Showing posts with label Singapore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Singapore. Show all posts

Monday, April 23, 2012

Grind Worldwide: Singapore

Yeah, I'm doing another one of these. The first article in this series was very well received and quite popular, and yet also met with much criticism about the lack of my including this band and that band. No one's perfect, I'm not trying to list every single grind band from the country I'm choosing, my apologies if I get your panties in a bunch. I'm only human.


Now that I've gotten that out of the way, lets talk about Singapore. A small island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Grindcore fans worldwide really took notice of this country with the break out popularity of the excellent band Wormrot a few years ago. They definitely made me want to investigate what this country had to offer in terms of grind, but it's been a bit difficult finding bands on my own. Not a whole lot of bands from this country are talked about. A million thanks to all the people who have helped me and given me bands to check out.


Wormrot: Their inclusion is downright obligatory. I mean, this blog is named after one of there songs for christ sake. By far one of the most promising and solid grindcore bands going right now, with two excellent albums issued by OG grind label Earache Records, and a couple more splits and EP's, Wormrot have continued to amaze and grow in popularity. Their style is definitely inspired by the old-school (thrashy riffs, tastefully deep and piercing high vocals), and mixing it up with more modern tempos and start-stop song writing. One listen to their latest album "Dirge" will leave you catching your breath and trying to keep up with their relentless intensity. I think that a new album is in the works (fingers crossed), and also keep an eye out on singer Arif Rot's new project Code/Error, which also features members of Maruta and Noisear.




Magnicide: Here's another band that shows incredible quality, and I think could definitely become a widespread favorite if more people knew about them. Magnicide is a 3-piece grindcore band that started in the mid/late 2000's. Much like Wormrot, their style pays homage to the old-school nuances of grind, but beefs it up with the tempos and guitar tones of today. Hardcore punk fueled riffs are played at light speed, I definitley can make a big Phobia comparison. These guys have a few releases out, including a split 7" with OG favorites Noisear. Check them out, I think you'll like them.




Demisor: We're going way back now, back to the late 80's when grindcore was really starting to take off. I have no doubt that Demisor didn't contribute to the worldwide grind scene, but for Singapore, I can definitely see them being one of the first bands to play that style in the country. If you like your grind crusty and reeking of death and rotten flesh, listen to Demisor. A band that has never released a full-length in their entire existence, instead releasing split after split for decades. Kick ass stuff, recommended for fans of Agathocles, Dahmer and Denak. 





Fallen World: The great part of doing this series is that I get introduced to quite a few really excellent bands I might not have known about had I ventured into the countries scene. A big case in point; Fallen World. This is a top notch grindcore band, I believe there a 4-piece, who definitely know how to deliver all the goods. For one, the vocals are fucking excellent! A deep, low, crusty male delivery, and a second vocalist that sounds something like if Avi from Magrudergrind was a chick. Not the fastest grind band there is, instead opting for more of a 1-2-1-2 blast momentum, with some tasteful metallic tremolo picking and breakdowns added into the mix. Check these guys out.



Pluto: From what I can tell, this is a pretty knew and relatively young band. I definitely wouldn't call them a grindcore band, not even a powerviolence band. Grimy, sludgy hardcore music is what we have here. Very occasional blast riffs leading into mid-tempo to molasses tempo riffs make up the music on their four song demo. It's a pretty solid release with a nice, bassy production and really good vocals. I'm stoked to hear more material from this band in the future. Download the demo here.



~VII

Monday, September 19, 2011

Wormrot - "Noise EP" Review

Wormrot in 2011 is an unstoppable force of grind. They released their 2nd full length "Dirge", toured the USA and currently Europe, shared the stage of the 2011 Scion Rock Fest with the likes of Bastard Noise, Fuck the Facts, Floor and Nails among others, and now today see's the release of their brand new 5-track EP "Noise", released on Scion A/V/Earache Records.
I'm not gonna heavily get into the whole "Scion" debate, all I'll say is that I really dig what they're doing and that they are supporting awesome bands and probably spending crazy amounts of money so that we, the fans, can get free music and go to free shows. If you wanna bitch and complain about that, be my guest.
But I digress, "Noise" is 5 minutes and 11 seconds of brutal, fast, catchy grindcore that we know and love from Wormrot. A definite continuation from "Dirge" in terms of studio quality, though with a bit more beefy guitar tone this time around. The songs still retain the blazingly fast tempos, stop-start riffs and tempo changes, and stupidly good vocals from Arif. Though there are a few interesting nuances this time around, like the high register gang shouts in "False Assumptions", and the chaotic drum flurries and Iron Maiden-esque riff at the end of "Perpetual Extinction", probably my favorite song on the EP. The only flub I can think off is the curiously sloppy drumming on "Loathsome Delusions".
In the end "Noise" is another solid effort from Wormrot, a release that doesn't seem rushed and released just for the sake of having another release. You can download it for free here or wait for the CD and 10" versions (why the fuck not a 7"??), which I suggest cause you get to have the fucking awesome cover artwork. The Scion logo is even smaller this time around so y'all don't have to complain about that as much!

Rating: 8/10

~VII