a stab at the curious phenomenon of people taking photo's of their food. The track's title; "Photos Of My Food". Brilliant. The track is short and sweet, and knowing them, there will probably be about 8 more tracks to round everything out. Unstoppable band, as you all should know by now (they did release one of the best records of 2012 after all. Fact).

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~VII

ACxDC/Magnum Force/Sex Prisoner - 3-Way Split Review

There's nothing quite like a hot threesome, amiright? Three separate beings all coming together into one glorious, magnificent event...I don't think I can keep this metaphor going for much longer without it getting nasty (can I get a high five for it anyway?), so let me just go on by saying that this particular record is one of my most anticipated of the year, and I think I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who's into powerviolence that isn't stoked for this release. Not only does is bring some of the hardest hitting acts in the underground, but it's also a nice collection of styles; the sharp grindviolence of ACxDC, the dirtier, kinda fastcore-ish Magnum Force, and the modern beatdown stylings of Sex Prisoner. It also brings the latter two out of some sort of hibernation; I mean, it's been at least a couple years since we've hear any new stuff from them. Crazy stuff, glad to see them back at it with recordings.

ACxDC kick this record off, and unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple years, you should know what this band is all about. I've always been a decent fan of these guys, but these 5 new songs really kicked my ass several different ways and solidified me as a total lover. This is hands down the best stuff this band has recorded so far. Just complete grind as fuck violence, and an absolutely uncompromising delivery. ACxDC sounds razor sharp here, each song going straight in for the kill, quick and efficiently, but still taking the time to beat the listener down with some fantastic grooves and breakdowns. Absolutely perfect drum sound too, when the band goes at full blast it's complete grind ecstasy. I love everything about their songs. Magnum Force are next, still sounding like Magrudergrind's - "Rehashed" is the only album that they've ever heard. It's been a while since I've heard anything from these guys, since their last 7" on TLAL actually. They bring three new tracks of super solid powerviolence. Coming after ACxDC, the recordings are noticeably a bit more raw, and "DIY sounding", shall we say. They seem to have gotten a lot faster this time around too, the drummer really goes crazy at some points (the ending to "Out Of Time"). Comparisons to early Magrudergrind are pretty much unavoidable, but hey, I love that style, so these tracks are winners in my book. Lastly, we have Sex Prisoner, another Arizona outfit, and fellow TLAL alumni. I absolutely fell in love with these guys with I heard their "S/T" 7" back in 2010, and my very patient wait for new songs was well paid off. The band sounds heavier then ever, with a new guitar player in tow, and a thick, crushing recording to bring their brutality to the next level. Their blend of classic powerviolence with caveman beatdown hardcore is still strong, but they've really refined it this time around. The two styles aren't as contrasting this time around, the band has worked the two influences into each other a lot more creatively, and constructively, and added a little more variation as well. Every one of their five new songs are absolutely spine crushing, and I hope that I don't have to wait another three years to hear more stuff from them. This really is an excellent release, and TLAL made sure to leave us with some real treasures before the label goes on break. This should be out within the next couple months, buy or die.



Rating: 9/10

~VII

Stream Five New ACxDC Songs From Their Upcoming 3-Way Split!

The list of most anticipated releases of 2013 isn't that big, but this fucking EPIC 3-way split 10" between ACxDC, Sex Prisoner and Magnum Force is damn near the top of everything else. I can't think of any other split coming out that I know of that will unapologetically destroy and massacre everything as much as this split. And now that I've heard the 5 songs that ACxDC are contributing to this beast, I think you'd be hard pressed to disagree with me. This is, to me, their best stuff that they've done to date. These song will fucking annihilate you. Absolutely crushing, punishing, brutal, every adjective you can think of to describe apocalyptic destruction, that's what these songs sound like. This shit will make your girl's water break, even if she isn't pregnant. Stream it below, and if the world does end before I get to hear this in full, I'm going to flip.

~VII

The New ACxDC Song Is The Best They've Ever Written.

