Radical Urban Isolation

I got a distinctive, excitable rumbling in my guts; the kind that pops up when I find a band I get really excited about. One that I need to acquire as much material from as I can. In a recent trek up to Canada I was able to get a couple releases from the Toronto, ON sometimes noisecore/sometimes powerviolence hot mess Beggin' For Oyxs. This is a tape that they put out this year, "Radical Urban Isolation". Not sure how many were made.

I'll keep it short and sweet just to keep my point focused; this tape is pretty much perfect. It's exactly what I look for in my noisecore. Just pure, balls to the wall, no bullshit volume and speed. The kind of focused and articulate brutality in the same league as other greats like Sedem Minut Strachu, World, and Sissy Spacek. Side A is just non-stop fire, nothing but insane tempos across 20 sharp and short tracks. The snare is perfectly up front and annoyingly loud in the mix, the guitars create a beautifully gross wash, fuck-riffs-style, with some seriously pissed off vocals on top. This shit makes me wanna throw chairs at a wall. Side B has a lot more groove and some slower bits, more variation if you will, but no intensity is lost. This tape is 8 minutes of pure, blood pumping noise, I'm in love.

The consistent aesthetic on every Beggin' For Oxys release is another quality I appreciate a lot about the band. The graffiti lettering on the cover, the total lack of any color or information. It's wonderfully non-caring, but still manages to be just the right touch.

Listen to Beggin' For Oxys, that is all.

~VII

Found In The Mud

Real quick post about another devestating goregrind/noise tape released by some very quality labels. The Arizonian, 1-man, goretank project that is Gastroptosis, and Japan's Oniku. Another excellent 1-man band. This sweet little split tape was released in a total run of 75 copies by Ill Faith Records, Fermented Bile Vomit Records, and Craniophagius Parasiticus Records. I got my copy from Ben of CPR when I was in Toronto last month, it is a single sided tape.

Gastroptosis is yet another stupidly good goregrind/noise project created by Chris Tapo (most notably of Oozing Pus fame), and I love pretty much every new band he starts. Gastroptosis has been one of the more active projects in his roster and one of my personal favorites as well. We get 5 new tracks on here, featuring the usual traits of what makes great goregrind; hard hitting, to the point riffs, thundering drums, horror movie samples and absolutely monstrous, wet vocals. Chris is a master at programming good drums, and while the drums here are a bit buried under the gunky guitars and vocals, their power is undeniable. Great, raw, angry and savage goregrind, so good.

Oniku is a band that I really have not given many listens to (outside of this tape), but every time I do I realize I need to get more of their releases. Five tracks of very solid goregrind, also featuring programmed drums. These songs actually sound very well developed, like some real time was spent writing these riffs and compositions. Strong obvious influences are bands like Active Stenosis, Blue Holocaust and Regurgitate, very chunky groovy riffs with a lot more variety than Gastroptosis's side previously. The recording is a heck of a lot cleaner than the average 1-man goregrind band, it has a real 90's sound to it. There isn't any noise influence at all. While this recording may lack the savage, blown out fidelity I usually like, the quality of this material is undeniable.

Very loud and crisp sounding dub, both bands are one one side as previously mentioned. I'm not sure if the other label's releases are also single sided. 

~VII

Like A Worm In My Liver

Highly highly highly recommended brutal noisecore split right here. A nauseatingly rotten goop pile of a cassette released very recently by Strangle and Amuse Tapes and Hjitrous Tyror. It will definitely go down as one of my favorite splits of the year. Here is the split release by the insanely brutal Chopped of Dick and the up and coming Genital Cancer, not sure how limited it is.

Chopped Off Dick are a fucking great, brutal noisecore band from Ohio that have stuck out to me among the crop of underground bands right now. No bullshit, demented, savage beat downs with a very clear focus on their unique delivery, and also a heavy influence of true crime. Each song uses crude, constantly blasting programmed drums, no frills or fills, just blasting. With a good amount of wretched guitar riffs that have a twisted death metal style, and layers of fucked up gutterals and screams. Like a healthy mixture of early ANb, Mortician, and Mellow Harsher, but fucked up on hardcore hallucinogens. I really dig how the recording quality and even the tone of the drum machine will change from track to track (another maybe unintentional nod to early ANb), and the sheer chaotic blend of sounds that come up on every track make each one unpredictable and engaging, and also sort of numbing. It will sound like a whole other track is invading the one you're listening to, a weird bubbly gurgle or guitar solo will come out of no where, or a wave of other vocal tracks. It's chaotic, fucked up noisecore to the extreme. I love it.

