Check out This Blog: Year In Suffering

My friend Ethan has started up his own blog called Year in Suffering, which you should all check out. Ethan is a really, really cool dude that I got to know through reviewing music on youtube (check out his channel here), he's a fan of all the grind and powerviolence we know in love, but also has an incredible love for brutal death metal and other heavy shit. He's got a few reviews up on the blog, stay tuned for more. Support!! Follow here.

     ~VII

Green Terror-Heathengrind Holocaust

You can hear grindcore, death metal, thrash, crust punk, and all kinds of influences in Green Terror's sound. Green Terror have a well rounded sound, the vocals provide a good balance of high and low, the guitars provide some strong riffs, and the drums fit into the mix perfectly without drowning out the guitar sound, like what happens with most grind albums. "Ritualistic Extermination" starts off Heathengrind Holocaust with a sample and then boom the album takes off. "Dead on the Beach" is another standout that is extremely catchy, there is even a cover of "Dis-Organ-Ized" by legendary gore-grinders Impetigo. Overall, Heathengrind Holocaust is a very solid release and Green Terror have a ton of potential.

I give Heathengrind Holocaust a solid 8.5 out of 10

Listen/download Heathengrind Holocaust via the Operation Grindcore Bandcamp page here

~Andrew Lipscomb

Labeled:Profound Lore

Every release that Profound Lore has put out is excellent and if you are not familiar with any of their releases I highly suggest that you check them out. Listen to songs from all of these great albums here.

Ross' Picks

Coffinworm-When All Became None

Profound Lore is a fantastic label that I have be fond of for quite some time. Last year, they released Coffinworm's debut album "When All Became None" and that album earned it's spot in the top five of my year-end list of 2010. I still listen to this album on a regular basis. It never gets old. Coffinworm's filthy, sludgy brand of blackened doom is mesmerizing and this album perfectly captures every aspect of the band's talent. Punishing riffs, devastating drumming, harsh, haunting vocals. It's all perfect. If you haven't listened to this album, I highly suggest you get it immediately.

Mitochondrion-Parasignosis
Mitochondrion's "Parasignosis" came out this January and ever since I first listened to the track "Trials," which Profound Lore posted on their MP3s page before the album was released, I was hooked. This band blends elements of death metal and black metal to form something much stronger and brutal than blackened death metal. Blackened death metal is more suited for bands like Behemoth, Mitochondrion are definitely a DEATH METAL band that harnesses the intensity and brings a visceral experience to the listener. "Parasignosis" is a perfect example of this intensity and therefore my favorite record by this band.

Castevet-Mounds of Ash
Castevet. What can I say? This band is absolutely fantastic. Their first full-length, "Mound of Ash," came out last year on Profound Lore and it absolutely stunned me. The vibe of this record is unbelievable. A perfect mixture of post-metal and black metal. When these two genres fuse the way Castevet execute them, the result is totally chaotic madness. When I say chaotic, I do no refer the their music. The music is actually very well orchestrated. The chaos I speak of is in the bands uncanny accuracy to create astonishing music. This album is a must have for any metal fan. Not specifically black metal fans, but metal fans in general. Get on it.

~Ross Gnarly(American Aftermath)

Andrew's Picks

Ken Mode-Venerable

I first heard of KEN Mode from the mp3 section on the Profound Lore website. I had heard from a lot of different places that KEN Mode are awesome, but at first I really didn't see what the big deal about them was. I kept on hearing great things about KEN Mode, so I decide to buy Venerable. After a few listens I fell in love with Venerable. I love everything about KEN Mode their heavy drum sound, their unique vocals, and their great guitar sound. This album is a perfect example of a grower and gets better every listen! I usually don't even like most instrumental songs but the instrumental songs on Venerable are spectacular! Even though this album might not be heavy in a death metal or grindcore way, I still recommend that you check these awesome guys(and girl) out.

