The Mechanics of Failure

First up, I know, it has been a long time since I posted on this blog. It kind of slipped my mind for a minute there, mostly because life has been pretty good! Lots of new changes and different shifts in my life. Good excuses as to why I haven't paid attention to my vinyl/cassette review blog. However, I have gathered quite a lot of new releases over the months that I would like to talk about. Some were gifted to me, and I really need to get on those. So let's not waste time and get down to chewing the meat. I have here a brand new release. from a brand new label, Cult of Nine Records based out of Syracuse, NY. Their first release is this split/Vs. CD from two incredible bands in the USA underground. Fed Ash, also from Syracuse, and Landfill, who's main members mostly reside in the midwest. Digipack CD, actually this is the first CD review I've ever done on here!

If you're familiar with either of these bands, you know what you should be expecting. Two words: Sheer Brutality. I was so excited when I heard these two were doing a split together. I've known members of each band for a while, and hearing that there was going to be another union of Upstate NY and midwest bands was tremendous. Each band here is a fantastic representation of their to different styles of fast, heavy music. Landfill going for the straight up, blast beat infested, skeleton disintegrating grindcore. No flashes or extra splashes of technical prowess here, just in your face, relentless blasts, with the right kind of punky grooves and gory vocals too boot, stirring up the pot a bit and helping make their songs diverse. They get three to four song chunks per section, and they just shred!!

I've seen Fed Ash fine tune, and expand their sound and delivery quite a lot the past year. Nowadays they perform with three guitar players, and it's absolutely insane. They play a style of grindcore that takes influences from a swath of different genres. From sludge and doom metal, pure electronic noise, good 2000's metalcore (trust me it makes sense), and maybe even black metal. The sound they are able to conjure is something altogether sinister and crushing. The pure pain and misery of existence composed into music. This is some of their best recorded material.

The Vs. style formatting of this split works really well in my opinion. Landfill's songs go by lightning fast, completely bonkers. Fed Ash adding the finishing moves and more pain right after, it's a pretty intense listen actually.

This is the first release on Cult of Nine Records, please pick this up. I think these are two of the most promising bands around at the moment and I'm very pleased with this release.

~VII

My Favorites of 2018

Another year has come to an end. As with the years previous, the world continues to literally fall apart, and the only thing that didn't let my spirit down is good, quality music. Plus the many people that create it, and mutual thrive in it. A lot of things happened personally in 2018, many experiences that shaped me to be who I am today. Some great things happened; tours, new friends, recordings some killer tunes, seeing lots of cool bands, seeing my family more, etc. These 20-some releases were also crucial to helping make every day awesome and most excellent. There were a ton of great releases this year, twas a very strong one for music. The new golden age of noisecore that we are currently in produced an insane amount of good releases, grindcore around the world was really on it's shit. Plus pretty much all of my favorite labels were consistently putting out great tapes, records and CD's. There were many things I did not get the chance to have a proper sit-down with. That being said, narrowing it down was still tough. It usually always is. But naturally, I had to go with the releases that I continuously returned to, and meant the most to me.  Here were my favorites, in no order except for the top 5. 

Traci Lords Loves Noise - The Ultimate Fantasy CS
It's a joyous occasion to get a new TLLN tape, and it does not disappoint. Comprised of previously unreleased recordings from back in the day, this is Traci Lords Loves Noise exactly how you would want it. Angry, lo-fi, sample heavy and tongue in cheek (especially the B-side). An example of how to do proper noisecore from a cult legend. 

Parlamentarisk Sodomi - Krieg Mot Norge 7"
After claiming the top spot on my last year end list, the Norwegian grind God PS is back with a full 7" EP of new material (with a new vocalist too). One half is thrashing, crusty grind songs, the other half superb, hyper-speed, stop-start noisecore tracks. I kinda wish it was all the noisecore tracks, but everything Steiner does is great. So there. 

World - World Discography CD
At long last we have the full discography from one of the best bands ever, the Japanese noisecore legends World. Packed together in a beautiful pro CD, and all the material sounding better than ever. This is an absolutely crucial collection from one of the most incredible bands.

Bruised Ego - Roman Numeral One LP
I may have a slight bias here since I helped pay for the vinyl release, but this debut full length from Baltimore's best fastcore band truly slays. You get incredibly tight drumming, riffs that thrash, stomp, and flail with a beefy and thick recording, and tons of just fun-ass songs in general. A well earned and finely tuned LP from some good old boys. 

