From The Ashes of Obacha, Rises Throat Slitter

This year practically kicked off with one of my favorite fast bands throwing in the towel. The almighty Squamish fastcore unit Obacha played their last show on January 4th. Thus leaving a gaping void in the Canadian grind arsenal that I feared would not be properly refilled for quite a while. 

That is until I got word of a new band, that was actually comprised of mostly ex-Obacha members. A 'lil group called Throat Slitter. Needless to say I was thrilled by the news, and awaited the arrival of any recordings from them. They finally released their debut demo early this month, and not only filled that void, but practically consumed everything else in the wake of it's arrival. Throat Slitter's demo is an incredible progression and enhancement of what Obacha laid out. This is modern fastcore at some of it's best and most aggressive. Taking the breakneck speed and frenetic shifts of Obacha's song craft, and surpassing it. The precision and agility at which these guys play grind is truly jaw dropping, and blood racing. Utilizing a less-bright instrumental tone and some seriously tough vocal swappage. It's some of the tightest grind I've heard in 2014, even with the lo-fi recording. I've been calling Throat Slitter "The Canadian SFN", a comparison that I feel is pretty justafiable. But I won't even front when I say that this could easily stand up against most of that bands catalog. My favorite demo of 2014, with out a doubt. I strongly urge everyone to pick this up. Tapes are floating around somewhere, and I hear they're teaming up with Opaques Records for a 7" of some sort. Take some serious notes. 

~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

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

Skuff - "Demo 2012" Review

I'm seriously running out of new ways to say good things about Canada. Home of socialized health care, maple syrup, hockey, and more excellent grind and powerviolence bands than you can shake a stick at. A drum/bass powerviolence band from Canada, well that just seems like a flawless combination, does it not? That's where Skuff come in. This B.C. duo has been kicking around for a couple years, and released this 2012 demo tape earlier this summer. Nine tracks of catchy, groovy, lo-fi, gruff and rough violence. It's the type of stuff that I'm just instantly attracted too, and rarely find any faults with, and Skuff are no different. Sure, it's not original, not even a little bit, but who gives a shit? If it's not broken, don't fix it (or try to break it). The recording on the demo is totally lo-fi and blown out. The low-end from the bass just seeps over everything, but it never reaches the point of just being a distorted, unlistenable mess. The riffs are still present, and if the sound was cleaned up a bit, the dudes gnarly bass tone would shine through a bit more. I do wish the snare drum was a bit more present though, it doesn't cut through as much as I like in my powerviolence. Overall, it's a solid demo, and I'm looking forward to everything this band puts out in the future. They have a split tape with Bridgeburner coming out soon, which is also streaming on the bandcamp, and it's awesome stuff.

Rating: 7/10

~VII

Bandcamp Albums Of The Week: Obacha & Skuff - Demos 2012

Double post!  Seeing as Skuff and Obacha both have recently released 2012 demos, and are touring the west coast together next month, it was all too fitting.

Obacha are a band that knows how to do fastcore right. These guys have been consistently killing it for a few years now, but their 2012 demo is their first release as a 3 piece (drummer quit, singer became drummer/singer) and it is a very apparent step up. With the sound being a lot dirtier than their previous output, these 8 songs in 4 minutes are as fast and frantic as any PV fiend could want. The vocal duties are also shared a little more, which rules and totally works for these guys. As you can tell I have a huge boner for their new demo, but all their stuff is worth checking out(  here's their first demo, the only thing not on the bandcamp).
*Edit: I was totally off, Obacha were still a four peice for this demo. They're even faster now. Here's proof.

Skuff on the other hand are a drum and bass two piece, playing super, super catchy and greasy PV.  Seriously, listen to “Wasp Eyes” and try not getting that shit stuck in your head.  Sweet samples, no songs longer then 1:10, and the least shitty Skuff production yet, what more could you ask for?  This new demo is showing up everything they’ve done previously so hard, while still being the perfect amount of raw.  These guys are going to be on that all drum and bass six way split with the almighty Water Torture so keep your eyes open for that as well. 