On my copy, even though both sides have their own artist's labels, right after the COD side ends Genital Cancer's side starts right up. The Genital Cancer side is mysteriously blank, which really confused me the first time I played this. But yeah, thankfully GC's side is here and in tact, starting very smoothly by a slow building ambient intro. With a creepy as hell movie sample for a good minute or more until the disgusting gore starts flying. Genital Cancer is raw gore/noise project featuring members of Hypnic Jerk, and their side is brutal as hell. Lo-fi, out of tune, frantic shit gore; the kind of filthy sounds that real, dark bedroom dwelling, horror movie enthusiasts like myself swarm too. It's a good mixture of raw mince, goregrind and noisecore, bonus points for the little hip-hop sample too. I'll be bugging Travis for more material until they release it for sure.

The packaging is just brilliant, and is so wonderful to look at in person. The cover is a silk-screened sticked pasted on the cassette shell, and also comes with a brutal double-sided insert. Everything about this release pops out!

The aesthetic is really on point with this one. 

Please go and buy this great split, it comes with a high recommendation from me. Noisecore lives. 

~VII

Neither Powerful Nor Violent

Here's another great split that was recently released by Chaotic Noise Productions, and another spotlight on an excellent up and coming grindcore band from the Midwest; the mighty Landfill. A band with a promising reign of noise ahead of them, I'm very happy that they were able to do a split with the classic Suppression. It's well deserved and it's a savage pairing. Not sure how limited this is.

Landfill started as a solo project by Will Olter (ex-Faction Disaster, Methlab Explosion), and has since then evolved into a sort of band with a revolving cast. This particular session has Will on all instruments, and Andy from Captain Three Leg on vocals. Nine tracks of totally legit, brutal grindcore. Ruthless blasting, cued in with those wonderful count-in snare hits. I really like the drum sound on this recording. The guitars and bass are a pleasantly disgusting wash of frantic riffs, don't expect any slow parts, you karate moshing neanderthals. The inclusion of Andy worked perfectly, and gave this recording a little more of a personality than the typical gutteral grind vocals would do. The rapid pace of the lyrics and gruffness of them give the songs a little Shitstorm/Despise You flavor, which I definitely appreciate. This is serious grindcore, be on the look out for this bands stuff in the future. 

Suppression have really been blowing me away over the past few years, and have had an interesting progression over their existence. Starting with a raw, sort of unhinged powerviolence sound, turning into an experimental/noise rock band. Now they have come to form as one of the most exciting and impressive noisecore bands currently active! They really go all over the place over the ten tracks they've put here. There's a few more lengthy (as in 30 seconds to a minute), riff centric tracks, with splashes of noisecore microsongs interluding between them. Heavy amounts of bloopy noises and lots of vocal effects. The amount of diversity keeps the whole side sounding exciting, there's always a knew sonic idea popping up. Masters of their craft and amazingly loyal to the underground, an amazing band. 

Another wonderful layout and presentation from CNP, with all the info you would want to know about the release. Another perfectly dubbed tape as well.

Listen to the split here, a link to buy it is above. 

~VII

Floating Rot

A great tape from some wonderful, trustworthy noise makers, released on a legendary cult label. I was sold from the very start. This is the excellent Oozing Meat/Hypnic Jerk split cassette, released this year on Chaotic Noise Productions. Most likely limited to 50-100 copies.

