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

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

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

Chopped and Slopped

The mash up of Australia and the American Midwest is a beautiful combination. While these regions may be separated by thousands of miles both have scenes that want to create the most punishing grindcore known to man. On this split we have Sulfuric Cautery from Dayton/Lima, OH who have been crushing the goregrind/grindcore game the last few years. On the other side we have Take That Vile Fiend which consists of Brad of Radical Blarghst and has played in bands like Internal Rot, Holy Boner, Super Happy Fun Slide, and more. 

The TTVF side is goregrind to the max. The guitars and bass are a bit muddy but regarding the overall sound it helps, as it gives the recording a super gross sound. The vocals are pitch shifted well and are very deep without getting too lost in the mix. Drumming is on point with tight grooves and mince beats countered with hyper fast blasts. The snare has a nice ping to it that cuts through just right. Each song begins with a sample and because of this I wish there was another song or two as the songs on this have exactly what I am looking for in goregrind. Overall a solid chunk of music that plays through really well. If you haven’t heard their full length "Excreted Brain Matter" it is worth checking out.

On the other side we have Sulfuric Cautery bringing 6 tracks of their signature, over-the-top gore/grindcore. The tracks flow together really well just like the TTVF side. Their side kicks off with a drum fill with possibly the most ridiculous snare drum tone. I say ridiculous but it works well with that sound being pushed so far up in the mix compared to the bass and guitars. Listening to this I wish the guitars and bass were a bit clearer but their tones overall sound great for what they are doing. The songs are jammed packed with riffs and within a short time which gives the songs a very spastic nature without it sounding like disjointed. These boys are on top of their shit and are not holding back at all and it really shows on this recording.

Several great labels helped put this out including Radical Blarghst and Blast Addict which are run by Brad and Isaac respectively. The record is a nice dark blue and plays great. Overall this is a fantastic record and definitely worth checking out. Sulfuric Cautery are making huge waves in the US scene and Australia pumps out tons of great grind. 

~Tyler Hammer

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

Traumatic Haematomyella

I bought this tape solely off the Sulfuric Cautery side. I've been pretty slack at getting their releases, but I'm gradually getting around to picking things up here and there. They're definitely one of the more exciting grind bands to come out in the past few years, and hearing about their hyper intense live shows makes me hope I catch them live soon. I had only heard Metastasis and Butcher M.D. by name, but many people with tastes I trust have recommended them in the past so I figured I couldn't go wrong with this tape. Released back in 2015 by Campaign For Musical Destruction, every band is on one side, limited to 50 copies.

Metastasis is up first; a one person goregrind band that gives us some pretty solid tunes overall, but it didn't blow me away here. The recording is super raw, the snare pops out rather loudly, but the cymbals and guitar have that windy/washy sound that sounds like it was recorded on a bad tape machine. The guitars do have a thick tone sometimes, and the drums are performed pretty well, just nothing spectacular.

Butcher M.D., a duo drum machine goregrind band featuring Erwin from Last Days Of Humanity, comes up next and instantly won me over. The better recording quality and rapid blasting was like a gunshot after Metastasis. They are actually probably my favorite band on this tape. The drums sound quite good and are programmed really well, with a nice balance of blasts and mid-tempo sections. Super chunky guitar and bass too, it definitely has an early LDOH sound. Super brutal and crushing in all the right ways, I dig it a lot.

Going right back to blasting raw fidelity, Sulfuric Cautery close the tape out with 4 originals and a Gore Beyond Necropsy cover. I'm heavily fascinated by just how extreme these dudes take grind, the speeds these two reach is just massively impressive and exhilarating. Their songs are almost exhausting, but catchy at the same time. At this point, S.C. wasn't even really doing that much with the gravity blast/hyperspeed blasting like on more recent recordings, and it's still fast as fuck. The guitars are a noisy, blurring mess, but there is obviously a structure to every song. A rad batch of gore/noisecore blasting craziness, can't wait to hear more.

The J card is a photocopied and multi-paneled, the layout looks nice and rough. The tape sounds really good too, all the tape his or washed sounds only comes from the bands own recordings.

~VII