Auditioning Gods

Fed Ash are from Syracuse, NY. Members have played in bands in the area for some time and when I heard my friend Matt who plays bass was starting a new project I was excited, but I had no idea what kind of sound this project would have. Grief as a Prison takes many forms and with its twists keeps you engaged, wondering what will come next. Its 8 songs go through the painstaking process of loss, and the emotions and feelings that accompany it.                                            

The production is murky but you can hear most of the elements in the recordings clearly enough. The quality could be better but for what the band is trying to convey it fits perfectly. The best way to describe the songs is a combination of grind and sludge-y hardcore with tinges of black metal tossed in occasionally. The songs vary in sound from track to track though, with songs like Disconnect, Anger, and Depression focus more on a sludge sound than grind, but songs like Bargaining and Denial have a more grindcore song structure. The vocals are screamed but in a sludge sense, not high pitched but not rough-and-tough sounding. The drumming is solid as well, the blasts are fast and never lose intensity.

Between the music there is samples that are undecipherable as to what is being said as well as some harsh noise. It creates an eerie mood as the sounds are unsettling and they fit very well with the production the tracks have. The only issue with the whole release is that sometimes the transitions can sound a bit sloppy. Everything else matches up well and creates a unique sound that can’t be pinpointed to being one influence, yet it doesn’t sound like a bunch of mismatching riffs just thrown together. This is a fantastic first release from the band and I am excited for what is going to come next from them. The EP is available on tape from the band via bandcamp, its a beautiful gray/black spread and fits the release. You can purchase and stream the release here.

~Tyler Hammer

Catalyst

Washington State based fastcore/noisecore mashup titans Sidetracked have had nothing short of an incredibly prolific couple of years. Releasing at least 12 individual pro-CDr EP's on Jay's own label, Problems They Persist, on top of many other split 7" records, tapes, and so on. I recently was able to snag the latest 6 (!) CD's, plus this super quick 10 track cassette EP released on Practiced Hatred called "Exile". Not sure how many this was limited to, but the red artwork variant has the lyrics included. Naturally, I had to snag that version. 

Wooo boy is this fassst. Pretty much by the time you pop in in the player and go and sit down, one side is over. Hardcore dudes will have the hardest time moshing to this. Heavy duty, super raw and incredibly stop/starty micro-jams. Long time admirers of Sidetracked will probably find a lot of similar qualities to the "Hustle" cassette, another 2 minute or so tape release if I remember correctly. Working with a heavy inspiration from early super aggressive hardcore bands in terms of riffs. Breaking them down and boiling song structure down to the shortest of track lengths. I've always thought Sidetracked was a genius band, and seeing them embrace rawer recording choices and taking on almost pure noisecore styles from time to time has been a very fascinating and wonderful thing to see.

I'm curious why the lyrics were only given to people who bought this red cover version. To me the lyrics in a Sidetracked song serve as strong a purpose as the music does. That aside, this tape looks sick. I really like the design, it's straight and to the point, and diverts from the usual look that Sidetracked releases have.

"Exile" has already sold out from the label, but I think Sidetracked still have some for sale on their bandcamp page.

~VII

I'll Give Ya Mook

I’m not too into introductions, but my name is Tyler Hammer, I play guitar for Hallucination Realized and today I’d like to talk about Deterioration and their newest EP, "Lupara Bianca". We recently went on tour with Deterioration and I’d have to say they are 100% the best grindcore band in America right now, and this EP is their best material yet. Currently out on their label Shattered Dreams Production as a CD and a now sold out 8-track and cassette. Hopefully their will be a vinyl version in the future.

Production wise this is their best stuff. The guitars and bass are massive sounding and the riffs have a lot of energy. The drums sound solid with a great sounding snare tone that has a nice crack but still has good ping to it. Riff wise they really bring it with a lot of really catchy parts and good slower sections, like the sludge-y riff in "Lupara Bianca" and the breakdown in "Car Battery Interrogation". For the most part the songs are blasting or doing some sort of hammer blast variant. The main theme of this release is Mafia related and it's nice to see a mix up from the usual gore related albums and songs they've done in the past. They are one of the few bands that can have funny song titles like "Car Bombing In The Name Of The Family (Bada-Boom)", while still keeping the music serious.

