Slund / Maggot Bath

What is common in Australia and Slovenia? You should listen this release to understand it. Here is a split CD with two cute bands from opposite sides of our planet. When I first saw this stuff on the internet I was confused because of the cover art - the whole design is an ode to deadly form of smallpox. All of the images are really creepy, and it's hard to believe how painful and discomforting this illness is. So I expected to hear some gore tunes, but I was mistaken. Both squads are playing grindcore, but not a classic one; Slund and Maggot Bath love to make some experiments with their music. Slovenian band Slund is the first who'll begin their grind experiment on our minds. The guy behind this band really love to mix primitive grind structure with other genres. So you should listen this noise much closer to dig it. Fast grindcore mutates into weird sludgecore and then to grindcore again. Also there is some elements from metal and hardcore (especially tiny beat down pieces). A stange observation; vocals are not the main thing, as loud guitar sound and drum-machine are the main gods in this mess. Slund shows us an unusual side of the grind, and you should chose to like it or to throw it to the trash - but personally I like these tunes. Maggot Bath is creepy (in good way) toxic grind from Melbourne… It's hard to describe their music and I have a feeling that they just take stoner, doom, grindcore, hardcore, metal, and Satan's balls and whipped in a blender, haha! I know that sounds crazy, but all together these elements sound great. There are slow and fast moments, and this music is full of weird dark atmosphere and sound slime. All songs have a nice sound, it not super juicy but pleasant, same with guitar tone and drums. This is strange and unusual grind, but it worth of your time guys. Rating: 7.5/10 Slund fb Maggot Bath fb

Balance of Terror - World Laboratory (Ghastly Music)

Today's offering is the debut record from Balance of Terror - This release is 8 tracks of brutal death metal from the north of France, put out by Ghastly Music.

This came to me packaged up in a professionally done CD - admittedly, it's been a long time since I've actually opened a new CD (I’ve been spoiled by records and cassettes), but this has the look and feel of a very well put together release. Sadly, the global postal system STILL hasn’t figured out how to not break things… Anyway. I really like the art - to me, it seems like it’s a bit more appropriate for a black metal release, but I think that’s probably because of the cold colors that were used; it makes it feel winter-y to me, and my mind automatically goes to black metal. But, the art is very well done, and it does suit this release quite well.

How does it sound? Let’s find out. We open up with an intro that just kicks you right in the face with a slow death metal build up. It’s here that we get to hear the tone of everything before we break into the madness. First of all - this is a REALLY well produced release. The guitars are clear and present, the drums are tight and punchy, the vocals are brutal and right up front, and the bass brings that low end, springy feel to it. After the intro, we break right into a hyper speed blast beat and a nasty technical riff - yup, this is definitely death metal. The mix here stays consistent, and it’s really a pleasure to listen to a well mixed release every once in a while. Past the actual sound of it - how are the songs? Well, for one, they’re long. Most tracks are in the 4 to 5 minute range, and as a grindcore reviewer, this feels like an eternity. There are a LOT of really well put together riffs and transitions here, but for my tastes, I wish they cut out a lot of the filler and just kept the brutal parts. The blasting parts definitely have a grind feel, but after the first few tracks, it’s gotten pretty stale waiting for those parts.

I just want to make it clear here - if you’re a brutal death metal fan, this is a really solid release. It sounds great, and it’s good death metal. But, for my grindcore based tastes, I can really only enjoy a track or two from this release before I get bored. Listening through the whole thing kind of felt like a chore, if we’re being honest, though I started off being really into it.

Rating if you’re a brutal death metal fan: 8.5/10
Rating if you’re more of a grindcore fan: 6/10 Balance of Terror bc Balance of Terror fb Review by Nick Vecellio

Yakisoba - Embryonic Oozing

This spring, gore blast from Italy released its second work. This work is full of maggots and purulent stench, and the guys from Rectal Purulence Recs noticed that, liked it, and released it. This CDr release looks pretty primitive, but sick. There are just a few photos of surgery and a image of helminths for the back cover. Nothing much as for gore theme, but we have what we have. Regardless, I can assure you that the music inside sounds much uglier and brutal that this cover picture looks.   