Deterioration - Lupara Bianca CS
This EP just slaps, no if's and's OR but's about it. Deterioration unleashed a doozie of a release with this mafia / gang inspired release, and it quickly became my favorite recording by the band to date. No bullshit fast music from arguably the most beloved grindcore band going right now, and with releases like Lupara Bianca, it's not hard to figure out why.

John Coltrane - Both Directions At Once 2LP
My expectations for this record were immeasurably surpassed: an LP's worth of unreleased studio sessions from the classic quartet, which for me sits very snuggly within the rest of Coltrane's 60's output. Masterful work, performed with passion and grace. I still hum the riff to "Untitled Original 11383" to this day.

Cuck Dirt - Dopesmoker Is A Fucking Terrible Album CS
This whole tape is just one minute long diss track at one of the most revered stoner metal albums ever, and it's just a pure blast for the entire 60 seconds. Cuck Dirt are amazing and this tape immediately landed a spot in my year end list when it arrived in my mailbox. Snotty, humorous, nothing but a good time.  

Cannibalism / Sulfuric Cautery / Endotoxaemia / Lectularius - Guro Grind Guignol split CS
Of all the 4-way splits I've heard this year, this particular one slapped the hardest, and not just because of the Sulfuric Cautery contributions (best band in America right now). Every band here has submitted some crushing material. From the lo-fi, riffy sewage of Cannibalism, to the low-end heavy pummeling of Lectularius, this is a proper collection of gory grindcore. 

Incinerated / Sulfuric Cautery - Split 7"
Sulfuric Cautery put out so much material this year, I can't narrow it all down and feature one single release. So much brutality and hyper speed blasting on both sides, it's ridiculous. This team-up also introduced me to the incredible Aussie grindozer that is Incinerated, further cementing the fact that Australian bands can not suck. 

Oozing Meat - Contaminated CS
Oozing Meat's particular harsh noise and effect-smothered noisecore really came through the loudest and most impactful on their 20-minute cassette, Contaminated. It's as abrasive as it is entrancing, switching from pure noisecore and micro track blasts, to weird drum grooves, samples, heavy passages of feedback and disgusting vocals over the course of 766 tracks. 

God's America - The Undeserving CS
While I'm not all that focused on powerviolence at this stage in my life, God's America are to me the embodiment of what the genre should naturally progress to. God's America sound only like God's America, and their singular brand of lo-fi recording and unique songwriting and riffs make them stand heads above the rest. Totally in their own league. The Undeserving is one of their finest moments to date.

Heinous / Haggus - Split 7"
Most of the time with a Haggus split, I tend to usually listen to the side that isn't them more often. Such is the case with their split 7" with AZ goregrind band Heinous. Heinous' side starts with pretty much a perfect opening track, and the savage, meat shredding grind does not let up at all. Groovy, powerful and gore soaked. It's just wonderful.

Kjostad - Frost Cracking Trees CS
Giving some love to a local artist Kjostad. No release floored me or stuck with me as much as what is stored in the gorgeous looking and sounding cassette, Frost Cracking Trees. The beautifully recorded soundscapes of nature are perfectly manipulated and transformed into something uplifting and claustrophobic. It's a truly impressive piece of sound manipulation and to me, sits as Kjostad's finest work to date. 

Sidetracked - Perpetual Dissent CS
My favorite Sidetracked release of 2018 is this short and sweet EP. The recording is absolutely ruthless, some of the heaviest sounding material that the band has done. While the lack of variation in the songwriting may be cumbersome to me, I personally love how the band focuses in on a specific mode for each release, and Perpetual Dissent rocks this in spades. Every time I show this tape to people, they're hooked. Totally unique and a band that stands on their own in the fastcore / noisecore style. 

Nickelus F - "Stuck" 
CD/CS/LPIf there was one release that just barely made it into the top 5 it would be this. It's such a damn good record. I haven't been this excited about a hip-hop release since Danny Browns -"XXX". Something about this record just hits's that good spot in my brain, it just makes me feel better. The beats are this brilliant combo off jazz rap, trap, soulful samples, conscious shit, and the album flows like butter from track to track. Great hooks with a perfectly laid back but soulful delivery, until Petey start's spitting fast bars. It's lyrically a strong record too, there are many moments of introspection, and observation. The lyrical theme of being "stuck" returns throughout many tracks, with many contexts attached which I adore. It add's to the experience of it being a proper album, you dig? It's something that is hard to skip tracks through. Super high recommendation from me, I really love this record.