You can listen at their bandcamp which is linked right here. Keep on the look out for new material sometime soon and of course they will likely be playing near you as they as touring non-stop and aren't likely to slow down anytime soon. 

~Tyler Hammer

Cyclical In Nature

I've missed out on almost every single tape that Sea of Shit have put out. Granted I have managed to get everything on vinyl. The collector in me does get irked every time I miss getting one of the limited cassette editions though. Sometimes it just hurts to not have things. The Chicago powerviolence scum lords are prepped to have 3 releases come out this year alone; A split 12" with fellow Illinoisians Sick/Tired, a split flexi with Su19b, and a stand alone 7" on Nerve Altar. The later had a limited cassette release on Legitimate Business tapes in a run of 50, and I luckily managed to score a leftover form the Diseased Audio store.

Sea Of Shit are usually always a band I can count on to give me some solid, enjoyable filthviolence. This new EP is thankfully no exception. Their 3rd "self titled" release stays true to their sound but comes off just a bit stronger, catchier and more well written. It reminds me a lot of their first 7" (not the demo) in a lot of ways. Since this is more or less just a promotional item, I am keeping my final thoughts on the EP until I hear the proper recording in full. This dubbing, while acceptable, is definitely not a final product and should not be critiqued as such. I will say that the boy's have given us another banger for sure. Probably one of my favorite recording's they've done. With a fresher, new line-up too! Grooves, and slow parts are used in spades, and they are powerful earworm material. The typical slow/repetitive song at the end wasn't a great way to end it, but I'm just sick of that cliche by now.

NYC grind label Nerve Altar Records will be handling the future vinyl release of this bad boy. They will obviously do a stellar job with that record. For you tape collectors out there, this is now OOP, so you better start your online digging for a copy.

~VII

Hot Poison

One of my biggest, mushiest, lovey-dovey music crushes is John Wiese's prolific, monumental noisegrind/harsh music concrete band Sissy Spacek. A swirling, ever evolving and experimenting unit which has been on a roll of consistently putting out grindcore rooted 7"s over the past couple of years. Due to my deeply saddening lack of online purchases, I'm still missing quite a chunk of SS records. However, the fantastic "Lead Their Exit" EP has managed to find it's way into my loving hands. Black vinyl, 45 RPM, limited to 300.

Sissy Spacek is one of my true loves because in addition to their constant experimentation, I think they are one of the purest examples of what quality noisegrind should be. Mr. Wiese's mastery of sound manipulation instantly lends itself to inventive ways of actually incorporating noise into the grind, and drummer Charlie Mumma's brilliantly stripped down style or 100% pure blasting and nothing else. He will play literally just blasts. it's a recipe for perfect noisegrind. At least when Sissy Spacek does it.

This is a notable release for Sissy Spacek for a couple of reasons. Most notably is the entry of new vocalist Sara Taylor, screaming her throat out as the replacement for the usually present Corydon Ronnau. Sara's vocals are equally raw and monotone, sounds a lot like Madison from Cloud Rat actually. She is also partnered with the brutal metal screams of Charlie, which is pretty different for the band. Sissy Spacek really have becoming a devastatingly tight band, under all the noise and lo-fi production. Slowly creeping closer and closer and toying more and more with the more straight forward grindcore style of writing.

I'd say that "Lead Their Exit" is one of the more focused and well executed of the recent batch of 7" EPs. For the short time length, they add a lot of variety and a good amount of individuality to these tracks. Side B opens up with the less then a minute power electronics track "Oils Of Your Eyes", before going into two BRUTAL Arsedestroyer covers. It's a pulverizing display of Sissy Spacek at their most straight forward and aggressive, ending with the most structurally complicated track "Decrypt". These last few tracks are the best examples of Charlie and Sara dueting with each other, and it's an incredible assault. 

Very good packaging in a sturdy glued sleeve. My favorite!! No insert, and all the infor given is printed on the back.

~VII