Sea of Shit/Water Torture - Split Review

This is a  split that I kinda-sorta had foreseen coming/kinda tried to put out myself, but Diseased Audio had the gall to get to it first. I ain't bitter though, cause this split is a dream come true for fans of filthy fast music. Two titans of underground powerviolence together at last. Makes me sick, in the best possible way. Sea of Shit are up first with three tracks of grime-violence. The tracks are a bit cleaner than their last EP (but come on, most records are in comparison), and the slow parts have increased a bit overall, but it gives the songs and riffs a bit more room to breathe. The opening track, "Black and Blue", is an awesome down-tempo trudger that develops and builds very naturally, while at the same time sounding like it's decaying and falling apart, and the following two tracks both have interesting drum passages and breakdowns. The last track even has a kinda black metal chord progression. Overall, the tracks don't have as much of a visceral impact as their previous releases, but it is a solid effort.

Now the Water Torture side is just straight up violence. Five tracks from my Buffalo favorites, and this time we get not one, but two bass players slamming out the sickness. The result may be Water Torture's heaviest recording to date. Pretty remarkable how the new addition really didn't muddy up the sound at all. The riffs on here are just slamming, face-meets-broken-glass-and-rusty-nails brutal, case in point, the track "Living Hell". When that song breaks down, holy shit, it's heavy sludge perfection. The drum tones are more like they were on the s/t EP, which I very much prefer. The combination bass drum/cymbal hits are much more punchy this time around. Elephant stomping heaviness. I'll say it again, this band can do no wrong. Stoked for everything. Killer split.

Rating: 8/10

~VII

Exclusive Premier of A New Priapus Track, "Adversus"

Operation Grindcore is very happy to debut this brand-spanking new track from the North Carolina lords of tech-grind, Priapus. This new track, entitled "Adversus", will be joining another new track for an upcoming split 7" with INTHESHIT, which should actually be out very soon on the mighty Give Praise Records. There will also be a new shirt design, featuring the art above. But this track, do I really need to tell you it's good? Anyone with a brainstem should know that anything Priapus grinds out is pure win. Riffs that crunch, squeal, skronk, screech, and chug come at you a mile a second, and the vocal and drum performances are equally impressive. Any local scene would be blessed to have a band like Priapus in their ranks. Stream the track below, and be sure to pick up the 7" when it comes out. 

~VII

Mother Brain - "Straight To Business" Review

There's something just so magical about a tight, concise grindcore record. I love it when a band can fit all they need to say and do in a tidy, brutal 10 minute onslaught. So lets bring in Mother Brain, and their newest EP, "Straight To Business". A rather fitting title since this EP goes right into the head crushing riffs with it's killer intro, and from then on it's just straight brutality. And padding be damned, because this thing had me engaged the whole way through. Brutal, modern grindcore that takes cues from bands like Pig Destroyer and Maruta. Mother Brain is like the sick love baby that was born after a tech-grind hatefuck. If you don't know what I mean by that, basically there are a lot of awesome riffs on here. But it's not like Mother Brains are completely wanky either, the brutality on here is incredible, with the technical guitar flourishes being more like little accents to everything. And the drummer and guitarist just play so well together, little moments like the half-time blasting on "Down The Drain" and the descent into the breakdown on "Old Man"are excellent. Perfectly recorded, and all in packed in the aforementioned 10 minute package. They keep it catchy and they keep it interesting. Great release!



Rating: 8.5/10

~VII

First Exposure: Zach Ohler (Strong Intention) & Vincent Matthews (Criminal Element, ex-Dying Fetus)

Zach Ohler: Napalm Death - "Scum" 

I was blown away, it was like nothing else I had heard up to that point. 

It still holds up as a classic. It help pave the way for everything that was to come after, and you could still put that record up against anything that is out today. 

I was so much into hardcore/punk and thrash metal at the time, it definitely inspired me in as much as it showed that things can be even more extreme and yet just as killer as everything I heard up until that point.

Vincent Matthews: Napalm Death - "From Enslavement to Obliteration"

When I first heard it I was hooked. The year was 1989. I loved the sound but not too much on the political lyrics but then again politics are the core of punk and grind. My thoughts today on this record still remains the same they took grindcore and put it on the map and no one has yet to outdo this record and so it remains that. This album has inspired me to always think outside the box when it comes to musical taste. This record has spawned a lot a copy cat bands over the years and I truly believe that after the release of enslavement Napalm Death had to change the core of their writing style because at that time the band Terrorizer had released their USA version of grindcore and that as well took me by storm. Both acts inspired me to pick up a mic and scream my ass off.

~Alex Cha

Reader/Vinyl Collector Of The Week: Dan Burton

Our OG reader of the week is Dan Burton, who was awesome enough to share some pictures of his awesome collection and the story of how he got into grindcore and collecting music. Sick Gadget shirt, dude!!!!

Bandcamp Artists Of The Week: Habitual Defender and Cheap Art

Great fucking hardcore violence from this Seattle duo. Seven songs in just over 3 1/2 minutes, so you know there's no room for bullshit. Great straight forward jams of sonic rawness that remains catchy, just how I like it! I can see these guys pleasing fans of bands like Punch and Extortion, and any fastcore fan. A cassette version should be out soon on Mind Melt Records. I wants it.

I'm so glad I stumbled upon Cheap Art today. I've been really craving some new fastcore jams lately, and Cheap Art are giving me the fix I need. Everything I love about the genre is here, manic and tight musicianship, creative song structure, tempo changes all over the place, and yelled vocals. Sexy stuff right here. Fans of SFN, Lack of Interest, and No Comment need to listen. Apparently this recording is being re-issed on cassette as a split with the band Rapturous Grief. I wants that too.

~VII

Jungle Juice - "Involuntary Convulsions" Review

The mighty Give Praise Records is gearing up to release a plethora of new facegrinding records this season, hopefully most of which I'll hopefully be covering on here. One of the freshest faces in the upcoming roster is Jungle Juice, a hardcore band from little ol' Little Rock, Arkansas. Much like the alcoholic concoction of which they're named after, their new 8 song effort, "Involuntary Convulsions", is a mixed bag of stuff and things. On this EP you'll get a heavy serving of hardcore, 15 second powerviolence bursts, sludge, and...atmospheric acoustic interludes? Yeah, you heard me right. Don't flee in terror yet though, because Jungle Juice definitely do not dwell on un-abrasive characteristics like that. JJ know how do dish out the heavy jams, and they bring it to you raw (very raw). Though given that there is a lot of different influences on here, I am naturally left with some mixed feelings. First off, the guitar tone is excellent. Thick and chunky, just how I like it, and when the band busts into those Sabbath-y riffs, it's a beautiful thing. The hardcore stylings are great too; awesome breakdowns and hateful aggression. But there are some parts where I'm just left saying, "huh, why?". The shorter songs on here seem like they're in there just because they can be, and the guitar solos at the ends of the tracks, "Constant Decay" and "Human Limit" really just leave a bad taste in my mouth. Unfortunately, that means I have some issues with half the songs on here. Jungle Juice are a prime example of a band that could release something absolutely killer, if they just fleshed out and fine-tuned their sound a bit. But overall, I did enjoy this EP, and I'm eager to see what this band comes up with next.

Rating: 6.5/10

~VII