Nuclear Summer

Here's another record from my most recent order of To Live a Lie releases; the P.L.F/Downtrodden split 7", released on a few other labels in addition to TLAL, blue vinyl(limited to 100), 33 RPM.

Cool cover art for the P.L.F side, I think it's either done by Putrid or the dude who did Insect Warfare - "World Extermination". Honestly, I'm not too hot on P.L.F. They're a little to thrash-metally for my taste, but I enjoy a few songs here and there from them. 2 originals and 2 Agathocles covers this time around. If you like P.L.F, you'll like this, nothing new here. Though this recording does have a bass player!

Downtrodden I wasn't so into. Old-school style grind for sure, but they use a drum machine, which works pretty well. Nothing new or original and it's far from mindblowing. I won't be looking out for more of their releases. Pass.

Solid blue vinyl

Fold out packaging with a little lip on the end. Simple packaging, again nothing mindblowing. Lyrics are included.

Also, all copies of this split are hand-numbered, and I was lucky enough to get a nice low number. Of course, this means nothing in terms of quality of my particular record, but the collector snob in me is giddy.

~VII

Decimation Cycle

This is something that I bought from SKULL master Eric Wood about a week ago, and I finally got to spin it yesterday. The Bastard Noise and Guilty Connector collaboration 7" "Decimation Cycle", 33 and 45 RPM, baby blue vinyl.

Probably the best noise release I've heard from BN thus far. Super dense, thick and harsh sounds. One song has a few lines of vocals from Eric Wood which are super brutal. Very nice copy too, pretty much as mint as a record can be. No bent corners or anything, which is incredible since the sleeve is just folded paper. 

Not a whole lot to talk about in terms of packaging. Just a simple folded piece or neon green paper with black lettering. It's an aesthetic I happen to like. Nice colored vinyl too, with one side being 33 and one side being 45. I'm now on the lookout from any Bastard Noise record I can get. Gotta boost up the SKULL collection in a big way!

~VII

Baltimore Beatdown

Here's a recently releases beauty; the Eddie Brock/Lapse split 7" released on To Live a Lie and Hostile Input records, 45 rpm, red vinyl. Real good hardcore right here!

Tough hardcore with powerviolence influences from both of these up and coming Baltimore bruisers. First up is Lapse with 3 tracks in under 4 minutes. Definitely the faster band on the split, more blasting and a few well timed mosh breakdowns. Great snare sound too! Looking forward to more from this band.

The Eddie Brock side is 2 tracks with a more HC sound than their previous 7". Way longer songs this time around too, more refined songwriting. Definitely a band that throws down live and gets the crowd moving I'm sure. Somehow they got Scott Hull to master their side, so it sounds fucking great!! Definitely a band to look out for. 

Stark blak and white inner-sleeve picture and a double-sided insert with lyrics. A download card is also included but my computer can't unzip the files.

I got the red vinyl version, limited to 100 copies. Pretty vinyl, it's semi-transparent and a little bit sparkly, and a little bit of black got in there. Pick this up.

~VII

Slimewave #2

Wow, these pictures are shitty even by my standards. Fuck all. Anywho, I've recently acquired a few of the Slimewave 7"s that I've been missing from my collection. I now have all but the XXX Maniak/Throatplunger 7", and once I get that I'll do a collection post. Here's one that my friend picked up for me in Philly. This is the Cripple Bastards/Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition split(#2 our of the 6 in the series), 45 rpm, white/blue splatter vinyl.

For those who don't know, back in 2006-07 Relapse Records did a series of 7" splits highlighting some of the more extreme/perverse bands in the grind genre. The cover art to each one had a piece of a bigger picture of an alien autopsy that would come together once you had every one. It was a cool idea, and it made them very collectable. Of course they later did a CD compilation of all the tracks once the splits were OOP. 

Out of all the Slimewave 7"s I have, this one sounds the best, and I'm not sure why. The pressing is very clear and not noisy, which is very refreshing. Side A is the Cripple Bastards, who I'm admittedly not a big fan of, but their side has some choice cuts that would later appear on their incredibly "meh" "Variante Alla Morte" full length. These are some of the better and more straight forward songs from that record. Nice.

I haven't owned a SCD release up till this point, and I'm not in any real hurry to get another one. They play the groovy, down-tuned, 2-minute songs goregrind style and they do it well, but I honestly can't remember anything about their side. I know that the end of the 2nd track had a sweet riff, but even still I can't remember what it sounds like. I'll have to listen to it again I guess.

