Avian Terror - "Demo 2015"

Do you remember back in your teen years, and the first grindcore band you formed and started fooling around with? I sure do, and believe me, modest beginnings were rough. Lots of very awkward starting out performances. Something about Australia's younger population though, they really got the knack for making pretty kick ass stuff. So now here comes a duo called Avian Terror, doing brutal grind as Aussies do, and it goes the fuck off. Also, it's written and performed by a couple of 15 year olds. And as cheeky as it may be to highlight that, I just have to. People love to have a little "fun fact" with their bands, ay? Not that all youngsters are doomed to suck until they "reach a certain age", but let's just be real hear. And just listen to this! This is definitely some solid brutal grindcore, in the same vein as countrymen like Internal Rot and Headless Death, with some Hellnation and Insect Warfare in there too. However, Avian Terror certainly are not as intricate and tight as those other bands are, to be fair. They still are largely sticking to the a very linear and rudimentary song writing style. Strictly blast beats over blast riffs. Sometimes boarding into noisegrind territory, thanks in part by the rawness of the recording (tracks like "Visceral Dismemberment" and "Point Blank"). A lot of ye ol' standard riffs are on here too, simple but effective. And the band really does reach some impressively fast and vicious moments ("Decadence", "Gash Desire", "Instant Regurgitation"). There's definitely a lot of promise here. No doubt the more these guys play and perform, the gnarlier their craft will get. Awesome stuff. Naked Noise Records will be handling the cassette release, be on the look out for that.

~VII

Listen to Puke! Australia's Youngest Grinders!

I am convinced that some ancient magic was cast over the Australian environment by the ancient grindcore Gods of yor. I've praised this countries grindy exports more times then I can count on this blog. There's almost as many excellent bands in Australia as there are poisonous creatures. The newest example is Puke, a frantically discordant grindy band out of Brisbane. A sadly now defunct quartet who power stomped their existence into my grindcore consciousness with their swansong EP. A fantastic 9 song effort that blends techy, shiny grind with the bloodthirsty rawness of a powerviolence demo. The spastic, forward momentum of these songs was already impressive enough. But when I learned the details of the Pukes musicians, I was floored.

You know how every once and a while you read about a "super intense" heavy band that's comprised of a bunch of young kids? And how 9.9999 times out of 10 that band is complete gimmicky shit? Well let the fact that everyone in this band was about 16 when this was recorded soak in. The usual lack of talent that unfortunately trails along with bands this young is thrown out the fucking window here. Puke absolutely crush it, with sound and composition. The recording is crisp, loud and professional, and they've actually managed to craft some pretty impressive song structures. Thankfully staying away from a lot of familiar riffs and breakdowns that are a dime a dozen in grindcore. Hearing kids this young making grind that avoids a lot of norms and sounds this fresh just puts a big smile on my face. Surly if Puke continued, they could have been something great. I sincerely hope all of them are on to bigger and better things in the future!

Big thanks to my good buddy Drew for turning me on to these guys. He actually released this EP on cassette just a few days ago on his new label Naked Noise Records. He already has two more releases under his belt and many more on the way, be sure to pick up a tape and support the people who continue to support this scene.

~VII