Gripe - "In His Image" Review

Operation Grindcore has had a long, mutually supportive and overall great relationship with Athen, GA's Gripe. One of the first bands I remember Andrew hyping me up on were these guys, and the support that we've maintained for each other over the last few years has been solid. So it's with a bit of sentimental proudness that I am happy to be finally reviewing their first (and sadly last) full length LP, "In His Image". A team-release effort from Hygiene and Witch Bukkake Records. With the return of their original singer DJ back on the mic. And this really does feel like a really excellent throwback to their first release, "The Future Doesn't Need You". Gripe's attack and message are clear, right from the Dystopia influenced opener "7 Billion Reasons Not To Reproduce". These guys got a bone to pick with quite a few people and corporate entities. Chances are they don't like you, and their gonna yell about it, a lot. A great return from DJ's shredded vocals!! I hope he didn't spit out a couple throat chunks after some of these takes. Lot's of varied vocals from high screams, growls, crusty barks and throaty wretches. All pissed, all in your ears. This is some excellent blast beaten hatred, by far their best and fullest recording too. It's a powerful recording, but they've maintained every bit of their raw, crusty sound. I guess a modern comparison would be the last few Sick/Tired EP's, that should give you some idea. Gripe always had this great collection of influences in their music, "In His Image" is no different. The strong Pig Destroyer and Assück sounds are still their, a few more dissonant riffs for some extra flavor. With some very good use's of slower tracks, particularly the closing track, "Snowden". I really appreciate when a grind band takes some time and tries to make the obligatory "slow closing track" a little more different. This track has a great dissolve from beastly dissonant grind into an excellent, layered slow dirge that end's on a seemingly unfinished note. A possible wishful sign that the band will maybe someday get back for a second and give us some new tunes. More grindcore psalms of anger as we get deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of this confusing world please! Excellent album, and a great finale for a great band. Listen to the record here. And you can pick up the limited edition "dead cop" splatter vinyl here as well as kick as records from Lifes, Short Walk, Beg, Abuse. and more!

Rating: 8.5/10

~VII

Seriously, Check Out This Vinyl Repress Of Caged Grave's Demo

Caged Grave were a band that I posted about at the tail end of 2013, regarding their excellent debut demo. They showcased some quality Vaccine-ish sounding fast hardcore with a more modern, HM-2 pedal abuse sound. Great stuff that I got hooked on instantly, and they were promptly added to the ever growing list of excellent Australian bands.  Functioning on a pure DIY work ethic, Caged Grave have so far recorded, produced, and released everything they've put out themselves. And if this self-released 7" re-release of said demo is any indication to the care, attention to detail and quality output for the future, then watch the fuck out. My particular copy was given to me very graciously by the band, a thousand thank you's.

(Photo's by VII)

The boys really went all out on the packaging with this one. Solid black vinyl with a large center label, and a flipping silk-screened box envelope to encase it. It's a super tidy, neat and honestly, very deluxe looking package. Like something that labels like Youth Attack! or Deathwish Inc. would make the "special addition" variant. When I first opened my package up I oogling over this whole presentation like it was a priceless gem stone.

A lyric sheet insert, download code, and a sticker are also included. Personalized note from the band, maybe included.

Now you all are probably saying "VII, this looks great, music's is great, I want this, tell me how to get this incredible record NOW!" Well dear reader, unfortunately you're a bit SOL unless someone decides to sell their copy online. Only 100 copies of this were made and it has since gone completely out of print. Bit of a bummer, no doubt, but Caged Grave seem to already be making a name for themselves in their home country, and record and release bits and pieces of new material on a semi-regular basis. A new record should be on the horizon, and you bet I'll be here to hype it up! Can't wait to see where this band goes. Check out the demo here.

~VII

New Music (Bleak, Ether Binge, Phyllomedusa, Archagathus)

The new jams have been flooding in at warp speed. A random perusal of bandcamp becomes an intimidating force of new and bizarre sounds to take in. I've been slacking around long enough, so let the hype train begin. Allow me to throw some of your favorite new tracks in ya di-rec-tion.

Starting off with a bit of an über-late 2013 release. The 2nd official demo of Syracuse, NY megalords of the heavy, Bleak. Though I say throw that fucking "Demo" title out the window, this is wayyy above any recording that should bear that title. This release is not grind, first and for most. Not a single blast beat graces these walls of sound, but goddamn this shit is just so good! The limitations of this blog will not be controlled by it's name dammit! But I digress. This recording is not for the faint of heart. It's heavy, ooooh man, it's heavy. Like something akin to a village being crushed by an avalanche. It's the kind of twisted sludgecore that hits me the same way as my favorite Gaza and Coalesce records. Learn up IMMEDIATELY! Listen here.

