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

Phobia - "Remnants of Filth" Album Review

Phobia is one of those bands where you know exactly what you are going to get whenever they put out a new album. Throughout their entire existence from "Serenity Through Pain" and onwards, Phobia have been a consistently solid band, putting out "punk as fuck" grindcore albums and numerous splits since the 90's. Their new full length, "Remnants of Filth" (released by Deep Six and Willowtip Records), keeps their tried and true formula in check. The band, once again featuring grindcore champions Bryan Fajardo and Dorian Rainwater on their respective instruments, waste no time dishing out the punishment after a solid mid-paced opening (I'm just going to ignore that cheesy as fuck sample though). From then on, it's just 19 minutes of straight up grindcore. The recordings sounds great, and the band sounds incredibly tight. The drum mix in particular is fantastic; the bass drums add a great low end rumble, and the snare cuts through like a knife.
Given that Phobia have kept their familiar sound, "Remnants of Filth" probably isn't going to convert any new listeners. If you haven't liked Phobia in the past, this most likely won't change your opinion. There aren't really any stand-out tracks on here, it's all pretty consistent, but it's not without it's moments. Some familiar Rainwater-ism's come out now and again; a couple dissonant riffs here and there, and a weird chromatic riff on the track "Resolution". The sharp left-turn breakdown on the track "Submission Hold" is a nice touch, and the minor key chord progression on "Resuscitate" is pretty interesting for the band. Overall, it's not a mind-blowing album, but it's another solid and highly enjoyable addition to Phobia's ever growing catalog. Recommended.



Rating: 7.5/10

~VII

Stream Two New Vaccine Songs...They're Still Pissed.

One of my recent favorite fast hardcore bands, Vaccine, is getting ready to drop 2 new records on the fun-loving public. One is a new 10 song 7" entitled, "Dead Inside" on Painkiller records and Cut The Cord Records, and a split 7" with fellow straight edge blasters, Coke Bust. I think the Coke Bust split may be out now, but I haven't sen it in any distros, so I'm not to sure. Anyways, the new songs are rippers, and they keep the raw, distorted, short and angry delivery that I know and love from these guys. Stream them below, and buy the records when they come out. And for our European readers, be sure to catch them on their European tour (see dates here).

~VII

Murder Construct - "Results" Review

Release Date: August 28, 2012
Relaspse Records

Those of you expecting a mediocre album by another supergroup will immediately think otherwise with this record from California’s Murder Construct. "Results", the band’s first full length, delivers exactly what the title offers. The band features great names such as Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation), Leon del Muerte (Exhumed, ex-Phobia), Kevin Fetus (Watch Me Burn), Caleb Schneider (Bad Acid Trip) and Danny Walker (Intronaut, Exhumed).
As a longtime listener of Cattle Decapitation, I must say this is easily one of the best recordings done by frontman Travis Ryan in addition to the newest Cattle Decap album that dropped only four months before the release of "Results". Though the lyrical content isn’t as gore-concentrated as Ryan’s previous work, his vocal tones and patterns have only progressed thus far especially on tracks like “Mercy Mercy” and “Compelled by Mediocrity”. 2012 may as well be the year of Travis Ryan.
When Danny Walker isn’t unleashing blast beats to the listener, there are moments where the changeups will truly catch the listener off guard. On “Malicious Guilt”, the band keeps switching between mid-tempo death metal and straight up grindcore more often then I can count. “Feign Ignorance” does the same, but adds some tech-death fills into the mix. For a project like this, the drumming has a very high bar to hit. Walker nailed that bar and then some.
All in all, this is some ridiculously good deathgrind definitely worth picking up. It’s a shame the members are too involved in their other bands to really give this record the touring cycle it deserves. Easily in 2012’s top ten.

~Cha

thedowngoing - "A Thousand Years Of Darkness" EP Review

I now know what grindcore hell sounds like, and it's manifested itself in the form of 2 Australian humanoid automatons known only as, thedowngoing. No capital letters in the name, cause that shit's for the birds. This music is the soundtrack to ear rape, and bath salt induced face eating. In a nutshell, thedowngoing makes babies punch their way out of their mothers bellies and dogs give birth to blue whales. Right from the beginning of the album, you here a concerned, frightened, wet inhaled breath, leading right into the noisy, chaotic 10 minute onslaught. There's no turning back now(except if you pussy out and actually stop listening to the album, but who would do that?). Absolutely absurdly loud and noisey recording, like it was recorded with semi-good microphones and then in the mastering stages decided to crank everything to 11. Sure, there are riffs, good ones at that, but the delivery is just so intense and chaotic, that they might just blow by you. Super discordant and bright guitar tones, and a full blast drummer, with tons of bass thrown onto his percussion. The sickening inhale shows up again at the end of the 5th track, this person obviously can't handle the noise. But do thedowngoing care? Hell fucking no, they go on, harder and more intense than before, decimating everything in their way(see the "untitled" track ). And oh yeah, the vocals. I mean, good for this guy for sacrificing his vocal chords for the sake of making good music, cause there's no way any human can be the same after recording stuff like this. Again, obviously music created by hell spawned automatons. Listen to this shit, it'll but hair on your chest.



Rating: 9/10

~VII

Stream A New Unmixed Track From Six Brew Bantha!

