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

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

Dead in the Dirt-Fear(Review)

I have known about Atlanta, Georgia’s Dead in the Dirt since June, after seeing them opening on tour with a number of hardcore bands (they stood out like a sore thumb), and was immediately turned on to their dissonant, incredibly frantic sound. Fear is their first release on Southern Lord records and it hones in on what makes them unique. They play Blackened Grind, with d-beat hardcore, and crust punk influences, and a Vegan Straight Edge/Atheist agenda. Their sound is aggressive and hateful with dual vocalists switching back and forth between strained snarls, and deeper roars. Crusty guitars change constantly from evil blackened riffs, to bursts of grinding aggression, and an occasional doom laden breakdown. Their drummer pounds out blasts and d-beats with incredible power and speed, apparent in both a live and recorded setting. The release contains a lot of ideas, and plenty of anger packed into its ten tracks and twelve minutes, but one thing about it got me really stoked. They do a cover of the vegan straight edge anthem “Skin Graft” by 90’s hardcore band Left For Dead(members went on to form Cursed), who happen to be one of my favorite bands. Fear could very well be one of the best releases of the year, and fits right in with the new, faster wave of Southern Lord bands. I plan on buying this release, and if you would like to witness organized chaos at its best you should check it out.

9/10
FFO- Elitist , Earth Control(Owen Hart) , Early Graves

~Alex Beegle

Defeatist-Tyranny of Decay

I have never bothered to check out Defeatist before Tyranny of Decay. The main reason being that their album covers have always turned me away from giving them a listen. Music and art have a very intertwined relationship for me, so when I see a generic photoshopped album cover I expect the band to sound generic as well. Luckily for you and me, Defeatist don't sound as generic as their album covers might suggest.

The twelve tracks on Tyranny of Decay show a band that is not afraid to add some non-grind sounds and influences into the mix. From the first time I listened to Tyranny of Decay, I have noticed a slight black metal influence. From the overall production, to the vocal style of Aaron Nichols, I have been thinking of Defeatist as a more grindy Cobalt. The influences don't stop at black metal though and on tracks like "Choking the Light" and "World Left Behind" there is a bit of , dare I say, melody. The instrumentation on Tyranny of Decay is also something to take note of. The technical, yet never showy guitar work is something that will take Defeatist far. And the drumming is also unique, while not really playing traditional blast beats, it is still in your face and aggressive. There are even a couple of instrumental tracks on this album, which is something that most bands couldn't pull off.

The only criticism I have(other than the album art) is that the songs kind of blend together and I can't really tell them apart, but overall I thoroughly enjoy this album and want to go back and give all of their other albums that I have neglected a listen. Along with Total Fucking Destruction's Hater, Tyranny of Decay is one of the most unique grind albums I have heard all year, and if you are looking for some interesting grind, I recommend you check out Defeatist right now.

Links: Facebook, Store, Bandcamp

~Andrew Lipscomb

Bandcamp Artist of the Week: The Atrocity Exhibit

The Atrocity Exhibit are one of the many great grind bands that have been coming out of the UK lately. I don't really know what is going on over there lately, but so many great bands have been popping up like The Afternoon Gentleman, Atomck, and Gran Toucher. Anyway, The Atrocity Exhibit play some seriously pissed off grind, that makes me want to get up and start punching everything I see in my house. They have two releases available on Bandcamp, Damned and Blasted and Grind Over Matter. I really enjoy both releases, but I would have to say Damned and Blasted(their latest release) is my favorite. Grind Over Matter is more of a straight grind album, with mostly shorter songs and a more demo-ish sound to it. Damned and Blasted on the other hand is really something special. It has some intense moments of grind fury of course, but it also expands on the more doomy and sludgier sound that was experimented on "I Hear the Gathering of the Vultures" from Grind Over Matter. It kind of baffles me that two distinctly different genres such as grind and doom can be fused together and sound so good. The vocals are great, and there are some sweet riffs being cranked out! With most grind bands now forgetting about bassists it's also a breath of fresh air to hear some bass. I highly recommend checking out The Atrocity Exhibit right this second!

Links: Damned and Blasted, Grind Over Matter, Facebook

P.S. It should also be noted how insanely awesome the cover art to Grind Over Matter is!

