Days Turn Black

For those of you living under a rock, Infest have been pretty active for the majority of the year, playing shows all over the US. One of those dates was at this years Maryland Deathfest, which of course, was a huge deal. I believe it was their first ever appearance on the East Coast, and I was fortunate enough to bare witness and experience it. I met someone there who came all the way from Australia to see the show even! Fantastic show, as expected, and they actually got a special releases for these shows out. It's something I was actually wondering if they would do, any sort of new material would be huge. Low and behold when I walked up to the merch table, they had a new 7", which I promptly bought. Infest - "Days Turn Black", 1-sided 7", 45 RPM.

Not exactly "new" material, just unreleased. All of the four tracks on here were unreleased cuts from the "No Man's Slave" session. And honestly, it's pretty obvious why the tracks were left of the album. The three originals on here aren't really all that great. At best, it's just mediocre Infest songs. A couple weirder riffs are thrown in that don't really work, but the Negative Approach song at the end is decent. Not a strong release on it's own, but I'm still very happy to have it.

A nice, sturdy glued sleeve, with the credits and info very unfortunately printed on the inside of the sleeve. Whyyyyyyy.

~VII

Preprogrammed

Another Hygiene Records release, the first vinyl record they ever released. The fantastic Abuse. - "A New Low" 7" EP, pink vinyl, 45 RPM.

I also did a review for this at Operation Grindcore, so again, I won't go into much detail. Long and short of it, if you want a really super solid hardcore/violence record, you can't go wrong with this. One of my favorite EP's of the year, by far. Their upcoming full length is definitely one of my most anticipated records of the year, the tracks that I've heard so far have been amazing. This pink vinyl variant is actually limited to 40, some sort of weird error in the pressing. Very nice to have. Check out Seitan Worship for some super Abuse. praise. Great band.

~VII

Excessive Bullshit

Hygiene Records is a newer label out of North Carolina that I have been becoming more and more loyal to with every release that they put out/help put out (it's also owned and operated by Priapus frontman Jordan Noe). Here's one of the more recent outputs, co-released by Evil Purple Bastard. Gets Worse - "Negative", transparent green vinyl, 45 RPM.

I already did a review for this over at Operation Grindcore, so I won't get into to much detail. Anyone who was a fan of their self-titled 10" last year should know what to expect. Early-Weekend Nachos worshipping powerviolence, expertly recorded and pummlingly heavy. Good stuff. The packaging is just as impressive. Thick, glossy cardstock, double sided, fold-over cover, with a thick black dust sleeve, and every copy is on green vinyl. This thing looks damn good, the pictures don't really do it justice.

I believe Hygiene Records still has copies, as should Evil Purple Bastard. 

~VII

Dead Fields

Continuing my Suffering Mind postage, here we have the very latest release from the band, the split 7" flexi with the almighty Water Torture. White flexi, 33 RPM, I believe the white is limited to 100.

Water Torture isn't the first band you would normally think of doing a split with Suffering Mind, but I'm certainly not complaining. Without a doubt, two of the most solid bands playing their style of aggressive music that are going right now. This was originally going to be a 5" (so again, one song from each band), which would have been amazing, but this flexi is definitely not a cheap last resort. Everything here looks ver neat and tidy, and the flexi itself sounds great.

Suffering Minds track is fucking great. One of the more crushing tracks I've heard from their splits. There's an incredibly heavy and kinda catchy palm muted chorus, and the snare drums is like a slap in the face with a crowbar. Water Torture went all out doom and gloom on their side, nothing they've ever shied away from. Thomas's vocals sound particularly slow and wretched, more then anything else he's put on wax yet.

Pick this up at Mannequin Reign Productions.

~VII

Suffering Mind Collection

Well, here it is. Y'all know I'm an avid collector of Suffering Mind, and here are all the records (and tape) that I've managed to acquire. I also have the split CD with Scourge Schematic, but I didn't feel like digging it out for the photo, whatever. I'm obviously missing all the lathes, and the "Gates Of Suffering" 5".

*Descending from the top*

• Split 12" w/ H.407 (Maroon vinyl)
• "S/T" 12" (White vinyl)
• Split 12" with Asshammer
• Split 7" w/ Neon Hole (Marble vinyl)
• Split 7" w/ Wojtyla 
• "Destroy Mankind" 7"
• Split 9" w/ Massgrave (Gold Edition /50 with DVD)
• Split 6" w/ Protestant (Transparent Orange vinyl)
• Split flexi 7" w/ Water Torture (White Flexi)
• Split 7" w/ The Afternoon Gentlemen
• Split 7" w/ Lycanthrophy (Marble Vinyl)
• "At War With Mankind" 10" (Clear Vinyl)
• Split 5" w/ Dead Church (Blue Vinyl)
• Split 5" w/ S.A.T.A.N. (Red Vinyl)
• Split 5" w/ Phobia (Black Vinyl edition / 172"
• Split Cassette w/ Massgrave (variant of the 9")

~VII 

I Want Nothing

Suffering Mind have been having an amazing year, continuing their ever increasing productivity with a slew of incredible releases. Their recent 9" split with Massgrave has been one of my favorite thus far, and I've really been enjoying this little unofficial series of split 5"s (and 1 flexi). Here's one of the most recent releases, the split 5" with Dead Church, blue vinyl, 33 RPM.

As usual, only one song per side from each band. So even for a 5", these records are brutally short, but each track is generally a winner. This split if no exception. Dead Church pull of the deathy/hardcore/grindcore style fantastically, going from shredding blasts to powerviolence grooves very naturally. Suffering Mind's side is a solid ripper, as this band can really do no wrong. Great riffing from Kuchar, constantly punchy.

Awesome digipack packaging with a full color gatefold. Every record was pressed on blue vinyl.

~VII

Throbbing Lung Fiber

A few months ago this was up there as a contender for my album of the year. A little beautifully nasty gem of metallic hardcore released by the quality folk over at A389 Records. The 2nd full length album from Full Of Hell - "Rudiments Of Mutilation", 45 RPM, Aqua Vinyl.

I'd probably call this the most evil hardcore record I've heard all year. Full Of Hell's other releases never really stuck with me all that well, but this record really grabbed me. The recording is completely filthy and murky, and the band just sounds like they're coming right at you to eviscerate everything. Particularly on side A, which is definitely my favorite. Side B is pretty much all down tempo, which is cool and all, but FoH really bring their all with the fast stuff in my opinion. Not a perfect record, but a definite highlight of the year. Very experimental band, probably more then people give them credit for.

I absolutely love the art and layout of this record. The collage cover totally fits with the grotesque music, and the way everything is framed and fitted is fantastic. I managed to snag one of the 3 pre-order colors, of which there was 100 of each. I chose aqua.

- VII