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

RIP Obacha

One last endless bummer for 2013, or maybe technically the first one for 2014. Either way, it's a doosy of a loss. The mighty Obacha, Canadian fastcore masters, have decided to officially call it quits early January after two final shows, the last one being in their home turf of Squamish. If you've been paying super close attention to the Canadian scene's, you must have at some point had your brain balls blown by the steak-knife-hurricane fastcore that Obacha put on record.

(Obacha at Fastcore Fest 4)

Obacha (pronounced "ah-bah-cha") is I band I was introduced to a few years back with their 2010 demo tape. Back then then were a 4-piece, and the demo was an incredibly solid powerviolence release with some heavy Backslider influence. A style that they kept with their 2011 split 7" with Stillbirth. Constant riff and tempo-changing hardcore with tons of fun grooves fleshing everything out. Eventually, they lost a member in their drummer. Their vocalist, Graham, then moved to doing drums and vocals, and they progressed as a trio (see their first show with this line-up here). Obacha v.2 put out a disgustingly good demo tape in 2012, their heaviest, bassiest and most blown out recording ever, and one of my personal favorites. As they progressed as a trio, they became a bit of a different beast, maturing into much more of a spastic fastcore band a'la Dead Radical and xBrainiax. The songs got shorter, the songwriting more technical and inventive, and the resulting splits with Chetwrecker, Slave, and Fast Friends are some of the most frantic, and exhilarating fastcore recordings I've heard come out of Canada. 

If I was to ever make a list of my top Canadian bands, Obacha would definitely be near the top. Every release they put out has been incredible, and I hold on to the ones I have like precious gems. And if you have not heard this band, and are still reading this and have not yet been convinced of their awesomeness, let me play the role of the Convenience Fairy and put all of their jams down at the bottom. Learn up, better late then never!  

~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