~Andrew Lipscomb

Man Will Destroy Himself-This Is A Test

I really don't know if I would even call Man Will Destroy Himself a grind band. Sure they have fast songs, some blast beats, and they even appeared on This Comp Kills Fascists, but they are really more of a thrashy punk band. I probably wouldn't have checked them out if I had seen them described as thrash though, because let's face it, pretty much every thrash band from the last 10 or 15 years has sucked(which is weird for me to say since I am only 15, but it is true.) Nevertheless, I think Man Will Destroy Himself's thrashy riffs are great. Seeing as how the members of MWDH have been in various bands since before I was born, including their bassist Abe, who was in a band my dad used to go see called Aftermath A.D.(yeah, that is pretty awesome); they don't seem to consciously add a thrash sound into the mix, it just comes naturally, which is probably why it works so well for me. There is also a strong crust influence on This Is A Test, especially in the vocals. Crust is another genre that is pretty hit or miss with me(mostly miss), but just like the thrashy elements on this album the crusty parts work well and sound great.

All eight tracks on This Is A Test stand on their own, and they each are very memorable. Part of this being that they are all over one minute and thirty seconds long. For a band like MWDH, short thirty second long songs just wouldn't work. All of these songs are able to develop and it is a relief to be able to jam on a riff for more than ten seconds every once and a while. The instrumentation is great on this album too. Like I have mentioned before there are plenty of great riffs present, and there are even some solos that are worked into the songs that sound great! Some cool bass sections are also a great addition and the drumming isn't just your standard blast fest.

Overall, I really enjoy This Is A Test and it has already been getting a good amount of listens from me and I expect it to get a lot more! Some stand-out tracks for me are "Flood"(the longest song on the album, which comes in at 3:11), "Catalyst", and "Circle the Drain." Don't let the thrash tag scare you away, MWDH deserve to be listened to now!

Listen here

Rating: 9/10

~Andrew Lipscomb

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

Get Pissed With The Afternoon Gentlemen!

I can tell you one thing right now, The Afternoon Gentlemen are one of the next great powerviolence bands! They recently toured with Weekend Nachos and have been generating a lot of buzz in the underground. They kind of sound like Spazz, but with harsher vocals. If you are a powerviolence fan I highly recommend that you check this out! You can stream Pissedography for free at the Give Praise Records Bandcamp page here, and if you want to be extra cool you can buy a copy here.

~Andrew Lipscomb

Cloud Rat-S/T

Opening with the one-two punch of “Athena” and “Pill Birth”, Cloud Rat’s self titled debut wastes no time in establishing themselves as a no-holds-barred punk inflected grind act. However, the deeper you get into the album, it becomes obvious that they have more than just one trick up their sleeve. “Le Foie Du Michigan” centers around a riff that would make Eyehategod proud and “Dwell” plays with melodic hardcore, all without sacrificing an ounce of intensity. The biggest surprises of all however, comes in the form of the psychedelic, spoken word of “Yama” which never picks up beyond the speed of your average Isis song, yet still manages to hold your interest. It’s a nice way to break up an intense album and the technique shows up a few more times, proving that this sort of thing is actually a part of the band’s sound and not just throwaway bit. Another ace in the hole for this release is the production, giving each instrument it’s space but also working the wall of noise angle that is essential to any grind band worth their salt. Also, its FUCKING FREE. Your last excuse for not checking these guys out just got kicked down the stairs.

Download here

~Marc Sabo

Dorian Rainwater (Noisear) Interview

Noisear are gonna be hot shit in the American grindcore scene real soon, I'm calling it right now! Hailing from New Mexico, their technical, discordancy, mind-fuck grind is both heavy and cerebral. In a nutshell, they make good grind. So good that Relapse Records snatched them up and released their latest full-length "Subvert the Dominant Paradigm", and it sounds like we'll be getting another one real soon. This interview was conducted over email with guitarist Dorian Rainwater. VII: First off, congratulations on Noisear's signing to Relapse Records! How has that relationship been going?


Dorian: Thank you! Relapse is a great label. They help us with promotion, merch and even some booking. They have a large crew of hard working individuals who are also very friendly and down to earth. They back all their bands 100% and are like family.