Hypnic Jerk is an excellent noisecore band from Michigan, and have been highlighted on this blog before. They've coined one of the best slogans for their group; Sincere Noisecore. Two words that perfectly describe the Hypnic Jerk experience. They are true purveyors of uncompromising, lo-fi harshness. Everything is 110% distorted, blown out, gritty, gore obsessed and fucked up. Characteristics that are still completely true on this 7 minute, 16 track recording. One of the rawest sessions I've heard from the Jerks, recorded as a duo, possibly in a live show setting. Yet again bordering on pure harsh noise, every sound is mangled and suffocating. Sharp spiked of feedback shriek out from the basement fidelity, low end rumbles and spastic blasting. Tortured and wretched vocals come through sometimes to let you know the members are still alive. Crushing stuff.

Oozing Meat is a more recent noisecore band featuring Jason Hodges from Suppression/Mutwawa/Bermuda Triangles, etc. and they are a glorious, twisted mess of noise. In good ol' noisecore fashion, they've cram 123 tracks under one name, "Floating Rot", and it's dank as fuck. The recording is very good, very loud and piercingly intense. Hot screeches of contact mic feedback open it up, with a repetitive sample of someone saying "oozing meat". The drums and vocals come in slowly at first in short bursts, giving lots of time for the pure noise to breath. As the side continues, the tracks and blasting become more and more close together and intense, with lots of varied vocals and different pieces of instrumentation and editing. The way that this side is edited and chopped together is incredibly sharp and jagged too, which we all know is a sound I'm a huge fan of. Tracks and vocals will start and stop very suddenly in a glitchy sort of way, it's very tinkered with. Another super solid side that makes me want more!

The J-card is very professionally made, with a brutal and tidy layout that perfectly suits the ugly sounds on this tape.  The dub is perfectly crispy too.

You can listen to this tape here, a link to purchase it is above. Please support these bands and Chaotic Noise Productions.

~VII

Caught In The Wash

I have gained a new obsession lately, a band who I'm literally mad at myself for not getting into sooner (when a lot of their records were cheap and easily available). I'm talking about the brilliant stupidity that is Minch. A rare band who I will go far as to say has a near perfect discography. Everything I've heard has been A++ quality, shit noise outrageousness. Unfortunately, almost all of their early splits from the 90's go for a pretty penny. So who knows when I'll be able to score classics like "Seven Minch" and the Gore Beyond Necropsy split. A cheap split that I was lucky to snag recently is the 7" they shared with Breathilizor from back in 2004. All pressed on green vinyl, 33 1/3 RPM.

Minch is three weirdo's from Ohio that make some weird ass noise. Equipped with a washing machine for drums, some sort of guitar figuration,  their strained vocal chords and wild imaginations. Each track is a fucked up mush of deep thuds from hitting the washing machine, and 2-3 people yelling frantically about various dumb shit. It's goofy, brutal noise that winks at you quite a lot, with it's tongue bursting out of it's cheek. Is it brilliant though; abso-fucking-lutely. I can't get enough of this record; when I bought it the first day I played it three times in a row. The chaotic, rapid fire vocals are so infectious, I'm always trying to decipher what exactly they're yelling about. Lots of dicks, pussy, ass, fucks, bells and whistles. It also sounds like they speed up the vocal tracks to make them even more spastic, which I dig a lot. I got to play this record twice at the record store I work at, and every time multiple poeple had to ask me what they were being forced to listen to. Which I happened to think was a perfect reaction. The almighty Steveggs also makes an always appreciated vocal appearance on this recording (note the illustration style on the cover). Incredible recordings, I say 100% necessary.

Breathilizor is another band who's records I've seen literally everywhere, but they always looked like something I would never be interested it. That sort of goofy, low quality, rock/thrash stuff. Upon listening to them, I'm a bit half right in my premonitions. The music is pretty much what I expected, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! It's tremendously goofy, but can you honestly expect anything else from people who were in the band Sockeye? 4-track quality recordings of hard rock/punk songs about space, adventures, and Pacman. It's enjoyably stupid, I can audibly hear the fun being had by the people making it. I'm not sure if I'll buy a lot of their records, since I honestly don't care for the styles of music they work with, but I'll be coming back to this for sure.

All copies of this were pressed on green vinyl, packaged in a very nice and sturdy, double sided sleeve.

So yeah, I officially need every Minch record ever. Wish me luck.

