Weekend Nachos - Worthless

Maybe this kinda production style on late 2000s / early 2010s powerviolence and hardcore hasn't aged all that well, but the music of Weekend Nachos surely has. The group have been quiet for a while now, but 2011's Worthless stands the test of time, as far as heavy music goes. 

Judas Cradle / Fetus Christ - Split CDr

(June 2019 edit: this should have been posted years ago, so please excuse the promotional tone in which it is written!)

Okay, so here it is, the first release on the new Lines In Wax "label", the glorious split EP between thrashing Newport grinders and Hereford powerviolence trio Fetus Christ. We've been toying with the idea of doing a split for quite some time, so it fit perfectly with the intention to start my label, and considering we are supposed to be touring together at some point too. Both sets on this disc were recorded live at the excellent FHED Halloween weekender in October 2016 by the promoter and all round good egg James Payne. A full release of all the recordings from the event can be found at fhed.bandcamp.com. 

The run is limited to 50 and gave me a chance to "try out" a number of suppliers, including The Duplication Service who did a great job on the CDs, and Disc Jugglers who have done a bang up job on printing the covers. The inserts I did on my super wicked awesome new Brother laser printer (just wait and see the tape inserts this thing has been printing). 

Quick shout out to t'lads in Judas Cradle (RIP) for their patience with my strange ideas, Fetus Christ for being on the ball and generally just being awesome, and of course Mr. Payne for the recordings.

Cheers!

Nothing Clean / Higgs Boson - Split 7"

10/10 split 7" from Olso fastcore/PV maniacs Higgs Boson (who perhaps have one of the sickest bass tones ever), going head to head with British kings of start/stop savagery, Nothing Clean. Both bands churn out rapid-fire bursts of aggression, as, of course, you would expect, but with Higgs Boson not being afraid to slow things to a crawl pace for a few seconds to highlight the speed of the quick bits even more, or to add little - dare I say it - melodic passages to proceedings. Also, is it a coincidence that HB's side of the split is 4:20 in duration?

Nothing Clean are a little more direct with their approach; there is a hardcore punk edge to their powerviolence mentality. The way the chaos just fucking cuts with the dead stops literally drives me mad in the best possible way (I've seen 'em live too, and that shit is fucking mint).

Released as a collaboration between SuperFi Records, Samizdat Records, Glass To The Face Records and Cardiff's own F.H.E.D.

Sects - In The Sky

This is an absolutely mental little EP featuring members of Water Torture and Thedowngoing (who I am currently not too familiar with, I'll be honest). It only clocks in at around 5 minutes, but with this kinda hyper-intense level of energy I'll forgive the tiny run time. Bordering somewhere between a rehearsal room recording and a decent recording sesh for like, a split 7" or something, Sects meld different corners of the grind world together in frenetic, chaotic harmony. Imagine Benumb meets The Locust.

Sordo - Tactical Precision Violence

Holy fuck! This is fucking amazing! Bass-driven, hardcore-tinged powerviolence madness from the Americas! If I keep using exclaimation marks does it look like I'm shouting!? I hope so! Easy comparisons out of the way first: Man Is The Bastard, Water Torture, Prisoner 639 (or anything that grinds like a fucking beast at a low rumbling frequency). To quote a YouTube commentator: "Non stop harsh grinding savagery from start to finish". I could not have put it better myself!

Landfill - Landfill

Landfill are a grindcore / powerviolence band from Lima, Ohio and asides from a three minute demo in 2016 and a 30-second track on a compilation, this self-titled EP is the world's first proper taste of the filth that they have to offer. The longest song (by far) is the opening track "Zen And The Art Of Shitting Teeth", with its sludgy beginning and descent into grinding chaos. The majority of the remaining tracks are microblasts of violence that are reminiscent of stuff like Insect Warfare, earlier Flesh Parade or even UxDxS. 

Rounding the whole thing off is four minutes of harsh noise (technically this is the longest track, actually haha) that does, if I'm honest, seem to be tacked on for no reason. That is not to say however, that its not a decent slab of noise in its own right. Any form of sonic annihilation sits well with me. Having a smattering of grind followed by harsh noise is like eating habenero sauce for dinner and then having Blair's 6am on your ice cream. 