VII: Noisear have been grinding since the late 90's, how do you think the band has changed over the years?

Dorian: Like any band over ten years old we have had ups and downs through the years, but one thing we have always maintained is our mutual obsession for creating grind!
VII: Noisear are definitely not your standard sounding grindcore band, where do your influences come from when it comes to writing music?

Dorian: Too many to name, haha. Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Assuck, Discordance Axis, Human Remains, Lethargy, 324 and many others.
VII: Getting to your latest album, "Subvert The Dominant Paradigm". How do you think this album differs from your previous releases, if at all?

Dorian: "Subvert" is a multitude of different styles for us being that we mixed alot of different styles,speeds and arrangements we have not done on prior releases.
VII: I read somewhere that all the songs on "Subvert..." were written in a day. Is that true?

Dorian: Yes its true. We had 4 songs written and wrote 25 in the studio. Technically it was 2 days because the vocals were layed down the next day.
VII: Now that stuttering/staccato break in the song "Global Warming", that's total Human Remains worship, right?

Dorian: Those are volume swells, and yeah we love Human Remains to no end.

VII: I also heard that you guys are already writing songs for another full length?

Dorian: We recorded 20 songs with our original guitarist Thomas Romero last weekend. We also added Dalton Tuerck on vocals. Dalton also wrote guitars on a few songs. We are very stoked about the album and can't wait for everyone to hear it!
VII: Your drummer Bryan Fajardo has become a powerhouse in the American grindcore scene, playing with everyone from Kill the Client to Phobia. With all the bands he's involved with is it sometimes difficult to get together and concentrate on Noisear?

Dorian: No not at all. We live in the same city, KTC jams in the same room at the rehearsal studio and I do studio guitars with Phobia so its all pretty relative.

VII: I haven't heard much about the New Mexico scene. Is there a grind scene where you're from?

Dorian: Bryan and I live in Dallas (Texas) now. From what I hear there is a lot more death metal than grind in NM now.
VII: What bands/albums are you currently enjoying?

Dorian: Gride, Libertarian, Psudoku, Dislike(Croatia), Lycanthropy, Hatred Surge, Mindless, Lie Still, Antigama, The Kill, Sulaco, Rotten Sound, Shitstorm, Lack of Interest, Weekend Nachos, Magrudergrind, Shit Life, Cogs and Sprockets and a ton of others that would probably fill this whole page ha!
VII: Any final words?

Dorian: Thanks for the interview! Less fa$cion more thrashin!!

Operation Grindcore Vol. 2

Yes, I really am doing another comp and no there aren't any slots left. For the next comp I am no longer flying solo, me and Josh, from the mighty Green Terror have joined forces. The next comp is slated to be released as a two disc cd sometime in October. There will be more info coming soon.

Here are the bands(If I forgot your band for any reason let me know):

HEDORAH

CHULO

GRINNED

GRINCHFINGER

KINDERGARTEN HAZING RITUAL

LT. DAN

ROBOCOP

BODY HAMMER

MARUTA

AGATHOCLES

MAN WILL DESTROY HIMSELF

SATYRS

ASURA

INFECTED WOMB

GRIPE

OLD PAINLESS

WARWHORE

GREEN TERROR

AMP CANCER

KNIFEWOUND

BLISTER UNIT

BALANO SUCIO

SCREAMING FUCKING MAYHEM

MALPRACTICE INSURANCE

SMG

WARKRUSHER

HELLTERROR

HATRED DIVISION

DISEKSA

TREPONEMPAL

GOZER

MANTECA

HIROSHIMA VACATION

SAPRAEMIA

TOUGH LUCK

BRUXISM

HIVESMASHER

SHIT LIFE

THE DRIP

COGS AND SPROCKETS

PRIAPUS

~Andrew Lipscomb

Some of My Favorite Grind Releases

In Disgust - Reality Choke: In my opinion, probably the best grind EP I've ever heard. west coast grindviolence done absolutely perfectly. 15 tracks in 11 minutes. You absolutely need to hear this. Perfect production, perfect vocals, heavy as shit, just incredible. This band broke up last year after a split release with PLF, which is a damn shame. In Disgust for life! Listen Here!

