ACxDC/Magnum Force/Sex Prisoner - 3-Way Split Review

There's nothing quite like a hot threesome, amiright? Three separate beings all coming together into one glorious, magnificent event...I don't think I can keep this metaphor going for much longer without it getting nasty (can I get a high five for it anyway?), so let me just go on by saying that this particular record is one of my most anticipated of the year, and I think I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who's into powerviolence that isn't stoked for this release. Not only does is bring some of the hardest hitting acts in the underground, but it's also a nice collection of styles; the sharp grindviolence of ACxDC, the dirtier, kinda fastcore-ish Magnum Force, and the modern beatdown stylings of Sex Prisoner. It also brings the latter two out of some sort of hibernation; I mean, it's been at least a couple years since we've hear any new stuff from them. Crazy stuff, glad to see them back at it with recordings.

ACxDC kick this record off, and unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple years, you should know what this band is all about. I've always been a decent fan of these guys, but these 5 new songs really kicked my ass several different ways and solidified me as a total lover. This is hands down the best stuff this band has recorded so far. Just complete grind as fuck violence, and an absolutely uncompromising delivery. ACxDC sounds razor sharp here, each song going straight in for the kill, quick and efficiently, but still taking the time to beat the listener down with some fantastic grooves and breakdowns. Absolutely perfect drum sound too, when the band goes at full blast it's complete grind ecstasy. I love everything about their songs. Magnum Force are next, still sounding like Magrudergrind's - "Rehashed" is the only album that they've ever heard. It's been a while since I've heard anything from these guys, since their last 7" on TLAL actually. They bring three new tracks of super solid powerviolence. Coming after ACxDC, the recordings are noticeably a bit more raw, and "DIY sounding", shall we say. They seem to have gotten a lot faster this time around too, the drummer really goes crazy at some points (the ending to "Out Of Time"). Comparisons to early Magrudergrind are pretty much unavoidable, but hey, I love that style, so these tracks are winners in my book. Lastly, we have Sex Prisoner, another Arizona outfit, and fellow TLAL alumni. I absolutely fell in love with these guys with I heard their "S/T" 7" back in 2010, and my very patient wait for new songs was well paid off. The band sounds heavier then ever, with a new guitar player in tow, and a thick, crushing recording to bring their brutality to the next level. Their blend of classic powerviolence with caveman beatdown hardcore is still strong, but they've really refined it this time around. The two styles aren't as contrasting this time around, the band has worked the two influences into each other a lot more creatively, and constructively, and added a little more variation as well. Every one of their five new songs are absolutely spine crushing, and I hope that I don't have to wait another three years to hear more stuff from them. This really is an excellent release, and TLAL made sure to leave us with some real treasures before the label goes on break. This should be out within the next couple months, buy or die.



Rating: 9/10

~VII

New Music from Mindless, Total Fucking Destruction, Gets Worse, Nails

New music is coming at me from all sides, so let's try to make it all nice and neat here and list a few bands in one article, shall we? Starting with the long overdue and sure to be triumphant return of the almighty Mindless! A new 7" EP has been in the works for a while now, and recently, To Live A Lie was nice enough to debut 2 brand new tracks from the record. Killer stuff, as I'm sure we all were expecting. The main track is a nearly 2 and a half minute slow trudger, followed by a short and sweet blaster. The band sounds heavy as hell, and Faiza is really getting her lower vocals down very well. "Planet Of Pestilence" will be released by To Live A Lie sometime this year, very excited.

Next up, a new 2 track EP from Total Fucking Destruction, entitled, "Monsters"! I've always really gotten a kick out of TFD. Their blend of humor, tight musicianship, and just overall insanity really captivates me. There's really no other grind bands that sounds quite like them. The tracks on "Monsters" are some of the most unapologetically goofy that the band has made. Wild, arena-rock-on-psychedelics-guitar solos are all over the place, cleanly sung back up vocals, lyrics about everyday suicide, and of course, monsters. It's a super short, but super enjoyable listen. Check it out.

Next is a new 4 track EP from UK powerviolence bruisers, Gets Worse. I guess this was released as a companion to their "S/T" EP (which recently came out on a 10" record, which looks amazing and should definitely be purchased), the new tracks here naturally follow the same formula as that release. Super heavy, beefy powerviolence, like a mix of Weekend Nachos and The Afternoon Gentlemen. The songs here a little more straight forward and blasty, but still keeping the chunky monkey grooves. This young band is really going to get a lot of attention soon, I can feel it. Lookout.