Not content with releasing one of the best albums of the year with their self-titled full length, Canadian fastcore band Six Brew Bantha are already finishing up recordings for 2 new split 7"s! The first one, which this track comes from, is with Agitate from Minneapolis, the other is with a band that is currently TBA (oooooo, how exciting). The new unmixed/unmastered track, entitled Opposition, is a short blaster of a song, with tons of excellent stop-start riffs to please listeners like me. Really killer stuff, can't wait to hear the final product. Stream the song below.

~VII

Bandcamp Artist Of The Week: Corrupt Bastards

You guys know that I love me some bass n' drum powerviolence. So there's absolutely no reason why I shouldn't love the Texas duo, Corrupt Bastards. And...I don't, at all. There's actually nothing bad I can really say about these guys, and what they've recorded so far. All the goods are there; they got the grooves, they got the good recording, they got the good bass tone, it's just instantly enjoyable and solid powerviolence. Absolutely nothing wrong with this band. I'm stoked as fuck for their upcoming releases, including a split cassette with Calafia Puta, and a six-way split with bands including Sordo and Water Torture. Get your jizz rags ready, people.

~VII

VII's Favorite Releases Of 2012...So Far

In my honest opinion, 2012 hasn't been that great a year for music so far, especially compared to last year. Most of the releases I've heard this year have been "pretty alright" to "good", with very few breaking into "great" territory. Here are a few releases that I think reach that level, agree or disagree.

Six Brew Bantha - "S/T": Here's a skull crusher of an album that came from the Great White North, and mercilessly fucked the underground grind scene in the new hole it tore. This fastcore/grind trio really have created a great album, and have made a record that blows all their other recorded material out of the water. Thick, heavy production, killer riffs, grooves, snare drum tones, and vocals, it's a complete package.

False Light - "S/T": So, my new mission in life is to get as many people as I possibly can to listen to this EP and love this band. Coming out of absolutely no where(South Carolina), posting their rough and dirty EP on bandcamp for freedownload, and single handedly rocking my world, all in one fell-swoop. So far, this is the best grindcore/powerviolence EP I've heard all year. I've praised this constantly, and reviewed it in full on CVLT Nation. Listen to it, or be lame.

Human Junk/God's America aka The Seeds Of Rape - Split Review

Two words: Fucking.Awesome. I could stop the review right here, because in a nutshell, that's a proper way to describe this split. That would just be shitty reviewing though, so allow me to continue. Grindcore Karaoke was kind enough to host a digital version of this split 7", a split that brings together two powerviolence bands separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Human Junk are first, and holy shit. This band must worship at the altar of Hellnation, because they got their sound down to a science. Everything from the vocals, to the song structure, and even the guitar tone oozes unapologetic Hellnation influence. Not that there's anything wrong with that though, I flipping love Hellnation as much as these guys probably do. I do think it would be wise for them to eventually try and find their own sound, but they play this style of fast hardcore with enough heart and passion to keep me satisfied.  I'll be checking in with this band in the future, for sure. God's America aka The Seeds of Rape are back at it, this time with an extended name, and the same visceral and lo-fi delivery as their debut cassette. Gruff, fuzzy, bassy powerviolence. Absolutely nothing flashy, no bullshit, just raw, to the point aggression. I have a soft spot for bands that sound like this. It really reminds me of the bands bands I used to listen too when I was first getting into the underground, like Godeater, Pizza Hi-Five and Sloven. Download the split here, and be sure to buy the 7" once it comes out!

Rating: 7.5/10

Water Torture - "Shellfire!" EP Review

Well, it's finally here. After post after  post of me hyping it up, the new EP (and vinyl debut), "Shellfire!", from one of my favorite new powerviolence bands, Water Torture, is finally upon us. You should all know how I feel about this band and their previous self-titled EP by now, and I've been excited for this EP for a long time. So, what do I think of it? FUCKING SUCKS!! Nah, man, I kid, of course it doesn't suck, it kicks some serious fucking ass! For any band, coming out with a satisfying sophomore release, especially after a debut as beloved as Water Torture's first, is no small feat. But, I'm happy to say that Water Torture have met that challenge. 11 tracks this time around, keeping the sound they had on their first release, but introducing a few new things to the mix. Starting off with the actual sound of the EP; it's flipping excellent. The overall tone is a little less murky, mostly due to the brighter distortion used on the bass guitar. But the riffs come out clearer and more more intense and cut throat. They've also fixed one of the few issues I had with their first EP, which was the long gaps in between the songs. Smooth transitions via harsh noise and feedback are used, keeping the intensity going and non-stop. And speaking of noise, that track "Drowning", holy shit what an intense piece of ear shredding chaos. The band just sounds better than ever; the songs are excellent and performed perfectly. The riffs, both fast and slow, are perfect. Heavy, intense, dirgy, grimy, powerful, and still catchy as hell. Moezes vocals are still a delight to listen too, perfectly suited for the band. I think I'm just starting to ramble now, but I'm really trying to mention every detail about this new EP. What more do I have to say to get you to buy this EP?? There's a creepy organ intro and outro that are pretty damn interesting. Need I say more? Fans of Water Torture's previous EP will definitely not be disappointed with "Shellfire!", there's no need to worry. Please please please buy it at Diseased Audio Records. One of the best thing's I've heard all year.

Rating: 9/10