Sedem Minut Strachu - "Overmasonnanizationated Twist" 5" Review

Noisegrind is a curious beast of a genre. You have to weed through a lot of junk bands hiding their obvious lack of talent and effort under the genre's humble characteristics. But finding those little capsules of brilliance among the rubble is so worth it. The newest capsule I am addicted to ingesting is the outstanding Sedem Minut Strachu out of Slovakia. This noisegrind trio has spit out some of the best chaotic jams I heard on tape and lathe in 2014. Everything they've put out thus far has been incredible. Their newest 5" lathe cut record, "Overmasonnanizationated Twist", is yet another brief, but solid addition to their growing discography. Opening up with some treble heavy feedback/vocal garbage and a commanding "get ready to go nuts" drum groove. From then on, SMS go off in their recycled, yet trademark way. The worship of Seven Minutes of Nausea, early Napalm Death and Deche-Charge is obvious, but for dual bass n' drum noisecore, SMS's recording and delivery is remarkably clear. The drums shine through the brightest, holding everything together with tight blasts and remarkably solid improv skills. Every member of this band plays together incredibly well, which is one of their best characteristics. And maybe the most important of any band of this style really. Even at full blast, when every member is just playing whatever-the-fuck, it all sounds cohesive and layered perfectly. Full blasting all over side A until a noise loop transitions over to side B. Total blasting and some bass feedback interplay. Grunting, belching, rumbling brutality, eventually exhausting itself into a slow diminuendo into harmonica and the same vocal nuttiness that opened the EP up. At under 3 minutes "Overmasonnanizationated Twist" is painfully short. But it shos Sedem Minut Strachu toying with some new sounds and ideas, which I am eager to see them venture into more. Another successful racket!

~VII

Listen to Puke! Australia's Youngest Grinders!

I am convinced that some ancient magic was cast over the Australian environment by the ancient grindcore Gods of yor. I've praised this countries grindy exports more times then I can count on this blog. There's almost as many excellent bands in Australia as there are poisonous creatures. The newest example is Puke, a frantically discordant grindy band out of Brisbane. A sadly now defunct quartet who power stomped their existence into my grindcore consciousness with their swansong EP. A fantastic 9 song effort that blends techy, shiny grind with the bloodthirsty rawness of a powerviolence demo. The spastic, forward momentum of these songs was already impressive enough. But when I learned the details of the Pukes musicians, I was floored.

You know how every once and a while you read about a "super intense" heavy band that's comprised of a bunch of young kids? And how 9.9999 times out of 10 that band is complete gimmicky shit? Well let the fact that everyone in this band was about 16 when this was recorded soak in. The usual lack of talent that unfortunately trails along with bands this young is thrown out the fucking window here. Puke absolutely crush it, with sound and composition. The recording is crisp, loud and professional, and they've actually managed to craft some pretty impressive song structures. Thankfully staying away from a lot of familiar riffs and breakdowns that are a dime a dozen in grindcore. Hearing kids this young making grind that avoids a lot of norms and sounds this fresh just puts a big smile on my face. Surly if Puke continued, they could have been something great. I sincerely hope all of them are on to bigger and better things in the future!

Big thanks to my good buddy Drew for turning me on to these guys. He actually released this EP on cassette just a few days ago on his new label Naked Noise Records. He already has two more releases under his belt and many more on the way, be sure to pick up a tape and support the people who continue to support this scene.

~VII