Check out the tour dates here , and listen to these bands at full volume!

~Isaac

Your Enemy - "Fuck Off Weak Grind" Review

If you're in a band, and you're gonna name your demo "Fuck Off Weak Grind", your better be able to back up your title with your music or else you're gonna look like real bunch of assholes. For a new, up and coming band this can be some dangerous territory to dread in and if I was to judge a book by it's cover(in this case title) I would think Your Enemy were a crappy, lo-fi mince/shitcore band. Fortunately, this is not the case! Your Enemy's first release steers clear from the usual expectations of a demo; crappy recordings, sloppy playing, etc., and instead goes right for the listeners throat all through out it's 7 minute run time. Very well recorded and well executed deathy-grind in the veins of bands like Assuck and Terrorizer(but ya know, not like this). Whole lotta blasting, not a whole lot else. There are occasional grooves and slow bits, which help this release not suffocate under it's own relentlessness. But this demo isn't supposed to be about "the catchy bits" or "the sick grooves". It's about being a short, sweet, and visceral shot of blasting grindcore. Not very original, but very solid and enjoyable demo. You can download the demo here and stream their split tape with Human Waste here.

Rating: 7.5/10

~VII

Horsebastard – Equestrian Blastcore Demo

If I were to sum up Liverpool based hardcore band Horsebastard in a single phrase it would be this; this band is fucking crazy. Crazy good, crazy fast and all round bonkers. My band shared a bill with them at London’s Purple Turtle once and it was a performance quite a lot of the other bands frankly struggled to match (I was certainly happy we didn’t have to follow them). Every element is top notch chaos executed with a savage foaming insanity. Their now ex-front man Johnboy holds the title of most intimidating on stage personality I have ever encountered; his self-preservation switch wasn’t so much as flipped off as it was ripped out of the wall. He flailed in all directions, got in the audiences’ faces, verbally and physically abused us and tried to smash a bottle to roll around in; he failed but there was still blood. Horsebastard now have a new vocalist Chris and by all accounts he is just as talented. Their three song sample Equestrian Blastcore is up for free download on their bandcamp so go get it.

p.s Watch the drummer and remember to place a cushion beneath your jaw.

~Martin Grainger

Listen To Seeds of Rape!

Seeds of Rape are an awesome new powerviolence band from Vegas! I recently bought their demo tape and it kills! It's one of the best demos I have heard this year! I also found out that they have been added to the awesome Grindcore Karaoke roster! Download/stream their demo for free here

~Andrew Lipscomb

Attack of the Demos! Nohari, Xyphos

Nohari-EP

First off, let me just say that the cover of this ep is awesome! What is cooler than a girl with purple liquid coming out of her mouth and eyes? On this EP the quality of the artwork and the quality of the music match. Nohari give us six tracks of completely original sounding grindcore. If you are looking for some awesome grind, look no further than this ep. Listen here

9/10

Xyphos-What Comes Before

Xyphos are a death metal band from Canada, and they blend a lot of different sounds and influences into their style. I guess Xyphos' style could be called technical death metal, but it is miles ahead of most tech-death. I find most tech-death bands such as Obscura, Necrophagist, and Origin, really boring and showy; like the whole purpose of their music is to show off their musicianship. Xyphos are completely different. The thing I love most about Xyphos is their vocals, they sort of remind me of Skeletonwitch, with their blend of black metal and death metal! Listen here!

