It’s always a treat when one of the best bands in the U.S. does a split with one of the best bands in Europe.
Fresno grinders Fiend have teamed up with Suffering Mind for a split and if the Fiend side is anything to go by, this is going to be a ripper! Primal rage from start to abrupt finish as it just blasts you into pulp with some incredible ferociousness.
It’s short, abrasive and fast, what more could you want? 5 tracks, 4 minutes and it includes an Excruciating Terror cover as well. The two-piece grind machine just keeps on releasing bangers and are quickly becoming one of my favorite bands out there at the moment.
This split 7″ with Suffering Mind will be out on Drop Out Records. Don’t sleep on this one, it’s bound to turn an already stacked year of releases on its head!
Savage is turning into one of the rainy city’s most important powerviolence bands. It’s classic powerviolence and has all the elements you’d come to expect from a band from the west-coast along with whatever the gore and grindcore freaks come up with these days.
Since this promo, they have released more material which includes a split with M.P.G., which you can find on their bandcamp page. I would definitely recommend you check them out. They kick some serious ass.
Skulls – Howling Abyss.
I’ve been on a bit of an old school death metal trip in the last two weeks thanks to some friends over in the U.S and in Australia. Skulls is one such band I’ve been digging and only discovered them via some flyers I saw go up on the Sewercide tour of the States. Death/Doom filth from Santa Monica, Skulls deliver an eerie, filth fueled drones and hymns from the abyss in a feast of riffs! If you’re into doom and death metal, I would highly recommend you check these dudes out.
Acid Feast – Split w/Glob
Maggot infested splatter gore from Seattle,WA, Acid Feast is right up there with one of the most disgusting bands to have ever desecrated my cranium. It’s just no bullshit, straight up gore from the rainy city and they just seem to keep pilling on the atrocities as time goes on. They’ve done several split with other mortuary mongers, but the split with Glob from Texas is definitely my favourite one so far. Remember kids, gore, not grindcore.
Spectral Voice – Necrotic Doom
Denver, Colorado based death doom outfit, Spectra Voice released probably one of the best releases I’ve heard to date. Incredibly slow, eerie and it’s riff after riff of necrotic doom filth unlike I’ve ever heard. The slow torment that is embodied within this release will rot you to your very core. This is has to be probably the best release I missed last year and would definitely have gone on top of my releases of the year list.
I highly recommend you get on it, who needs an Aura, let Spectral Voice rot yours away, one riff at a time.
There’s a lot of wank out there these days and I find it increasingly difficult to find bands I actually like since every extreme music sub-genre has become a cesspool of mediocrity and triteness. Luckily, there are these mad Aussie cunts who make some incredible death metal. Based in Melbourne Australia, Sewercide has been around since 2011, doing a few splits and an EP that made a significant impact and I was fortunate enough to get hold of some of these splits from the band themselves.
They released an EP in 2015 titled Severing the Mortal Cord, which married death metal and thrash in an ungodly union that just annihilated eardrums, severed heads, and melted faces. A taste of what was to come? Well, yes sure, so obviously I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground for a full-length, and 2016 is what dreams, or rather nightmares are made of.
Sewercide released their debut full-length titled “Immortalized In Suffering” through Unspeakable Axe Records and damn have they done a fine job! First impressions were that this was going to be a savage release that focused more on the old school death metal sound, without getting rid of the thrashy elements within the compositions. The first few listens were needed to just get my head around the absolute savagery and malevolence that was coming at me like artillery fire. Incredible riffs, savage as fuck drumming with some ripping bass lines and incredible vocals.
When I started to deconstruct the various tracks with more detail, only then did I start to pick up on the subtleties that make Immortalized In Suffering an instant classic in my opinion. The variations and rhythms malformed into one disgusting piece of art that takes you on a journey from start to finish. The musical composition of each track is unique and doesn’t have so much going on that you can’t follow nor does it become one dimensional at any point. The final product is a brilliant death metal album that just crushes everything in its path. A true testament to what more modern death metal is supposed to be.
I would definitely Immortalized In Suffering right up there with some of the best releases of the year and definitely on my list of releases I’m desperately trying to get my hands on. Don’t sleep on this one folks, it’s fucking stacked with some of the best material I’ve heard and will probably still hold up as one of the classics in a few years time.
They’re currently on tour in the United States, so look them up and go and support some killer death metal!
It’s bee quiet, too quiet for something to not be brewing and you’re absolutely right. The lack of posts are directly correlated to being busy as fuck and hustling hard. It all came about with a discussion about getting Big Idiot’s Tour Cassette on a label outside of North America. Some discussion with my homie over at Mind Ripper Records and it all came down to why can’t I just put it out on cassette?