TOP 5 NEW RELEASES
5: Sissy Spacek - Thrash Staging & Ways Of Confusion LP's
Sissy Spacek turned the ripe ol' age of 20 this year, and to commemorate such a feat they seemingly decided to try and release as much music as they could (I count 8 all together). They’ve highlighted all of their styles, from noisy grindcore, to live ensemble records, to the purely electronic. Released on the local New Forces label, the Trash Staging LP is an exceptional document of both the grind and the noise together, split between both sides. The A-side is some of the harshest and uncompromising grind the band has done yet, while the B-side is some of the best harsh noise I've heard all year; crushing and cold with big inspiration from Japanese noise artists like Incapacitates. Ways Of Confusion on the other hand is all blast. 39 tracks of raw noisecore, blurring the lines between composition and free improvisation at a dizzying pace and over in about 15 minutes. Sissy Spacek continue to be one of the tightest and best bands in America, period. 

4: Suppression - Placebo Reality LP
Since 2015, Suppression's output has moved away from their powerviolence and noise rock phases from the 90's and 2000's and into a whole new beast. I’m resistant to call it noisecore, even though the short songs and raw fidelity definitely make them comfortably sit under that brand. What Suppression has done here is truly exceptional, laying down 73 songs (yes, actual songs with riffs, composition and diversity throughout) on this LP. For a band to put out an LP with this many tracks, and not go the easy way out of just having every one be random gargles of instrumentation and screaming, is something that is both inspirational and commendable. This LP has it all and it’s a defining moment for an amazing band, 20+ years into their existence. 

3: Binker & Moses - Alive in The East LP
No contemporary jazz unit has wow'd me more than the duo of drummer Moses Boyd and tenor saxophonist Binker Golding. This new live recording (featuring Evan Parker, trumpeter Byron Wallen, harpist Tori Handsley and extra drummer Yussef Dayes), is a dazzling, uplifting, urgent, soulful, and strangely danceable record. From the opening, blood pumping drum duet, into the sputtering and chaotic intro of the two horns, the notes scurrying around the open air like a swarm of bees. The performances here are elegant and calculated and at no point does it feel or sound like there is any competition between the musicians. Just a symbiotic conglomerate of beautiful music. 

2: Cystgurgle / Vomitoma - split CS
During a night in Chicago while I was on tour, my friend and tour mate Ben put on a cassette that he was releasing though his label. Through the haze of inebriation that I was in at the time, I heard a sound that hit me like an avalanche. One of the loudest snare drums I had heard in a minute exploded into the room, so unbelievably fast and tight I asked if it was a drum machine. It had to be. It wasn't. This was the Cystgurgle side of their split tape with long-going USA gorenoise act Vomitoma. It was love at first listen and I snagged one off of Ben right away. Throughout all these past 365 days, I have not heard a goregrind / noise release this powerful. Specifically where the drums, for the most part, are the central focus. On top of that are the wettest, bowel-churning vocals and distorted bass imaginable. Vomitoma's vocals literally sound like piss. This is also one of the first Vomitoma releases (to my knowledge) to feature a live drummer (courtesy of Adrian from Putrefuck). This release is everything I love about goregrind, and it would have been my #1 pick of the year, if it was not for one release...

1: Needle Exchange - Kill Em All With Fentanyl CS
I have heard a lot of noisecore releases this year, more than I can count. It's a genre of music that is very near and dear to my heart and to be personally connected to this 3rd-wave golden age of the genre is truly wonderful. Sometimes I hear a band push the genre into a next level territory of extremity, something that I sometimes doubt is even possible. This newest effort from Needle Exchange has created a sound so absurdly intense, so far into the red that the meter has exploded and covered those who listen with a coagulated, smelly, crimson gunk. The A-side is a 666 track hurricane of some of the most rapidly cut-up and stitched together blasts of noise I've ever heard. Like 7MON's "Thrashbora" flexi, but fucked up x 10. This tape is genuinely demented, everything about it so extreme and over the top. From the completely distortion-covered bass, to the stop on a dime cuts, to the vocals which screech, gargle and bellow like they are done by a true psycho. Side-B continues the onslaught with a scant 245 tracks, but without losing even a molecule of brutality. The aesthetic of this band might make some people turn their heads, it's some intense and uncompromising shit, but nothing about it feels phoned-in. This swallows you into its own world. Either choose to except it or beg for mercy. Best thing I've listened to this year.

