+HIRS+/Water Torture - Split Review

It's been far to long since I've talked about +HIRS+. Certainly not due to the Philly outfits lack of productivity. It seems every week they have another split tape, record, lathe cut, wax cylinder, whatever coming out. Mostly been sticking with bands close to their own home to split with (APE!, Bubonic Bear, Cocaine Breath, etc), but the very highly anticipated split 7" with Buffalo's Water Torture (which I believe was first announced sometime last year), was finally released a couple months ago to the hungry consumers. Very interesting formatting with this split, one that I really haven't seen before. +HIRS+ start this unholy wax disc off with their new anthem "Fuck Everything", entering with chaotic blasts into a power-stomping bass break. They've really become utter masters at writing incredibly captivating short songs, the +HIRS+ way. You can pretty much listen to any single track on this record and totally understand what this band is trying to do. It just shows that tremendous effort and engineering went into making these songs, at least to me. Since the Bubonic Bear split, +HIRS+ have just sounded incredible, and this records no different. Loud, punching drums, more thunderous bass, layers of intense vocals, it's an excellent display of sound. +HIRS+ give a five song assault before slithering into Water Torture's contribution, in a segue that had me tweaked out for a few seconds. I was curious to see what WT would be toying around with on here, and in a very interesting move they've done a throwback to the raw, micro song template from the split with thedowngoing. Distant, rumbling static looms and transitions these songs, again very raw and basement-noisecore sounding. It's a style that's I find very interesting and sometimes astounding if it's done well, but Water Torture's take on it this time falls just a little bit short. All of these nine tracks sound like little cut n' paste remixes of already existing WT songs, trying to combine both of their biggest elements in a mere few seconds. Entering with a slow, tom-hit riff and then a few more seconds of blasting and vocals. Then more noise. Wouldn't be a problem, but basically none of these tracks stick out for any reason besides then being jarringly short. The two tracks that do the best job with this restricted songwriting style, "Not-Seen" and "Populous" are great, but again leave me wanting more. Thankfully not leaving me stranded and craving more noise, +HIRS+ come back again after Water Torture ceases with four more powerful tracks. The chug monster, "A Very Long List Of Men To Kill" acting as a ground-punching wake up. This "B-side" has +HIRS+ showing off some of their slowest passages and best riffs of the whole record. Closing out with the two of the real highlight  tracks, "Amputated Littered Hand" and "Bong Water Torture". A real proper ending if you ask me. It's good to see with bands toying around with stuff even as simple as track placement. This split has had a lot of hold-ups and setbacks in it's conception. Hopefully everyone has got their copies now. If you don't, I believe it's sold out.

~VII

New Water Torture LP - "Pillbox" and Song for Streaming!

The undeniable powerviolence champions of the modern age are coming back again with another tectonic wave of masterful brutality. Now making the big boy steps from their favored 7" format to full length 12"s. Three of them actually! The 12" discography collection which was released earlier this year by Mannequin Rein was only the begging. Two new separate LP's are also set to be released; an as of yet untitled project for To Live A Lie Records (so happy they teamed up). And the soon to be unveiled "Pillbox", brought to us by cult grind label Nerve Altar Records. To say the boys have been busy would be a dastardly understatement. 

As you can see, there is already artwork above. Nerve Altar seems about as giddy and excited to get this record out as we are about listening to it. A steady stream of updates have been coming in, and the big 'ol cherry on top was a new track for streaming called "Fourth Stage". Excellent track, which certainly shouldn't be surprising. The tribal drum patterns opening the song were a refreshing sound for the band, and they're really gone back to that murky, thick, sludgy production akin to their first EP. No Water Torture song would be complete without a sternum crushingly heavy slow part, and they pull out all the cool pauses and breaks on the one here. And are those some Trogotronic blips and bloops I hear at the end? I'd bet money it is. Excellent stuff, I can not wait to hear this entire LP. Stream the track below, and check out more stuff from Nerve Altar and Mannequin Rein as well. 