Exceptionally good looking vinyl right here. Very classy and delicious looking white with blue splatter vinyl. Love it to death!!

To the people who will find this last photo this last photo humorous, your welcome. Probably would have been a better fit for the Total Fucking Destruction split. Oh well.

~VII

Resignation

This is the best EP I've heard all year, dead ass serious. Sea of Shit's self-titled 7" released on PRGNT Records/Idoneum Bello, black vinyl, 45 RPM.

I've only got their 7" demo before this, which I like, but it's far from mind-blowing. But this, this my friends is a masterpiece of filthy, disgusting powerviolence! Everything is distorted, the production is fantastically raw and LOUD, and the songs are non-stop blasters that I find super enjoyable. 

8 songs this time around, all fast, minimal slow parts. Even the 3 1/2 minute end track is fast; going from a twisted groove, to blasting, to ending in noise, and all songs seamlessly transition into each other. 

I'm a super big fan of this packaging too, it totally fits the ugly, filthy sound of the recording. Stark black and white images/text throughout with a black dust sleeve to boot. Dope.

I ordered their split 7" with Socially Retarded yesterday, when that arrives I'll do a post on that too! Sea of Shit 2011!! Purchase it here.

~VII

Skulldozer

Here we have one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and boy was it worth the wait. "Skulldozer", the latest full-length from Bastard Noise has finally been unleashed upon the world courteous of Deep Six Records. This is the pre-order brown marble vinyl edition limited to 100. Gatefold packaging with a poster, 33 RPM. Beautiful packaging.

Eric Wood has said that this is the best BN release to date, and I might have to agree with him. Everything that made the previous album "A Culture of Monsters" good has been upped on "Skulldozer". The recording is fuller and louder, the songwriting is fantastic, the vocals are incredible, everything just sounds excellent. BN spent a lot of time on this record and it truly shows. 

Six songs this time around(2 more if you buy the CD version). All generally slow dirges, with the exception of "Seeing The Same Fate" which kicks things up a notch tempo wise. Also, the addition of Aimee on vocals is an incredible change to the band. Her presence is not subtle at all; full intensity all the time, and a great compliment to Eric's deep-trollish-growl. 

This will definitely end up in my top 5 of the year, without a doubt. A truly excellent album from this legendary group. Worship the Skull!!!

~VII

Parasitic Nonexistence

I'm sure most of you will know Chainsaw to The Face through "This Comp Kills Facists Vol. 1". They were one of the more unknown bands on there, but their contribution is one of the parts I remember most about the comp. Super fast grindviolence with gruff vocals and kickass drums, "Hating Life" is probably their best song on the comp. So here's their s/t 7" EP released in 2010 on Cowabunga Records, which is where I picked this up. 33 RPM, clear vinyl with black swirls. 

This release is a bit more loose and rough than there songs on TCKFV.1. Truth be told, it's not even a very good recording. It definitely sounds like a demo that was pressed onto wax in terms of quality. Musically, it sounds pretty familiar. Still fast, still violent, but oddly enough I think the cleaner recordings on the comp. made their songs more intense, especially when compared to this. The quiet pressing doesn't help either. 19 songs in what feels like 10 minutes, it's decent.

The vinyl is really pretty though; it's super clear vinyl with a very nice, simple black streak all around the record. I believe this is the only one of the clear vinyl versions that had this black streak in it, so yeah, super rare! Collectors scum everywhere are super jealous of this.

~VII

Never Back Down

The return!! Hola everybody, I'm getting this blog up and running again after a long stretch of nothing. For those who care, I fell out of posting here while finishing school, and when I started writing for Operation Grindcore. But now I got that spark to start posting on my own blog again and concentrate on something I love dearly, vinyl records. I can easily do a post daily since I get a steady stream of new records quite frequently. Also, you may notice the greater decline in good photographs. Well, that's cause the camera I was using took a shit and died, leaving me with my simple Mac webcam(I'm gonna buy a quality camera at some point). But I digress, let's get on to todays record. Lack of Interest - "Never Back Down". Black vinyl, 45 RPM, released on Deep Six Records.