Pig Destroyer - "Prowler in the Yard": It's no secret I love love LOVE Pig Destroyer, and this album is an absolute classic. Maybe a bit cliche by now to have in a "favorites" list, but believe the hype, this album is a monster. "Prowler in the Yard" is one sick, twisted mofo of an album. The raw, basement quality production (cause it was, durr, recorded in the drummers basement) only adds to the disgusting, dirty feel of this album, telling the story of a disturbed man stalking his ex-lover. Tracks like "Tickets to the Car Crash" still manage to creep me out. Listen Here!

Antigama - Resonance: Antigama are incredible, and definitely a band that doesn't get talked about enough. Totally forward thinking, very intense, and technical without being pure wank. "Resonance" is a fabulous combination of all of those traits. The lounge jazz interlude "Barabapapex" is admittedly a bit weak, but other than that there isn't a dull track on this album. Listen Here!

Standing on a Floor of Bodies - Teaching Pigs to Sing: Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, needs to get wise to SOAFOB right the fuck now. And I'm gonna help you! The solo project of one Mike Stitches(the ex-singer of Thousandswilldie) released one demo in 2010, "Teaching Pigs to Sings", and it packs more kick-assness in it's 4 and a half minutes than most bands full length album. If Agoraphobic Nosebleed had a bastard child with dark ambient music, this is what would come out. My favorite release of last year. Download Here!

Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless: What else can I say about this album that hasn't already been said? Absolutely mind blowing, incredibly forward thinking, masterpiece. Discordance Axis are one of those bands that looked at grindcore, and threw away the conventions of the genre and did their own thing. I'm floored every time I listen to the track "Jigsaw". Listen Here!

Magrudergrind/Shitstorm - split: Yeah, Magrudergrind's awesome and everything, but the Shitstorm side is where this split really shines. The best 9 minuet block of grind I've ever heard. It's just no holds bars, pure, simple grindcore, it's fantastic! Catchy songs, heavy riffs, with a very obvious hardcore influence to boot. So awesome. Listen Here!

~ VII Caso

Robocop Post New Track Preview

New Robocop Preview Mix In Progress by ryanpage

Maine grinders Robocop just posted a track from their last release(their guitar player/vocalist Ryan is moving to California), which is a split with the band Detroit. Here is their description of the track "The mix is in progress, but its somewhat close to its final form, with the exception of the vocals. Keep in mind that this a sample from a five minute song." This preview is sick! This song definitely sounds more straight forward, and seems to have a more grind influence from their previous stuff! As of right now Robocop II is my favorite release from 2011 and I am really stoked to hear some new stuff from these guys! What do you think about it?

~Andrew Lipscomb

Old Painless Demo

Old painless are a four piece grindcore band from Raleigh. Three of the members are in other local bands, Rich Lombardi(vox) is in Snake Baptist, and he was also in a band from New York called the Sawtooth Grin. Alex Taylor is the bassist for local Raleigh hardcore band Stripmines(AWESOME). And the drummer Rodney was the former singer of Raleigh fastcore band Thieves (R.I.P.).

Old Painless are one of Raleigh most furious and fierce bands. They just sound like absolute psycho animalistic rage to me, and I fucking love it. The first time I saw this band was at the Kent house. It was such an awesome show! They were playing with Burma(pissed off Raleigh powerviolence), Hellbear(progged out thrashy, mathy, hardcore from Richmond, VA), and Street Pizza(Relentless Richmond powerviolence trio). Old Painless was the first band to play. I remember as they were setting up, there guitarist was messing around with these weird effects pedals, and making his guitar sound super noisy and chaotic. Then all of a sudden this short white guy with crazy blonde hair and a scruffy beard walks up to the front and says “Old Painless, Raleigh, North Carolina.” and then starts screaming super loud, and the whole room erupted into a frenzy of moshing. It all seems a little blurry to me because I couldn't help but completely rage with the rest of the dudes in there. And man can Rodney fuck those drums up! He was beating them in! And you could tell he was seriously into it! Awesome band, and it was an awesome night. But anyways, on to the demo:

Black Tar Burning White- This song starts off with a little feedback, and then Rich comes in with his vicious high pitched screech, and right away the demo starts off completely grinding. But this is only the beginning, and it ends and flows right into the next song so well.