~VII

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

Cadaverlanche

I've been picking up basically every release that Sulfuric Cautery is on these days. Definitely the grind band that is impressing and exciting me the most as of late. They keep putting out new shit about as fast as their blast beasts with no slowing down, which is all fine by me. This particular tape was put out on the bands own labels, Blast Addict and Feel Good Grind. A live recording, squishily called "Frozen Daiqueri In The Urethra Of Ralph Ferrari", not sure how limited it is.

This tape has since sold out from the label, and it honestly is not something I would call a mandatory release to get from Sulfuric Cautery. If you've watched the video on Youtube of them playing St. Vitus in NYC, then you've heard this. It is however, a fantastic performance, and a good way to hear some of these tracks from the Incinerated and Take That Vile Fiend splits with a much cleaner recording. It's mindblowing to me how everyone in the band can keep up a set this fast. It's a pretty long show too, almost 20 minutes! I really wanted to make it to this show too, I can't remember what the reason was for me not being able to attend. It was a stupidly stacked show, and it's always good to see Ralph down in the city. To this day, I have still not seen Sulfuric Cautery, but this recording definitely shows that they can bring it live. As if there was any doubt of that.

I think there's a couple different cover variations for this. One that is a bit more gory. The tape 

sounds awesome, the soundboard mix is very good and it's nice to hear some more of the riffs pop out more. The Jcard is also printed on a nice sturdy cardstock.

I'll finally be able to see these guys play at Rapid Decay fest in Binghamton, NY in October. Couldn't be more excited!

~VII

Interview with Tommy (Tomb Warden, Brainpan, etc)

I was able to chat with my good friend Tommy from Tomb Warden and Brainpan. It was awesome to talk in depth about playing music and the DMV area scene. 

Tyler: Okay so my first question is: How many current projects do you have going now and what do you play in them?  

Tommy: I start projects all the time, some would say too often. Currently I have 5 that are practicing to play out/have played out already. The two I play guitar in are Tomb Warden and my newest project Acquisition (name might change). I play bass in Brainpan, Execution Hour, and Secular Media. I've written songs and riffs for 4 other projects that haven't come to pass yet.

Tyler: Did you originally play guitar first or bass?

Tommy: I started on bass when I was 11. I actually have a degree in jazz bass performance

Tyler: oh wow. Didnt know that.

Tommy: Haha Yup. That's what happens when you tell a 17 year old metalhead they need to go to college or they'll never be shit.

Tyler: Has your education been helpful in writing for the bands you are in?

Tommy: Absolutely. I write by myself for the most part and bring ideas in for other people in the band to mess with, so to be able to write down an idea note for note at like 4 AM 5 months ago and pick it up tomorrow and know exactly how to read it is incredibly helpful. Even just learning how to read rhythms helps save a million sick riffs you'd otherwise be too tired/wasted/busy to remember under normal circumstances

Tyler: Do you find writing on bass or guitar easier?

Tommy: Way easier on bass for me. The top two strings on a guitar are totally unnecessary

Tyler: That's interesting. Who was an inspiration for playing bass?
Tommy: Like personal or professional?

Tyler: Both

Tommy: My uncle Toño in Peru got me started playing bass when I was a kid. He was a drummer, but probably the most influential musician in my life. My mom's family is from Lima and we used to always stay with him and his family. He got this pirated, no name bass in the 70s and must've kept the same strings on it since then. He was huge into prog and made up his own way of notating Rush songs on drums. He also built his own double bass pedal out of a belt and some springs along with other parts of his kit. He was true DIY haha. He passed away while I was in school unfortunately. In terms of "famous" bassists who got me started, I worshipped Steve DiGiorgio from 8th grade until like last year haha. He's still my favorite bassist, but his tone grates on me these days. Other huge influences were Ron Royce from Coroner, Frank Bello from Anthrax, Danny Lilker from Nuclear Assault, Harley Flanagan from the Cro Mags, Darryl Jennifer from Bad Brains, and whoever did bass on the Embrace album. Embarrassed to say even though it's a top 5 album for me I don't know the names of anyone in the band besides Ian Mackaye. Also embarrassed to say that the first bassist I ever noticed when I was 9 or so was Fieldy from KoRn so I guess you can say he's my first influence

Tyler: Sorry to hear about your uncle, that is awesome you had someone in your family to influence you and help you play music I just got made fun of.

