Shooting Spree/TADROAEV - Split 7" (2015) Review

It always happens every year. A record will come along that I missed that kicks almost every top record of that year into the dirt! Happened this year too, after I finally managed to snag the Shooting Spree/TADROAEV split 7" released by Mullet Death Records in 2015. I bought it initially for the Shooting Spree side, since they're basically one of the best bands in Canada right now. But I was more then pleasantly surprised when I played TADROAEV's half. In fact, I was blown away. This is a fucked up split. Shooting Spree and TADROAEV (These Are Da' Results Of A'Thousand Electric Volts) have recorded some of the nastiest and most savage grindcore that was put on wax in 2015. Here's the kicker, I think this was supposed to come out in 2012 or 2013. This masterpiece was kept at bay for 3+ years. Well the wait was worth it.

 TADROAEV have actually won me over through and through with their perfect half. They're actually the side I play the most (and I play it a loooot). This is real deal, no bullshit chaos. Exactly the way I like my grindcore these days. The songs are a blur of unpredictable song twists, massive beefy tones (I think there's like 4 guitar tracks on here), and an unhinged amount of aggression. It's a perfect blend of bands like D.O.C., The Afternoon Gentlemen, Arsedestroyer, and Opstand. And it's fucking heavy!! These tracks get me so fired up, every time it ends I'm just awestruck. I have not been able to find any more recordings from these guys, and I believe they're broken up now. If any other records exist I want them. They even beat out Shooting Spree in claiming the superior side! No diss to Shooting Spree's contribution though, since it is perfect as well. Which comes as no surprise, I've loved every single recording I've heard from them prior. Crazy, fucked up and technical grindcore with a lot of deathy influence. Sudden snare hits, stops, vocal trading, I love it. Also, everything must sound like it's recorded on a boom box, no exception. I love these lo-fi recording's, they always make certain things more present in the mix. Like the "pang" sound of a snare hit, or a beefy guitar tone. Shooting Spree always have the sound of a great demo tape that survived being in your attic for years. It's seriously reinvigorating to hear grindcore written and performed this good. This split has become one of my new favorites for sure.

Everyone should thank Mullet Death Records for bringing this record into the world by spending your money at his store and buying it.

Listen to this: HERE!

~VII

Sordo/OG Jammer - Split 7" (2015) Review

I wish Tyson would kick me in the head for taking this long to score this beautiful gem. That's some pain everyone who doesn't have this record should feel, everyday. Seriously though, if you've been wanting a proper follow-up from Sordo to their perfect "Tactical Precision Violence" 7", you're going to get it here. This split 7" with LA's OG Jammer is a monster. Released by Eddie from Sordo's own label Dina Dog Records last year.

Sordo's side must be leftover tracks from the "Tactical Precision Violence" session. That flawless, Disgusting, punchy and heavy recording is completely the same here. Also they reuse a song featured on their split tape with Chulo from a few years ago ("Chris Doesn't Like Noisecore", but without the long sample at the end). The "leftover" part should not have you worried at all, Sordo bring the pain in full force. There isn't a single dud or dull moment on the whole side. If you like having your ears romped by some catchy-ass drum and bass powerviolence, this is essential. But then again what Sordo release isn't? Almost every track incorporates some sort of Myke Tyson based sample. They are almost as wonderful as the songs themselves. Best samples in the game, Sordo still has that award. This is the real deal shit right here. By far my 2nd favorite Sordo recording.

OG Jammer were a new listen for me. While there's no one that can match Sordo's side in enjoyment level, this powerviolence group does a decent enough job on their short side. You like random, bassy microphone peaks in your recording? OG Jammer got you covered. This recording is a rough one, and a bit distracting at times. Their side consists of five raw and overblown bursts of fastcore/violence. They remind me of a mix of Godeater, Detroit and Goner. Sordo's side does make this a one-sider record for me a majority of the time. But whenever I play OG's side I enjoy more then I remember doing previously. I might track down their other recordings.

This record came in a "green" color variant, probably limited to 100. I don't know, it seems more blue to me. But I guess someone will call is sea foam green, or something like that. It's mine, whatever it is!