Street Howitzer- I absolutely love the way this song starts off, the guitar intro with the drums absolutely rocks, it’s adds a little bit of catchiness to it. The guitars and the drums in the beginning make it sound like a hardcore punk song, but Rich’s vocals definitely give it that extra nasty grind kick. The drums in this song are done so well. Rodney is so good at changing it up. He doesn’t have to rely strictly on blast beats. He can go from your to hardcore circle pit kind of beat, right into a desecrating blast. And the drum fills he does are so sick, It’s almost as if he’s angry at his drumset and is trying to beat the shit out of it. The song ends in a noisy fog of sludge, awesome!

Snow White and 7 Different Kinds of Whore- This continues on the path of super fast punk influenced noisy grind. Old Painless really do a good job at making there songs sound absolutely evil. Rodney continues to pound away at his drums.

Goner- This song has got to be one of my favorites. Starts off very quiet, with this eery sounding radio playing in the background, and it’s this woman singing. And then a faint guitar sound comes in. It builds up for a bit, and then the drums come pounding in. The first line of the song goes as followed, “If my name is hate, your’s must be shame.” This song is definitely heavy, and the demo just keeps getting better and heavier. I think it’s really awesome that Old Painless are to step out of their grind sound for a second and kick ass at a sludge song as well. This band never fails to remain ridiculously heavy!

Teenage Candyland- This song continues in the sludge direction. Starts off really groovy, and then goes straight into grind. The end is filled with start/stop guitars and lots of noisy feedback.

Half Man, Half Bottle- This song is one of my favorites because of the lyrics, they’re so evil and fucked up. For example: “The broken blood vessel in your face vessels in your face are telling me that you’re thirsty. So put your teeth to the curb, and I’ll pour you that drink.” This song is probably the heaviest song on the album. It has a great mix of everything. This song is one of the more technical songs on the album as well, the band is really pushing themselves to go faster and faster. But of course they throw in a super heavy grooving sludge part to give you a small break from the hyper blasts and super spazzy guitars. The songs end with some feedback and guitar and Rich Lombardi’s disgusting screech. The final lyrics are “Half Man, Half Bottle, All Empty.” Absolutely fucking EVIL!!!!

Bronson- This final songs starts off grinding, and creeps into a dark thick sludge. You can tell that Rodney’s goal is to absolute finish off his drum set on this last one. And then the demo ends right when you feel like it’s just begun in an eery daze.

Old Painless are definitely one of Raleigh’s up and coming bands. You can download their demo at the link below. And I highly recommend seeing this band live as soon as you can, this demo is great, but when you hear it live, it’s so much more intense, and watching each band member go absolutely crazy makes it even better. They’re playing in Raleigh, August 12th, venue TBA with Fellow Raleigh powerviolence band Burma, My new grind obsession Priapus, seriously I aspire to be able to make music like them, and west coast powerviolence/grind band ANTI CHRISTIANxDEMON CORE!

Download

~Eli Thorp

Listen To The New Man Will Destroy Himself Album!

Listen to Raleigh grinders Man Will Destroy Himself's new album called This Is A Test now! The CD won't be released for a little while, but you can stream/buy it very cheaply from their bandcamp here. I highly recommend this album, really good stuff! A review will be coming soon, but I would like to know your opinion of it now!

~Andrew Lipscomb

Grinders I Present To You...

THE INTERNATIONAL GRINDCORE LEAGUE

Me, Ross Gnarly of Amerian Aftermath, and a few other grinders recently got the idea to start a grindcore community/forum . So check out and join the new forum here. Also let me know what you think about it. Is it lame, awesome, a great idea, etc.?