NERVE ALTAR

MANNEQUIN REIN

~VII

Some Recent Noteworthy Splits

2013 is very quickly wrapping up, and yours truly is scrambling trying to get together an end of the year list. Truly, this is not an easy feat. 2013 has been a gargantuanly good year for grindy violent music, and more so then any year prior, choosing one release over the other is a hard task (though I do have a pretty firm idea what my #1 record is). To start wrapping things up, here's a couple brief reviews of some recent splits that I feel are worth checking out. If you're still working on your own year end lists, here's a couple more you might want to consider.

Suffering Mind/Six Brew Bantha - Split 7"

(all photo's by VII)

Suffering Mind are no stranger to praise on this blog. The Polish grind Gods are seemingly in a perpetual state of constant writing and recording, and have proven record after record that they are not a force to be ignored. Halo Of Flies brings us their pairing with Six Brew Bantha, one of Canada's best. Suffering Mind's side is a constant shredder of solid grindcore perfection, throwing in some serious headbanger grooves, and ends with a fucking Zardoz sample (personal highlight). SBB just get better and better every record. Each song on here is like a mini-grind epic, throwing out riff after riff like they're ninja stars at every chet who can't handle the blast. And they still have the best snare tone in grind. 100 were pressed on white and red (I'm a fanboy and own both), with a remaining 500 on black. 

Archagathus/No Thought - Split 7"

I think Archagathus had almost 20 records released this year, at least. It's getting quite difficult to keep up with this band, who are quickly becoming a personal favorite. Everytime I get one of their illusive, over-the-border records, I hear of about 5 more that are coming out. Can't stop the mince. Here's a beauty of a 7" split they did with No Thought from Denver, CO. Released by Uranium Overdose Records. Two re-recordings of some more obscure Arch songs. Great stuff, their recordings are always a ton of fun. No Thought play a disgusting, brutal, deathy grind style that I fell in love with instantly. Anyone who's into bands like Goner, Nak'ay, Insect Warfare and Pizza Hi Five are in for a treat. Beautiful looking vinyl too. Hand-numbered out of 525 copies.

Archagathus/Nak'ay - Split 10"

I could not wait to get my mitts on this guarenteed-to-be-awesome split when I first heard about it. It's announcement caught me completely by surprise, and I scoured the internets looking for anyone who had a copy, until the always excellent Diseased Audio ended my quest and supplied with this crucial fix of raw grindage. This being Archagathus's first 10" split, I was even more excited. Nak'ay are a band that are just too good at what they do. They play brutal grind, and they do it exceptionally well. The blasting just does not stop! Definitely a band I can't wait to hear more from. Archagathus dish out some raw, metallic mince, and I believe most of these are new songs (as a brief look on Discogs tells me). Fortunatley this record is more widely available now, and you can pick it up from Haunted Hotel Records, Grindfather Productions, Witch Bukkake Records, and many more.

Suffering Mind/Water Torture - Split 7" Flexi

The next split was released by Mannequin Rein Recordings, and highlights two of the undergrounds best. On here we got the previously mentioned Suffering Mind, and Buffalo's heaviest, Water Torture. Originally this was going to be a 5", but ya know, those cost 12 arms and 32 legs to make, so we have a killer 1-sided flexi! This is my personal white copy.  One song from each band, as is the usual formula with the planned SM's 5" splits. One 2+ minute slow dirge-ala-Noothgrush from WT, which has some of the most wretched vocals the band has recorded yet. Suffering Mind give us an almost 2 minute super blaster that has some excellent stops-starts and some crushing chugged chords. A pretty good introduction to each band I'd say.

Suffering Mind/Dead Church - Split 5"

More Suffering Mind, this time with an actual 5" record split with Dead Church, released by 7Degrees Records. One song from each band, and woah man do both pack a punch. Dead Church are on full berzerker mode on this track, going from 0 to 150 right from the start. It's a loud, fast, and incredibly solid punch to the nose. My favorite from the band so far. Suffering Mind's song is great, don't think I should have to tell you at this point. The whole split is less than 2 minutes, but it's a great listen the whole way through. And every copy comes on beautiful blue wax, and has gatefold digi-pack packaging. Quality stuff.

