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

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