~Andrew Lipscomb

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

The Albums That Got Me Into Grind: Vii Caso(Hiroshima Vacation)

Napalm Death - Scum
How fitting that the first grindcore album I ever heard is the one generally credited for spawning the genre. This album was given to me from a friend of mine on X-mas a long ass time ago. I was into heavy music at that time, but the heaviest thing I was listening to were bands like Slayer and Pantera. So when I first heard this album, I don't think I got passed the first 3 songs before I turned it off. I hated it, I mean I really hated it. To me at that time it was just noise, but gradually as I kept pulling it out and listening to it I gradually started to appreciate it more and more. Until eventually I could listen to it with genuine enjoyment. It's what started my interest in grind; researching it and finding more bands. It opened the flood gates.


Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb
Why this album and not "Prowler in the Yard"? Well, because this was this first PxDx album I heard, and once I got into it, it stuck to me like napalm, baby. Definitely a more "metal" release than there previous albums, but "Phantom Limb" is still very much a grind record. Chock full of catchy as fuck yet crushingly brutal riffs, great songs, and some of the best lyrics J.R. ever spewed from his mouth. This was the second grind album I really got into, and it's still one of my favorite.


Magrudergrind - S/T
This was the album that solidified me as a serious grindhead. This album made me go, "yeah, this grindcore stuff is the shit!" This album hit me like a sack full of bricks. The first time I heard the song "Excommunicated" on their myspace page, I got chills. It was so intense, so heavy, so fast, it was love at first listen. I still think that's one of the best grind songs ever written. When my band first started up, we were heavily influenced by this album, it was so infectious. It practically changed the way I listen to grind.

~Vii Caso(Hiroshima Vacation)

Total Fucking Destruction-Hater

There haven't been many grind albums(since I first discovered the genre) that have surprised me and "knocked me off my rocker" like Hater did. I really don't even know if I would consider Hater a grind album. Sure, it has blastbeats, but Hater is so much more than your typical grind album. TFD throw a lot of different influences and sounds into their style, but it doesn't sound like they try hard to be different, like many other bands. Some of the songs sound like crossover thrash songs, some songs sound like they could be punk songs, and some songs sound like they are rock songs with blastbeats; they are all very awesome! Hoak's drumming is top notch on Hater(much like any other time) and his chaotic, and spastic drumming style really is the icing on the cake for Hater. I don't really know how to describe the vocals on Hater, but they sound like pure chaos(in a good way). Some standout tracks on Hater are "Repeat Repeatedly"(which is sure to get stuck in your head), "Meat Without Feet," and "Tony Hung Himself." "Human Is The Bastard" also joins the ranks along with Robocop's "Maine Is The Bastard," as the best song titles referencing Man Is The Bastard.

It seems with most people that they either love Hater or are a hater(I had to, haha), personally I don't see why any grind fan wouldn't enjoy it, as it is a very unique release that stands out from the "normal" grind sound. I guess a lot of people expect TFD to be Brutal Truth 2.0, and when they hear TFD, they instantly dismiss it as "not grind" or "too weird," without giving TFD much of a chance. Overall, I really have nothing bad to say about Hater, and I definitely see it making my "Best of 2011" list. Hater also has some of the sickest artwork I have seen this year.

I give Hater a solid 8 out of 10

~Andrew Lipscomb

[Full Disclosure: Richard Hoak sent me a download of the album]

Interview:Gripe

Here is my interview I did with Gripe over email. Listen to/download their awesome debut The Future Doesn't Need You here.

~Andrew Lipscomb

First off, introduce yourself and explain what your role is in Gripe.

DJ: I'm DJ. and I do vocals or whatever.

Brandon: I'm Brandon and I'm the axegrinder.

Tom: I'm Tom and I play drums.

How did Gripe form?

DJ: Me and Brandon's shitty d-beat project fell through, because I never wrote any lyrics, then Tom moved to town and we forced him to play drums for us.

B: Me and DJ were struggling for years to make a decent hardcore band. Alcoholism, incompetence, and lack of Tom kept holding us back.

T: I moved to Athens and was bored.

What was the recording/writing process like for The Future Doesn’t Need You?

B: We did that shit in one fucking day. It was grueling 12 hour session of grind. We worked with the amazing duo of Joel Hatstat and Mike Albanse. They were very pro and cheap which was very important to us.


What are the lyrical themes on The Future Doesn’t Need You?

DJ: Dark, human-hating, apocalyptic, dystopian visions. Basically, I write about robots rising up and killing off humans cause they're idiots and then nature battles the robots. It fucking rules.