If I may be so bold (and fuck yes, I'm going to be), the newly released ACxDC song, "Crux", is in my opinion the best song they've ever written by this point. With out a doubt, no ACxDC song has gotten me as insanely pumped up as this one. First off, the recording is fucking incredible, especially with the drums. When the kick drum and cymbals hit at the same time, it sounds like an explosion! And the blast beats? Fuggedaboutit. Brilliantly recorded, the band has never sounded so intense and so massive. I think it's obligatory at this point to say that the song is incredible too! The blast part leading into the triplet-riff breakdown is amazing, and the use of double bass is just too good. This song is a sexy beast. "Crux", and I believe four other new songs will be appearing on the soon-to-be-released-but-not-soon-enough-ohmygod-give-it-to-me-know 3-way split with Sex Prisoner and Magnum Force, which will undoubtably be the grindviolence release of the century!

~VII

New Music Alert: New Jams From Noisear and Sex Prisoner

The fall season is almost upon us, and that means tons and tons of awesome new albums, EP's, and splits are rearing to get released. Besides counting down the days until the new Pig Destroyer album us dropped, a couple of my most anticipated upcoming releases are the new Noisear record, "Turbulent Resurgence", and the 3-way split between ACxDC, Magnum Force and Sex Prisoner. And it just so happens that both the latter of the three and Noisear have new tracks streaming! Noisear have 2 new tracks, showcasing their familiar ripping, techy/spastic grindcore that fans should already know and love. The new album (apparently written and recorded all in the span of 3 days) will feature 22 tracks with noise from Winters of Osaka throughout. You can pre-order it now through Willowtip and Deep Six.
On the flip side, Sex Prisoner have one new track streaming right now, and it's a basic and brutal powerviolence assault. Crossed Out worship in full effect, this track keeps the heavy beat-down assault, but keeps an even balance of fast and mid-tempo. So fucking stoked. The ACxDC/Magnum Force/Sex Prisoner 3-way split will be released by To Live A Lie records. It will be one of the last records the label will produce before the year long hiatus. No word yet on when it will be released.

~VII

Please Help Sergio(ACXDC) Pay For His Daughters Heart Surgery

Sergio, vocalist for ACXDC and friend of OG, has posted a rather troubling report a little while ago on the ACXDC Facebook page. His daughter Savina is going into heart surgery soon and as we all know, that shit ain't cheap. Anything that any of you can do, be it donate or buy records/merch from their big cartel, would be greatly appreciated and helpful to help pay for his daughters surgery. Here is what Sergio posted:

This is my daughter Savina (Azellea in the background). Savy has to have heart surgery and it's going to cost a lot. If you'd like to help you can donate via PayPal at sergioamalfitano@yahoo.com or buy ACxDC albums on our bandcamp (ACxDC.bandcamp.com) or buy some merch well be making or attend some benefit events in the upcoming months. It would mean a lot if you could spread the word. Any support is much appreciated. 

Scary stuff, and we here at OG wish his daughter and family the best. A special shirt design is being made for the upcoming benefit shows, and I believe they will be up for sale online in the near future. Buy merch here and here. 

(shirt design)

Good Luck Savina!!

~VII 

Sergio from ACxDC's favorite Powerviolence Releases!

Propagandhi- Less Talk More Rock
I remember being about 14 years old when I first heard this record. I was exposed to several political bands previous to this including Crass, Subhumans and Flux but outside of their musical aggression I didn't much connect to the message they were singing about. This album changed everything for me though. The lyrics as well as all of the liner notes really opened me up to not just enjoying the music of other heavily political punk bands but also the message that at 14 was sort of lost to me. I became heavily influenced by this record and adopted a vegan/ edge/ anarchist lifestyle pretty much instantaneously and remain so to this day. It made everything accessible to me. I instantly knew where my anger and disappointment in society came from. It wasn't just cynicism and teen angst anymore. I had a well thought out set of guidelines to give me a renewed sense of meaning in a world I saw completely devoid of it. Yes its pop punk. Yes I still love this album.