8.5/10

~Andrew Lipscomb

Album of The Week:Gripe-The Future Doesn't Need You

Gripe are a three-piece powerviolence band from Athens, Georgia. Their sound is a good mixture of grindcore and powerviolence. I really love the high-pitched vocal style, which is one of the things I love about most powerviolence bands. "The Future Doesn't Need You" is Gripe's first e.p. and it is insanely good. It's so good that I can see these guys being on a label like To Live A Lie, Give Praise, or even Grindcore Karaoke. I know that it is clichéd to say this but this e.p. just sounds violent. I feel like this would be a perfect soundtrack for a killing spree , and the song titles reflect Gripe's violent sound with titles like "Go For Throat" and "History of Violence". "The Future Doesn't Need You" comes in at around 10 minutes, but all the songs are memorable and because of that this e.p. feels a lot longer. My favorite songs of of "The Future Doesn't Need You" are "Prison Tycoon", "Eatr Bot", and "Go For The Throat". The cover art is also really cool and you can download this e.p. for free here on their Bandcamp.

~Andrew Lipscomb

Album of The Week:Dethroned Emperor-War Grind Hell

Dethroned Emperor are a sick two-piece death/grind(think Napalm Death not Misery Index) band from Brunswick, New Jersey. "War Grind Hell" is a 11 song e.p., that comes in at around 14 minutes. I hear a lot of influence from early Napalm Death and Terrorizer, and they even cover Terrorizer's "Condemned System". Their sound is very raw, but they still sound great and I really think it suites them best. This e.p. has some really killer guitar riffs that get stuck in your head and the drums are also great. Some of my favorite tracks from "War Grind Hell" are"Still Life", "War Grind Hell", and "Insecure". Overall, I really enjoy "War Grind Hell" and I think that Dethroned Emperor deserve to be heard and I could easily see them being signed to a label like Hell's Headbangers.

~Andrew Lipscomb

You can order "War Grind Hell" from their official blog here.

[Disclosure: Dethroned Emperor sent me a copy to review.]

Hiroshima Vacation-Demo

Hiroshima Vacation is a hardcore, grindcore, powerviolence, or whatever you want to call it, band from Ithaca, New York. The current members of the band are two brothers, Tenor and VII Caso, VII also has a great YouTube channel that you should check out here. Now back to the music, this demo straight up rocks, how could it not with a song called "Bashin' Emo Kids"? This is one of the best bands I have heard in a long time! The music just doesn't let up, as soon as you hear the first song you know this is going to be an awesome demo! To be honest I was really surprised at the quality of this demo, from the great riffs, sweet vocals, unrelenting drumming, to just how catchy this album is. This album also has great production that manages to sound clear and filthy at the same time, which really suites the music. This band demands attention and I can definitely see HV becoming one of the next great hardcore, grindcore, powerviolence bands in the future. To Live A Lie Records should definitely check these guys out. Some of my favorite songs on the demo are "I Hate Everyone"(which is probably the most hardcore influenced song on the demo), "Take Away Their Power", and "Destroyed".

~Andrew Lipscomb

You can download Hiroshima Vacation's demo for free here.

Multinational Corporations-Equality(Demo)

From the moment that I first glanced at the track listing of Equality, I knew I was going to be getting some politically charged music. With titles like "Presidential Castration" and "Immolating the Parliament", and the fact that the band is from Pakistan, how could it be anything else? As soon as the music began playing I was instantly reminded of old Napalm Death, and that is a great thing. The first song "Presidential Castration", clocks in at around five minutes, and is the first and longest song on the album. It features some awesome mid-tempo riffing, spoken word samples, a variety of vocal styles, and is also my favorite song on the demo. Next up is "Immolating the Parliament", which is a fast paced, more straight forward old school death/grind song. My only problem with the song is that it seems to end abruptly at an awkward place. Finally there is "Pakistan Zindabad" which is audio from newscasts put over some acoustic guitar playing. I really like this song, but towards 1:15, it sounds like the newscast/guitar both mess up. Another problem I have with this demo is the recording quality. I mean I am all for some lo-fi grind, but this album sounds like it was recorded through a laptop's microphone. Overall, I think that this demo is pretty cool and I think Multinational Corporations' have a lot of potential, and I am really looking forward to hearing more from them.

You can download their demo from here for free.

~Andrew Lipscomb