Tommy: Thanks man. I don't think I was playing too much grind when he was still around haha. He dug the death metal and thrash I would show him though, soho knows what he would've thought about blastbeats. He probably would've dug them I think

Tyler: If he dug death metal I'd like to believe he would enjoy the stuff you are doing.
Tomb Warden has a pretty strong death metal sound to it, is that something you've always wanted or just how you guys have progressed?

Tommy: That just kind of happened. I originally wanted to have a gulf coast grind style rip off band. I always used to tell people Tomb Warden is my failed attempt at writing PLF songs. I worship the Insect Warfare/Bolt Stein split and have always loved Bolt Thrower since I was a kid collecting Warhammer. Hearing Bolt Stein play Bolt Thrower riffs but still be undeniably grindcore made me want to do it too. I went a step further and found out Bolt Thrower tuned to A standard on Realm of Chaos so naturally I had to also. Also being based around DC with guitar gear experts like Genocide Pact and Ilsa, you can't slack on that. Then after some trial and error plus falling down more than a few gear nerd rabbit holes, people started saying my guitar tone was "amazing" (their words not mine) so I'd write the occasional slower jam to kinda showcase it. Surprise surprise if you slow down metally grindcore it just sounds like death metal. I do kinda have a hard time calling it deathgrind though. Most bands that I associate with that term are too polished and I really don't like the quality. Someone called us "death metal/grindcore, but not deathgrind!" On a flyer once and I dig that

.

Tyler: I would say death metal/grindcore is vastly different than deathgrind. Or at least I wouldn't assume they are the same thing.

Tommy: I would normally but I've seen enough deathgrind bands call themselves that I don't know who to believe anymore

Tyler: I'd say deathgrind means less than what powerviolence means.
Speaking of powerviolence, do you do a lot of writing with brainpan?

Tommy: I'd say I used to do a little more than 50% when we were still feeling out what our sound was. Now I probably do a little less than half. Rob's been on a roll lately and I think we've hit our stride stylistically. The album is almost 50/50 I think

It shows. It sounds great and some diversity to the songwriting. Is there something you bring to the band that Rob doesnt and vice versa?

Tommy: Appreciate it man! Glad someone with sick taste digs it haha. Rob has said in the past I write confusing riffs but all the weird feeling, ugly ones are his haha. He's rubbed off on me a bit so my newer stuff is getting gross. I'm excited for the new stuff already. Rob feels stuff in a way I just don't know how to. Downside of getting an education in this kinda thing. My mind has to analyze shit and I need to be able to "make sense" of it. He just goes for it and that's really where our sound comes from I think. His little twists on my riffs make us sound like a unit.

Tyler: You work well together cause there is plenty of variety in the songwriting and riffs.
Do you write everything for Tomb Warden?

Tommy: I do yeah. Occasionally Paul has different beats in mind for certain parts and these days they complement the riffs pretty well. I've written 148 songs for Tomb Warden so far, but we've only learned a fraction. Still need to write a ton of lyrics also.

Tyler: 148? god daaaamm

Tommy: Haha Yup. I used to get bored alot and I would write whatever style I would be obsessing about. Brainpan also has like 40 songs we haven't visited yet, but those are far more likely to be fucked with since our style is more defined now
All that being said, I can't say there are 148 bangers. I can confirm at least 10 are garbage

Tyler: At least you can admit it.

Tommy: Oh I've written well over 100 bad songs across all my bands. Unfortunately some were recorded

Tyler: I have a few more questions for the interview. Are there any local bands or people that motivate you to push yourself musically?

