New Upcoming Extortion Splits are STUPIDLY AWESOME!!

I've been very up-front with my love for the Australian grindcore/powerviolence scene on this blog. And anyone who knows me, or has seen my record collection, know's that I have a special place in my heart for Extortion. Everyone should know what this band is about by now, and if you don't, shame on you, buy their records immediately. Their recently released split 12" with Cold World was an excellent return form, after a few underwhelming splits with Completed Exposition and Septic Surge (I should probably review that record soon). But the awesomeness doesn't stop there, because according to a recent post on their blog, it looks the these Aussie fuckers are hard at work writing and recording songs for four, count em, FOUR sure to be amazing and legendary splits. 

"OTHER NEWS. THE COLD WORLD SPLIT LP IS OUT, AND THOUGH  WE'VE RUN OUT OF OUR ALLOTMENT, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET A COPY FROM RSR OR SOME HELL COOL DISTRO SOMEWHERE.
WE'VE WRITTEN FOR AND ABOUT TO RECORD OUR SIDE OF THE HATRED SURGE SPLIT 7". THEIR SIDE IS RECORDED ALREADY SO SHOULDN'T BE TOO LONG A WAIT TIL ITS OUT ONCE WE'VE GOTTEN IN ALL HELL RECORDED.
ALSO IN THE WORKS IS SPLITS WITH LOW THREAT PROFILE, AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED AND BASTARD NOISE. WE ALSO AIM TO RECORD OUR NEXT FULL LENGTH LP SOMETIME HELL SOON."

Holy.fucking.shit. I knew about the Hatred Surge split, but I had no idea that it was so near completion. Fucking outstanding. But those splits with ANb and Bastard Noise, man. I mean...that seems almost too good to be true. Some of my favorite bands..doing splits...my brain almost can't take this much awesome sauce. 

~VII

Woah, A New Hatred Surge Song!

It's about 8:30 am where I am right now. This is sickeningly early for me, and I'm mega grumpy. Not a whole lot can make we happy at this time of day, so imagine my surprise when upon perusing the internet for what's left of the still active Mediafire links (downloading albums I already have on vinyl, of course), and I stumble on a brand new Hatred Surge track. I know right? Woke me up better than the coffee I'm drinking right now. The song, entitled "Inoculation", was debuted by Irong Lung Records, and comes off of their upcoming 2nd full-length, "Human Overdose" (Irong Lung Records will also be releasing the LP, win!). For any fans who didn't take to the death n' roll/grind that Hatred Surge started to play on the split with Mammoth Grinder and the "Brutal Supremacy" comp, this should please the older fans. Blasts and pure grinding powerviolence intensity make up this track, with Alex Huges gruff vocals being the icing on the cake. The recording is rough and abrasive, and I love it. It definitely sounds like good ol' Hatred Surge. Not that there's anything wrong with the music they made these past couple years, but it's good to see that they haven't left their fast, blasting side. Now word yet on when the album will be released, and there's no cover art yet. But it's on Iron Lung Records, so when it does come out, you better snatch it up quick! Listen to the track here!

~VII

Hatred Surge Drummer Gets Pissed

This video is pretty darn hilarious. The new incarnation of Hatred Surge are playing a show in a gym in some undisclosed state. The crowd is going crazy and among them is a rather large man with a pony tail, who keeps knocking into the drummers set. Eventually he's had enough and stops the show to yell in the dudes face. Unfortunatly, the sound cuts off so you don't get to actually hear him tear this guy a new asshole, but it's pretty funny to watch. Skip to 1:24 to see it go down.

~VII

Hatred Surge-Deconstruct

If I had to pick the perfect soundtrack for last week's tornado, I would pick this. This is one of the best, heaviest, and just plain awesome albums I have heard in a while. Hatred Surge are a powerviolence band from Austin, Texas founded by the ex-bassist of Insect Warfare, Alex Hughes. The album starts off with a cool, sort of "spoken word" mash up, but then the pounding, sludgey guitars come in and you know you are about to get your face melted off. To put it simply this album is just unrelenting and intense. One of my favorite things about this album is Faiza's screaming vocals. Faiza's voice sounds like she is yelling and screaming, unlike many metal female vocalists who sort of growl and sound inhuman. Sadly she is no longer part of the band, but Insect Warfare's Rahi(who also guests in two songs on "Deconstruct") has taken her place. I also really love the sound of this album, it manages to sound raw and clear at the same time, and really showcases Hatred Surge's intensity. I really can't say anything negative about this album! My favorite songs on this album are Infinity, Sleep Terrorizer, Lethal Pedigree, and Out of Balance. Overall, I think this is a great album, that has a lot of playback, and I am looking forward to hear some of Hatred Surge's other work.

My copy is on black vinyl, which also includes a lyric insert. The record sounds great and I love the artwork and layout! This is also the first 12" that I have gotten that plays on the 45 speed. What Hatred Surge split, ep, etc. should I check out next?

~Andrew Lipscomb