Vermin Womb - Decline

Holy shit this is intense! Whoever imagined the murky worlds of goregrind and "dark hardcore" meeting? This is the closest thing to mixing powerviolence savagery with nasty, nasty goregrind since I heard the excellent UxDxSx a few years ago. I mean, this isn't to say that Vermin Womb are a goregrind band, but you need to press play on this beast and get your head around those vocals. There is something Lovecraftian about the sheer magnitude of the roars emanating from this record. Effected or otherwise, I am seriously impressed. They give this death metal-tinged hardcore a massive, massive edge.

There is another band that are a bit more well known that share this vocalist, and that band is Primitive Man. I've wanted to do a review for Scorn since I heard it last year but I am a lazy useless asshole so I still haven't done it. Anyways, I feel I need to go back and dig that record out, because this right here is intense as fuck. It's heavier than the goddamn fucking sun, fam. It's like Neurosis decided to do death metal or something.

Very, very impressed.

Shackles - Maunder

Shackles play chunky, crusty powerviolence with energetic flair and manic vocal displays dripping in palpable rabidity. Maunder re-animates the bloated, festering corpse of punk with the spastic electricity of grindcore and the meaty (yet vegan friendly!) deliverance of modern metal. Imagine Nails meets Repulsion, only on a limited 7", rather than 5000 copies on Relapse in a variety of fucking colours. Bleak, miserable and powerfully heavy stuff.

Maunder was the band's debut release, back in 2011, released in two pressings by Aussie label Arrest Records. It is quite lengthy for an EP of this style, clocking it around 13 minutes, but boasts enough variety to stay fresh and interesting throughout. Highly recommended listening!

Death Vacation - Bones Grow Cold

Holy shit! What a grinding explosion of noise! Intense hardcore meets the savagery of grind on this 5-track / 4-minute EP from American female-fronted mentalists Death Vacation. This really is short and sweet, hitting the "grind" button right on the spot; a no-nonsense approach of getting in, fucking you up, having a little mosh too, and then getting the fuck out. Everything is on point here, and the production is totally solid, but what really stands out for me is the vocal performance, which is just beyond intense as fuck.

A short review for a short release, but well worth a look in. Currently available in limited quantities on flexi disc thanks to Serenity Now Tapes.

Gets Worse - The Blues

 Gets Worse's latest EP literally gets worse (I'm so sorry). Nah, I'm kidding - every single time I hear something from these guys they raise the bar. The sound here is absolutely fucking spot on; so crunchy and heavy but with clarity and definition. And the music? Well, it's Gets Worse, but a little bit more grown up and defined. The fast bits are there; the powerviolence vocals, the cheesegrinder bass, and that interesting snare sound, but there's also an interesting experimental edge - the slower songs seem that extra bit slower, and there is a fucking saxophone solo at one point. And let's not forget the Alan Partridge sampling.

This shit is literally the bomb. I cannot, no matter how hard I try (despite my will), find any fault whatsoever with this recording. If you are into heavy music in any way shape or form, I fail to see how you can pick any faults in it. I will crawl outta the band's arse just a little though, by complaining about the eight minute run time, but hey - this is a fucking EP, not a space opera.

Powerviolence is beauty.

Cattle Decapitation - Ten Torments Of The Damned

I love this 7", simply because it is so far removed from what Cattle Decapitation would become, and also because most people have absolutely no idea that it exists. I saw Cattle Decap recently and the thought of them breaking into anything off of this amused me greatly, although I would be super stoked to see how Travis would handle doing vocals on this material. This is a relic from the past, and a super cool look at how one of the juggernauts of the current death metal scene began their career. If you've never heard it, I think you are definitely going to be in for a bit of a shock.

Ten Torments Of The Damned showcases a completely different band and musical style. The band was still in very early days, playing some sort of cranky version of hi-energy hardcore punk. I guess you could say this would fall into the powerviolence ballpark. Several members would quickly go on to form The Locust (now you know where you've heard those vocals before, right?) and really push the boundaries within this genre of music.

I once owned the beautiful clear 7", but it was robbed from me by some mouth-breathing redneck in a botched trade. I have no words that can vilify that individual enough. Anyway - check this out!

Horsebastard - Giraffetermath

Horsebastard are a grindcore band from up't'north of England. Well, I'm in South Wales so they are pretty fucking far north to me, at least. The hilariously titled Giraffetermath is the band's first release since their Equestrian Blastcore CDr demo, which I also have lying around here somewhere or other. This second EP is also a massive step up in recording quality, and looks fucking cool as fuck on a 10" record rather than on a CDr. I'm not against CDrs obviously, but this vinyl looks sweet as. 