Embryonic Oozing is 7 minutes of gorenoise that will make you puke. 7 songs that regular metalheads can`t handle, haha! The vocals are sickeningly brutal, these pitch shifted roars are the main things here. The guitars sounds dirty and messy, it cluttered by drum-machine and vocal. By the way, digital blast beats sounds good, their sound is not super annoying. The whole material is a bit better than debut demo, so step by step this project is growing up. Like other gore bands, this rotten unit is using different sound pieces from the movies. But Yakisoba didn`t use a regular samples from old horror films, this band is using fragments from Japanese movies, and that works perfectly with this unholy noise. As for the sound…  there is a lot work to do, it's still too raw.
I can recommend this small release to real gore fans, who are not looking for Relapse rec sound and bands with big names, because this CDr contains only poor vomiting aggression.

Rating: 7/10 Yakisoba fb Yakisoba bc Remember guys,keep the underground music scene strong by supporting the artist/band/labels.

Psychoneurosis - The Fall Of Humanity (Selfmadegod rec)

Only a lazy fan of extreme music hasn't heard that Psychoneurosis is back. After doing a successful split with AG and a bunch of cool gigs, these guys finally recorded a new album - this news cheers me up. Then, Selfmadegod Rec posted a preview song “Brexshit”... fuck...that was a brain-crashing song. So I started to wait for the whole album, and a few month later “The Fall Of Humanity” was in my hands… I guess Psychoneurosis tried to prepare/warn listeners about unexpected fast and ugly grind fights, that why they started with and elegant, atmospheric, and slow intro. I must say, that was a great idea because “Modern Technology” (the next song) is damn harsh. Death-grind riffs collide with bloody good blast/polka beats to create some of the most efficient grindcore warfare of this shitty year. I love this brand, heavy sound with a bit metal taste, that sound is like an indicator… When I hearing it I know that I`m listening a band from Poland, hehe! Anyway this balls to the wall material has a ton of great songs with cool guitar sound, blasting drumming, and savage vocals. Psychoneurosis managed to create a really badass grind product. Everything above is hidden in a well produced CD with badass cover art. Just look at this image, this crossover of “From Enslavement To Obliteration” looks gorgeous! Maybe this is a joke image, but fuck, the artist did a massive work with all elements, colors and other stuff. I freaking love this art and noise too! Rating: 8.5/10 Psychoneurosis fb Psychoneurosis bc

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Razgruha - Money Power Greed

I don`t know why but, the Grind scene in Bulgaria is very poor. There are just a small bunch of extreme squads and Razgruha is one of them. This band is not so new, they began their escapades in 2011 in Sofia (Bulgaria). 2017 was a big year for these boys, they finally release their debut album “Money Power Greed”. As far as I know Razgruha made everything on their own, I mean recording, mixing and even releasing… I must say that is true DIY spirit and I appreciate it. As for the music... These guys used all the attributes of Grindcore. Harsh social commentary lyrics, short riffs, fast blasts, etc. But this album didn't touch me, I honestly tried to dig it, but I failed. The sound is sloppy and weak, and has an overall metal sound more so than a Punk/Grind one. Most of the songs were created with good middle tempos, it`s ok for Grindcore, but I can't feel the energy in these songs. Almost all songs are literary lifeless and dry… In general there is nothing new, all the riffs and structures are old and well known. That is not necessarily a bad thing, because many bands build their Noise around that moldy formula. I guess Razgruha worked hard on this album, but the results are frustrating. I`m sure that in live action this band rips, they just had bad luck with this recording and that is it… Rating: 5.5 Razgruha bc Razgruha fb