Tommy: Totally. In terms of active bands, Ilsa and Genocide Pact are two huge influences, both sonically and musically. Foehammer as well were huge specifically for Tomb Warden trying to get as heavy as I could while still being coherent. DMV grindcore in general has been incredibly welcoming and inspiring. Mind As Prison especially was the band that got me playing grind again and pushed me to start Tomb Warden. In terms of people, my roommate Demir Soyer has been one of my best friends and writing partner since we were 18. He just joined Genocide Pact as their 2nd guitarist. He's also lead guitarist in my band Execution Hour and plays in the ridiculous death metal band Perpetuated along with John and Paul from Tomb Warden. Rob from Brainpan is also a huge inspiration. He's probably sick of hearing it, but his work in Salome was huge for a local kid like me. It's nuts I get to make music with him. Of course there's also Chris Moore. Man's a grindcore superhero

Tyler: You got some heavy hitters in your area for sure. Compared to other areas in the country what do you think the DMV area offers to grind/hardcore/pv/etc that you dont see in other areas?

Tommy: I can't speak too comparatively to other areas, but from what I've experienced, the scene is way more welcoming and kid friendly. All Ages is practically a necessity and we're lucky enough to have the majority of our venues go the extra mile to ensure kids are welcome, even to shows at breweries. There used to be a whole wave of kids starting hardcore bands like every month in DC but that's died down a bit. Luckily we still got some kids starting bands and this time not just in hardcore. Needle is great example. Their drummer just turned 18 while on tour with Tomb Warden and I think you'll agree he kills it live.

Tyler: Needle was a pleasant surprise and their drummer crushes. Its cool that there is a scene that does have a youth focus cause it seems the opposite in most places. Okay so last question: anyone you wanna shout out?

Tommy: Shout out to my parents who've been putting up with my bands (good and bad) practicing in their basement since I was in 7th grade. Props for not backing down when I bought real amps haha. Also shout out to anyone who supports good, local bands. Emphasis on good haha

Tyler: Thank you very much for answering my questions, this came out great.

Tommy: Thanks for the interview man it was fun! Hope I don't sound like an asshole at any point haha, Or at least the wrong kind of asshole

Tomb Warden and Brainpan both put out releases very recently that are killer. Check them out below!

Tomb Warden
Brainpan

~Tyler Hammer

Systematically Slicing Achilles Tendons

It took me WAY to long to finally get this split, like seriously way to long. I was finally able to buy one from Suicide of A Species, and finally hearing the whole thing in full my expectations were totally met. I knew this split was going to be brutal, but holy fuck this is some next level grind. Sulfuric Cautery from Ohio, one of the bands impressing me the most these days. And Incinerated, a low-end worship, Mortician style grind band from Australia. Released on a large amount of labels, mostly familiar faces. 33 RPM.

I'll start off with Incinerated, since they won my imaginary coin flip. This is a band that I had never heard of until Sulfuric announced this split with them months ago. I'm not sure why they've done such a myriad of splits with groups from Australia (outside of Australia's trait of producing nothing but insane bands), but they've all been pretty exciting new finds. Incinerated's music just lays waste to everything, this is just complete and total iron-fist-to-face, merciless, brutal grindcore. The low-end will make your guts rumble if you listen to this loud enough, it feels like just about everything is tuned down. The vocals stay consistently guttural, nothing but lows as well. The great thing is that Incinerated actually throw in some insane grooves and slower parts that really knock your shit around. Obviously, there's a ton of Mortician worship on here; the incredibly detuned guitars, constant hyperblasting and breakdowns. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with that right? Completely savage music, goddamn.

Now normally a side like Incinerated's would smoke any other band who shared the record with them. But Sulfuric Cautery without question hold up on their end with six tracks of some of the fastest, chaotic grind I've ever heard. SC wisely/frustratingly don't put any of their recordings online, aside from a lone track give or take. So that special kind of eagerness to actually listen to this whole thing was very aggressive. This is probably my favorite recording of theres to date. It's loud, beefy, the drums are as annoyingly loud as they should be, it is really some of their best. Captured by Doug Long actually. The snare pings out so loudly, and the bass drums almost turn into just a low tone because of how fast they're going. It's chaotic, speed gore at really some of it's finest and most enjoyably fucked up. The real deal right here.

The cover art and design of this package is wonderful. That's some great original art right there. Can't tell if it's a painting or what, but it's a real joy to see and hold.