Buy this.

~VII

Lung Cancer/Sete Star Sept - Split Cassette

Another curious pairing between the God's on Earth that are Sete Star Sept, and a exceptionally more polished and less noisy fastycorey band to smear in your ear. Lung Cancer are a trio from Calgary, CA, who I wasn't very familiar with until I knew the Chainsaw To The Bass Records guys. On this split C8 cassette we get both bands offering three tracks. Lung Cancer's side comes first and it goes off right away. Definitely not a band you would picture sharing a release with SSS. Playing into the more emoviolence side of fast hardcore. High-pitched, screechy vocals, lots of mosh parts, and some powerful drum work. The first and second song on their side are both great, but I was not a fan of the drawn out intro in the closer, and the song just sort of pitters out at the end. All I'm saying is that they could have fit another song in there. Other then that, no complaints here. Sete Star Sept go completely no-fi and free on this session. Play this on some good speakers with a lot of bass, as you'll need it. Consisting of only mainly mid and high tones, besides Kiyasu's drum hits. Completely free and structures drums under Kae's harsh vocals and "bass playing". Most of the time just letting her bass ring out into harsh feedback. Which to me seemed to work itself more into a power electronics type of sound. Especially on the final track, "Burning Chair". Oh yeah, every song is about chairs too, because chairs. Describing it like this may make it seem like I'm not a fan, but I actually and honestly love when SSS get all weird on our asses like this. Not every one of there releases has to be like "Visceral Tavern" you know. SSS are at it's core a noise band, and that means sound is limitless. As long as it hurts your ears and annoys your neighbors. This tape is awesome, I recommend you check it out. Chainsaw To The Bass Records is putting out this cassette.

~VII

Limbs Bin/Sidetracked - Split cassette

The cancerous infection of harsh electronics and experimentation in the grindy world is spreading deep. Now showing up from the fastcore lords of Washington, Sidetracked. Jay's incredibly heavy output coalesceing with Josh Landes/Limbs Bin mission to be the king of splits. Tons of release from both of these artists, they've all been great to just incredible, and them teaming up for a tape is just too much to handle. Sure to be another beautiful package from Josh's own label Follow Me Into The Laser Eye. Limbs Bin open up with another dated track, "Fourth of July 2014". This ladies and gentlemen, is some of the harshest stuff he's created since "Total Anguish". I'm definitely dubbing it his "gorenoise moment", but done completely Limbs Bin. Raging for a beautiful 2 minutes, this side is total chaotic, cathartic brutality. Brown noise walls of bass drums, echoing layers of screeching vocals and noise box abuse. It's a steady assault of impenetrable noise with those devastating drum machine bursts. There's a particularlly wonderful part in the middle where the reverbed synth noises and the vocals match up in the best way, total ear candy. Teaming up with Sidetracked is an obviously exciting partnership, and it's one where I really didn't know what to expect from Jay and the band. Sidetracked has never really been a group to experiment with noise, outside of arguably the the rougher recording quality they've used through the years. I really loved the few tracks posted from the noise-ridden "Abandon" EP, so I was hoping it would be some weird, Sissy Spacek-ish noisecore. Listening to it over and over, I am, sadly a bit disappointed with their side here. Another on-the-money two minute mini-opus of 10 drum and vocal bursts (aka Sidetracked songs). All held together by a hypnotic, sliding guitar drone. It is definitely something meant to be listened to as one piece, trying to pick each song apart would just end up adding unwanted effort. Each drum stab is a different fill or beat, staying away from just doing obvious blasts. Jay's trademarked one-lyric punctuations are basically the sole lyrical effort you'll get here. As the piece goes one, both drums and vocals stick around longer and longer. Finishing off with a 3 second hardcore beat and silence. Not what I would call the most enjoyable effort from Sidetracked, but to their credit, "Abandon" does sound incredible so far. I am eager to see what the final product of that will be. The tape will be out in May, in limited quantities, and can be purchased from Follow Me Into The Laser Eye or the Limbs Bin bandcamp.