And finally, continuing my trend of staying way behind on the current hot topics, the new track from Nails! This is a band that has always kind of had people wondering where they fit in; "Are they grind?", "Are they a hardcore band?", "Nah dude, they're a metallic hard-grind band". While I definitely don't think they are a grindcore band, I know a lot of grinders like them, and fuck me if I'm not head over heels ecstatic about their new full-length, "Abandon All Hope". This track is a monster, and the band sounds as intense as ever. The new album should be out sometime in March on Southern Lord Records. Way too pumped. But screw that craptastic cover art.

~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

10 Great Releases That Are Under 10 Minutes: Part 2

Y'all seemed to really like the first article of these that I did. And I enjoyed doing it, and my jihad against long grind albums is forever active, so let's make like these great records and not waste anytime getting right into it!

10. Extortion - "Control": Out of all of Extortion's EP's, I'd say that this one is their strongest. But considering how fucking solid their discography is, it's really not for any huge reason other than it's just really really really good. Excellent recording, super intense songs, and an outstanding vocal performance from Rohan. Dude's vocals in the earlier days were nearly untouchable, and I'd put him up their with some of the best vocalists in the genre. Their split 12" with Cold World this year was a great return to form for him and the band.

9. Beartrap - "Nailed Shut": A 16 track, under 6 minute release release from these TLAL favorites. Mmm, yes, let the brevity of it all consume you. If you like your hardcore fast, and unrelenting, "Nailed Shut" is for you. These songs literally bleed into each other, leaving absolutely no room to breath between songs (unless you're spinning the actual record, then you have to flip it half way, of course).




8. Thousandswilldie - "A Carcass Is Only Dead Once": Now this record right here, let me tell you, one of the craziest grindcore EP's I've ever heard. NO songs over one minute, hell, most barely reach 20 seconds. This record is all about fucking your shit up, being as crazy as possible, and blasting it out as fast and tight as possible. Excellent musicianship to bring it all together too, thankfully, so it doesn't sound like some amateur noisegrind band having a giggle and blasting out the quickest jams they can. 25 songs in 7 minutes, RIP Thousandswilldie.

7. No Comment - "Downsided": If by reading this you are just now learning about this record, you need to stop right here and learn up before going on. Widely considered one of the best hardcore/powerviolence records EVER, and it's not hard to see why. The importance and influence of this record can not be understated, you can hear it's influence in almost every modern fastcore band today. TIght musicianship, constant riff and tempo changes, and creative ones at that, and tons of stop/starts. A classic.

6. Spazz/Lack of Interest - Split: This is an essential powerviolence record, in my opinion. Not only because it pairs two of the best WCPV bands, but because, duh, it has some of their best stuff. Particularly the Lack of Interest side, goddamn son, it's just so good. The first song, "Mislead and Deranged", unf. Track this one down.

5. Parlamentarisk Sodomi - "Regnskog, Fred Og Vegetarmat": I really can't get over how fucking incredible Parlametarisk Sodomi was/is. This one guy, all by his lonesome, made some of the best and creative grindcore I've ever heard. His first EP didn't really have as much of the unusual riffing as his full-lengths, but the impact is more visceral and pulverizing. I love the almost blown out recording too, everything just sounds like it's exploding off the record. And the vocals on the track "Sakkosekk, Kaos Og Anarki" always put a smile on my face. RIP Parlamentarisk Sodomi (come back, please).

4. Sidetracked/In Disgust -  Split: Hey look, my favorite fastcore and grindviolence band made a split record. I love when that happens. This fut rucking monster of a split has my favorite material from Sidetracked on it, rivaling the near perfect, "Uniform" EP. Best sounding recording from Jay and co. and crazy great riffs. The In Disgust side is incredibly solid too, more of the same stuff from them, but the Sidetracked side is a real winner here.

3. Defeatist - "In Praise Of False Hope": My favorite EP from a band that was criminally underrated while they were still active. Great "tech-grind" that I never really thought was all that technical though. The riffs they made though were always intriguing, and they definitely gave Defeatist a recognizable sound that was all their own. Heavy as iron knads too. This EP is a total ripper, pick it up. RIP Defeatist.

