Sedem Minút Strachu/PTAO - Split 7" (2015) Review

With a consistent, unbroken string of perfect recordings, Sedem Minút Strachu have rapidly climbed up tobe one of the most beloved noisecore acts going right now. And one of my personal favorite bands period. Up there with the contemporary greats of the genre like Sete Star Sept, Shitnoise Bastards, and Penis Geyser. Last year Psychocontrol Records released a split 7" between 7M$ and Czech noisecore lifers PTAO. A veteran band who have been around since the mid nineties, very creative work, fantastic group. What an excellent record this is, it's truly a beat down. 7M$ relentlessly tear ass on their side, perfectly executing brutal noisecore in their now staple way. Nonsense, low-end, distorted walls of bass cacophonously swarm the listener. With Jan's spastic, but crazy tight blasts and drum fills giving all of the 14 "songs" on here attention grabbing and pummeling momentum. It's one of my favorite recordings by the band so far. The bass's have a nice amount of mid-range tones that give them a little more crunch then usual. And they just go off, there's no mercy, no music is spared by the noise!

PTAO's side is another slab of pure brilliance. It's a 51 song slathering of orchestrated blasts from a finely aged band that has not gotten weary at all. Short 3-4 second microsongs make up the bulk of this piece. With varying intros and transitions between each attack of dual vocal grunts and blown out guitar. The classic stick clicks and snare hits are there. But PTAO also incorporate some stuttering stereo panning noises, samples, and drum beats of various styles during the course of their time here. I can't help but be captivated and in awe of the craftsmenship and creativity here. It's a wonderful sounding recording too, quality was not spared any expenses on this side. Both sides get two thumb's way up from ol' VII.

Psychocontrol did a wonderful packaging job for this split. The cover is a super thick and glossy fold over sleeve. Everything is neat and tidy, fully detailed and has numbered inner sleeves.

Pick this up, I implore you.

Listen: HERE!

~VII

Limbs Bin/Sidetracked - Split cassette

The cancerous infection of harsh electronics and experimentation in the grindy world is spreading deep. Now showing up from the fastcore lords of Washington, Sidetracked. Jay's incredibly heavy output coalesceing with Josh Landes/Limbs Bin mission to be the king of splits. Tons of release from both of these artists, they've all been great to just incredible, and them teaming up for a tape is just too much to handle. Sure to be another beautiful package from Josh's own label Follow Me Into The Laser Eye. Limbs Bin open up with another dated track, "Fourth of July 2014". This ladies and gentlemen, is some of the harshest stuff he's created since "Total Anguish". I'm definitely dubbing it his "gorenoise moment", but done completely Limbs Bin. Raging for a beautiful 2 minutes, this side is total chaotic, cathartic brutality. Brown noise walls of bass drums, echoing layers of screeching vocals and noise box abuse. It's a steady assault of impenetrable noise with those devastating drum machine bursts. There's a particularlly wonderful part in the middle where the reverbed synth noises and the vocals match up in the best way, total ear candy. Teaming up with Sidetracked is an obviously exciting partnership, and it's one where I really didn't know what to expect from Jay and the band. Sidetracked has never really been a group to experiment with noise, outside of arguably the the rougher recording quality they've used through the years. I really loved the few tracks posted from the noise-ridden "Abandon" EP, so I was hoping it would be some weird, Sissy Spacek-ish noisecore. Listening to it over and over, I am, sadly a bit disappointed with their side here. Another on-the-money two minute mini-opus of 10 drum and vocal bursts (aka Sidetracked songs). All held together by a hypnotic, sliding guitar drone. It is definitely something meant to be listened to as one piece, trying to pick each song apart would just end up adding unwanted effort. Each drum stab is a different fill or beat, staying away from just doing obvious blasts. Jay's trademarked one-lyric punctuations are basically the sole lyrical effort you'll get here. As the piece goes one, both drums and vocals stick around longer and longer. Finishing off with a 3 second hardcore beat and silence. Not what I would call the most enjoyable effort from Sidetracked, but to their credit, "Abandon" does sound incredible so far. I am eager to see what the final product of that will be. The tape will be out in May, in limited quantities, and can be purchased from Follow Me Into The Laser Eye or the Limbs Bin bandcamp.

~VII

Limbs Bin/Two Million Tons Of Shit - Split Cassette Review

Noise punks love splits. Noise punks love doing splits with Sete Star Sept. Sometimes noise punks who do splits with Sete Star Sept do splits with each other. I only say this because an SSS split is probably how all of you even heard of Two Million Tons Of Shit. A seemingly rando tape release that was highlighted to me by none other then Josh of Limbs Bin! Who hyped them as one of the best bands in noisegrind right now. Love like that can only mean one thing: split tape asap! Released on what has to be Josh's label, Follow Me Into The Laser Eye. Both acts toy with territory that is usually tip toed around in noisegrind; long track lengths. Particularly one track each at eleven minutes and fifteen seconds a side. Intended as an all out noise assault, of course, but also a exercise in deeper listening and total immersion in sound. Another detail I learned when asking Josh about this tape. One you can tell he is particularly happy with. With that aesthetic in mind, TMTOS's track "Cackhanded" blasts off into the cosmos with an overblown, no-fi drum and noise build up leading into torturous echoey vocals, and waves of drums beats. It's an incredible level of intensity that serves through barely noticeable bass noodling and a steady white noise of vocals. Everything is buried in thick recorded distortion. There is so much noise on this recording it's hard to tell where all of this sound is coming from sometimes. There's definitely bass and drums, that much I'm sure off, now. I honestly thought it was just a contact mic'd drum kit at first listen. While the blast parts are intense, TMTOS really let some creativity shine though with the mid-paced, tribal drum drones that pop up near the beginning and end. Imagine the most fucked up Lighting Bolt or Can free jams, right when whatever psychedelic of the night kicks in. Imagine the Gerogerigegege also somehow got on stage! These passages are great hypnotic segways, and give TMTOS a pretty unique sound. It's a monster jam that twists and turns and remains interesting throughout.

Limbs Bin, one of my favorite noise/noisegrind artists in the NY scene, delivers "Halloween 2014". Another excellent composition and recording adventure, toying heavily with his growing love for long-winded pieces. This piece, which is quote, "a series of shattered songs about ebola, confronting cars in cross walks, feeling like societal slack, and being miserable". Sounds brutal ay? Limbs Bin's core trademark sound is in tact, but all around somewhat more lo-fi and with a lot of influence from power electronics. The syncopated blasts of vocals, 1000 bpm drums and oscillating noise carry the piece. But it's all so raw, bleeding into one another, the drums pretty much act as a noise wall. The piercing feedback that's spread all through out the track is effectively hard to listen too. Even a bit disorienting at the end (listen with headphones). The recording definitely shines light on the way the recording sounds. Comprised of spliced together recordings at different times with different microphones, volumes and effects. At times Josh could be dueting with himself! Some passages are louder then others, some less distorted, more distant. Intimate and even breaking the "4th wall" of sorts (one part when you can hear the effect switches being flicked). Like TMTOS, Limbs Bin makes use of his time well and give many excellent, varied performances of consistent intensity. Watch out for cars on the road Josh!

Buy/Stream the tape HERE

~VII

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