~VII

Suffering Mind 2015

It looks like Poland's grindcore Czars Suffering Mind are going to dominate yet another year with their masterful and expansive recording output. Seemingly never slowing down despite line-up changes and missing band members (that was scary). The duo of Kuchar on guitar and Daro on drums have proven their complete loyalty and dedication to their band. Reaching out to some of the best projects the Canadian, midwest and European scenes have to offer and releasing split after incredible split. The status that Suffering Mind made for themselves as one of the most impressive grind bands today, doesn't dismiss the fact that these guys are fans of the music, first and foremost. Getting connected to and supporting the smaller bands they love as much as any of us do. Grindcore to the bone in a completely down to earth kind of way.

Suffering Mind will finally be making their way on to some North American soil for the annual Maryland Deathfest, as well as a few select shows along the mid and East coast (a few of which I will be attending). Performing alongside some newer split partners like Lifes, Nak'ay and Excruciating Terror. Let's hope that at least a few of these new records will be out in time for these shows. New tracks and cover art from these obligatorily amazing records has already shown the light of day. And so, let's get into the real point of this post, showing off some cool music!

One of my personally most anticipated records is the split 7" with Edmonton's fastcore spazz kings Detroit. Both sides of this record have been put online, and both are expectedly fantastic. Detroit's side is 13 tracks in something like 3 minutes of blood-red raw fastcore. Seriously hard stuff, this band has yet to let me down. Suffering Mind have 3 new tracks and a Dropdead cover. Longer songs, all with a lot more metal/grind chord progressions, and some very powerful screaming vocals. There is a very strong animal rights message on their side, made even more abundantly clear by the excellent cover art by Roland Straller. No idea who's putting this out yet.

THIS RECORD! This is the kind of split that just seems destined to happen. If you're not yet aware of Nak'ay, then you have a bit more homework to do. These guys (now a duo) have been making some of the heaviest blaturbation grindcore I've heard in a while. The kind that sounds like if you put Insect Warfare, Kill The Client and Blasphemy in a blender and then put that on fast forward. Originally going to be a 7", Fat Ass Records has decided to boost this behemoth up to a full 12". The amount of blast beats on this will be down right illegal. Two songs and some amazing cover art have been posted today from Suffering Mind's end. A rawer recording, and unadulterated blastcore the way Suffering Mind do. I got to say I'm really liking their new vocalist Ben's sound. He has a much more unhinged, visceral higher scream then SM have really had before. No word yet on Nak'ay recordings.

Of course SM eventually got around to doing a split with Agathocles. My only question is why did it take until 2015!? So far there is one song and a Dezerter cover from Suffering Minds side. Hopefully Agathocles can offer up some new tracks for this record instead of some live gig someone recorded on their Walkman. This will be released on Dark Side of Punk Records.

Lastly, as many of you may already know (maybe I told you), Suffering Mind's 2nd 12" of new recorded material will be released soon! The new record, entitled "Waste Farm",  will be Suffering Mind's first new full length since their "S/T" record back in 2010. Almost half of the album has already been put up for stream. And from the look of things, it looks like "Waste Farm" is going to be a super short and tidy slab of 100% grind. I'd be surprised if this thing goes over 15 minutes, which is perfectly fine by me! A real treat for all grind fans comes on track 12, where none other then Spinach from Assück makes an appearance on vocals! "Waste Farm" will be coming out soon on 625 Thrashcore and Crucificados.


Other records in the works include a 1-sided LP compilation of their long out-of -print splits with Asshammer and Septic Surge on Give Praise/Power It Up Records. A split 7" with Lifes and two split 10"s with Endless Demise and Warfair? Grindcore is alive and well.

~VII

From The Ashes of Obacha, Rises Throat Slitter

This year practically kicked off with one of my favorite fast bands throwing in the towel. The almighty Squamish fastcore unit Obacha played their last show on January 4th. Thus leaving a gaping void in the Canadian grind arsenal that I feared would not be properly refilled for quite a while. 