Ultra//Negative / Ira Graves - Split 7"

Lastly is a devastating split from two bands that are definitely due for some attention. Ultra//Negative, a band that I've had interest in for a couple years, but rarely find updates from, were kind enough to supply me with this record, many thanks guys! U//N are a bassy, sludgy, kinda spazzy powerviolence band. Like if Charles Bronson smoked a lot of weed, found sludge music, and de-tuned their instruments 2-whole steps. Ira Graves are a band I hadn't checked out previously, but I'm a definite fan now! Powerviolence with a bit more standard Infest/Crossed Out influence, with a little Vaccine thrown in their and some death growls thrown in mixed with throat ripping screams. Buy it!

~VII

Water Torture/Corrupt Bastards - Split Review

I don't normally review re-issues, but there a couple factors that play into why I'm posting about this particular record. For one, because it's fucking Water Torture and Corrupt Bastards. And 2, because a thousand apologies to Mannequin Rein Productions owner/Dead Church guitarist/all around cool guy Maxx for not getting to this when it was first released as a tape. My bad duder. Anyways, for whatever reason any of you passed over this particular Water Torture release, you should definitely take a few steps back and check again because this one definitely goes down as one of my top splits from the band so far. Short short short split, previously released as a limited tape (as previously mentioned), now taking up one whole side of a 7" record. Water Torture bring 2 tracks to the table; one original and a cover of the classic Siege track, "Walls". The first track is pretty standard WT material, blasting powerviolence dual bass assaults with a pretty nice breakdown at the end, but the Siege cover is in my opinion the real gem. They have completely reworked the song into a two minute sludge piece with level 10 face to floor power. Totally crushing stuff, the boys continue to impress. On the flip side Up next we have Corrupt Bastards, the Texas two-piece who bring their own style of drum/bass powerviolence with 5 intense tracks. They keep it short and sweet on their end, lose focus for even a couple seconds and you'll miss a ton. The band maintains a more traditional fastcore/violence approach, like if Spazz or Lack of Interest scrapped their guitar player, and they perform the style very well. Brutal, gruff vocals and neck snapping start and stop song writing, held together by catchy as hell riffs and slamming drums. I loved every song on here, shame to see this band be so inactive. The tape version of this split is long sold out (sorry collectors), but you can find the sexy new vinyl version in tons of distros nowadays. Bass power 4 lyfe.

Rating: 9/10

~VII

New +HIRS+ Songs!! (You Should Know What I'm Going To Say About Them)

The day I run out of good things to say about +HIRS+ is the day I start listening to Korn and Slipknot again and try eating my own feet out of sheer ignorance. It's been a bit of a quiet year for them so far, but the gal's are back and rolling in deep into 2013 with a shit ton of new releases and even more new tracks. And just...goddamn. +HIRS+ just keep getting better and better. This time they have the power of an actual studio recording on there side, and the results are even more crushing than before! They sound loud, pissed, and fucking huge!! Not only that, but the drum programming has become ridiculously insanely great. I honestly thought that they got a real drummer when I first heard it, it's that good. +HIRS+ have without a doubt perfected their craft, and if you doubt me, check out the new songs coming from their upcoming split 7" with Water Torture (!!!!!) and split VHS (you heard right) with Bubonic Bear. Hail Dog, Worship Satan.

~VII

VII's Top 20 Releases of 2012

It's not to late, is it? I always seem to do lists like this way past the time they usually pop up. But anyway, happy new year everybody, we made it through 2012! It's been a crazy year; extreme weather,  face eating drug zombies, anti-climactic Mayan apocalypses (lulz), and more grindcore and powerviolence music than you can shake a stick at. When I look back at 2012, in terms of music, it was overall a pretty lack luster year. Most of the new releases I heard either made me go "ehhhh" or "that was pretty good". Maybe I've just gotten too overexposed to this music and it's starting to take a lot more to impress me, who knows. All you need to know though is that the 20 records were in constant rotation throughout my year, and I highly suggest you check out all of these releases if you haven't. And since I'm terrible with intros, let's not waste any more time and dive right into my 20 favorite releases of 2012!