Mangle / Fetus Christ

And we are here again with another very British split. I really don't know why people from UK so love to create such violent music, that still a mystery for me. But, I won't lie - I really like that barbaric side of that country and its citizens. Split 7” Mangle / Fetus Christ will be topic of this day... These bands deserve to be in my “badass bands from the tea island” list. Both covers are unattractive but they hide some really dreadful violence inside… The beginners Mangle punch me right into the face with just a first and single tune. This shit is really harsh and full of aggressive energy. The structure of these songs is well known to me, slow/fast formula works flawlessly. Probably I can say same about everything else here, but that is not bad at all. Mangle managed to create something stupidly dangerous with just a basic and classical elements of powerviolence/grindcore. This is the noise that boiled my mind and this is the kind of music that I can listen all night long. The only one minus in this recording it it`s a total time… it`s too short to satisfy me, haha! Be honest Fetus Christ side got bad quality, the sound is messy and hollow… but the material itself is good. This hardcore/pv has more punky taste. Tupa-tupa drums and wild screams are hilarious. Unfortunately fast parts sound just like a noisecore, guitar sound is simply disappearing in blasting moments. But on the other hand it was fun to listen this short and loud blast. Rating: Mangle - 8.5/10 Fetus Christ - 7/10

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Famine / Art Of Burning Water (Dead Heroes Records)

Recently I was flooded with a huge load of releases and it's took some time get this this small split - apologies to the label and bands! This split is presenting the extreme scene of UK, with its fast and slow sides… funny thing is, I tried to listen digital version of this split few times and every time I was bored to death. It sounds so blank and dry, must say I was unpleasantly surprised. BUT, the vinyl version sounds much better (thanks to the analog gods), it has life energy inside, so this small piece of black wax changed my mind about this release. But the sound is not the only important thing here, the cover is a necessary part too. I like this idea with band members photos, yes it looks stupid but on the other hand it`s cool. I bet that people were surprised when they saw these crazy punks making photos in a photo booth, haha! But let`s go back to the music. First band of this split is Famine from Leeds… This is not regular grindcore, these crazy homosapiens are mixing grindcore with hardcore and fastcore, the result is really great. Corkscrewing riffs stab your mind like these flying creatures in “The Birds” movie. Furious drumming is great too, there are almost no slow beats. This extreme mass also charged with different vocals which are making this music more various and interesting. The London-based trio Art Of Burning Water attacks us with 3 super heavy songs. This band is differs from Famine, their noise full of heavy hardcore and sludgecore. But it's still extreme as fuck. I really like how this hysterical vocal follow with slow/fast guitar riffs and massive tone. Rhythm section is here too, their joint work is huge and sound really impressive.
With a boiling energy pumping throughout the material, Art Of Burning Water offers a really strong and painful work that will crush your skull. Rating: 8/10 Famine Art Of Burning Water

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Vicious Circle ‎– The Price Of Progress / Reflections (Power It Up)

Vicious Circle were formed in Melbourne in 1983, this band is a living legend of violent Hardcore Punk. And it's fucking great that Power It Up Records picked them up for “The History Of Australian 80's Punk”. This reissue looks amazing, gate fold, colored vinyl and a huge booklet with old photos, posters and tons of information. Vicious Circle was honored to start this historical Vol 1, which contains the first two albums from the VC discography, 28 songs in total. Note that all of these bullets are charged with raw aggression and protesting spirit. This double LP is a great present for all nostalgic punks! Let's go back in time to 1985 when The Price Of Progress was released. This debut album is a perfect example of the consequences of uncontrolled boiling blood, youth and protest. Thirty odd minutes of simple, fast paced, furious Hardcore Punk. Hoarse guitar sound, primitive tunes, riffs and ton of fun. This is how Punk is supposed to sound, just true energy, raw power and uncontrolled speed. This music is loud and catchy it greatly differs from modern Punk and I really like it. Reflections was released in 1986, and on this album Vicious Circle made some really noticable changes. This LP contains more Hardcore material, the riffs and sound are more punching. Most of the songs are short and sharp, even the vocals sound more savage. I can't say that this is album full of fun, I think this is much more serious work and it sounds appropriate. Rating: 8/10 Vicious Circle fb

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SOOM - Джєбарс (Robustfellow)

Sometimes, just sometimes, I feel the need for slow, hellish music. Sometimes, I just want to hear something that is viciously callous and devastating. Thankfully, noise-terrorists SOOM recently released their second album Джєбарс, to be honest I expect a lot from this

full length...