Ontae the music! Blastcore is definitely a word I would associate with the racket created by Horsebastard. The drums are an endless barrage of blasting insanity, complimented by razor sharp guitars and a seriously deranged vocal attack. My only complaint about this release is that it's only 14 tracks long - I want more of this shit! 

Long live the Horsebastard!

Sakatat - Bir Devrin Sonu

Sakatat are a relentless old-school grindcore band from Turkey (yes!). I first heard them on a split 7" with Agathocles, which fucking ruled, so I eventually got around to checking them out again properly. Bir Devrin Sonu is a 2012 EP consisting of 8 minutes of flat-out blasting goodness. The resemblance to some of Insect Warfare's shit is uncanny, but perhaps Sakatat pull it off with a bit more of a hardcore punk edge.

Regardless, this is some mosh-pit inducing ferocity that cannot be ignored. This type of sound is like the perfect grindcore for me; no fucking around, rough around the edges but still clear enough to get a good feel for everything that's going in. The vocals are nauseating, the guitarwork akin to Minor Threat on bath salts and the drums sound like heavy duty machine guns. 

I'd buy that for a dollar!

Hummingbird Of Death - Goatmeal

20 songs on a 5" record? That's exactly what I'm talking about, ladies and gentlemen! Hummingbird of Death have always been known to bring the high-powered, super-fast grindcore (or powerviolence, if you're a hardcore kid), but this shy-of-4-minutes monster is just something else. Discounting the last track, which takes up the entirety of side B, each song is a microburst of super-thrashy speedy goodness.

This isn't as polished as more familiar material (like the classic Show Us The Meaning Of Haste) but the production isn't necessarily bad or so muddy that it all sounds like a pile of crap - it's still nice and clear. You can stream the whole thing below on Youtube, but you can also still pick up a physical 5" copy released by Cowabunga! Records for a decent price, even the red repress limited to 180 copies.

Warning - is fast. 

Water Torture - Pillbox

I've always loved Water Torture's mix of harsh noise experimentation and grinding bass terror, but Pillbox reaches new heights (or is that depths) of bassgrinding skullduggery, if you can imagine such a thing exists. I recently caught some bare-bones incarnation of this band on tour (kinda like The Melvins when they tour with a reduced line up) , which was missing the harsh noise element. This was okay live, but the harsh noise parts of Pillbox are really interesting, and provide an atmospheric foil to the claustrophobic bass'n'drums powerviolence. There's a particularly awesome harsh noise track a few minutes into the record, called "Product 1". Another, much more chilled ambient track "Creature Of Repitition" rather randomly reminds me of Blues For The Red Sun by Kyuss before it kicks in. 

Comparisons to Man Is The Bastard and/or Bastard Noise would be too easy, or possibly lazy of me, but if I'm entirely honest, it's hard to sound original when there already is a massively influential band that mixes bass/drums grindcore with harsh noise in existence. Water Torture does sound different though, which is actually quite something of a feat considering how similar both bands are in theory. Water Torture is kinda like the MITB for the current generation of crusties, grinders and hardcore kids into powerviolence.

When I caught 'em on tour, vinyl copies still hadn't come in, but you can pre-order with the label Nerve Altar who are putting it out. In the meantime, the entire thing is streaming on Bandcamp so do yourself a solid and listen to this shit, it's so brilliant.

Witch Cult / Drainland - Split Tape

Well, this is one short-ass tape. I should have seen it coming really, going on the Witch Cult live sets that I've experienced. This tape is Witch Cult to the core; starting off with some building harsh noise before ramming head-on into a grinding fury of total chaos and speed.

Drainland have only two songs here, but they are really good; I just wish it lasted a bit longer (then maybe this review could be as well ha ha). 

I got this at Witch Cult's last ever show, up in Brizzle, supporting Despise You on some fairly-big grind/powerviolence/crappy-hardcore bill. It was a crazy show, albeit one that lasted mere minutes, and included a human pyramid and a long outro track that sounded suspiciously like an Electric Wizard cover. It was great, though! I've only seen them twice but they will be missed.

Jesus Crost - Tot

Holy mother of fuck this is some fast fucking grindcore. This shit puts shame upon a whole world of bands claiming on "fast" and "brutal"; Tot is a short, sharp explosion of anger, distortion and all the blastbeats left in Holland. I guess it helps that the production is proper high-end and crystal clear, giving Jesus Crost all the professional space they need to fully unfold their maelstrom of football-themed fastcore fuckery. Soccergrind? Maybe not, but at least it sounds amazing!