I couldn’t answer the question and I’ve been toying with the idea of starting my own label for years. So I leverage some experience of friends who have labels abroad and some labels down in Cape Town and decided, fuck it, everything or nothing and that’s how Toilet Teeth Records was born.
The first release will be that of Corax and their debut S/T EP, which you can order here.
I quickly started getting in touch with bands from the west-coast of the U.S. and managed to hook up a second release through the release for Oakland, CA grinders, Your Enemy and their release Eradicating The Parasitic Hordes Through a Force That Cannot Be Overcome By Force, which was released earlier this year. The pre-orders are live and you can order your copy here.
Finally the 3rd release will be that of Big Idiot and their 2016 Tour Cassette. The Olympia, WA, powerviolence 3-piece unleashes some old school powerviolence tunes that will rip your head off from start to finish. The pre-order should go up this coming week, but for now I’ll leave you with the tour cassette release, which you can stream from their Bandcamp or on YouTube.
The two-piece grindcore outfit from Fresno, California first started out in the summer of 2012 though the local D.I.Y. community and started making some incredible west-coast grindcore madness.
Managed to get my hands on the Derailed EP and that was just fucking out of this world and also managed to pick up the tape through the order. They’re fucking incredible and they’ve recently released their side of the split with Endless Demise, who seem top be non-existent on Bandcamp as far as my knowledge goes. This being said, the Fiend side of the split is fucking balls to the wall grindcore and the fact that a two-piece can generate that much energy in a release, and live (I’ve seen some live sets) is just mind blowing. It’s short, abrasive and just full on anti-music barrage of noise and speed.
I would highly recommend you get your hands on some Fiend releases, you can get most of their stuff for free on their Bandcamp, but feel free to throw a few dollars their way.
What’s harsher and more disgusting than grindcore? Mince-fucking-core and if you’re familiar with the West Coast scene and more specifically, Oakland, you probably know what’s up. I’m saying this as a loser who has a blog on music tens of thousands of miles away, how sad is that? But I digress.
I was introduced to Bob Plant earlier this year by a good friend and through them, I discover a bunch of other cool bands. Then I started looking around on the old Internet and tried to find a Bandcamp page or a Soundcloud page where I could stream their West Coast Micecore EP in full, but only came across one track and the entire EP being under 6 minutes, it wasn’t enough of a fix. “Mincecore gets bad press” is what I thought to myself and I eventually found their stuff on a distro in Phoenix and ordered it all right away. Shout out to Apartment 512 Boottique for hooking me up!
Needless to say, it was eventually put on Youtube by someone else even though the band didn’t really wanna be on the Internet, which is pretty OG in my opinion. This being said, the music/noise speaks for itself with some of the most abrasive mincecore I have heard in a while and we all know of Agathocles, which becomes a bit stale, cause it’s all kinda has the same soundscape, not that they’re not one of the coolest bands ever and one of my favourites, but some new blood is always good.
The guitars, the bass, the drums all tied together with the lo-fi harsh vocals that make up the entire Bob Plant soundscape, which is complete and utter lo-fi audio terrorism. There are 10 tracks in just under 6 minutes of mincecore madness that is probably the best I’ve heard in a while and if you wanna fight me cause you’re some Archagathus fanboy, then hit me up and we can have a little Internet forum shitposting flame war!
If you can manage to get your hands on this release and any of the other splits they have done, I would highly recommend you do so, cause this is the next level of mincecore. Keep mincing, Bob Plant!
Not sure I qualify to comment or even have a valid opinion on this here powerviolence stuff, but luckily this is the Internet and I can just run this here meaningless blog about angry screaming over the cool noise.
So I will share my unwanted and unwarranted opinion on Big Idiot – 2016 Tour Cassette. Even though the tour has been canceled, these noise mongers still released on of the best releases of 2016 in my opinion.
For those of my readers(laughs manically), who are not familiar with Big Idiot, they’re a 3- piece powerviolence band from Olympia, Washington and they fucking kick some serious keister.
Think classic hardcore guitar sound and none of that obnoxious snare drum that seems to be all part of the formula these days (P.S. I like an obnoxious snare drum) and package it all with some incredible rhythm segway every time the vocal style jumps back and forth. I also hate making comparisons so I will do it but in such a way that the avid powerviolence fan knows what I am referring to. Think humor in the lyrics, incredible vocal ranges throughout the entire release and just having fun and mocking everything that annoys you.
Big Idiot is incredible and they do what they do and they’re done, it’s silly, it’s fast, fucking tight and one could sense a good sense of humor, which just adds to the atmosphere of this release. It’s all fun and games, but there is definitely a play fast or don’t attitude to their music. It’s fucking straight up and to the point, which is incredibly refreshing. No fancy synths, no gimmicks, just legit hardcore/powerviolence played fast.