How would you describe Gripe’s sound?

B: In a word: hateful.

DJ: Fuckin awesome!

T: A misanthropic ejaculation of blast beat laden grinding beatdowns with down tuned guitars and throat shredding vo"kills".


Who did the cover art for The Future Doesn’t Need You?

DJ: I did it on a pirated version of photoshop.

T: The actual release also comes with a hand-drawn poster by yours truly. The Robo-Reaper.

DJ: That shit's tight.

B: I came up with the art concept. The robo-reaper haunts my nightmares.

What is the Georgia grind/metal scene like?

DJ: Weak sauce, besides Grinchfinger.

B: Mostly pathetic. Either jock-ish 15 year-olds doing sweep arpeggios, or methed-out rednecks playing too slow. Which can be cool but it can also be boring. the methed out doom that is not the suburban guitar center kids, they can get fucked.

Who are some of your biggest personal musical influences?

DJ: Filth, Dropdead, Insect Warfare, Wormrot, Iskra, Descendents, Magrudergrind.

T: 70's rock, Grimy 90's powerviolence, grindcore, and stuff that people make fun of me for liking like Nirvana, Lemuria, etc.

DJ: I hate Nirvana.

B: DRI, dealin' with helped change my life, fuckin Siege, the greatest grind band of all time, Discordance Axis, good-era Napalm Death, Negative Approach c'mon, fuckin Void,all that early fastcore shit, Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi is the reason I picked up guitar, Despise You, I also fuckin love black metal and all negative forms of music, Slap-a-Ham Records.

How did you get into grindcore/powerviolence?

DJ: I rode freight trains for 10 years and grindcore is really big in that scene.

T: I grew up in a super small town and me and like two other friends jumped straight from listening to NOFX to listening to Fuck on the Beach somehow.

B: I was listening to a lot of thrash metal and early hardcore and I was always looking for something harder and faster. I thought Reign in Blood was the end-all be-all of extremity, and then I stumbled onto a Grindcrusher compilation through my friend Tommy and was like "Holy Fuck!" We got way to into it because we grew up in a hick town and we were the only kids who liked this type of music. The alienation of it all made it that much more special to us.

What are some albums that you are currently enjoying?

T: Mainly my old grind/pv records. Besides that, the new Gridlink, Noisear, Rotten Sound and Lemuria records. We are all constantly listening to Wormrot and Insect Warfare. Like every time we get drunk together...

DJ: I can't fucking stop listening to Zoe Muth and the Lost Highrollers. Besides that Del-Tron 3030, and Descendents "Liveage", and my friends' band Hump Yard.

B: Discordance Axis "Jouhou" is still a beautiful slab of grind genius, Siege "Dropdead" is the best grind record of all time, Thin Lizzy, the guitar work gives me chills, Black Sabbath everyday for the rest of my life, Negative Approach gets me through the hard times, Black Flag, Minor Threat, "Scum" and "FETO", the Fiesta Grande comps when I'm feeling saucy, only the most depressing old school country and delta blues, the R. Crumb "Heroes of Jazz, Blues, and Country" is amazing, Insect Warfare's noise records [Ed: By this point in the interview I got sick of transcribing Brandon's record collection]

Are any of you guys involved with any other bands?

DJ: Me and Tom are starting an alcohol-fueled thrash band called Blackout, and Brandon is jealous.

B: While DJ and Tom are busy making a Municipal Waste clone, I'm "planning" on starting the fastest fastcore band of all time called No Applause.

What are Gripe’s plans for the future?

DJ: Keep drinking as soon as I wake up and live off of unemployment until we get a van and start touring.

B: We all struggle financially, but I would love to see us do a regional tour and press vinyl.

T: We're currently in the process of writing our next record.

Any other comments?

We'd like to thank American Cheeseburger/Shaved Christ for keeping the Athens punk scene alive, The Fuzzlers for playing a bunch of shows with us and letting us book shows at their house whenever we demand, A. Lipscomb/Operation Grindcore for supporting grind bands outside of Relapse Records, J. Randall/Grindcore Karaoke for all he does for the underground grind scene and alcohol. Grind or die, motherfuckers!