Dystopia-Human=Garbage
I actually bought this record without ever hearing of the band before. I was a freshman in highschool and I was desperate to get my hands on punk vinyl of any kind since I never owned any. A friend of mine at the time was selling the LP for $5 so she could buy some booze. I took the dive and bought it off her. The funny thing is I didn't even have a record player. I had to lend the record to a friend so that they could dub me a tape of it. I popped the tape in with vinyl in hand. I opened up the lyric sheet and heard the first hiss and pop of vinyl that I would come to love so much. This record, its anger, depression, grooves, moodiness, bitternes, etc…it affected me in a way nothing had ever really moved me before. This band remains one of my favorites to this day. This album is cemented in my brain.

Reality Part 2
This comp messed me up. It was a definitely a good thing that I stumbled upon this. After listening to the Human = Garbage LP I went record shopping. I remember going to Dr Strange records and searching for a long time for all the records my friends recommended. I bought the Aus Rotten Discography, this cd and a Destroy 7". Sufice it to say that EVERY band on this thing is a legend. This is one of those records that as soon as I got it I made it my priority to make tape copies and walk around school handing it out to all the "punks" I knew at the time. Life altering to say the least. Favorite tracks: Gasp, Noothgrush, Stapled Shut.

Short Fast and Loud Vol 1
I remember when this came out. Its weird to think its was 11 years ago! But I remember being very very excited for it. I was an avid collector of Maximum Rock N Roll, Heartattack and Short Fast and Loud. Back in the day you actually had to subscribe to magazines, get photocopied flyers, listen to records or tapes, etc etc. It wasn't as easy as borrowing someones ipod or downloading torrents online. So when you got some new piece of music you savored it. This comp, along with the other comps that im posting about, changed my life because not only did they manage to compile some of the best hardcore bands I had ever heard but you could tell they did it with love. EVERY band on here rips. I forget what the criteria was but I think all the songs had to be less than a minute long? 40 bands crushing thru song after brutal song and not letting up. Not one band slacked on this. Not to mention the amazing amount of genres covered in this. Powerviolence, grind, hardcore, thrash, etc. Favorite tracks: WHN?, Ultimate Warriors, Shank, Scarlett Letter, Point of Few, Mukeka Di Rato, Lifes Halt, Insult, El Nudo.

Fiesta Comes Alive
SLAP-A-HAM was, is, and forever will be the best "powerviolence" label out there. I wish I could have caught any of these shows. The lineups were legendary. To have captured it on record and with such awesome quality is ridiculous to me. I wish there was full sets of all the bands out there! Im glad to have caught Speed Trials, Super Sabado Gigante and other stuff similar to these shows but nothing can compare. This album is a true testament to the punishing sonic force of all these genres as a live medium. Favorite tracks: Cavity, Agents of Satan, Plutocracy, No Less, ETO, Capitalist Casualties.

~Sergio Amalfitano

ACxDC: Facebook, Store

ACxDC-The Second Coming

The new ACXDC is now available for your listening pleasure on Bandcamp! I have had this EP on repeat for a few days and it totally rules. It has gotten better with every listen! Almost every song features a sample from a movie, such as The Big Lebowski, Anchorman, The Dark Knight, etc. Sometimes samples get on my nerves, which is one of the reasons why I can't get into a band like Graf Orlock, but they don't bug me at all on "The Second Coming." Everything on this album is great, the vocals rule(I have mentioned before how much I love higher pitched vocals), all the instruments sound really solid too. The music is fast and raw, but the production is still clear enough, and each instrument is audible enough so that everything doesn't sound like one big blur. The lyrics are hilarious too, take the song "T-Shirt Time" for example:

Jersey Shore fucks

In Speedo trunks

Spray on tans

Hair spray and fist pumps

I hope your tanning bed

Gets locked with you inside of it

We have got a grenade

About to blow this situation

Reality television

Feeding bullshit to the children

What your kind is in need of

Plastic surgery with a shotgun

Any song that rips on Jersey Shore that hard is great to me! If you are in the mood to listen to some great tunes check out The Second Coming now!

Listen here

Rating: 7.5/10

~Andrew Lipscomb