xBräiniax Hates You

Got a package from Give Praise Records recently, taking advantage of their crazy good sale where everything they've released was only 2 bucks!! I bought a few GP titles, as well as this; the xBrainiax/Lettuce Vultures split 7", black vinyl, 33 RPM.

I probably should have known that this split was gonna be rubbish, just from looking at the horrible artwork on xBrainiax side. Truly, this is the worst material I've heard from them. Not only are the songs not great, but the recording is just dreadful. Very thin and tinny recording, and the vocals sound like they have this weird effect on them. Very disappointing. I haven't even bothered with the Lettuce Vultures side yet, as I have no hope for it.

wtf^

This is a very nice package however; a sturdy glued-sleeve made from thick cardstock, full color, and an insert. Typical xBrainiax aesthetic with the insert and on the center label, which I love. At least it's a pretty record to look at. 

You can find this in numerous distros. Get it if you want every xBrainiax record like me, otherwise I'd say pass. 

~VII

Are You Okay?

Yet another xBrainiax post, I've just been devouring all their releases lately, such an awesome band. This is their split 7" with No Comply, released on several labels( including To Live a Lie and 625 Thrashcore), black vinyl, 33 RPM.

Out of all the xBrainiax splits I have, this has to be my favorite. Don't ask me why though, cause there's not a whole lot of things that make this any more unique from the rest of em. There are a lot more "slow-riff-for-a-few-second" bits though, the last songs has a great groove, and they do a ripping cover of Lack of Interest's "My Life" at the end. Killer artwork for there side too, seek this one out.

The No Comply side is significantly not as good, but still good a the same time. I want to fall completely in love with this band, but there's just something keeping me from doing so. I dig the loud, explosive, lo-fi recording on there side, and the bass tone is nice and grating, but I guess when you put it next to xBrainiax it just sounds less exciting. I don't know, cool band none the less.

Star Wars mixed with MITB, phenomenal. 

~VII

Deprogrammed

Another xBrainiax post for today. This is the very recent 12" vinyl pressing of their first full-length "Deprogrammed", released this month on To Live a Lie, who also released the CD version prior. Gatefold packaging, mess(shit) vinyl, 33 RPM.

Phenomenal record! Pure, unadulterated fastcore deliciousness. 31 tracks in all, 30 of which take up side A. The last song takes up the entire B-side and almost half of the albums length. There are 2 more slower/midtempo songs on the A-side, but other than that, every other song doesn't break the 1 minute mark. I can't even imagine memorizing how to play all these songs, props to the musicians here. 

Very nice glossy sleeve and a wonderful gatefold. All in full color!

Very nice 2-page insert too, but kind of a bummer that there are only lyrics to the first song(I guess, the vocals don't really follow the lyrics). Overall though, a great packaging job from TLAL.

Here's another picture where I tried to show off all the rings, though it's not as good as the last one. 

~VII

Hail Fastcore

I've been on a serious, serious fastcore binge lately. It's been wonderful. I've had a ton of fastcore splits, 7"s and 12"s come in recently, and I've loved every single one of them. The next few posts are gonna be focused on some of these blasting gems, starting with this one; the xBrainiax/Dead Radical split 7", black vinyl, 33 RPM.

Dead Radical are my newest fastcore love, I'm definitely gonna try and get all the releases I can from this band. 19(!) songs on their side, seamless transitions of blasting, tempo changes, technical hardcore futzery. It basically sounds like one long song, and I greatly admire this bands skill. The bass player especially, he pulls out some super interesting bass licks all over this beast. This is definitely the type of release that you have to "study" to fully pick it up. There are tons of things that you'll miss the first time you hear it.

Same goes for the xBrainiax side, definitely one of the reigning titans of fastcore(though there were rumors of them breaking up, but I also heard they just changed some members). They're side is definitely has more distinguishable "songs", but still beyond crazy and intricate. They also pull out the cliche slow song at the end. Still awesome.

Typical Dead Radical aesthetic on this. Smeared ink artwork and messy fonts. They also have a thing for hand stamping the center labels of their records, which is kinda interesting. 

This last picture is the xBrainiax side, for some reason I looooooove looking at all the "rings" of the record. Really cool and striking, maybe I'm alone in this. Who cares...

~VII