That is until I got word of a new band, that was actually comprised of mostly ex-Obacha members. A 'lil group called Throat Slitter. Needless to say I was thrilled by the news, and awaited the arrival of any recordings from them. They finally released their debut demo early this month, and not only filled that void, but practically consumed everything else in the wake of it's arrival. Throat Slitter's demo is an incredible progression and enhancement of what Obacha laid out. This is modern fastcore at some of it's best and most aggressive. Taking the breakneck speed and frenetic shifts of Obacha's song craft, and surpassing it. The precision and agility at which these guys play grind is truly jaw dropping, and blood racing. Utilizing a less-bright instrumental tone and some seriously tough vocal swappage. It's some of the tightest grind I've heard in 2014, even with the lo-fi recording. I've been calling Throat Slitter "The Canadian SFN", a comparison that I feel is pretty justafiable. But I won't even front when I say that this could easily stand up against most of that bands catalog. My favorite demo of 2014, with out a doubt. I strongly urge everyone to pick this up. Tapes are floating around somewhere, and I hear they're teaming up with Opaques Records for a 7" of some sort. Take some serious notes. 

~VII

RIP Obacha

One last endless bummer for 2013, or maybe technically the first one for 2014. Either way, it's a doosy of a loss. The mighty Obacha, Canadian fastcore masters, have decided to officially call it quits early January after two final shows, the last one being in their home turf of Squamish. If you've been paying super close attention to the Canadian scene's, you must have at some point had your brain balls blown by the steak-knife-hurricane fastcore that Obacha put on record.

(Obacha at Fastcore Fest 4)

Obacha (pronounced "ah-bah-cha") is I band I was introduced to a few years back with their 2010 demo tape. Back then then were a 4-piece, and the demo was an incredibly solid powerviolence release with some heavy Backslider influence. A style that they kept with their 2011 split 7" with Stillbirth. Constant riff and tempo-changing hardcore with tons of fun grooves fleshing everything out. Eventually, they lost a member in their drummer. Their vocalist, Graham, then moved to doing drums and vocals, and they progressed as a trio (see their first show with this line-up here). Obacha v.2 put out a disgustingly good demo tape in 2012, their heaviest, bassiest and most blown out recording ever, and one of my personal favorites. As they progressed as a trio, they became a bit of a different beast, maturing into much more of a spastic fastcore band a'la Dead Radical and xBrainiax. The songs got shorter, the songwriting more technical and inventive, and the resulting splits with Chetwrecker, Slave, and Fast Friends are some of the most frantic, and exhilarating fastcore recordings I've heard come out of Canada. 

If I was to ever make a list of my top Canadian bands, Obacha would definitely be near the top. Every release they put out has been incredible, and I hold on to the ones I have like precious gems. And if you have not heard this band, and are still reading this and have not yet been convinced of their awesomeness, let me play the role of the Convenience Fairy and put all of their jams down at the bottom. Learn up, better late then never!  

~VII

xBrainiax Call It Quits, Officially. Endless Bummer.

Well shit. Shit shit shit. I'm sitting here on my bed, listening to the sadly now defunct lords of fastcore, xBrainiax, and the sad reality just stings even more. After a long period of stagnant inactivity in the wake of losing their guitarist who I believe went to join Lotus Fucker (blech), the band has officially called it quits. Really pretty bummed to see this band go. They were the first fastcore band I really fell in love with. I'd credit them with getting me in to genre actually, and it's an interest that hasn't diminished since. I always held some optimism that these guys would get back in gear and crank out a bazillion more retardedly spazzed out jams. Their two more well known "upcomings" were some of my most anticipated; a split LP with Sidetracked and a split 4-fucking-inch with Hummingbird of Death. Oooooo, it stings that these will never get put out!!!! Their speed and technical songwriting might have come off as gimmicky to some people at times, but I was always blown away by this bands abilities. I still have trouble with keeping up with some of their records to this day! Well, they definitely left an impact, and I hope the members go on to make more projects! Jam on this, one of my favorite XBX records, their first 7", "Disgrace to The Corpse Of Eric Wood". RIP.

