Archagathus / Haggus - Split Tape

Haggus are easily one of my favourite bands right now, simply for having the perfect blend of dank mincegore nailed down to a fucking tee. I love goregrind that you can dance to that also doesn't have songs about penises and bondage. Each to their own, and I do like a lot of groovy goregrind stuff, but it is currently over-saturated to fuck with a legion of shit bands. Haggus is brutal, yet with that mince/crust approach that brings with it the reality of death; the stench of gore! Fucking hanging!

Archagathus are now at the forefront of their particular niche of mincecore/goregrind, pushing that slightly restrictive variant of grind forward with a whole farmyard of bizarre vocals, not to mention perplexing and deeply, satisfyingly weird grind.

Out on cassette, and thanks to Grindfather for throwing a copy in when I bought a shirt a few months ago.

Archagathus - Dehumanizer

Archagathus are currently one of my favourite things at the moment, especially as I gear up for catching them on their European tour with the equally fucking amazing Six Brew Bantha. You could say that Archagathus came up on this whole mince-gore crossover trend that's going on, but if Dehumanizer shows us anything, it's that the band have converged these two genres from opposite ends of the spectrum (as far as grind is concerned, at least) and shat them out into their own very unique style. Expect the clarity, speed and punky-edge from modern grind, mixed with the bottomless pits of gurgly shifted vocals, horrendous shrieks and the odd sneaky little tupa tupa moment from the goregrind side of things.

I don't wanna detract from the rest of the band, but the vocals make this shit. Death growls, pitchshifter lows, Kevin Sharp impressions, and even something (or should I say someone) who sounds like the fucking parrot from Hatebeak. It's a bit overwhelming at first, but surprisingly it doesn't sound at all messy, everything has it's place and it all comes together with lethal precision, and thankfully, without overloading the mix. This full-length is only currently available on the perhaps unusual format of double cassette, thanks to a collab between Twisted Truth and Grindfather Productions. But yeah - lessons in how to do grindcore 101 - first lesson - listen to fucking Archagathus.

 Let the class begin!

Archagathus / No Thought - Split 7"

I’ve never encountered No Thought before, but I really enjoyed their mix of styles. Many bands do the whole doom-into-grind thing, but No Thought seem to pull it off rather seamlessly here, which is fuckin’ great. The production is thick and crunchy (mmmmm yummy) and based more in the low-end of the spectrum, and reminds me rather poetically of Rotten Sound mixed with early Brutal Truth. Well worth a listen, I’d wager, if you’re into both the fast and slow aspects of heavy music.

 

Archagathus seem to have a bigger line up here than usual? The over-all sound is much more polished as well, which is a first for me. I need to check the dates on these 7”s that I have; perhaps most of the Archagathus stuff I’ve heard is the older material, as this sounds fairly different to what I’ve gotten used to. Things are most definitely much tighter around the edges, and the production is not as harsh. The super-growly vokills are still evident, as is the group’s punky playing style, but everything seems to have been tidied up a bit. Still sounds fuckin’ cool though!

 

This 7” was released by the Uranium Overdose label.

Archagathus / Maximum Thrash - Split 7"

I was expecting more from Maximum Thrash, I will be honest. I’ve seen the name around a lot over the last few years so I was rather excited about finally hearing them. I was a bit disappointed then, when I dropped the needle onto this wax and got some shitty live recording as my first impression of them. Don’t get me wrong, the band sound like they’d be great, but there’s nothing worse than shelling out money for a 7” and it turns out to be of a crappy live recording. As their side progresses we do get some studio material, which is really good, but…c’mon guys!

 

Archagathus seem a lot more “guttural” here than in any other instance that I have encountered them.  Burping over the thrashy, punk-tinged mince sound is a heavy, almost pitchshifted-sounding gore/death metal low vocal. It’s a bit loud but it doesn’t detract from the overall sound. I guess it’s a kinda hails to Agathocles, who’ve often used the pitchshifted vocal over a punkier sound. The third track, “Nazi Smash” has the most insane groove, and it really makes me want to see Archagathus play live (do they even play shows?).

 

All in all, this split is pretty good, but I get the sneaking suspicion that better material exists (from both bands) on other releases. This 7” was put out in a collaboration between Witch Bukkake Records, Mercy of Slumber, Stockroom Records and Grindfather Productions.

Have a goosey at this playlist, which contains the whole split!

Six Brew Bantha / Archagathus - Split 7"

I've been on a Six Brew Bantha kick recently, after finally crawling out from underneath my rock and realizing just how fucking awesome they are. Their sound here is a bit lo-fi, but that's never stopped anyone before and Six Brew Bantha blast and thrash through some fucking livid grindcore! Man, what I would do to see these guys! Someone with a lot of money fly them to the UK already and take my fucking ticket money! Randomly they remind me of Spoonful of Vicodin on this recording, although I much prefer Six Brew to the former.

 

Archagathus are another band name that I have seen here and there and fucking everywhere for a long time. Finally getting around to hearing them I realize that I am missing out on yet another awesome fucking grindcore band (although Archagathus describe themselves here as "mince core" and "raw punk", which are pretty accurate tags). The sound is a bit clearer than the Six Brew side, but every bit just as amazing. Another fantastic band for me to obsess over on Discogs! This shit is getting rediculous! Ha ha!

 

This 7" was released as a collaborative effort between Bullshit Propaganda Records, Coffee Grinder Records and Black Raven Records. I don't know how many copies of this exist, but it's probably gonna be about 500.