I feel like this record will be hard to find once it's properly sold out, so buy it now. One of the most brutal records I own! Check out Acid Redux Productions, Misanthropic Ignorance, Lysergic Meltdown, Blast Addict and Grindfather to score a copy.

~VII

Chokin' On Bones

Another Haggus split 7" post today. I've been trying to slowly catch up on all these new records that keep coming out this year. This split 7" with Heinous, an awesome gory grind band from Phoenix, AZ. was put out by a whole crew of labels (Suicide of A Species, Grindfather Productions, Fuck Your Life Records, Morbid Reality Records, and Not Kvlt Records). This is the standard black vinyl press, I couldn't find a clear vinyl copy, 33 RPM.

I'll start off with the Heinous side, which was released a little earlier than this split as an EP called "Four Under The Floor". This definitely stands as my favorite material the band has done so far. The five songs on here just straight up slap. Starting off with the devastatingly heavy track, "Chokehold", which is about as good as a first song gets. That slam part in the middle gets me every time. Heinous are an interesting band for sure; rooted in goregrind but with some war metal riffs and heavy as hell slower, more groovy moments. This is probably the recording that best conveys how great the drumming is live as well, fast and tight as hell. I also really dig the guest vocals on the 3rd track, "Dissected". At first I thought that they were trying out more non-pitch shifted, low and high vocals until I realized that it was Payson from Gimp and another person who I don't recognize. Great, great stuff, I come back to this side often.

On the flip side is Haggus, who give three tracks of fun, bouncy, gory mincecore. More songs with that earlier sound and style. Coming in hot on the opener "Septic Aroma" with a pit starting mid-paced beat and guitar leads. There's not as many blast beats as I would like overall, lots of metal-ish riffs and d-beat passages that kinda just do the job but have a little too much of a bland flavor too keep eating. But it still is hard to deny that good ol' Haggus energy every time.

Got a nice, and tidy packaging job split with both bands different art styles. That Heinous art is so great. Gimme those big, bold, high contrast B/W illustrations all day!

This split should be pretty easy to find still. Again like with all of these Haggus splits, it would rule to have the cassette version as we'll.

~VII

Premature Necropsy

I feel like I keep saying this, but I was very excited for this split to come out and to finally get a hold of it. I missed out on the pre-vinyl cassette release, which would be sick to have since I kinda listen to tapes more than records these days. However, this 7" record is definitely a very much coveted purchase. I actually bought two copies of this record because I thought the first copy I bought got lost in the mail. Here's the Haggus/Acid Feast split, released by Suicide of A Species, Fuck Your Life Records, Grindfather Productions, and Bloody Scythe Records. This tri-color pressing is limited to 66 copies.

I was so excited to hear the Acid Feast side, and it was very well worth the wait. Acid Feast is straight up awesome, I don't think they have a dud release in their whole catalog, this split included. Four new songs and an groovy Ulcerous Phlegm cover to close it out. As usual, the recording is as gnarly as the stench from the putrefying insides of a crypt. Powerful, fast blast beats and crushing riffs with a smart use of groove, and catchy mincecore breaks. The songwriting is just top notch, "Parasitic Infestation (In The Coffin)" for example is just one amazing riff after another, just stomping your brains out. A real stand out track. It's just a pretty dang perfect slab of ugly, gross grind, I love this shit to death. However, very sadly Acid Feast broke up almost a year ago. Word is they have one more posthumous release coming out, fingers crossed! Jim, their guitarist plays drums for a ripping band called Disease now.

This is some of the riffiest Haggus material I've ever heard, with two lengthy tracks filling in their whole half of the record. I don't listen to crust punk at all, but I'm just gonna say that the first track, "Picnic At The Morgue"sometimes sounds like Wolfbrigade. But it has these horror/surf/death metal riffs in the first big verse. Kinda reminds me of Ghoul. It's a fun song I gotta say. Kinda silly, but I'd totally dance to this live. The closer, "Marinating In Coagulated Pus" is more of mincecore stomper, with lots of stops, and a totally rabid closer. Twin guitar leads are included. Awesome stuff, lots of variety and a jump-kick energy.

The front cover is pretty gnarly. 

I was SO happy I found the tri-colored split. It's a thing of beauty, I'm very impressed with how they look.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDE SPLIT! All the distro's I linked above should have this is stock. Please buy it.