~VII

Backslider - "Consequences" Review

There are three bands that I consider to be the top tier in pushing the limits of fastcore; Sidetracked, who seem to have made it their mission to make the catchiest shortest songs they can, Hummingbird of Death, who can go from making a 20 song 5" of very apparent individual songs, to making a straight up sludge metal record, and Backslider, who are a band that shows incredible development with every release they put out. Last time we left this Philly duo, they were making some of the most structurally complex fastcore like it was nobody's business. Now on their new 10", " Consequences", the band has taken their own sound, and stirred up the pot more then ever with tons of different influences. While at the same time, taking a step back from going ballistic all the time, and stretching the song lengths out a bit more. Letting the songs have some room to develop, and for more riffs to stick around for a little while longer. They've still kept the fastcore fury though, no worries about that. The A-side is a devastating onslaught of sludge metal, death metal, crossover, and hardcore riffs, all together in one happy, and very inspired group of songs. The B-side is where the band really surprises though, with only two tracks on it of super sludgeviolence. It's pretty standard for any fast band to have a slow track on the end, but Backsliders newest editions to this formula sounds remarkably fresh. They almost sound like a different band entirely. They get to Noothgrush tempos on here sometimes, but they always keep it interesting with brief flashes of fastcore, and just by listening to how tight these two preform together. The guitars and drums are locked in so masterfully, completely complementing each other and hitting in unison in ways you don't hear many bands of this genre play. Definitely a highlight of the year for me so far. A contender for the top 20.

Rating: 9/10

~VII

Stream Five New Songs From Sidetracked

Well, it's that time of the month again; another Sidetracked record is rearing it's glorious head and by golly I would be a fool to not promote the ever loving hell out of it. The Tacoma, WA fastcore has been killing it this prolific year, seeing the release of the "Wrench" cassette, "Forfiet" 7" and an excellent split 7" with Self Inflicted. This particular upcoming release trumps all others for me though. The split 12" with the supreme fastcore kings, xBrainiax. One of the last records that will be released by To Live A Lie before the year long break. Fans of fastcore around the globe are probably moist from anticipation at this sure to be amazing split, and Sidetracked was kind enough to give us a little 5 song teaser of their side, to stream on their bandcamp. Though the songs will probably be over before you're done reading this, the tracks are excellent, and should not disappoint any fans of the band. To me, the recording kind of calls back to their side of the In Disgust split (probably my favorite release from the band). Stream it below, and hope that at least half of the releases they have planned come out next year. 

~VII

Grindcore, Fastcore, and Powerviolence: What Is It?

I can't count the number of time's I've been asked; "what's grindcore?" or, "what makes this powerviolence?" or, "what the hell is fastcore, how is it different than powerviolence?". And usually, I feel like I can give a pretty legitimate definition about these genres, but that being said, it has kind of gotten to a point where even seasoned listeners can get a little tripped up pinning down what subgenre a band falls into. It seems every band with a blast beat these days is labeled as a "grindcore" band, and every fast band with a sludgy part is "powerviolence". So, let's put it all to rest, I present to you, my take, and not very encyclopedic definitions of these three genres. Hopefully we can reach some level of understanding.

Bandcamp Artist Of The Week: Bad Friends

See, I really do appreciate it when you guys tell me about bands, because otherwise I most likely would have looked over awesome groups like this (thanks for the heads up, Tyler!) Bad Friends are a kick-fucking-ass fastcore/powerviolence band from Albany, NY (a mere few hours from where I live. Need to get these guys down here). This debut (?) EP is 10 track beast of gritty intensity. Loud and lo-fi recording; the kind where the drums are über-present and the guitars scream over everything, and the buried vocals yell out, desperate to be heard over the mix. You know, the good kind of recording. Fans of bands like Vaccine should instantly fall in love these guys. This shit will make you power stomp small children. Check it out below, and give them a like on Facebook.