Chief of the Robustfellow label gave me this tape for review. I must say, I was really surprised with its looks and design. This is some truly nerdy stuff; the colors, the form, the way the whole hardcover connected - it's really something. All polygraphy was made in Ukraine but the tapes were made and recorded in the UK. The quality of this sound just paralyzed me, haha! To be honest, I've seen SOOM live about 5 times and and they touched me only once, at the really first time with old line up, that was a show in small dirty bar, but the atmosphere and sound were amazing. Unfortunately all next times when I saw them, they had no effect on me. But I really dig their first album and hopefully “Джєбарс” is cool too…

This albums begins with long, heavy and slow intro… the whole first song is just an intro. “Вщент” is the first thing with real riffs and suffocating sound. I do not know how this tape was recorded (maybe it was done with some help from demons or something) but it sounds monstrous - my speakers go crazy with all these vibrations. SOOM produce low hypnotic tunes that could scare you. This pleasant heaviness slowly envelops you and than crushes you. Most of these songs are full of classical sludge/doom/drone elements. But that doesn't mean that this noise is a clone of famous bands. These dope-smokers have their own way, with their own specific tunes and theme of ancient magical molphars (it's something like pagan wizards). I also found a lot of noise and psychedelic experiments on this piece, guys didn`t limit themselves in music creation and that is very best.

“Джєбарс” is that mix of confusion and joy that comes from saying, "What on earth is this?" then moving to "Whatever this is, it rules!"

Rating: 8/10 SOOM fb SOOM bc

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Nak'ay / Pizza Hi Five

Grind addicts like me spend a lot of time on the internet searching for good noise. Despite the fact that this is an old release, Nak'ay / Pizza Hi Five was one of these split that I was excited to find back in 2015. I listened to it on bandcamp tons of times, this really good noise, years after I finally got a hard copy from Psychocontrol Records and damn, that day I was happiest freak in this part of the world. One of the first things that caught me was this silly art. It reminds me covers from thrash metal/crossover era. It simple, punky, aggressive and stupid; everything that we love in arts like this.    

Chainsaw riffs, blast beats and murder vocals are what Nak'ay has to offer. Side A is full of smashing riffs and heavy sound, this noise is invite you to headbang or to mosh. But there are not only short and brutal riffs I found there some nice solos and few harsh melodies (they had some death metal taste). Drum work is impressive, these blast beats are so intensive and fast. Savage vocal style is just perfect for this ugly mess. Unfortunately this side is so fucking short, I'm tired to moving the needle to the beginning of the first song, haha!

Noise terrorist from Pizza Hi Five are closing this split with really robust material. The whole side is groovy, catchy… this grindcore has more punk spirit than Nakay has. The energy of this noise is so strong it charged me, I really appreciate things like that in grindcore. Buzzing guitar is cool, cookie monster vocal is loud and crazy and the blast beats are fast… perfect ingredients for good grind pizza.

Rating: 8/10 Nak'ay Pizza Hi Five

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Bad Grind Spencer / Mindcollapse

We have talk about a lot, but there will be always some of split/album that you`ve never heard and want to talk about. For today's review I picked up a dirty and noisy split from two bands from Madrid city. Can't say that both of these squads are well known outside of their country, but Bad Grind Spencer and Mindcollapse deserve to be shown to grind fans. Please pay a bit attention for this cover. I really like this idea, the designer made fun of stupid celebrities who are wearing underground merchandise… and I agree with him, these fuckers should be punished!

Just a short static noise, and Bad Grind Spencer started to play. Hmm… all songs have traditional elements for this genre, but that didn`t make this music boring. This dirty clot of aggression has a lot of power which is nice, guitar tone is loud, screams are good and hysterical. Drums are a little bit sloppy but it`s usual thing. Unfortunately I didn`t hear the bass guitar, it's cluttered with everything else and the whole sound wasn't prepared for this format so the high and low frequency were cut off.