20. thedowngoing - "ATHROUSANDYEARSOFDARKNESS": This Aussie noisegrind duo blew my ears wide open when I downloaded this beast of an album off of Grindcore Karaoke. This is scarily good music, and they really are, in my opinion, one of the best examples of a grindcore band purposely embracing noisy production. There are just so many things that make this album work; the riffs are there, which is unusual for noisegrind, the songs are brutal, the vocals are so ridiculous that it's hard not to love them. Great band that I want to hear more from asap.

19. Pig Destroyer - "Book Burner": Maybe a curious album to be on this list considering how unenthusiastic my review of it was. But when we get down to nitty gritty, at the end of the day, this is still a Pig Destroyer album, and it is definitely a good one. Scott Hull riffs all over this album, J.R. still gives a sick vocal delivery, the album sounds great, the grooves are killer. It's Pig Destroyer being Pig Destroyer, we just had to wait 5 years to hear it again.

18. JJ DOOM - "Key To The Kuffs": Anyone who knows me knows that I listen to a whole lot of other music besides grind, and that I am a huge fan of hip-hop. One of my favorite rappers is the masked super villain known as DOOM (or MF DOOM, the name changes depending on if he does production or vocals). On "Key To The Kuffs", DOOM teams up with Jneiro Jarrel for an album that hasn't sounded like any DOOM collab. album before, but still kicks incredible ass. The über modern, yet fresh production style is a bit of a weird companion to DOOM's trademark flow at first listen, but that quickly faded away for me. This album is a fantastic listen the whole way through, and in my opinion is the best DOOM project since "Madvillainy". Come at me.

17. Sakatat - "Bir Devrin Sonu": Unfortunately, this may be the last release we'll see from this Turkish grindcore band (they're playing their last couple of shows early this year), but man did they go out with a ripper of an album. Keeping it brief at a scant 8 minutes, "Bir Devrin Sonu" is about as solid as a grind album can get. The only thing this album does is blast; fast and efficiently. The songwriting isn't that varied, like, at all, which can be a bit distracting, but it's hard to ignore just how good these guys are at writing quality grindcore, and this album is 100% quality.

16. Converge - "All We Love We Leave Behind": I really fell of the Converge train this year, since their last 2 splits were very underwhelming, and I more than likely over-saturated myself with their music (I used to live and breath this band). So imagine my surprise when I finally gave this album a spin, after putting it off for so long and hearing so many people tell me how amazing it is, to find that this was in fact a killer Converge record! This album reminded me of why I love this band; everything about this band, and this album is fine-tuned and fitted to make absolutely refreshing, interesting, brutal, heavy, melodic, blasting hardcore music. I only wish I had heard this album earlier in the year, it probably would have been higher on the list.

15. +HIRS+ - "100 Songs LP": Yes, compilations count! I mean, how could I not include the discography compilation from my Philly favorites? Readers of this blog know that I've sung this bands praises many a time over the past couple years. And having all of their recorded material on one convenient 12" slab of wax is fantastic. Drum machine blasting, techy, sample smothered, sexy, industrial, grind as fuck, non-stop assault to the dome. Heres to another year of quality music from +HIRS+!

14. Extortion/Cold World - Split: Much like Converge, I haven't really been a fan of Extortions last few releases, but they came back with a vengeance on this split 12" with Cold World! This is the fastest and most aggressive stuff the band has done since their split with Agents of Abhorrence, and it is a great return to form for these Australian titans. And let's not forget Cold World, their side kicks just as much ass as their companions. Crazy, old-school inspired, blasty blast fastcore from Austria that is the perfect addition to Extortion's brutality.

13. OSK - "Wretched Existence//Bleak Future 2007-2010": The most criminally slept-on release of the year? I'd certainly say so. People, do you knot realize how crazy good OSK are? Buy this compilation CD and you'll get treated to some of the best grind Canada has to offer! This release is crazy good from front to back, and shows that this band has been consistently on top of their game for their entire recorded history. If you guys don't know my now, now you do. Buy or die.