This is essential hardcore right here. Seriously, one of the best hardcore records I've heard. Everything is excellent; the production, the performances, the songwriting, everything. The songwriting in particular is way more developed and complex than most standard hardcore/powerviolence bands. Constant riff changes, tempo changes, etc. Definitely an inspiration to more modern fastcore bands like Sidetracked. 19 songs in about 14 minutes, perfect length for me. It doesn't waste time and it doesn't leave me wanting more

I love the artwork too. I think it's a definite homage to King Crimson's - "In The Court of The Crimson King", but I'm not sure if that was the intent. If it wasn't, then it's a hell of a coincidence. 

One-sided insert with lyrics.

Clean black vinyl. Very nice label too, I love that little face in the center.

This is a fairly easy record to find, and for a decent price too. I know Tankcrimes and Vinyl Junkie have some copies. Do yourself a favor and get it if you haven't already, it's well worth it!

~VII

Converge/Dropdead Split Ain't That Awesome...

     It pains me to say that. Honestly. I had HUGE expectations for this split when it was first announced. Two titans of hardcore, coming together, on one slab of wax. It sounded fucking awesome! Slowly but surely, more and more details about the split were announced, and I think the point where I started to have some doubts was when I heard that there would only be one song from each band. "Huh..." I thought, "only one Dropdead song? That's only gonna be like a minute of material." But I still had high hopes, and when it was made available on Deathwish.Inc I bought it immediately. I spun it on my turntable, and was ultimately incredibly disappointed. 

     First off, the production on the Converge side is incredibly rough and fuzzy. THe bass is high in the mix, the guitars are barely audible, everything just sounds messy. I think that they were trying to go for an old-school powerviolence style production job. But that combined with the vinyl pressing makes it a pretty harsh listening experience, and not in a good way. The song itself is nothing special either; pretty typical Converge, but with more blast beats than usual. Good bass tone though. Again, I think they were just trying to capture the old-school sound. 

     Dropdead's side is also nothing special, it just sounds like ordinary Dropdead. This song wouldn't sound out of place on any of their other releases, it's just Dropdead being Dropdead. You could argue that this is a testament to their integrity and that over the years they've still managed to keep the same sound, but it just leaves me wanting more. Like, 3 songs more. It's not horrible, it's just underwhelming. 

     In the end, I guess I was just expecting a more "epic" release, for lack of a better word. This split 7" just fell flat on a lot of levels for me; poor production, underwhelming songs, and poor vinyl pressing. Maybe if there were more songs and it was a 12" I might have been more thrilled, but it's not, and I'm still left unsatisfied. 

Dorian Rainwater (Noisear) Interview

     Noisear are gonna be hot shit in the American grindcore scene real soon, I'm calling it right now! Hailing from New Mexico, their technical, discordancy, mind-fuck grind is both heavy and cerebral. In a nutshell, they make good grind. So good that Relapse Records snatched them up and released their latest full-length "Subvert the Dominant Paradigm", and it sounds like we'll be getting another one real soon. This interview was conducted over email with guitarist Dorian Rainwater.


Built to Blast: First off, congratulations on Noisear's signing to Relapse Records! How has that relationship been going?


Dorian: Thank you! Relapse is a great label. They help us with promotion, merch and even some booking. They have a large crew of hard working individuals who are also very friendly and down to earth. They back all their bands 100% and are like family.

BTB: Noisear have been grinding since the late 90's, how do you think the band has changed over the years?

Dorian: Like any band over ten years old we have had ups and downs through the years, but one thing we have always maintained is our mutual obsession for creating grind!

BTB: Noisear are definitely not your standard sounding grindcore band, where do your influences come from when it comes to writing music?

Dorian: Too many to name, haha. Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Assuck, Discordance Axis, Human Remains, Lethargy, 324 and many others.

BTB: Getting to your latest album, "Subvert The Dominant Paradigm". How do you think this album differs from your previous releases, if at all?

Dorian: "Subvert" is a multitude of different styles for us being that we mixed alot of different styles,speeds and arrangements we have not done on prior releases.

BTB: I read somewhere that all the songs on "Subvert..." were written in a day. Is that true? 

Dorian: Yes its true. We had 4 songs written and wrote 25 in the studio. Technically it was 2 days because the vocals were layed down the next day.

BTB: Now that stuttering/staccato break in the song "Global Warming", that's total Human Remains worship, right?

Dorian: Those are volume swells, and yeah we love Human Remains to no end.

BTB: I also heard that you guys are already writing songs for another full length?

Dorian: We recorded 20 songs with our original guitarist Thomas Romero last weekend. We also added Dalton Tuerck on vocals. Dalton also wrote guitars on a few songs. We are very stoked about the album and can't wait for everyone to hear it! 