~VII

Fascination Of Regurgitation

This wonderful 4-way split was on my want list for a long time. I'm turning into a big sucker for the 4-way splits, particularly ones that stick to the C20 time length like this one. What a great line-up of bands, put out by Ill Faith Records, Suicide Of A Species and Fuck Your Life Records. Limited to 200 copies.

So first up we have Haggus, undoubtably the hottest flame in the newest generation of mincecore bands. These four tracks were actually recorded back in 2015, pretty close to the beginning of the band. The vocals were recorded in 2017 however. This is more of that classic Haggus sound before they became more of a down tuned, goregrind band. Lots of major key, punky riffs, polka beats, and fun, catchy breaks and transitions. This is the kind of sound that made me really fall in love with Haggus back in the beginning, top notch mincecore riffing!
Meatus are up next. For those who don't know this is a long-going solo project from Joe of Archagathus (and Cannibalism, Violet Gorge, Raw Addict, etc). Joe is a grindore madman, constantly creating and recording some of the roughest and most real brutal music. The fidelity and volume level just fucking drops as soon as Meatus starts going. It was shockingly quiet, I had to really crank up my stereo. This stuff just sounds so gross and raw, I have no idea what kind gear you need to record on to make it sound this way. I love it. Completely raw and uncompromising goregrind, with plenty of sick riffs clawing through the muck.

I actually mainly picked up this tape for the Disemboweler tracks, to be honest. Disemboweler is a Simpson's themed, brutal grind group duo made up of Brandon Denetsosie (who runs Ill Faith records and contributes to many grind projects in the Arizona scene), and Chris Tapo, who is by far the person I trust the most to deliver the hardest gory grind I'll hear. This is the real deal stuff, it's fucking heavy, slamming, slapping grind. Just straight up, to the point brutality with punishingly heavy drums, vocals and meat-shredding riffs. Not to mention I always appreciate a good Simpson's sample. Definitely the highlight of the whole tape for me, I really dug this quarter a lot.
The Disembowler side ends with a looped sample that goes on for an almost disorienting amount of time. Which goes right into the rawest portion of this 4-way split, a band called Albratos. I had never heard anything about this band before, and according to their little bio in the jcard they were never really active at all. This quick little spurt of songs is insanely rough and sloppy. Almost like they just never picked up instruments at all before hitting record and just went for it. I can dig that a lot most of the time, but this was just a little bit "meh" for me. It didn't really have that punch in any of the instrumentation that really grabbed me, like a gross guitar sound or a sharp snare tone. Nothing terrible, just not my favorite of this whole tape.

This tape looks and sounds great, a top notch, quality job all around. The red cassette was a very nice choice of color. I also like how both side ends with the much more lo-fi sounding bands. 

There are 200 of these things floating around in the world, so you should have no problem scoring a copy if this interests you. Buy from the labels!!

~VII

Lupara Bianca

Here's just a quick post about the cassette version of the recent Deterioration EP, "Lupara Bianca". I'm not gonna go into much detail with this one, since most of my opinions will mirror Tylers from his earlier post about this release. This is the cassette version, self released on Deterioration's own label, Shattered Dreams Productions in a run of a think 50.

This thing sold out almost as soon as it went up. I got mine from Acid Redux Productions, who were thankfully stocking a few copies. This definitely ranks as one of my favorite Deterioration releases so far. Great, heavy recording, super tight and catchy riffs and drum syncopation, good flow from track to track, and a good chunk of song writing variety. The ending to the last song, "I'm Actually Wearing A Lot Of Explosives Right Now" is one of the most intense bits of grindcore this year, totally unrelenting. I definitely have found myself returning to this tape a lot out of all the Deterioration releases I own, and will probably be on my favorites of 2018 list. These guys just can't stop!

Got a nice, to the point layout without anything flashy in the packaging. The jcard feels like its made of photocopy paper. Great sounding cassette though, undoubtably a professional dub job.

Maybe one of the best/dumbest spine fonts I've seen. You don't see many bands fuck with all lower case Times New Roman. The only thing that would have made it more extreme is Comic Sans.

Great EP from one of the best American grindcore bands. I hear that this is supposed to come out on a 7" too at some point, so if you missed out on the CD, cassette, or 8-track, keep an eye out for that.

~VII