12. Dirty Projectors - "Swing Lo Magellan": This is a band that I fell head over heels in love with in the last half of 2012. I had been a fan of their last album, "Bitte Orca", a long time before I heard this, and "Swing Lo Magellan" definitely is a very different sounding album that the last one. It's a lot more stripped down, less flashy, more rooted in grooves and simple melodies, and it's all absolutely fantastic. There are just so many great pieces to this album: "About To Die" is a high contender for my favorite song of the year (that bubbling programmed drum beat, and that bass, unf), I love the bouncy, playful piano melody on the track"The Socialites", and the vocals are just absolutely gorgeous. Fantastic, inventive, artsy indie-ish rock that I highly suggest checking out.

11. Death Of Self - "S/T": Here's a band that arrived, put out a stupidly good 7" EP, and then went and broke up. It's a real shame they didn't stick around longer, because if they continued to make music as sick as the material on this thing, they could have been untouchable. The songs on here are just absolutely brutal. Like, body smashed into jelly with a sledgehammer brutal. Also, Ethan Lee gives one of my favorite vocal performances of the year. Dude is just straight up vicious on this album. RIP guys.

10. Column Of Heaven - "Mission From God": It made my top 10!! I had some little problems with this release when I first reviewed it, but like most things in life, I get over them and move on. I really can't think of a grind or powerviolence album that sounded anything like "Mission From God" that came out this year. It really does stand out from the crowd. Equal parts grind and noise, with a little dash of death metal thrown in for good measure, this is an album that I've really grown to love, and I can't wait for their future releases.

9. Death Grips - "No Love Deep Web": The band that put out what I called my favorite release of 2011 came back with 2 types of vengeance in 2012 with "The Money Store" and this album, "No Love Deep Web". And while they're both very solid albums, I have to say I prefer "No Love.." more. This album really brought the heavy, noisy aggression that I fell in love with on "Exmilitary". MC Ride is back screaming his throat out, but also has given a lot more variety and character to his vocals. And the beats range from strange and futuristic ("Pop", "Whammy"), to just straight up punishing, like the track "No Love", which has a beat that sounds like Darth Vader coming down a staircase to hatefuck everyone to death. This album is catchy, heavy, groovy, and all around enjoyable. Can't wait to see what they do next.

8. Sea Of Shit/Water Torture - Split: A split that I'm sure we all saw coming before it was announced, this slab of black wax is a double dose of disgust. The Sea Of Shit side is good, for sure, "Black and Blue" is an excellent track. but to me this split really shines on Water Tortures side. This release has some of my favorite songs from the band ("Living Hell", "Attn: Starved"), and the heaviest recording the band has had so far. I'll end by saying that "Living Hell" has the nastiest breakdown I've heard all year. Fist-through-the-wall kind of material.

7. False Light - "S/T": This sickening South Carolina outfit gave me my favorite debut of 2012, and have serious potential to become a big thing in the underground this year. This EP mixes disgusting grindviolence, gutter production and heavy sludge metal, into a soupy, distorted concoction of incredibly enjoyable jams. This will finally be getting the 7" treatment very soon, and hopefully we can expect new material in the near future. Must listen!

6. Standing On A Floor Of Bodies - "Sacrilegious and Culturally Deficient": SOAFOB broke through the sophomore slump and released an album that slays even more than their demo, which I had thought would be impossible. "Sacrilegious..." is 15 minutes of total horror-grindcore. The cold, chilling industrial sound that this band captures, with nothing more than a bass guitar and a drum machine is basically unmatched in grindcore right now. These guys have a their own sound, and they push it to the extreme. Now hopefully my bands split tape with these guys will come out soon ;)

5. Six Brew Bantha - "S/T": This band shot out of the Canadian scene like an atom bomb and decimated the underground with their amazing debut album. I'd to say that this is definitely my favorite grindcore full length of 2012, no other album has kicked my ass in that good kind of way quite like this one has. This band is just so ridiculously tight, and the recording is just absolutely perfect. I'm still jizzing over how good the snare tone on this album is. Two splits are coming out this year, hopefully another full length too. Hail Canada!!

4. To The Point - "Success In Failure": To The Point are one of my favorite new bands, a band that I will buy anything that they release. "Success In Failure" completely sold me on this band, it's a 7" that I completely fell in love with at first listen. Old-school powerviolence runs through the veins of all the members of this band, and they bash out quality song after quality song with years of experience to back them up. Listen to this band immediately and if you find this record, buy it without any hesitation.