Ether Binge aka Victim Of A Drive-By, who impressed the hell out of me with their split tape with Chainsaw Squid (and have climbed their way up into becoming one of my favorite current grind bands), have blessed the world with four more tracks of their branded mutoid hypergrind. Sounding a million times better then their previous split as well. EB play a style of grind that I have really never ever heard before. The guitar/bass hybrid instrument that this band utilizes is utter perfection. Quite honestly some of the most interesting stuff I've heard come from a grind band in a while. These four tracks are on the upcoming 3-way split with Cancer Patient and Inzaine which will be released by the excellent Opaques Records. Also coming out on Opaques Records...An Ether Binge/Shooting Spree split 7" and a vinyl reissue of the Chainsaw Squid split. Unstoppable. Listen and become a believer here.

Phyllomedusa, of course. Been far too long since I gave my favorite amphibian worshipping noise god some love. Mr. Phyllo has been a bit of a busy guy, putting out a steady stream of new full lengths/EP's of all a wide variety of disgusting sounds. Bouncy, slam filled goregrind ("Puddle Dependency"), slow moving, atmospheric-doomy-blackened-noise ("Rainforests Are Only Pretty On The Outside"), straight up doom metal ("Empty Inside This Clear Skin"), harsh Japanoisecore worship with the new Toad Birth project, and of course that brutal gorenoise that I know and love ("Glorify The Plump"). Dude seems to just record literally whatever pops in his head. It's bewildering and all around impressive how this man pulls it all off, with consistently heavy results. Keel over and die right here.

New new Archagathus tracks! Fucking awesome!! Word of new recordings don't usually pop up on my radar before I actually hear of a new record that's come out, so word. First up, five tracks for an upcoming split tape (?) with Canadian goregrinders Hyperemesis. I guess in spirit of their split partners sound, the fella's have recorded some Regurgitate inspired gore tunes. The recent activity with Parfumerie probably isn't a far off influence as well. The boys do this style well, of course, and these tracks rip. In addition, there are also four new, untitled tracks for an upcoming EP entitled "Cold Universe". More down-tuned gore smeared grind on this too, but with better recordings. Seems like their rough mince roots are getting more and more put to the side so this tighter, more Euro-style sound can take over. I'm digging it so far, a lot. For a band with an output like Archagathus, I commend them for the continued quality. Love the green logo on the cover as well, nice touch. This EP will be released Spring 2014 on haunted Hotel and Coffee Grinder Records. Listen here.

~VII

Disciples Of Christ - "Decomposition Fantasy" Review

Playing a teeny bit of catch up here, as this record was kinda-technically released in 2013. Had I been as close attention as I should have, you would have bet your ass that this here recording would have

safely landed in the top 5 spot of my year end list. The band already made my favorite record of the year with their split 12" with Triac, and "Decomposition Fantasy" just pushes their inevitable domination of the grind world even closer to the present. Right away, screeching feedback and dirty production kick start the opening track "Cultivate Dissolution", the chaotic messy sound that I loved so much on that split are still here, and even pumped up a bit. This record is filthy. The guitars sound like slabbing metal sheets amplified through a broken amplifier. with Chris Moore's always monstrous drums hits providing some sort of structure for new ears. Underneath all the fuzz and treble lies some of the finely crafted grindcore to come out in 2013. Interesting songwriting 101, D.O.C are here to school you. This band works as a total unit, making every note and transition count. Constantly changing riffs and switching off vocals at a desperate, frantic rate. Blasting, high momentum riffs, leading seamlessly into crushing breaks or a choice "BLEH!" shout. Tracks like "Varicose Veins"   and "Pus Ride" showcase some of the best moments on this record using some of those dynamics. This band makes brutal grind in a way that I don't hear many other bands doing, or any for that matter, and the first five tracks will kick your head off. And then we have the last track, which is actually a cover. It's kinda no secret D.O.C have a thing for weird hardcore/punk bands. The cover art layout for the Triac split was a total Psychic TV homage, and the art here has a very distinct Rudimentary Peni look. So it shouldn't come off that surprising that they've gone and covered the Wire track, "Pink Flag", from their groundbreaking album of the same name. As is to be expected, they pull the song off very well, keeping the same general song and structure in tact, but making it their own, adding some noisy sound deterioration and blasts at the end. Proper. his band can do no wrong, pick up a copy at Rorschach Records! Listen to the record here!