~VII

The New School Of Boogie Fuckie

This is a split tape that I've been wanting to get my dirty collecting hands on for a long time. Not only because it has the best band going right now, Sedem Minút Strachu. What is in my opinion, one of the most underrated noisecore bands in America is on the flip, The End Of Life. It's pure noisecore beauty, I almost couldn't ask for a better pairing. This was put out by Trashfuck Records in 2016, on multiple colored covers and tapes. This post is also brought to you by the color green.

Both of these projects have zero duds in their discographies in my humble opinion. So naturally, you're getting a split where both side is a winner! 7MS's half is a wonderfully raw recording that sounds like a ton of booze was involved. Aside from Jan's tight blasts, they all go into a rocking section of loose grooves. Some fun ass nü-metal shit, but really drunk. It's a particularly fun session from an amazing band, you already know I love it.
The End Of Life is a noisecore duo from Oregon/Washington, and are slowly building up an incredibly brutal discography. Sincere and disgusting noisecore at a certain caliber that sets them apart from the swarm of others. Their dynamic is perfect; one bass, one drummer, one person screams, another does low growls. Both are also great musicians, and know what quality noisecore should sound like. After a perfect opening sample, we get an explosion of distorted bass and some incredibly fast and tight blast beats. The kind of blasts that make me take notice. It's a brutal and unrelenting storm of death-grinding, no riff noisecore, with a very tasteful amount of electronic noise thrown in. Mainly just to be interludes for short amounts of time to catch your breath. Absolutely top notch!

Trashfuck really did a great job with these. The dub sounds crispy as hell, I didn't have a single weird sound moment on the whole thing. I just wish the text on the J-card was a little sharper.

Naturally I'm highly recommending this split. Listen to it here, a link to purchase it is above.

~VII

Oozing Sarcoptes

A quick little post about an incredibly dank gorenoise tape that I was happy to pick up semi-recently. A short and sweet pairing of some incredibly solid projects, Oozing Pus from Arizona and Sarcoptes from Missouri. Released by the mighty Craniophagus Parasiticus Records early in their existence. No idea what this is limited to.

I've followed both of these projects pretty closely since I found them. Both were still pretty new, like within a year old when this split was made. Fantastic, wet, gurgley, drum machine basting gorenoise, no frills or tricks. Oozing Pus opens their side up with a devastatingly long sample describing a gruesome scene of disembowelment. Whatever movie it was taken from sounds fascinating and terrible. After the long ass sample, the Pus's characteristic bass rumbles and gurgle-roars start booming. The programmed drums, as usual, sound nice and crisp and are perfectly brutal and crude. The sharp, slam snare sound is totally in effect. This project always knew how to have great build-ups and segways into hyperblast moments, it's some wonderfully crafted gore. After four great tracks the side is over before you know it.

Sarcoptes offer 4 more tracks, and it's some of my favorite material from this project by far. More blown out gorenoise, with super bubbly vocals. Again as usual, the drums sound great, but stay within that more realistic realm of drumming. No ridiculous inhuman tempos or anything. The blasts stay pretty consistent throughout all 4 tracks, saving one measly little groovy riff for the tail end of the song. Some of the best sounding recordings this project was able to get, I'm not sure if Austin is keeping it going still. Super solid stuff.

Check it out over at Craniophagus Parasiticus Records.

~VII

Seasons Are Going And Going

Final Exit are without question one of the most highly praised noisecore/grindcore bands from Japan, maybe even the world. Their progression from the days of making simple grindcore rooted noise, to nowadays making, man I don't even know how to describe it. The sheer unhinged, chaotic catharsis of a musically proficient maniac? All I know is that their mastery and technical performance floors me. It's the perfect blend of shitcore noise and great musical talent. What many consider their magnum opus, the mini-album "Seasons Are Going And Going...And Lives Go On", was reissued last year on a lavish gatefold single-sided 12", by the outstanding SPHC. A label that has become quite a common face on this blog.  All copies were pressed on black vinyl, 33RPM.