3. Water Torture - "Shellfire!": Yep, Water Torture make a 2nd appearance on this list with their EP, "Shellfire!". This really has been my favorite band of 2012, not other band has made quite an impact, or kept me as consistently satisfied as Water Torture have, and this EP never ceases to be absolutely amazing. What more can I say about this band or this record that I haven't said countless times already? It's bass n' drum powerviolence perfection; top notch recording, fantastic songs, completely over the top heaviness, it's an astounding release.

2. Sordo - "Tactical Precision Violence": However, if there was one bass n' drum powerviolence release that I'd have to say rules over them all, it would have to be the debut 7" from Sordo. More bassy powerviolence perfection that you all should seriously pay more attention too. This EP is just absolutely fucking disgusting, in the best way possible. Perfect, destructive recording, with a brutal bass tone.  There is not a dull track out of the 20 that are one here, this record gets me pumped up every time I listen to it. It's heavy, but it's also fun. It's not that über-serious face kind of powerviolence, this shit just straight up rocks.

Sea of Shit/Water Torture - Split Review

This is a  split that I kinda-sorta had foreseen coming/kinda tried to put out myself, but Diseased Audio had the gall to get to it first. I ain't bitter though, cause this split is a dream come true for fans of filthy fast music. Two titans of underground powerviolence together at last. Makes me sick, in the best possible way. Sea of Shit are up first with three tracks of grime-violence. The tracks are a bit cleaner than their last EP (but come on, most records are in comparison), and the slow parts have increased a bit overall, but it gives the songs and riffs a bit more room to breathe. The opening track, "Black and Blue", is an awesome down-tempo trudger that develops and builds very naturally, while at the same time sounding like it's decaying and falling apart, and the following two tracks both have interesting drum passages and breakdowns. The last track even has a kinda black metal chord progression. Overall, the tracks don't have as much of a visceral impact as their previous releases, but it is a solid effort.

Now the Water Torture side is just straight up violence. Five tracks from my Buffalo favorites, and this time we get not one, but two bass players slamming out the sickness. The result may be Water Torture's heaviest recording to date. Pretty remarkable how the new addition really didn't muddy up the sound at all. The riffs on here are just slamming, face-meets-broken-glass-and-rusty-nails brutal, case in point, the track "Living Hell". When that song breaks down, holy shit, it's heavy sludge perfection. The drum tones are more like they were on the s/t EP, which I very much prefer. The combination bass drum/cymbal hits are much more punchy this time around. Elephant stomping heaviness. I'll say it again, this band can do no wrong. Stoked for everything. Killer split.

Rating: 8/10

~VII

VII's Favorite Releases Of 2012...So Far

In my honest opinion, 2012 hasn't been that great a year for music so far, especially compared to last year. Most of the releases I've heard this year have been "pretty alright" to "good", with very few breaking into "great" territory. Here are a few releases that I think reach that level, agree or disagree.

Six Brew Bantha - "S/T": Here's a skull crusher of an album that came from the Great White North, and mercilessly fucked the underground grind scene in the new hole it tore. This fastcore/grind trio really have created a great album, and have made a record that blows all their other recorded material out of the water. Thick, heavy production, killer riffs, grooves, snare drum tones, and vocals, it's a complete package.

False Light - "S/T": So, my new mission in life is to get as many people as I possibly can to listen to this EP and love this band. Coming out of absolutely no where(South Carolina), posting their rough and dirty EP on bandcamp for freedownload, and single handedly rocking my world, all in one fell-swoop. So far, this is the best grindcore/powerviolence EP I've heard all year. I've praised this constantly, and reviewed it in full on CVLT Nation. Listen to it, or be lame.