Opener "Taurin 400" really sets the pace and bar for the rest of the record; a blasting and pummelling assualt of the senses that lasts a mere matter of seconds. It is hard to really tell the tracks apart by name, although there is the odd riff casually thrown in for good measure. Other than that though it's all blast blast blast, fast fast fast! I guess Jesus Crost know what they are about, and just get the fuck on with it, and quickly too. If you know what you're looking for in your music and this happens to be it then look no further my friend! Ha ha!

The "Bonustrax" live recordings from OEF 2008 tacked onto the end of the record leave a lot to be desired, however. I'm not sure how an accurate portrayal of Jesus Crost live these recordings show, but this is pretty awful. The band here sound nothing like the amazing band on the studio tracks here.

This is also available on a white 10" but I bought it on CD first so what are you gonna do...out on France's excellent Bones Brigade records.

Shoot The Bastard - Demo 2012

This is one of my favourite grind-related things of 2012. Everything about this thing is just perfect; the production, the balance and the over-all vibe is amazing. Shoot The Bastard are a fast, punky grindcore act that features members of boozing grind unit The Afternoon Gentlemen. STB are most definitely more "to the point" though, with a stripped-down affair of super-fast hardcore goodness. Imagine Crass on amphetamines crossed with, I dunno...Unseen Terror or something. That's a pretty far-out comparison for such a simple, no-nonsense sound, but fuck it.

I caught these guys supporting Weekend Nachos at some crazy grind/hardcore all-dayer in the now sadly-defunct Croft venue in Bristol, and that's where I picked up this demo for £2. Best £2 I ever spent, I think (and that's coming from someone who's bought a lot of bottles of Estrella). I award Shoot The Bastard bonus points for the cover art. Whilst I don't think wetting up Cameron with hot lead would solve any of the country's problems it would be extremely funny to see, because obviously, he is just a dummy stuffed with used bank notes; a capitalist puppet on a series of invisible strings. Yes. Time to stop writing now. Enjoy the music!

By the way, I also made this whilst editing the photos for this post, although I have no idea why I did it. Looks cool though, I guess.

Gets Worse - Negative

I fucking love Gets Worse, to be honest. What a cracking fucking band. This little 45rpm 7" EP starts off sounding very metal indeed, but it does not take long for the powerviolence assault of the senses to fully begin raining down on your poor little ears. After the little intro "Too Much Talk" starts off with a mid-paced growly approach before heading into blasting territory and then into something resembling a hardcore breakdown...that's pretty much everything Gets Worse are about in one little song!

 

Side A is over in a fucking flash. I have a bit of difficulty with Side B; I have some crazy popping going on with the first track, which eventually resulting in a never-ending skip loop. I decide to give this track a skip and move it onto the next one, "Pessimist" and all is well with the world! All the powerviolence back up in this bitch! My favourite thing about Side B however is the final track, "Stubborn" which is a dirging, almost drone-y build up of wicked guitar and bass distortion, culminating in a massive sludge metal attack. Blimey!

This little green fuck was put out as a collaboration between Hygiene Records in the USA and Evil Purple Bastard in the UK, and is limited to 500 copies, all of which are on transparent green wax. Sexy.

 

Suppression / Noothgrush - Split 5"

Suppression are quickly becoming one of my favourite grindcore acts. I mean, how long have this band been around? And I only heard of them a few months ago! What an idiot! Despite this fact, I've had the mp3s of this split on my computer for ages thanks to Grindcore Karaoke, but listening to it always got pushed back because I have so much stuff to get through...which is a curse as well as a blessing.

 

On this wee little 5", Suppression resort to a very Man Is The Bastard-y mix of harsh noise followed by bass-driven grind madness. I know Suppression have their own thing going on, but MITB definitely springs to mind whilst spinning this. It's over in a fecking flash, unlike Noothgrush's side which drags out a bit longer. Noothgrush take a much more traditional full-band approach of just ripping out a track for us. Very sludgy!

 

All in all this is a pretty awesome 5", but as you would probably expect it doesn't last very long. This piece of wax exists thanks to the good people at Blow The Reactors and Fuck Yoga. My version is the simple black one, but 150 of these little buggers come with a 48 piece puzzle. These editions are pretty rare, but you can still get one for around £10.