I played this record at my job the day I got it, my manager was the only one working who got to hear it, along with any customer lucky enough. My manager turned to me when it was done and said he didn't quite like it, amazingly. In his paraphrased words, they sounded too goofy and there wasn't enough serious craftsmanship to latch onto. It took me back, in my own perspective, as someone who does love this bands music. Eventually it did make me realize that to many, unfortunately, they will undoubtably come off as nothing but a joke. It's hard to not empathize with it, and in some respects that opinion holds true. This is truly off the wall music, it's batshit, bonkers. It'a a grinderized smatering of literally a million different genres. Changing keys, tones, riffs, tempos, genres, everything and anything seamlessly at the drop of a hat. The over the topness can easily lend itself to parody, but this is also what makes "Seasons Are Going And Going..." and Final Exit, so brilliant. They embrace this complete ridiculousness, wink at you just enough, but lay it down so well that it does a 180 and becomes truly exceptional again. 

On top of that, this is a band that is comprised of musicians of real musical talent! These song are so tight and perfectly performed, it's astonishing. You could make ties to bands like John Zorn's Naked City. Another band that created noisy, frantic compositions played with by musicians of expert skill levels. Yet Final Exit remains in a league all of their own, especially in the grindcore/noise world. The duo line-up most likely helps with the tightness. Both Ryohei and Hisao are locked into each others movements and shifts, honed from years of playing. Also unlike most other noisecore, "Seasons..." is recorded very, very well. Every little bit of detail shines through purposely and effectively. It's noisecore done unlike any other.

A noisecore concept album in the loosest sense, "Seasons..." is made up of 12 tracks, named unsurprisingly after each month of the year. It definitely stands as some of Final Exit's strongest material. The attack on your musical senses is incredible. Lasting just short of 11 minutes, and using every valuable second of that time to cram in as much shit as possible. "January" opens with the familiar no-riff guitar noise and crazed drumming, before veering off into straight up Van Halen double tapping. Then more noise, then OSDM riffs, then everything you can imagine. Surf guitar, hand claps, Iron Maiden riffs, metal slams, clean guitar, power pop, it's utter chaos. In the case of the titular "May" track, the band couldn't resist and made a sugary pop-rock instrumental (I wonder why people think this band is silly?). The track "September (Be My Baby)" is a masterpiece shitcore anthem that I hope to see live some day. It's so good, it's so tight, so impressive. It's wonderful. 

SPHC painstakingly recreated the colorful and lavish artwork from the original digipack 3" CD this was originally released on in 2008. Credit is certainly due to Derek/Rage For All Records for originally releasing this monster to the world. Everything has been replicated on the gatefold jacket, even the center label looks like the original CD label. The only thing that changed is the spine, which now includes the full album title and the SPHC brand. And the new thank you's for the vinyl reissue in the gatefold.

You can pick this up from SPHC obviously. Get it!

~VII

The Great Equalizer

The long anticipated 10" full length from Connecticut grindcore heavies Gowl, is inching closer and closer to its release with this limited cassette of the record. Which has now been given the name "On Our Feet Or On Our Knees". Previously, demo versions of some of these songs were released back in 2015, also on tape. Now that I've heard the full thing a few times,  I'm happy to say Gowl is back with maybe their strongest release. "On Our Feet Or On Our Knees", the cassette version, was released in a run of 50 copies on True Freak Records.

I love Gowl, quite a lot actually. I think they're one of the more unique and powerful units in the whole Mid West grindcore scene. Given that, I expect them to bring a lot of "oompf" to the table when they put something out. Their unique blending of purposely noisy and chaotic recordings, death metal riffs, creative drum work, twisted grooves and faster than normal blasts make them a stand out band for sure. It's a sound that completely won me over on the "BLURRR" 7", and thankfully their trademark style is beefed up on "On Our Feet...". I'd say that this is definitely Gowl's clearest and most refined recording to date. A perfect sounding session for this next era of the band. That being said it's still a distorted, atonal mess, in the best way. Seth's bass rumbles ruthlessly over the equally bass heavy guitar riffs, the vocals buried like a man screaming at the end of a cave. Through all the murk, lies Gowls undeniably good song craft and they use a plethora of different styles on this album. Gowl songs have a lot of moments that grab me and stick in my head. Unintended(?) hooks shall we say. Masterful, brutal and to the point riffs that have a bit of their own secret sauce in the formula. They aren't afraid to slam into purely enjoyable heavy, slamming riffs, or a fist pumping, stomping, D-beat song. Majority wise though, this record is full of brutal riffs and drums, played together in ways you wouldn't normally hear it done, and I commend Gowl for it. Serious grindcore that knows how to be infectious. They also throw in a few surprising few second long songs into the tracklist, which always pleases a noisecore person like me.

