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

Human Garbage Disposal

I was after the Sulfuric Cautery/Suppression split for longer than I wanted to be. Every day that I didn't have this tape in my hands I died a little more inside. It's hard for an east coast boy like me to find releases from bands like this in the wild. I haven't been able to find any of the recordings on the internet too which made my interest in it all the more extreme. Now I finally have it, I was able to pick it up when I saw Suppression in Detroit, and it's a thing of beauty. 

Sulfuric Cautery are probably underground grindcore's most beloved band right now, and for good reason. They really do take speed and brutality to a whole other level. Some of the craziest shit I've heard in years. I think their side is one of the first that had Trashy from Pizza Hi Five in the line-up. It's fucking great, obviously; noisy, brutal, the perfect fix for a blast beat junkie. Trashy and Ryan spew their respective vocals constantly in a wash of chaotic roars. Issac does what Issac does, the most insane blasting you've ever heard. It's a total slaughter fest from the beginning, to the ending batch of noisecore songs. Sulfuric's mix of complete chaos and precise song structure is in a league of it's own, and this side is a great example of all their strengths. 

Suppression are the supreme lords of their craft right now, a fucked up and lo-fi noisecore/powerviolence/noise rock hybrid. I have no idea how they are able to write this many songs at such a rapid pace, but they do, and here we get 16 total bangers. Legitimate, composed songs with lyrics, each one distinguishable from the last. From full on noisecore, to riffy, fuming stompers. What other band can put pitch-shifted vocals over a twisted Minutemen/Lightning bolt style bass riff and a blast beat and have it be amazing? Another real stand-out is the track "Art in Death"; I adore how the drum rhythm matches up with the delayed and looped bass hits. Seeing how perfectly they pulled the track off live only cements their perfection. It also ends with a wonderful 2 second track, a wonderful final hit.

I love the cover art on this. A wonderful Pettibon style/"The Burning" mash-up. This tape was a joint release by Chaotic Noise Productions, Feel Good Grind, Blast Addict, and Grindfather for the overseas crowd. I suspect Jason from CNP/Suppression had the biggest part in assembling them, as the general layout and packaging is pretty familiar. I also love the groovy, textured boarder on the cassette itself. Little details like that help make releases stand out to me.

In closing, you should already know.

~VII

Prince Of Reality

I've posted my list of favorite records from 2017 in a couple places on the interwebs. Several of them individually on here over the year too. I'll try to catch up on a few that I feel compelled to talk about (the new Hummingbird Of Death LP and Beggin For Oxy's 7" to name a couple). This record right here though, was by far the my most listened to and cherished piece of wax that was released last year. One of my new favorite grind records, the BxSxRx/Parlamentarisk Sodomi split 12", released by Haunted Hotel Records. On orange/brown split vinyl, limited to 500, 33 RPM.

Everyone and their dog knows Parlamentarisk Sodomi; the one-man grind band brilliance from Norway. Mandated entirely by a person known by many names, mostly by Steinar. We all know him, we all love him. Mr. Steinar released multiple records from his many bands and projects in 2017, all of them absolutely fantastic. Nowadays Steinar has taken a liking to releasing split records with another one of his own projects, in this case it's BxSxRx. Basically P.S. as a trio, featuring people from Laserguys and Hellstorm. 

I love Parlamentarisk Sodomi dearly, and their side is great and I'll get to it. But the BxSxRx side, this is my jam. I've listened to their side probably close to 100 times this year. It's some of the most exciting, refreshing, original and if I dare say, rocking grindcore I've heard in a long time. Coming in at over 20 minutes, their half could be a full LP as it is. Consisting mainly of reworked and rerecorded versions of songs from their "Böyfil II" demo, plus a couple new ones. Steinar's signature wrist-snapping riffing is crystal clear, so sharp and accurate it's almost superhuman. Lots of chromatic chord progressions and guitar techniques, like hammer ons and atonal chords that stand out. The guitar tone is bright and very slick, but with the backing bass and drums everything sounds incredibly full and almost chaotic. The drums in particular add a very interesting sound. Often times they are quite loose, almost like they're trying to keep up with everything going on. It's a very interesting dynamic, if you can call it that. Especially when coupled with the razor sharp precision of Steinar, and you can audibly hear the drummer finding the groove. All that said though, it fucking works, and it really makes sense when put in context with the sound of BxSxRx. They are loud, cartoony, and over the top. 

I gotta talk about the vocals too, probably my favorite part of the band. All 3 of them contribute on the pipes, and they are off the wall bonkers. Sometimes taken to such an extreme over the top level it reaches absurdity. But they're so engaging and captivating, I just adore them. I can't remember a grindcore band I could take seriously that had low growls that sound like the Gungan leader from "The Phantom Menace" ("Anal Queen Of Minor Preperations"), or have cock rock falsettos mixed with NY thrashcore bro vocals. Everything is just taken to such a perfect level and it's all wholly original. Although I have to admit they cut back on the zaniness of them compared to the demo, which is truly demented. I consider this to be perfect grindcore, I'll listen to it for many years to come, and I hope the band records more material in this lifetime. 

Now all that being said, the Parlamentarisk Sodomi side is probably the part of this release that will have people scratching their heads the most. I remember going in when this was first released, the sound was shockingly different from what I was used to. Gone were the crust soaked, hammer blasting, catchy compositions, in place of a more Psudoku styled space/future grind sound. A year later, it's definitely as extreme and polarizing as it was back then, but I love it a whole lot more. Steinar apparently had many interesting opinions about Scion getting it's cold, industrial mitts into the grindcore world when these pieces were being made. It blatantly and ironically dedicates this whole recording to the importance of merging automobiles in contemporary grind. Har har har. 