This release is fucking sick and I hope to get my hands on a release. Definitely one of my favorite releases of the year so far and power to ’em. Keep kicking ass, keep playing fast and having fun, it’s a fucking treat to listen to!
You can check out all their releases here. Go on then, support some awesome jams!
So April was a fuck up of note and I managed to compile a list of a lot of bands to check out and surprise surprise, I found most of the coolest releases I missed last year.
Sidetracked Split with To The Point.
Lightning fast powerviolence mania from Tacoma, Washington that is all fucking go all the time. Rip roaring riffs and incredible drumming. These guys will chew you up and spit you out. This split with To The Point has to be one of my favourite splits of last year.
You can find the full split on Youtube
To The Point Split with Sidetracked.
So the other side of the above mentioned packs a might punch for just over 4 minutes of raging fast hardcore/powerviolence and it’s just the right length for the split to be complimented by a 2 minute something Sidetracked side, so having this bad boy on repeat means you have some righteous jams for your trip to the store. To The Point has one of the more classic sounds when it comes to the powerviolence soundscape and it embodies that California sound perfectly.
Scum human.
Now for something completely different. From the gospel of “Fuck Grindcore”, I give you Scum Human and their 2015 Demo, which is straight up Crossed Out worship right through and it manages to capture that beautifully with some excellent tracks. If you’re a fan of some OG jams, I would highly recommend you check out Scum Human. There is a split with Concussive coming later this year as well.
So after I managed a tour I’m back, fully recovered and ready to catch up on more releases I missed from 2015, and there were a lot of them.get ready for part 2.
Eraser – Fuck Off and Grind
Palermo based 4 piece old school grindcore band known as Eraser and their “Kebab Grind” has me in all sort of hysteria and I am loving their short, abrasive and rather punk release simply titled “Fuck Off and Grind”.
Haggus – The First Six Months – A Mincecore Collection
My obsession with the west-coast bands and in particular Oakland knows no bounds. Haggus, Oakland-based mincers have released a gore infatuated video with their entire catalog called “The First Six Months”, which is 40 odd minutes of straight up, unadulterated mincecore and it fucking rules!
Milorganaut – Kaszuba Isle
I was put onto Malorganaut by a friend along with a few other releases, which I am yet to listen to. These guys definitely stood out and the Milwaukee, Wisconsin definitely does turn it on and to say I was impressed would be an understatement. Fast, abrasive and that D.I.Y. feel to the recording. Straight up powerviolence, no bullshit. Ripping release!
Family Vacation – HELLA FUCKING SIDEWAYZ
Fast, intense, abrasive, yeah you might start to notice a trend here. It’s all about the rhythms along with the level of intensity is what gives Family Vacation the nod for me. It will rip you apart. It has the speed and the grim rhythms that make you sit up and take notice. Hella Fucking Sidewayz will have you hooked! I know I am.
I usually get o this point in the new year and I start discovering or I’m recommended releases and bands that I somehow missed in the previous calendar year. It always happens and it doesn’t matter how on top you are of what’s going on, there are just too many bands out there to be in the know all the time.
I am fortunate to have a few friends abroad who are pretty in touch with the scenes around them and I managed to work my way through a few bands this month between work and everything else going on to bring you this list.
Concussive – DEMO
Concussive is a powerviolence band from Pittsburgh, California who released their first demo last year in May and it absolutely rips everything to shit. They have their very own unique sound comprising elements of fastcore, grindcore, and even noise influences all under the punk umbrella. West Coast PV at it’s finest. ZESTVIOLENCE FOREVER!
They also managed to do a split with Bathtub Barracuda.
Bathtub Barracuda – Multiple Releases.
Bathtub Barracuda is a Grindcore band from Oakland, California with a pretty harsh sound and some mincecore influences. Short, sweet and rip-roaring intensity from the get go. They’ve done various splits with the likes of Concussive, Powertrip, and Aputasos to name a few. I would definitely recommend this.
Mellow Harsher – Severe Cold EP
Mellow Harsher have come into their own with unrelenting grindcore from the 3-piece dubbed the meatballs of the grindcore community. Regardless of their hysteric antics, the music is harsh, raw and perpetual war on music. Their style and intensity is something to experience. They released the Severe Cold EP on the 2nd of June 2015 and also did a split with Internal Rot from Australia.
Bob Plant – West Coast Mincecore
The infamous Bob Plant is a mincecore band from Oakland, California. They’ve done a few splits and released a few cassettes, which I managed to find in a distro somewhere. Other than that I can’t really tell you anything more, other than they fucking rip and have one of the coolest sounds out there. The Oakland Mincers mean business.
That’s it for now, I’ll keep throwing these lists up as I find new bands or releases I missed in 2015.
Berns is the Bastard 