The whole album plays on both sides, no A-Bing this one. I like that way better honestly, I really enjoy hearing this all the way through without flipping it. You can totally tell when the A-side is supposed to end though; a noisy track that mixes in twisted radio frequencies and harsh sounds. The cassette dub sounds killer, I can only imagine how good this will sound on shiny vinyl. You gotta love that signature, checkered pattern. Gowl always maintain an interesting aesthetic.

So far the band doesn't have it for sale, maybe they sold out already. But I know you can find it in a few distros. Google it.

~VII

The ABC's of Noisecore

If I ever posted an official "best of 2016" list on any blog platform last year, you were bound to see this record placed firmly near the top spot. A brilliant noisecore split released by the always reliable SPHC, one that is a sure fire way to make most newcomers take a moment of pause. Two bands, Anal Butt and Cunts, both with monikers that are bound to spark reflex chuckling, or disgust. The latter only used drums and vocals. Sounds like something that only a basement dweller would vibe to. Me personally, I'm in love with it. One of the best slabs of wax I've heard in a few years. The newly released official pressing (I'll get to that later) is pressed in a run of 250, all black vinyl. 33 RPM.

Anal Butt not only have one of the best bad band names ever, but they're also a band that pulls of brutal, knuckle dragging noisecore with a tweaked sound perfectly. Spearheaded by SPHC label owner Dan McGregor and Co., I've heard him say that this is the best thing he's done. And while I haven't heard the bulk of his discography, I'd have to say this would be hard to beat. The sonic assault that Anal Butt bring on their side is crushing, warp speed, kaleidoscopic, and embraces the best of the genre's unapologetic stupid qualities. Standard instruments are used; drums, bass, guitar and vocals, and the general sound is nothing that groundbreaking. However, the editing and attention to detail in the recording, dare I say the arrangements of it, are just excellent! The session starts with a good chunk of short, crudely edited song bursts that begin with stick clicks. Eventually everything gets noisier and noisier, growing and getting more claustrophobic. Vocals are doubled on top of each other and the bass sounds like it's literally frying from the distortion. Simply brilliant editing and cutting out certain instruments at certain times, or letting everything die out for a split second to just explode again with more blasts and noise! Next thing you know there's a generic hardcore breakdown riff with Patrick the Starfish vocal grunts. It's such a joy to listen to every time, I always notice something different.

Cunts is a noisecore duo from Japan that have been around for over a decade, and have been a band that have been a treasure to fans of the underground. Their releases are sought after, and I'm fortunate enough to own only a couple items. The drill here is only vocals choking with high gain feedback, and drums. Bada bing. Cunts is a band that takes noisecore to almost it's most bare bones and neanderthal. Their recordings however always showcase the sheer brutality a duo like this can bring, and their half of this record is no exception. It's mastered so fucking loud, the feedback almost makes you feel like your ear drums are getting stabbed. The drums supply all the punch and force they need, they're performed absolutely perfectly. Blasting, grooving, polka beating and stopping all at just the right times. Ucchys non-stop screams and yells are so relentless they almost have a hypnotic quality. I'd say they're the best band doing this style of noisecore since World, easily. Definitely not as heady or conceptual as World, but they certainly are no chumps. It's so damn good, I cannot recommend it enough.

The record is packaged in a single-sided fold-over sleeve with this small insert inside. All of the regular press have large hole in the center.

Now back in the summer of 2016, I got to perform with Anal Butt and Sedem Minut Strachu, and I was able to pick up what was unbeknownst to me at the time, a test press! A run of 50 TP's were made for the tour, and I feel very lucky to own it. The test press version is virtually identical except it has a small center hole and no insert.

You can pickup this record at SPHC, what are you waiting for?

~VII