Essentially, this plays out as a cybergrind record through and through. Instrumentation and sonic production that's programmed to play, and sound inhuman. It's very cold, claustrophobic, and does not give you any room to breath. As a rabid consumer of hard-to-take-in music, I love it for that reason. The kick drum and the rapid, ever changing guitar and bass riffs become completely hypnotic at points, and you transcend through the wormhole into the cyber realm. Like the Mahavishnu Orchestra on "Breaking Bad" style blue crack, or Magma performing on a rocket getting sucked through a black hole. 

All these recordings were recorded over the course of 2011-2014, a bit of a lull point for Parlamentarisk Sodomi, but just around when Psudoku and Brutal Blues started putting out records. It's easy to see where Steinar's head was at at this time. Especially when listening to the bombastic, almost circus music sounding track "Total Sodomi". Or the ending piece,"Schlammgebert", featuring vocals from Ouchsock Panzer. Which has to be one of the most intense and completely insane songs ever made by this project. It definitely ends this record off with a huge bang! Completely nailing a concept and performing with the most impressive accuracy, Parlamentarisk Sodomi has done it once more. 

This first came out late in 2016 I believe, in Europe thanks to Grindfather Productions, who released it on cassette. Haunted Hotel Records gave it a well deserved vinyl treatment here in the states and did a superb job. A nice, sturdy double sided insert, and a full color double sided jacket. The vinyl looks and sounds fresh as hell too. I'm obviously hyping this up as an essential record, so if you haven't listened to or bought this yet, you're a fool.  

~VII

Radiation Mutation

First post of the new year! I'm not really much for resolutions and all that malarky, but I do intend to increase my productivity on this blog, and already a steady stream of interesting tapes and records are coming my way. Maybe some interviews will start actually happening too, who knows. Let's just get right into the real meat of this post though, and talk about this Cystoblastosis/Deterioration split tape I picked up last year. Not sure how many copies were made, but there are a few different variants over the three labels that put it out; Thoracopagus Records, Grindfather Productions, and Shattered Dreams Productions.

I finally got to witness Deterioration for the first time last year and it was probably the best grindcore set I've ever seen. It was a pure, angry grind barrage and they stopped maybe twice their whole set. I was floored from beginning to end. This is one of the new recordings to have a bassist on it and as usual the band delivers. Brutal riffs and screams, constant blast beats, in your face genuine grindcore. With the bands usual presence of charm of course. The opening of "Beat That Nerd To Death" is pure genius, you have to hear it for yourself. Theirs also an excruciatingly long field recording of all of them eating into a microphone, which almost makes me gag. Killer stuff as always, y'all already know!

Some of you may or may not know Cystoblastosis; a brutal mince/goregrind band from Russia that has been really kicking ass the past couple of years. Their releases perfectly blend the line of having quite good recordings, but still managing to have a pretty vicious and raw sound. Playing to their strengths and delivering quality gore! You'll find all the mince riffs you could want, with the frantic and spontaneous energy to match. It's simple and familiar, but very strong. This stuff is genuine as hell, and definitely checks all the marks I look for in this kind of grind. Everyone should definitely check out Cystoblastosis, snare drum ring on!!

I'm not sure if this is the Shattered Dreams version or the Grindfather one. It's definitely not the Thoracopagus edition, that one has slightly different cover art. The packaging is crispy as hell, with a nice multiple panel J-card printed on very sturdy card stock. The dub is pretty good, not great. The snare drum is really buried on my copy, which is a pity because both bands have quite favorable snare sounds. I can live with it though, it's still good.

There will probably be quite a lot more Deterioration posts this year, and hopefully some more Cystoblastosis ones. If we all aren't blown up that is. Welcome to planet Earth everyone!

~VII

Cutdown

Last year you might remember me posting about a lil' grind band from Connecticut called Gowl. Their infamous 7" EP, "BLURRR" took my heart and ears captive and was my favorite grindcore EP of 2014. It was a chaotic, suffocating, distorted storm of music. Full of attention grabbing riffs, grooves, and some incredibly fast drumming. "BLURRR" was all around wonderful, and the world has sat patiently ever since waiting for their first full length which was teased about. Before that however, Gowl has given us this new demo tape called "Cutdown". Containing some first drafts of songs from the full-length 10". Which was announced would be handled by Mass Deadening and Grindfather Productions. My copy was generously supplied by the band for a review. Limited to 50 copies on orange tapes. Same songs on each side.

Hopefully this tape doesn't mean that the album will be pushed back a lot longer (though with the overflow at the pressing plants currently I don't doubt it), as this tape supplies a lot of mysteries. No track listing or titles are present anywhere on the tape or online. From what I can tell there are nine songs on here, in just under 10 minutes. Gowl's usual blend of chunky death metal riffs with noisegrind's atonal chaos and frenzied hyberblast tempos still remains, and their songwriting has progressed into longer songs, and even more blasting. Seth's deep roar is more up front and clear in the mix then most previous efforts, riding their own unique pattern.
The sound of the recording really does nothing to compliment these songs however. I know it's a demo, and I certainly am not put off by a raw recording. But this kind of roughness just makes everything sound flaccid. Nothing is loud or overblown and mean. And that being the case, a lot of what's on this tape kind of goes in one ear and out the other for me. Unlike "BLURRR", a lot of the riffs don't have that aggressive punch or addictiveness that rough recordings can give music. It also doesn't help that my copy has a dub that is a little iffy. The cymbal hits all have this flanged/washed sound that's a bit distracting. I do hear parts and songs that I know would sound great with a better recording, so I'm not applying a lot of judgement on the 10" based on the sound of this tape. I do certainly hope it improves though.

Fantastic collage art again from Seth.

You can listen to a much better sounding version of this demo right HERE, and also find out how to write the band to order a tape. Bring on that 10"!

~VII