Man's Gin-Smiling Dogs

First off, let me say that, that this album is in no way shape or form grindcore or even metal! I bought this album after hearing a few songs from it on YouTube. When I first bought this album, I was getting tired of just screaming vocals and fast songs, I wanted something that I could remember the lyrics to and sing along to. It's hard to describe Man's Gin's sound, but I guess the best tag would be folk. Even though this album is not metal, it still has a very dark atmosphere. I remember when I first bought Smiling Dogs, I listened to it like 12 times on repeat that day. All the songs on Smiling Dogs are memorable and extremely great. My favorite song on Smiling Dogs is "The Death of Jimmy Sturgis", it is an almost seven minute "epic". It is also one of the catchiest songs on the album and I consistently have it stuck in my head. Along with Thou-Summit this album is my favorite album from last year. If you are a grindcore, metal, hardcore fan and you want to hear something different, I highly recommend this album to you!

Ludicra-The Tenant

Ludicra are a great black metal band, that also have a lot of other varied influences. From the haunting, emotional vocals, to the great guitar/bass playing, to Aesop's awesome, unique style of drumming, The Tenant is a perfect album. I bought this album after seeing an article about them in Decibel Magazine and I was not disappointed. I bought this album over a year ago, but I still find myself listening to it very often. My favorite song on The Tenant is "The Truth Won't Set You Free". It is nine minutes long and probably the most intense and angry sounding song on the whole album. If you are a fan of black metal or metal in general I highly suggest that you check out Ludicra.

~Andrew Lipscomb

Album of The Week:Grinchfinger-Acid Satan EP

Grinchfinger are a band from Macon, Georgia and they play grindcore! I don't know very much about them, but I really don't need to when the music is this good. They play a style of grind that is influenced by many other genres. Like on the song "Bacterial Holocaust" I hear a death metal influence, and one of the many vocal styles sounds very black metal. Their style is also very influenced by mince bands such as Agathocles, Archagathus, etc., I know a lot of people aren't really into mince, but I love it! I also really like the "production" of Acid Satan and the drums sound especially killer. My favorite songs on Acid Satan are "Fear of Industry", "Pig Sticker", and "Endless Ritual". All of these eight songs are great and I highly suggest that you check Grinchfinger out.

Download Acid Satan for free from their Bandcamp here.

~Andrew Lipscomb

Album of The Week:Dethroned Emperor-War Grind Hell

Dethroned Emperor are a sick two-piece death/grind(think Napalm Death not Misery Index) band from Brunswick, New Jersey. "War Grind Hell" is a 11 song e.p., that comes in at around 14 minutes. I hear a lot of influence from early Napalm Death and Terrorizer, and they even cover Terrorizer's "Condemned System". Their sound is very raw, but they still sound great and I really think it suites them best. This e.p. has some really killer guitar riffs that get stuck in your head and the drums are also great. Some of my favorite tracks from "War Grind Hell" are"Still Life", "War Grind Hell", and "Insecure". Overall, I really enjoy "War Grind Hell" and I think that Dethroned Emperor deserve to be heard and I could easily see them being signed to a label like Hell's Headbangers.

~Andrew Lipscomb

You can order "War Grind Hell" from their official blog here.

[Disclosure: Dethroned Emperor sent me a copy to review.]

Multinational Corporations-Equality(Demo)

From the moment that I first glanced at the track listing of Equality, I knew I was going to be getting some politically charged music. With titles like "Presidential Castration" and "Immolating the Parliament", and the fact that the band is from Pakistan, how could it be anything else? As soon as the music began playing I was instantly reminded of old Napalm Death, and that is a great thing. The first song "Presidential Castration", clocks in at around five minutes, and is the first and longest song on the album. It features some awesome mid-tempo riffing, spoken word samples, a variety of vocal styles, and is also my favorite song on the demo. Next up is "Immolating the Parliament", which is a fast paced, more straight forward old school death/grind song. My only problem with the song is that it seems to end abruptly at an awkward place. Finally there is "Pakistan Zindabad" which is audio from newscasts put over some acoustic guitar playing. I really like this song, but towards 1:15, it sounds like the newscast/guitar both mess up. Another problem I have with this demo is the recording quality. I mean I am all for some lo-fi grind, but this album sounds like it was recorded through a laptop's microphone. Overall, I think that this demo is pretty cool and I think Multinational Corporations' have a lot of potential, and I am really looking forward to hearing more from them.

You can download their demo from here for free.

~Andrew Lipscomb