Rating: 9.5/10

~VII

Wormrot Are Rising Again (with studio footage)

People, it has been a scorching hot minute since we've had anything new to jam from OG's favorite Singaporecore titans Wormrot. A real shame, since they really did have the grind scene by the short hairs for a bit around the time they went dormant. Very vocal that they were not, and had no plans to, break up. So we've been left spinning "Dirge" and "Abuse" very patiently for 3 years (still great records for sure). The band has posted bits and pieces of new stuff from live videos and general updates online, but at long last, actual concrete, professional video evidence of them in the studio has surfaced! Just footage of Fit and Rasyid laying down guitar and drums tracks to be more exact. And holy crap is it heavy as hell. The guitar tone in this video is already beefy, I can only imagine what it will sound like on record. Rasyid seems to adventuring a little in the riff department, throwing in some nice dissonance and other guitar sounds and chords. Fit as always is a madman on the skins, one of the most powerful grind drummers to watch.
I'm assuming Earache is releasing this forthcoming record. No word yet on a release date, or an album title. I expect updates to be pouring out sooner then later. You can see the footage the same place I did, right here.

~VII

Parfumerie - "Transmundane and Unprofessional Delocation of Superfluous Extremities and Rare Tissues E​.​P." Review

Though I rarely get around to posting about it on the site, I do have a very big soft spot in my heart for goregrind. It's hard to find a genre as ridiculous, gimmicky, or just plain fun as this one in extreme music. Trouble is, it's hard for a goreginrd band to impress me enough to warrant posting, outside of Phyllomedusa. But a few weeks ago some live videos of this band Parfumerie caught my eye and I was blow away by their energy, catchy songs and stage presence. I've been looking for recordings ever since and it appears that yesterday a whole EP was posted! Parfumerie is actually a trio featuring Joe (on bass and vocals) and Dan (on drums) of Archagathus, and they lend their great, catchy song craft heavily into this project. "Transmundane and Unprofessional Delocation of Superfluous Extremities and Rare Tissues" is an instantly enjoyable goregrind record, right from the thick beefy, Coffins-ish instrumental intro song, "Venereal Excavation", with some great grooving, chugs and some great trembelo picked riffs. That leads right into the blaster track "Upheaval Of Partially Digested Innards". Each track is a perfect little piece of goregrind compositioning. Great, memorable riffs and song writing bits like the evolving groove of the end riff on the closing track, "Deranged Menarche Injection -//- Regurgitate",  show to me that the same care and attention was given to this band as it was to the guys other main projects. Not to mention, this thing sounds fantastic. The guitars and bass are crazy thick and punchy, and dan gives a great drum performance with tons of kick/snare blasting (just think Regurgitate's "Carnivorous Erection"). This was a great first release from this project, definitely something I can see any gorehound drooling over. Can't wait for more in the future.

Rating: 9/10

~VII

Chainsaw Squid/LxDxT - Split Review

We're barely dickhead deep into 2014, and we've already got a blazing hot fire split from the west coast to start this year off on a good note. Dropped right on the first day of this year actually, pretty nifty. Chainsaw Squid, one of my favorite bands of 2013 and one that I will continue to gush over till the
forseeable future, bring the pain yet again on their side. Five tracks, all fast, all heavy, no prisoners are taken in their grindcore rampage. Every track is a little piece of ignant blastcore perfection. This band makes every riff, and every spine-snapping break count, masters of their song craft, in my opinion. It's that chaotic, spur-or-the-moment sounding grind that I fell in love with from bands like Sidetracked or Dead Radical, or even Lack Of Interest. The usual choice samples are used, classic stuff. Definitely their best sounding recording too, and ends with a nice semi-MITB sounding groover. Love it all. LxDxT are a band that I've had my eye on for a minute, and I believe have unfortunately not had the chance to right about them. Bummer on my end to keep this band for any amount of people, because they rip hard. Three tracks from them, bringing that brutal, sharp, tight deathy grindviolence sound. But mixing it up with a plethera of slam dancing hardcore and fastcore influence. It's super brutal stuff, at times sounding almost exactly like fellow coaster's BrucexCampell, which is by all accounts a good thing. Not to mention, they sound fucking great on this split, super heavy and intense production. And nice one with the last track, guys. I really thought that was gonna be a live track for a while, then BAM, raging snare! Kick ass. Tapes are coming soon I believe.


Rating: 8.5/10

~VII