BTB: Your drummer Bryan Fajardo has become a powerhouse in the American grindcore scene, playing with everyone from Kill the Client to Phobia. With all the bands he's involved with is it sometimes difficult to get together and concentrate on Noisear?

Dorian: No not at all. We live in the same city, KTC jams in the same room at the rehearsal studio and I do studio guitars with Phobia so its all pretty relative.

BTB: I haven't heard much about the New Mexico scene. Is there a grind scene where you're from?

Dorian: Bryan and I live in Dallas (Texas) now. From what I hear there is a lot more death metal than grind in NM now.

BTB: What bands/albums are you currently enjoying?

Dorian: Gride, Libertarian, Psudoku, Dislike(Croatia), Lycanthropy, Hatred Surge, Mindless, Lie Still, Antigama, The Kill, Sulaco, Rotten Sound, Shitstorm, Lack of Interest, Weekend Nachos, Magrudergrind, Shit Life, Cogs and Sprockets and a ton of others that would probably fill this whole page ha!

BTB: Any final words?

Dorian: Thanks for the interview! Less fa$cion more thrashin!!!

War! Grind! Hell!

   I finally got this cassette in the mail yesterday, "War Grind Hell"; the latest EP from New Jersey raw-dogs Dethroned Emperor. I reviewed this beast several months ago on my youtube channel, and I gave it high praise. It would have been one of my favorites of last year if it had actually been officially released. Production problems aside now, the physical cassette is finally out for all to enjoy!

   Dethroned Emperor play a very old-school style of grindcore, with a lot of influence from bestial death metal bands. Very rough, yet clear recordings, growled vocals drenched in reverb, a thick guitar tone, bassy drums. It's an awesome production job. And there's a Terrorizer cover to boot!

   The packaging is really nothing special. One sided cover, one sided insert with a plain white cassette with sharpie writing. Pretty basic. It doesn't even have a spine label, which is weird. As far as I know there may be 100 or 150 of these bad boys released. You can get in contact with the band here. They have quite a few releases planned, so keep an eye out. Approved!

5 Underrated Grind Bands

   5. Parlamentarisk Sodomi: Not so much a band, seeing as it's only one person, but it's still some of the best crust-inspired-grindcore you'll ever hear. In my opinion, all one-man-grindcore-projects should be compared to PxSx, and 99.8% of the time, they will crash and burn in comparison. It's very apparent that a lot time, energy, and a keen concentration on production was involved in creating these songs. The drums programming rivals that of newer Agoraphobic Nosebleed, the vocals harken back to crust gods Extreme Noise Terror, and the riffs are unbelievable. Get wise to this project right the fuck now!

4. Maruta: I can definitely see these guys become heavy hitters in the modern grind scene very soon, but for now they seem more like cult band than anything else. While getting rave reviews in magazines like Decibel, Maruta still doesn't seem to be a very talked about band. Which is a shame since their technical, Discordance Axis-inspired grind is definitely something to pay attention too. While they like to branch out stylistically, their music is firmly rooted in grindcore. Blazingly fast, very technical, beefy, heavy grindcore. Learn up!

3. Total Fucking Destruction: Another cult grind band, even with Rich Hoak manning the drums. Formed after the demise of Brutal Truth, TFD is a grind band that sound like no other grind band, which is something that demands some credit. Bat-shit-insane, rock'n'roll, party grind. Tongue-in-cheek, yet deadly serious. Grind this shit!

2. Fuck the Facts: This band is so fucking good, it's almost frustrating. Another band that really doesn't stick to one genre, or sub-genre, but is still definitely rooted in grindcore. Unafraid to venture into territories that many grind bands are to afraid to go; such as melody and epic song lengths. You could be listening to a minute and a half blast of pure grind for one song, then a 9 minute epic of melodic, sludgy, gothenburg inspired metal. Incredible band. Listen up and play it loud!

1. Shitstorm: This band is so overlooked that it's criminal. Definitely one of my current favorites, Shitstorm play direct, to the point, no holds bars grindcore. Short songs, fast drumming, hardcore inspired, powerviolence-influenced, gruff vocals, killer riffs, unbelieveably catchy songs, and they share members with the mighty Torche! One of the best going right now. Their side of the Magrudergrind split is some of the best 9 minutes of grind I've ever heard. Play it loud!