2. Quattro Stagioni - "S/T": If you're looking for the fastest fastcore bands there is, I bet you Quattro Stagioni can keep you satisfied for quite a while. Inhumanly fast drumming, like the dude injected a cocktail of testosterone, cocaine, and speed into his arms right before recording. The first time I heard this, I was blown away just from the sheer ridiculousness of it all, but in a good way, of course. If your curious about where The Afternoon Gentlemen got a lot of their sound from, it's these guys.




1. SFN - "Itching": I'd say these guys are on of the most promising modern fastcore bands right now (I hope they didn't break up, please tell me they didn't). "Itching" is a lo-fi, distorted little gem of techy-fastcore. I'd almost say it's a little too lo-fi, since a lot of the great riffs don't really shine through the mix that well, but you can tell these dudes have their shit together and know how to write interesting and pulverizing music. This EP is progressively getting harder to find, so pick it up if you can. I hear a posthumous split with In Disgust is somewhere down the line too, let's all hope that's true.

~VII 

The New ACxDC Song Is The Best They've Ever Written.

If I may be so bold (and fuck yes, I'm going to be), the newly released ACxDC song, "Crux", is in my opinion the best song they've ever written by this point. With out a doubt, no ACxDC song has gotten me as insanely pumped up as this one. First off, the recording is fucking incredible, especially with the drums. When the kick drum and cymbals hit at the same time, it sounds like an explosion! And the blast beats? Fuggedaboutit. Brilliantly recorded, the band has never sounded so intense and so massive. I think it's obligatory at this point to say that the song is incredible too! The blast part leading into the triplet-riff breakdown is amazing, and the use of double bass is just too good. This song is a sexy beast. "Crux", and I believe four other new songs will be appearing on the soon-to-be-released-but-not-soon-enough-ohmygod-give-it-to-me-know 3-way split with Sex Prisoner and Magnum Force, which will undoubtably be the grindviolence release of the century!

~VII

New Music Alert: New Jams From Noisear and Sex Prisoner

The fall season is almost upon us, and that means tons and tons of awesome new albums, EP's, and splits are rearing to get released. Besides counting down the days until the new Pig Destroyer album us dropped, a couple of my most anticipated upcoming releases are the new Noisear record, "Turbulent Resurgence", and the 3-way split between ACxDC, Magnum Force and Sex Prisoner. And it just so happens that both the latter of the three and Noisear have new tracks streaming! Noisear have 2 new tracks, showcasing their familiar ripping, techy/spastic grindcore that fans should already know and love. The new album (apparently written and recorded all in the span of 3 days) will feature 22 tracks with noise from Winters of Osaka throughout. You can pre-order it now through Willowtip and Deep Six.
On the flip side, Sex Prisoner have one new track streaming right now, and it's a basic and brutal powerviolence assault. Crossed Out worship in full effect, this track keeps the heavy beat-down assault, but keeps an even balance of fast and mid-tempo. So fucking stoked. The ACxDC/Magnum Force/Sex Prisoner 3-way split will be released by To Live A Lie records. It will be one of the last records the label will produce before the year long hiatus. No word yet on when it will be released.

~VII

Rape Revenge - "Paper Cage" EP Review

This record is for people that are finding powerviolence bands aren’t sounding angry enough.  Because this record seethes with anger.  This is dissonant and hard hitting fastcore that sounds as impassioned as the members (Rape Revenge are all vegan and straight edge, with lyrics dealing with a wide range of social and political issues), and really a band that knows what they’re doing.  No part overstays its welcome, or song for that matter, with only 3 of 16 surpassing a minute, and when they do slow it down it works gloriously.  I have yet to see a Rape Revenge show where they don’t manage to get the crowd moving, and frankly it’s hard not to.  The vocals are venomous and often painfully high pitched in the best way possible, and essential to how absurdly pissed this band sounds.  Paper Cage also contains some of the most interesting riffs I’ve heard in a fastcore record recently, and as cool as sped up punk riffs are, we’ve all heard that a million times.  Their strangeness serves as a welcome breath of fresh air.  In addition the bass playing makes a convincing case for actually having a bass in powerviolence, I personally think that most of the time pv bands could drop their bassist and not be any worse off (sorry bassists reading this).  But the bass really shines on this record, it adds really nicely to the dynamic.  And man of man do I love Matt’s style of drumming. Fast, occasionally unconventional, and always hitting hard as shit.  If you get the chance to see them live keep an eye on him, he has the loosest toms I’ve ever seen and manages to get them to sound great, by sheer force.  Only half of the band that was on their first self titled 7” are on this one, but you can tell by the increase in quality that the right choices were made.  The first one had the sound down, but the song writing is miles ahead on Paper Cage, and I’m sure the better quality recordings don’t hurt either.  This is without a doubt one of my favorite records of the year, awesome band, awesome people, and as I’m sure you can tell by this point I’d highly recommend that you check them out.  To Live a Lie put this out, so you know where to get it, and don’t miss the chance to see RR on their states tour, the dates are on their tumblr.