As far as I know this a debut work for Mindcollapse, guys used their demo for this split. These matadors are throwing 5 nasty song right into our faces. All tracks are charged with a crazy portion of ferocity and anger. Mindcollapse are mixing old raw grindcore with hyperspeed crust punk that why their noise is catchy and heavy as fuck. I really like how this harsh grind growl is compounded with all instruments. Must admit that this side sounds better than side A but it could be better.

Rating: Bad Grind Spencer - 6.5/10      Mindcollapse - 7.5/10

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Haggus / Inopexia / Pulmonary Fibrosis

I really love when a few nasty bands gather together and do splits or compilation or whatever. Originally this is an old split, it was released on tape a year go. Hard to understand why, but that wasn`t enough for the bands and labels, so they decided to release a vinyl version of it as well. This fresh release has different cover art and was released on a heavy one sided LP. The new art is so fucking cool, it looks a million times better than the old cheesy corpse art, ha! The guys from Rudolph (Рудольф) band did a great job, this mutilated monster looks bloody good! Blue background, black and white characters and band logos together they look fantastic! The autopsy of the visual side is over, now let`s dig in and cut some pieces from this noise. First blast, first riff belongs to Haggus! The American Mincegore tornado from California. Groovy, dirty, punky and full of all of the fun that Haggus usually has. Goofy riffs, simple structures and loud sound will grab you face first and pull you in the pit. There is nothing special about the guitar sound or the distorted vocals, but together they create a very great combination. Oh yeah, the hellish sound of the snare, it almost makes me deaf, haha. Russian Noise Grinders Inopexia are second in line. I've known these fucker for many years, and all the times they have suffered from line up changes. I'm glad that these troubles did not stop them. Maybe this material does not have the best sound, but it's definitely rad! The crazy blasting is literary melting my mind. The guitar is heavy and has a low tone, its buzzing sound fits really nice into this mess. And yes, this band uses pitch shifted vocal too. Pulmonary Fibrosis is closing this bile vomiting party. French Grinders know how to create high quality bulldozer noise. After all they have more than 20 year of experience, hehe. This part has all the main attributes of good Goregrind. Machine gun blast beats - yep, low and massive sound - in here! Ugly, boiling water vocals - of course. Nasty guitar - done. Every one of these songs has a light taste of LDOH, but that makes this noise even spicier. And the bad stuff, Pulmonary Fibrosis added a piece of live recording…. Well that song sounds awful, haha! I will never get why these maniacs are using live tracks with such minimal quality. Rating: 8/10 Haggus / Inopexia / Pulmonary Fibrosis

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Double Me - Destroyed In A Second

We know Italy as an impulsive and emotional nation… But, the guys from Double Me showed a ton of dead patience. Destroyed In A Second is their first full length and they poured every bit of raw emotion into this slab of wax. This album was delayed many times, master lp was denied a few times and even the recording session was delayed. It seems that this album was cursed, haha. Even the parcel with this album was lost and came to me in damaged condition after two month of waiting. So I can't skip this album, there were so many struggles around this noise, the least I can do is write a few words about it.
This material was recorded without guitars, so we have here just pure Drum and Bass Violence. I must admit that it took me some time to dig this album. The noise is not exactly what I'm used to, so I tried to listen to it again and again, and that was worth of it. The tremoring sound of the bass guitar is not super heavy, it has no ultra low or ugly distorted effects, but it sounds very nice (this is one of the strongest points of this album). The drums are a bit sloppy, but I still like them… The whole material feels slow (if I`m able to call Powerviolence slow), but I believe that is the trick, because I hear that the riffs are fast and I feel/hear good fast blasting parts, but even after my 3rd time listening my brain refused to call this noise fast. That is very tricky stuff. Ah yes, the vocals. There are a few kinds presented here, classical yelling and growls, I must say that these guys overdid it with the growls and a lot of vocal parts sound boring. Visually this LP is really hard to define as a Powerviolence release. This gray painting looks unusual, it's confusing, I believe that upon first glance, people will be thinking this is Post Hardcore but, not Powerviolence. But on the other hand this breaks the rules, which is really cool. Rating: 7.5/10 Double Me fb Double Me bc