~VII

Shooting Spree Prove That Canada Is Still Awesome

The newest treasure I've discovered from Canada, my magical grindcore motherland, takes the form of four Squamish, BC natives collectively known as Shooting Spree. Together, they make fastcore/grind the only way a few Canadians can; mincecore riffs played at breakneck speeds, tight drumming, brutal stop/starts, a 3-headed vocal attack that covers all the ranges, and some excellent grooves and breakdowns that pack some serious punch. In a nutshell, it's Canadian grind, just how I like it. They've been kicking around for about 4 years now, and have released a demo, EP, and 3 split cassettes. Out of all of these, I'm most familiar with their material on the recently released 3-way split with T.H.C and Humanity?. The 8 songs on there are a perfectly raw and brutal assault of A+ grind jams. Give it a listen below, and give them a "like" on Facebook. I'm definitely keeping my eye on these Squamies.

~VII

Bandcamp Artists Of The Week: Beatriz Carnicero, and Shoveit!

I'm gonna treat you guys this week, and expose two pretty gnarly bands to you for your listening pleasure.  The first of which I believe is the first band from South American that I've talked about on here. More specifically, from Uruguay, a country that I don't think I've heard any kind of abrasive music from. Anyway, the band is called Beatriz Carnicero, and they are a pretty killer fastcore outfit. On their EP, "No Recess", they tear through 15 tracks in almost half the time, with only one track reaching the 1-minute mark. Pretty proper for a fastcore band, amiright? They're definitely more inspired by the old-school sound, as opposed to the modern-mindfuck fastcore bands like xBrainiax or Dead Radical. But they incorporate some tastefully placed stop-start passages(always good), and some more unconentional down-tuned riffs show up every now and again. Check them out!

The next project is a seriously vicious drum-machine grind band that fans of +HIRS+ and Agoraphobic Nosebleed should be all over like white on rice. This band, Shoveit!, will definitely appeal to those who still get a stiffy for the early 7" days of ANb. I wouldn't be surprised if this dude listens to their two self-titled EP's religiously. Short, short, short songs, fast drumming, and a super thick and distorted guitar sound. Not a whole lot of groove on here, but there are plenty of good, simple riffs to sink your teeth into. Check it!

~VII

Stream A New Unmixed Track From Six Brew Bantha!

Not content with releasing one of the best albums of the year with their self-titled full length, Canadian fastcore band Six Brew Bantha are already finishing up recordings for 2 new split 7"s! The first one, which this track comes from, is with Agitate from Minneapolis, the other is with a band that is currently TBA (oooooo, how exciting). The new unmixed/unmastered track, entitled Opposition, is a short blaster of a song, with tons of excellent stop-start riffs to please listeners like me. Really killer stuff, can't wait to hear the final product. Stream the song below.

~VII

Sidetracked's Upcoming Release List Is Fucking Incredible

Looks like Suffering Mind have some competition for having "The Most Jizz In Your Pants Worthy Upcoming Releases" list. True, that's a bit of a long titles, but I honestly can't think of a more suitable and fitting way to describe how absolutely incredible this list is. The Tacoma, WA fastcore unit, lead by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Jay Tichy, has been keeping busy and putting out quality fast jams for several years now. They even released my 3rd favorite EP of last year with their 1-sided 7", "Uniform". This year has already seen the release of the "Wrench" cassette, and a 7" entitled "Forfeit". But if even 1/2 of these releases come out this year, I think my little fastcore heart would burst with joy! Take a look over at Jay's blog and will show you his "Upcoming List" in better detail, but since you all are probably too lazy to click that link, I'll do you a solid and post it here.


1. Self Inflicted split 7inch (pre-order this now at Deep Six Records)
2. Gaz 66- Intrusion split 7inch
3. Walk it Off single
4. XBrainiaX split 12inch (brb, changing pants now)
5. Gride split 10inch
6. Abandon cdep
7. Dismissal cdep
8. Hired Gun cd
9. Recourse cdep
10. Unnerved 7inch
11. Fever split
12. God's America aka The Seeds Of Rape split tape


Holy fuck, am I stoked. Especially for that xBrainiax split. Talk about fastcore perfection right there. You can also hear preview tracked for some of these releases at the Sidetracked bandcamp. Hail fastcore!