Water Torture - "Shellfire!" EP Review

Well, it's finally here. After post after  post of me hyping it up, the new EP (and vinyl debut), "Shellfire!", from one of my favorite new powerviolence bands, Water Torture, is finally upon us. You should all know how I feel about this band and their previous self-titled EP by now, and I've been excited for this EP for a long time. So, what do I think of it? FUCKING SUCKS!! Nah, man, I kid, of course it doesn't suck, it kicks some serious fucking ass! For any band, coming out with a satisfying sophomore release, especially after a debut as beloved as Water Torture's first, is no small feat. But, I'm happy to say that Water Torture have met that challenge. 11 tracks this time around, keeping the sound they had on their first release, but introducing a few new things to the mix. Starting off with the actual sound of the EP; it's flipping excellent. The overall tone is a little less murky, mostly due to the brighter distortion used on the bass guitar. But the riffs come out clearer and more more intense and cut throat. They've also fixed one of the few issues I had with their first EP, which was the long gaps in between the songs. Smooth transitions via harsh noise and feedback are used, keeping the intensity going and non-stop. And speaking of noise, that track "Drowning", holy shit what an intense piece of ear shredding chaos. The band just sounds better than ever; the songs are excellent and performed perfectly. The riffs, both fast and slow, are perfect. Heavy, intense, dirgy, grimy, powerful, and still catchy as hell. Moezes vocals are still a delight to listen too, perfectly suited for the band. I think I'm just starting to ramble now, but I'm really trying to mention every detail about this new EP. What more do I have to say to get you to buy this EP?? There's a creepy organ intro and outro that are pretty damn interesting. Need I say more? Fans of Water Torture's previous EP will definitely not be disappointed with "Shellfire!", there's no need to worry. Please please please buy it at Diseased Audio Records. One of the best thing's I've heard all year.

Rating: 9/10

New Live Water Torture Album, With Cats!

Water Torture, one of my favorite drum/bass powerviolence bands, have just released a new live album/EP/thing via Prime Eggsampler records. Not only does it the cover art feature cats, the internets favorite animal, but we're also given a very raw taste of some new WT tunes! That should be enough for you to check this out. Stream it below, and also check out the rest of the bands on Prime Eggsampler, cause it is packed to the gills with good music. 

~VII

And Now, Here's A New Water Torture Song!

Seems like I can't stop talking about this band, but the news just keeps coming! This time, Diseased Audio was kinda enough to debut a track from the upcoming Water Torture 7", which is entitled "Shellfire!" Do I even need to tell you what I think of it? You all should be able to guess my opinion by now. I'm so fucking excited for this to come out, you guys have no idea! It should be available by the end of May/early June. Listen to the track here, and tell us what you think.

~VII

Studio Teaser For The New Water Torture 7"

One of my favorite grind/powerviolence bands going right now, yes indeed, have finished recording new material for their new 7" EP. As of yet, the EP doesn't have a title, or an official released date. But! I do know that it should be released in the next couple months on Diseased Audio Records, which is a fantastic Chicago based label you should all check out. The teaser/trailer below doesn't show much in terms of new music, but it does hint at some very interesting musical touches like piano and some more noise. Honestly though, I know this shit is gonna be great. These guys could put out a double album of Madonna covers and I would be happy, beyond stoked for the new jams!

~VII

Interview: Matt Goodrich (Water Torture, Inerds, Deciever, Bestower, etc.)

Most people might not know the name, Matt Goodrich. But I'm sure plenty of you have heard at least one of his bands. Over the last few years, Matt has been a member of several Buffalo, NY based hardcore/grindcore/powerviolence and noise bands. playing bass for such bands as Inerds, Water Torture and Bestower. last year, Inerds became the band in the Grindcore Karaoke roster everyone seemed to talk about, and is now leading the pack again with the devastatingly heavy Water Torture. I caught up with Matt to check in and see what we can expect from his bands in the future. 

Operation Grindcore: We'll get the boring questions out of the way first. Tell us who you are and what bands you're involved in.

Matt Goodrich: My name is Matt also known as Phil Collins. And I play bass in water torture,Inerds,and bestower. Also I do deceiver which is solo noise stuff. pacing which is me and moezes of all the same bands doing harsh droney stuff. And my newest project is breached hull which is with Justin of Pusdrainer it is SCI-FI PE based on event horizon.

OG: The first band of yours to get large acclaim was Inerds, after being featured on Grindcore Karaoke. How did that band come to be?