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Krupskaya - Dawn of Shattered Silence

Many Grind fans will say that the genre can come in two flavors. First - humoristic, goofy and silly. Second - extremely fast brutal and technical. British Grinders Krupskaya belong to the second kind of grind. These maniacs are really talented and fast, but they do not sound like aNapalm Death or Terrorizer copy, they found their own way in this music. So this piece of noise is not really an album and I will explain to you why. All the songs were released previously, the guys just re-recorded them and changed some parts in them. Also there is a lovely bonus - live recordinbg. “Dawn of Shattered Silence” was released before their insane Russia tour, and the guys ended their tour in Siberia (fuck!). The noise is hidden behind a very dark and impressive cover. This drawing was made by Krupskayas drummer Edgar. Gloomy colors, cracks, owl eyes and many other elements… this art is really deep and amazing. Needless to say that his style is recognizable and it really displays the music of his band. So like the visual side, the music of these British guys is easily recognizable as well. Machine Gun drumming is the very first thing that I noticed when I heard this band the first time. High screaming vocals, and the swarming guitar and bass riffs are crazy too. But now everything above has become even faster, they've certainly improved their skills. I can call “Dawn of Shattered Silence” a very technical piece of work. Hard to believe but among that brutality I found a real melody, like in “Contaminated Dead Atmosphere”. As for the live bonus I found it pretty messy but, interesting. The vocal are cluttered with the guitar and drums which is unusual for live recording. But this is just a bonus, so it's okay. Rating: 8/10 Krupskaya fb Official site

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Cystgurgle / Vomitoma

Gorenoise is definitely not a place for cowards. The split I'm about to review will explain why. We have here two very nasty and heavy projects. Cystgurgle (Thailand) and Vomitoma (USA) have prepared for you a ton of filthy and harsh material. The sounds of sonic vomit will smash and melt you down, but on the other hand this tape is full of fun! I want start with the first name on this split, the duo Cystgurgle. My aquaintance with this act started with their 7” Regurgitant Slurp Of Mashed Embryo, I was really surprised with their massive and dirty sound and monstrous bass guitar sound. However, this material is something different. The whole concept is more borderline Gorenoise, everything is very dirty and noisy. Bass riffs have turned in some kind of mess, so its function more like background sound. The main thing that you will hear (and what will damage your hearing) is the snare sound. It's ridiculously loud and has high ringing sound. Second thing is the vocals, distorted and horrible these vocals are the audible variant of vomit stench. I must say I really dig this new Cystgurgle. The second band is a legendary one man machine, Vomitoma. Raw, liquid,putrid sound that slowly begins eating you… That's how I can describe this shit, ha! God damn, these pitch shifted vocals sound really loud and dreadful (btw, that is a mainstay here). I like the bass too, I can almost recognize some of the riffs. Here's one small but, very worthwhile addition. Live drums that were recorded by Adrian (Putrefuck). The blastbeats are a bit punky and goofy but they combine very well with the vocals. Only the last song has super annoying drum-machine that drills your head like crazy. That track was really the last nail in the coffin of cowards, haha! Rating: 8/10

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Nauseate / Camphora Monobromata / Archagathus