~VII

Stream the New Eddie Brock EP "Brand New Day"!

Baltimore hardcore band Eddie Brock have just dropped a new 7" titled "Brand New Day" on A389 Recordings. Eddie Brock play a style of hardcore heavily influenced by early powerviolence in the vein of bands such as Infest and Lack of Interest. I was a huge fan of their first 7" and after a few listens of "Brand New Day" I can definitely say that they have stepped their game up.

Thanks to A389 for letting us stream the EP!

Eddie Brock: Facebook, Bigcartel

A389 Recordings: Facebook, Website

~Andrew

Sidetracked - "Forfeit" Review

Sidetracked's previous EP, "Uniform", is perfect fastcore. It's a raw ear assault made up of whirlwind drumming and fuzzy distorted guitar riffs. The result was a 2 1/2 minute release that was as aggressive as it was addictive. Now, several months later we have "Forfeit", one of the many releases Jay and company are releasing on the world. Right off the bat, there's an obvious increase in recording quality. The guitars and bass are much more metallic(in a metal magazine, they would say the guitars have a "buzzsaw tone"), and the whole delivery sounds a lot more controlled. There are also few uncommon song-types on this release; it opens with an instrumental, there's a noise blaster, a Nasum cover, and a song that I can only describe as just being the breakdown to 80's hardcore song. But while "Forfeit" sounds excellent and the performances are top notch as usual, to me there's just something crucial missing from this release. The frustrating thing is, I can't put my finger on what that thing is. I've listened to this EP many times, and every time something just keeps me from getting fully into it. True, it is a very short release, but I can usually always latch onto something with any fastcore release like this. It's probably not very smart for a review to be this vague, but I'm unfortunately unable to explain myself any further. I'm definitely gonna be giving this a lot more spins, and see what more I can uncover!

Rating: 6.5/10

~VII

Listen To a New Backslider Track!

Philadelphia fastcore hate-duo Backslider have posted a new track from their upcoming 7" EP called "Maladapted", out soon on To Live a Lie records and Psychocontrol records. I kinda knew that they were working on new material, but it sorta got lost among everything else that happened this year, so to hear a new track is a very nice "surprise. The track, called "Idiot Hymes", is a 34 second blaster of standard Backslider fastcore, but with a major update in terms of recording quality, and the vocals do sound more urgent than their previous self-titled 7". Stream the track here and eagerly await the physical release!

~VII

Hummingbird of Death/Titanarum - split Review

The gimmick with most modern, techy fastcore bands is to write the shortest songs with the spazziest song structure that they can. Some do it well(see Sidetracked), others just sound like a bunch of ADD freaks with guitars making jumbled messes of songs. So leave it to Hummingbird of Death to write two 5+ minute songs on their latest split with Titanarum. HOD have never been a band that just sticks within the comfort zones of the genre, opting instead to experiment and push it into territories that most don't dare to go, and they actually pull it off with great results. Usually a fastcore band that makes a six minute song goes the "sludgy" route for the sake of having a slow track. The welcome change here is that HOD haven't elongated these songs with repetitive sludge riffs. These songs are fast and furious the whole way through, but not spazzy and schizophrenic. It's like the usually ADD freaks took some chill pills and said to each other; "Hey guys, let's actually play some of these riffs for more than 2 measures". While also showing some black-metal-sounding chord progressions, some death metal vocals thrown in at one point, and some thrashy/crossover riffs.
On the flipside, the now disbanded Titanarum give us 8 tracks of fairly straight-forward fast hardcore. No songs are over 2 minutes, and they are all developed and display some pretty good songwriting with solid musicianship. I can definitely hear a lot of crossover influence in their sound. Particularly in the vocals, which are probably my favorite part of this band. They have so much personality and a decent amount of variety to them. I definitely get an Accused vibe from them. Very solid sides from both bands. You can pick this record up at Give Praise Records and stream it here. By the way; coolest album cover of the year? Debatable.

Rating: 8/10

~VII