Chainsaw Squid/Ether Binger - Split Review

If you're like me, and you hear about a band called Chainsaw Squid, chances are you're going to not give much thought to them. No matter what band they do a split with, or if their from the West Coast. Names like that usually sounds like the band is just taking a piss and recordings it for the sake of being goofy.
You should also be telling yourself to stop going on first impressions a lot, cause sometimes you're left with your proverbial foot in your mouth. So here we have the Chainsaw Squid/Ether Binge split cassette, put out on Opaqus Records, it fucking rules. SO not down with the fact that I got wise to these guys later rather then sooner. I first heard the Ether Binge side on youtube a little while back, and I can't believe I haven't checked them out sooner. They're a 3-piece that shares members with Fissure and Bridge, and it's some of the gnarliest, craziest grind I've heard all year! These guys rip everything to shreds with incredible precision, and a recording that will savagely assault your eardrums in the best way. The most notable thing about this band though: the guitar. For a while, I thought it was a bass, it sounds unlike anything I've heard in a grind band of this style. Weird, clean, almost jazzy guitar lines are all over the place. It literally sounds like a slapped bass, until it kicks into a way of shrill distortion. Insane stuff, and the totally ignant powerviolence vocals are top notch. Really hoping they record more stuff. Now on the flipside we have Chainsaw Squid, and yeah they have a dumb name, and their song titles are goofy, and I remember first hearing about them because they made a diss track about ACxDC, and they fucking kill!!!!! I can't say one bad thing about their side either, it's blown-out, lo-fi, fast as shit grindviolence, and I loved every second of it. Their recording is a bit more bottom heavy then EB's, and they definitely keep more of the Crossed Out/Charles Bronson influence firmly planted in their sound, with some modern fastcore mixed in. I barely notice the slower parts though, honestly. I'm just so captivated by how fast they are a a whole unit. I get a kick out of their samples too, really wondering where the opening one came from (you'll just have to listen for yourself). These guys seem to be pretty active, and have a few more splits out. Check this split out, and if any of the dudes in these bands are reading, I would love to get tracks for the West Coast comp ;)


Rating: 9/10

~VII

Listen To Caged Grave!

I gotta thank my Aussie buddy Sean and his fantastic record nerd blog Skullfucked, a personally trusted source for awesome new bands from the country, for turning me on to these Melbourne rippers. Caged Grave is to my knowledge a fairly new band, and they're by far one of the best new Australian bands I've heard in a while. Their recently released demo tape/CD-r is an 8 track, barely 7 minute asteroid hit of blast beat ridden fast hardcore. Imagine Vaccine, but influenced a little more by sludgy hardcore and maybe throw a little Harm's Way in the mix. Fantastically recorded, perfectly compliments the intensity I'm sure the band was trying to go for. I've played it 4 times already just righting this post, replay worthy material and I can't wait to hear their next recordings. Check out the demo below, give them a like on facebook, and if you can spare the scratch, pick up one of their tapes. 

~VII

New Six Brew Bantha Track

Canada Canada Canada Canada. Always dishing out the goods (I was listening to Shooting Spree before posting this, check them please, one of Canada's best). Six Brew Bantha are one of the many bands to join the "Done A Split With Suffering Mind" club, and their already fantastic 7" is just on the brink of release on Halo Of Flies Records. Digging the über metal cover art, heavily. Suffering Mind's side was put up a couple months ago, and it rips, as you should expect (check it here), and a little while ago Six Brew Bantha put up a track from theirs. Definitely the cleanest and most metallically sharp the band has sounded, cutthroat recording. And still blasting as fast as ever, seemingly playing 6 songs all in one. Check the new track, "Excesscrement" (try saying that 5 times fast) below, and lurk around Halo Of Flies Records for any sign of a release date.

~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

Sex Prisoner - "State Property" Review

Sex Prisoner are a band that know how do a comeback in the right way. Not that they were broken up or anything and pulled "comeback" like we usually know, but it had been a few years since there was
any noise from the Tucson, AZ crew. Their first 7" caused a bit of commotion among powerviolence and hardcore circles, and to this day it's still one of my favorite TLAL releases. Three years later, they're back and kicking 2013's ass all kinds of ways, dropping a fantastic 3-way split with ACxDC and Magnum Force, a track for a compilation 7" for Bad Teeth Recordings (alongside The Repos, To The Point and Curmudgeon, among others), and their own 7" EP, "State Property", released by the aforementioned Bad Teeth Recordings. I'm so happy to see these guys getting even more attention, and getting repped by more prominent figures in the powerviolence world (John Hoffman of Weekend Nachos fame is the owner and operator of BTR, for those unaware), because this record is incredible. Basically the only 7" I've been listening to for the past 2 weeks, I can't stop! They definitely continue down the same path they've always gone on "State Property", full on blasting meets completely ignant beat-down hardcore, but they just seem to get better and better every time. I'd definitely say that this is their best work yet. As songwriters, they've definitely stepped up; there is not a dull track out of the 10 on here, and you better believe they're packed with some of the toughest beatdown riffs I've heard all year. New guitarist, Matthew Underwood, brings a welcome mid-heavy metallic crunch to the band, evening out the sound a bit more and leaving the low end to the bass and the punishing drums. And the vocals...fuck, outstanding performances from the Kennedy brother. This record has me fighting ghosts and picking up change in my bedroom every day, and you're a damn fool if you don't buy this right now. And this just in, literally as I am about to post this, I find on their facebook page that they've been signed to a389 Records! Good going dudes!


Rating: 9.5/10

~VII

New Weekend Nachos Album and Tracks

I have such a power slam hard on for this new Weekend Nachos album, dead ass. The initial announcement for it was a few weeks ago, but today all these juicy details have been released so nows the time to get hyping! Their 4th album, entitled "Still",  will be coming out in November on Relapse Records and Deep Six (I believe DS is handling the vinyl duties). Today the band has put up two new tracks from the album for free download! "S.C.A.B." and "Satan Sucker" are excellent songs, I mean, Weekend Nachos just know how to write great, solid, beat down brutality. "S.C.A.B." in particular, while being an excellent classic hardcore influenced song, delighted me to know end with the lyrics during the breakdown (please listen for yourself), and the "BUST IN!" at the end. Fucking brilliant. Head on over to their Facebook page to download the new tracks.

~VII

thedowngoing/Detroit Split Has Been Announced!

Again with the cool news right before I'm about to hit the hay. Mathias, the singer and guitar player for Australia's noisiest grinders thedowngoing, spread the word that a new track from an upcoming split 7" with Detroit was posted! Just when I  was starting to worry that we'd never see any new music from these guys again. The new track, "gazastrip", boasts a heavy, well produced recording, definitely their heaviest yet. Pulling back a little bit on the straight up spastic noisiness a little, particularly in the vocals, but it just goes to show that under all the chaos, thedowngoing really do have tons of great riffs. Killer track. 

I was very excited to hear that Detroit would be the split companions. I've always kept my eye on them, and their drummer Isaac even contributed to OG a few times. It's a neat little connection. These guys have also been crafting split 7"s with Skuff and Deadpreassure, most of which you can hear on their bandcamp. Great raw powerviolence in kinda the same vein as Vaccine, Despise You and In Disgust. Dig it.

The split with thedowngoing will be put out late 2013/early 2014 by Hash Crimes and Stoked Distro Records.

~VII