If I remember it right, this split should have been out at least two years ago, but due to some circumstance, this release was delayed. This CD unites 3 bands from the 3 biggest countries of our cursed planet. So welcome Nauseate - India, Camphora Monobromata - Russia, and Archagathus - Canada. As you may notice this is very Punk stuff. The cover is done in an old crusty style (black and white colors are the mainstay here, each band recorded their stuff on their own, this split oozes diy spirit what else can I say? Nauseate is the lucky band to open this mad pit. Their Grind is raw and nasty, in just the right way. Which is cool, because their first release was too messy and awful. This music has many primitive Grind/Mince elements like a moderate tempo, simple and catchy structure, dirty guitar sound and goofy vocals. You won't find anything new in this material, but on the other hand these songs are not too bad. I must admit these guys have matured, they are growing as a band and that is good. Second shot - Camphora Monobromata comes in with a nice rehearsal recording. They have prepared 6 muddy tracks for this CD (and yes, it is old stuff that was recorded 3 years ago). Generally this material is cool, but the sound is too poor and raw (in my opinion), even so I felt real aggression and power through this mud. Camphora Monobromata managed to create catchy hyper-degenerated punky rhythms that could cheer your sad ass up. We have 7 Mincing tracks from the Canadian powerhouse to close out the split. Their anger comes forward straight away; the production is tight and the sound is good. Archagathus sticks to their usual formula, there are no surprises, just old and nasty riffs which will cut your head off, haha! This material is charged with a ferocious energy and it could bite. Buzzing guitar is here, the tone is right so it sounds really great. Drums are pleasantly raw and pitch shifted growling is loud. So what else do you need for a good party? Rating: 7.5/10 Nauseate Camphora Monobromata Archagathus

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Anthropic - Tatanka

Today brings us a CD from 4 piece death grind band Anthropic. This crew has been around for a few years playing live shows, but this is their first release that isn't a demo. Let's see how these Buffalo, NY natives did for their first release!
The artwork for the CD is pretty simplistic - like it's namesake Tatanka (meaning buffalo in the Sioux language), the cover is graced with a rotting buffalo. I think it's kind of funny that these guys are from Buffalo and named the release "buffalo" in another language, but other than that, I'm not really seeing the relevance to the rest of the piece. Since there's not much to explore as far as the art or packaging goes, let's get right into the music.
Anthropic claims in their profile to be influced by 80's grindcore, crust punk, and death metal. This is pretty apparent right from the start - there's definitely a lot of influence from some of the old school bands like Repulsion, as well as influence from old school death metal bands in terms of song structure. I'm kind of failing to find the crust punk influence, however. In any case, it definitely sounds like a grind band, though the production could have used a little work in my opinion. The bass is completely lost, the guitars are pretty muddy, and the only the snare and cymbals are really present in the drum mix. The vocals are a little loud for my taste too. When I think of old school grind, I REALLY want to hear that grinding bass tone, but unfortunately it's lacking here. As far as the songs themselves go, most of them are extremely similar to one another (even for grind) and because of that, this record can get stale really quickly. There's definitely a few times where these songs can get a little sloppy, with some tempo drifting and the guitar and drums kind of losing sync. For my tastes, this kind of music needs to be tight, and I'm not so sure that was well executed.
If we're going to be honest, this is a pretty bog standard release that doesn't do a whole lot for me. I found myself pretty bored towards the end, and I'm not sure I'd give this another spin. It's not that it's bad, it's just a bit uninspired and generic.
Rating: 5/10 Anthropic bc Anthropic fb



Review by Nick Vecellio

Tomb Warden - Reflection of the Mistake

I'm not going to lie - typically when a band is labeled as "deathgrind", my initial reaction is usually "ehhhhhh". I find it's usually a poor attempt to gain crossover appeal and usually just winds up being overly simplistic death metal at it's core. Big meh. But, sometimes, a band like Tomb Warden comes around and totally proves me wrong. They definitely do deathgrind properly - the grind parts are grind, and the death parts are death, and they're stitched together in a groovy way that feels thought out and complete.

Let's start with the record itself - this 7" comes in a single fold jacket with some gritty looking cover art. There's a lot of detail to the art, and I think it fits the record that's inside of it. I'm just hoping that the look on the guys face isn't from taking a swig out of that beer bottle with a cigarette butt in it, haha!