Rating: 9/10

~Isaac

10 Great Releases That Are Under 10 Minutes

I'm just gonna flat out say it; I can't stand long albums. To me, there is nothing more aggravating than a record that just goes on and on, overstaying it's welcome. I definitely think that this animosity comes from the very nature of grindcore, where a band can say all that they need to say in no time at all. Don't even get me started on grindcore albums that go on for too long (read this excellent post to see what I mean). Personally, I feel like a grindcore album shouldn't have to ever break the 20 minute mark. Even just 10 minutes of music is enough to keep me satisfied. So, with that being said, I present a list of 10 excellent releases that are under 10 minutes. Bitch, moan, or agree in the comments below.

10. Colony - "s/t": If you ever get the chance to see this band live, do it. Dude's have some of the most intense stage presences I've ever seen. The drummer alone looks like he's just about to explode from rage and testosterone. Their "s/t" 7" is a brilliant piece of über-negative hardcore. Very strong down-tempo and sludge elements, there's actually very few fast parts on the entire record. It's a sound that I've grown to absolutely love, and these guys do it better than most.

9. Agents Of Abhorrence - "Earth.Water.Sun": Yeah, you all knew this was coming. In my ongoing mission to get everyone to listen too, and love this album, I shall remind you all that this is one of the best post-Discordance Axis style grind albums that has ever been made. There are razor sharp, bright, dissonant riffs by the truckload, with a fantastic drum performance serving as the backbone and excellent vocals being the cherry on top. These Aussie's now how to do it right, and this is their crowning achievement, so far.

8. Psychic Limb - "Queens": Another one that you all probably saw coming. I'm still amazed that Psychic Limb aren't getting talked about more, what the hell is wrong with you people? "Queens" was one of the most solid, enjoyable and well executed grind/hardcore records of last year, and I didn't see it make any year-end lists but mine. For shame. These dudes are pretty pretty much on every big grind show in NYC, so if you're in the area, you should be able to see them at least once. Amazing album.

Six Brew Bantha - "S/T" Album Review

It's a beautiful thing when you hear a band really come into there own and break out from demo quality, low-fi, basement recordings and produce a record that stands heads ands shoulders above everything they've done prior. Not that there's anything wrong with having your music sound like it was recorded in someones smelly, dirty hole of a living space, but in Six Brew Bantha's case this new album absolutely facefucks everything they've done prior.
In the past, SBB always came off to me as more of a grimy mincecore band. Again, due to the recording quality and their rather silly band name (lets be real here). Their split with Archagathus from last year did display impressive grind chops though, and left me impressed, but not blown away. This new album however, truly shows what SBB are capable, which is more advanced than anything Agathocles, Archagathus or LT. Dan have/could produce, and shows that this Canadian trio can grind with the best of them. The album starts off very unassuming though, with some studio trickery used to make the recording sound very flat and, well, shitty. But after some fucking around, the band and production explodes into pure awesomeness, and it's all good from then on. The production on this album is just stellar. It's perfect, absolutely wonderful. The guitars are just beefy, especially when the palm muted riffs come into play. I honestly thought this band had a bass player until just a few days ago. The drummer too, holy fuck, this guy can blast. And that snare drum, hot damn. More grind bands need to learn to appreciate a poppy, clangy snare drum. The songs on here all seem well thought out and crafted too, and display a lot of fastcore traits like stop/start riffs and constant tempo changes (which is an easy way to my heart). Occasional grooves pop up, which is always welcome, but for the most part it's just straight blasting and unrelenting brutality. Overall, SBB really have created a great grind album, one of the best I've heard all year. Do yourself a favor and listen/buy this album ASAP. And big up's to everyone that donated to the band after their van crash.

Rating: Strong 8.5/10

~VII