Matt: Me and the drummer, Moezes started hanging out and he was in some crappy pop punk band. He got me all whiskey drunk and we went to his practice space and we started to jam. From there we decided to ask Jessika if she wanted to do vocals and we had also talked to Corey and they were both down to do vocals and it just went from there.

OG: How did the relationship with Grindcore Karaoke start?

Matt: Jay got ahold of us on the Inerds myspace and asked if we would be down to do a free release on his new label. Of course we were down right away.

OG: Inerds pretty much become one of the most popular bands on the site. Was this surprising to you guys at all?

Matt: Yah, deff. We never would have guessed people would like it so much. I think it helps a lot that we had a pretty good sounding recording. We go to the same guy for every band we are in. John Angelo is the man.

OG: I have noticed the consistently good recording quality your bands have. Is John the guy to go to in Buffalo?

Matt: Yah, we record everything with him other then noise. I was in a band with John before Inerds so I have been recording with him for awhile now. He knows what we want sound wise so it is really easy to record with him. We are recording next week and we are going to a new studio in Buffalo and John will be with us so I am really excited to see how it turns out.

OG: Moving on to Water Torture, who I think I can safely say is the band that most people talk about now in the GK roster. How did this band come to life, because at it's core, it's pretty much a stripped down Inerds.

Matt: Moezes and I have been trying to do a lot of touring and we were having trouble getting our other bands out of town so we decided we would do a band that was just the 2 of us.

OG: And just like that, Water Torture was born, huh? So then you definitely wanted to keep the drum/bass powerviolence/grind sound, but just be more freed up?

Matt: Yah, we are in a much lower tuning then Inerds. We hoped that would be different enough, hahaha. And just being 2 people always makes it easier.

OG: I've seen videos of you guys playing with an addition bass player. Is that a permanent part of the line-up now?

Matt: No, we have our friend, Ian playing with us a bunch and we are going to be doing some recordings together but it is not a permanent thing. We also had our friend, Justin Pusdrainer do noise for us on our last tour.

OG: Speaking of recordings, I hear Water Torture has a few splits in the making. What can you tell us about those?

Matt: When we get back from tour in May we got a bunch of stuff to record for. Split with Witchcult from the UK, Anthophobic from Pittsburgh, Ultra//Negative from Mass, and Happy Birthday from Ohio.

OG: Will we being seeing any Water Torture on vinyl?

Matt: Yah, the split with Witchcult will be a 7 inch and we are recording next week for a 7 inch on Diseased Audio from Chicago.

OG: Fuck awesome, I can't wait to get those. Wrapping up here, what's the current status of Inerds, and can we expect any releases from any of your noise projects in the future?

Matt: As we speak the Inerds/Bestower 7 inch is being pressed and should be out In the next few months. As for noise stuff I got a lot of stuff coming out.

Deceiver has a split with Lost Appeal as well as a split with (<o>). Also working on a 4 tape 4 way split wall box with Scant, Discretion, Oblive. Breached Hull has a few releases coming out soon as well one being a split with Blessed Sacrifist.

OG: Awesome, I'm super glad to hear there will be more Inerds music released. In closing, off the top of your head, if you were stuck on a desert island, which 3 albums would you bring with you?

Matt: First would be, Discordance Axis - "The Inalienable Dreamless", J Dilla - "Donuts", Moss - "Eternal Return"

OG: Thanks for the interview!

Matt: Any time man.

~VII

Bandcamp Artist of the Week: Water Torture

     I loooooooove bass/drum grindcore, as I'm sure a lot of you know, which is why I had an instant attraction to Water Torture. Their debut EP was released on Grindcore Karaoke yesterday and it's fucking awesome! This duo(featuring Matt Goodrich of Inerds on bass/backup vocals/noise) deliver 9 tracks of instantly lovable, heavy, distorted grind jams, 2 of which are noise n' drum blasters. The recording is excellent, super dirty and distorted with a very full bass sound and very good drums. I don't really have anything else to say, so just head on over to Grindcore Karaoke and download it for the awesome price of zero dollars. 

~VII