So how does this three piece from Virginia actually sound? Right out of the gate - the first track "Eroded" starts with a ripping death metal riff into a blast and keeps up the energy from there. While that track slows down a little towards the end - we pick right back up into the grind with the next track,"Reality Plague". This is definitely a grindcore track; it's a pounding blast beat into a groove that leads us into the last track on the first side, "Bronze Bull". This song is a total knuckle dragger - I can definitely see myself lurching across a pit slamming people to this. The second side of this EP doesn't slow down either; here again, we have grind parts mixed with death metal parts, all weaved together into a putrid mess of brutality. The sound of this EP is on point; the blasts definitely kick you in the teeth and are present in the mix, and they play well with the high gain guitar tone. I love the bass sound as well - it has that very traditional grinding tone to it, and it really pulls everything together. The cavernous sounding low growls are great, and right up front like they should be. All in all, a very good sounding record that has a certain amount of rawness present within its polish.

I'm excited to see what this band does next. Rumor has it that they're going on tour in 2019, and I'm hoping that also means a new release to get my hands on. These guys definitely have their own brand of deathgrind brutatlity, and it's done right. I've listened to this EP a bunch already, and I'll go back to it in the future for sure.

Rating: 8/10 Tomb Warden bc Tomb Warden fb

Review by Nick Vecellio

Agathocles / Psychoneurosis

Do you remember Romeros movies? Do you remember how the dead came back to life? Sometimes it happens with old bands. Moldy Grind bastards Psychoneurosis are here again! This Polish squad is legendary, and it`s nice to see them alive. For the reunion split release they picked up Agathocles, well known noise terrorists from Belgium. All this noise was released under Selfmadegod records in CD format. I must say the result is very pleasant. 2 pieces of cover art (you can switch them to your own taste), band photos, lyrics and more. But in total we have here only 12 songs, that's not much but this split is really rad. After a screaming intro, Agathocles starts their attack. That's what I call real Mincecore! I want to highlight the sound of this recording session. Also I noted 1 small lovely change in these songs. Jan used a pitch shifter! Just a bit, but it helps to refresh the songs, in my opinion. They sound heavier now. Guitar buzzing like a mad hive of bees, and the drums are raw and fast and the bass is crispy. This is one of my favorite AG release from this year. Psychoneurosis do their best, the new material sounds heavy as fuck, haha! The sound has a slight Metal taste, also it`s massive and bulldozing. All the songs are dynamic and loud, so you won`t be bored. These guys used few different kinds of vocals, in my opinion that is good, because that makes the songs brighter. The guitar has rather Death Metal tone rather than Grind , but that's not bad at all. There is one thing that stands out in the swarming drumming. The cowbell sounds incredible here, it makes this Noise spicier. In the end I can only say that I held in my hands a robust split with two epic dinosaur bands. Rating: 8.5/10 Agathocles fb Psychoneurosis fb

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Sociasylum - Crossroads

Sociasylum is a new band from Estonia, playing none other than new age Grindcore. The band was formed in 2011, and Crossroads is their second album. I must admit, these guys made a lot of preparations for this massive release. The design is nice, dark colors, gloomy concept altogether these components are making a very cool image. Sound is good, a bit modern but loud and fits perfectly to all 11 songs. When I put this CD into my stereo I had to increase the volume, because I wanted to consume the atmosphere of this album. This Blackened Grind/Hardcore can bite, haha. I can't highlight any of these songs because each of them is a part of a bigger picture. The structure of many of these tracks contain disarrayed verses that lay a chaotic groundwork. I`m not particularly a big fan of modern extreme music, but the guitars with their peculiar dissonance nailed me. I like the drums, blasting parts have precise speed and sound. Besides the Grind/Crust base there is a lot of swing moshing Hardcore notes in the whole structure. That makes the music more dynamic. Of course, we have the usual problem with the bass guitar, it`s cluttered with all the other instruments (I believe that's because of the compressed sound). Thankfully that compression has no effect on the atmosphere of the whole album, so it sounds deep and dark. Rating: 8/10 Sociasylum bc Sociasylum fb

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