Gabara - 20,000 Tons Of Mince

This is a super short demo tape from mincing goregrind outfit Gabara. It's barely a few minutes in length but it sounds so fuckin' good that I just had to share it with you guys. Basically it takes everything that is good about early Agathocles and mashes in a bit of goregrind sound. Slap some weirdly-fitting Godzilla-looking artwork on the cover and you can just conjure up visions of this beast smashing cities to bits with this tape playing as the soundtrack.

I can't really say more because it's so short so I'll just leave a link to stream this motherfucker right here for you, and be on my merry way. See you tomorrow, freaks.

Reekorrhoea / Urologist - Split Tape

I recently did another Reekorrhoea review (for the band's demo tape) but I can't get enough of this crusty mincecore-meets-goregrind crossover sound that's going on here. Mr. Andy is a goregrind genius, and whilst this doesn't exactly sound a million miles away from his Hyperemesis shit, it doesn't really fucking matter at all, because this shit fucking rules. Reekorrhoea's part of this split also includes a Dismembered Fetus cover, but I'm not familiar with that band to compare it to the original.

A creepy sample later, Urologist are pulverizing my eardrums like the Mortician of badly-recorded drum machine goregrind. The vokills are fucking mankin' (to quote a Welsh chav on the subject), as is the fuzzy guitar tone. The cheaper-than-krokodil drum machine does get on my nerves a bit, but hey, what are you gonna do?

All in all a great split from both bands and I look forward to hearing more of both of these acts at some point. You can stream the entire split on the Necrotic Jejunostomy Productions (yes, that's a real name) Bandcamp page.

Ishmael - Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here

I first experienced Ishmael many moons ago at Rainfest 2010 (AKA Bloodstock 2010) on the unsigned stage. I can't remember how we ended up watching them, perhaps it was because a large chunk of the crap on the mainstage was....well....crap. Anyhow, I was blown away by the sheer heaviness of this band; I did not expect such a sludgy and droney doom band to be playing Bloodstock, and I was proper chuffed to have caught them on a fluke. My mate Gumpy bought a CDr demo off them at the time, which I can't remember the name of, but I still have in the format of mp3. I recall the high-lariously titled song "Clit Snipper", which sounds just as nasty as it reads.

Roll on a few years then, and I'm now following Ishmael on Facebook. One day, I see they have released a tape, entitled Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here, and I finally decide that it's high-time I actually bought something that this band have put out. And boy am I impressed! What a fuckin' sludgy tape! The production is shit hot, and the physical product as well has been professionally put together. That might not seem like much in itself but I'm normally used to getting DIY shit, so this tape looks extra impressive and shiny to me.

There are only three songs here, but they are fairly lengthy and make up a good total time between them. They are all, perhaps unsurprisingly, slower than an old man in slippers, and heavier than a wooden cart full of plague victims. Vocalist Dani Hawkins is particularly impressive; she is a veritable snarling beast, dispensing demonic-grade snarls, growls and roars alongside the brain-shaking doom metal.

If you like slow, sludgy, evil doom you need to get a load of this band! It's an absolute shame that they are now broken up but you can still listen to their stuff online. This tape was made by Breathe Plastic, and limited to 50 copies. I have number 6.

Deche-Charge / Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium - Split Tape

This split opens with a disappointing Deche-Charge recording of a live set. It takes forever to get started and when it does, it really doesn't amount to much at all. Recorded grind/noisecore/whatever can go one of two ways (both of which sound awful) - the recording can really capture the energy and/or dirty sound in a nutshell, or just fall flat on it's fucking face. Unfortunately for the legendary Deche-Charge, their contribution to this split falls (no pun intended) into the latter category.

 

NxVx on the other hand are much more with it, which is not something I ever imagined saying. Their material here is a lo fi bass-driven polka soundtrack for fisting your (preferably German) partner to. It is that filthy. Coupled with the mid-placed groovy goregrind is a whole farmyard's worth of vocal varieties, to keep things extra weird. I won't lie, every song does sound the same (until they break into something slowly and funky like jazz, with stick claps and everything), but there has to be some give and take with this particularly niche genre.

This tape was put out (and is still available) on the dank as fuck Belgian Bringer of Gore Records and is limited to 200 hideously orange copies. No links for this on Youtube, sorry guys!

"Could it be any more orange?" - Comic Book Guy

Shitfun - Promo 2013

If Shitfun isn't one of the greatest names for a band ever, then I don't know what is. And if that cover picture isn't one of the creepiest, nastiest sleeves for a band ever, then I don't know what is! Shitfun are here to ruin everybody's day with some "serial killer grindcore" from the deepest, darkest parts of Brazil. They have a growly death metal approach to the vocal side of things (this might explain why they are named after an Autopsy album?) but the grind is a low-tuned start-stop blasting nightmare. 

I got this through a trade with the Japanese label Fuck The Industry, who, as I have probably mentioned elsewhere, are off to a flying start with a whole bunch of awesome releases in 2013. They are all DIY as fuck but are of the highest quality. I cannot recommend this label and their releases enough, definitely one to watch, I would think. This is out on a super limited tape release of 20 but is also available on CDr for those not so analogue-inclined. 

Life is Easy - Falasmaryon

I can't exactly review this as it's my creation, but I got one in my collection so it'll have to wind up on here eventually, so I'll just do a brief run down to plug this fucker. I recorded this bastard of an EP back in 2007, simply by running a distorted B C Rich through a whole world of filters and then recording a cold, mechanical drum beat over the top of it before doing more or less the same to that too. 

 

I don't really know why but I've never really bothered to release music that I have made alone, so it took 6 years to get this out, which is ridiculous  You can download it for free here or if you read this around the original post date and actually like it you can get a copy on tape for cheap as chips. Limited to 20 copies on Lines In Wax's very own Pointless Records label.

Birdflesh - Happy Fun Sumo Sandwich

The best thing about this tape is that I have no fucking idea how I ended up owning it. I cannot for the life of me remember where I got the thing from! Anyway, this is a transparent purple tape containing a live set of Birdflesh performing in Japan. The quality is fairly clear, and the band play all the hits, but it definitely remains at the level of being a completist item for Birdflesh fans; I doubt that anyone new to the group would find anything of merit here. Out on the fantastic Haunted Hotel Records.

There are no links available for this release, sorry!

Torturing Nurse - Slave

This isn't as distorted and harsh as I originally thought it would be. The noise slowly builds and builds, and when the hellish garbled drone kicks in fully it is still without any eardrum penetrating fuzz or hiss. That's not necessarily a bad thing; Torturing Nurse's rumbling, harrowing soundscape of death is perfect just the way it is. It levels out a bit as it continues and some nice haunting female vocals weave in and out of the racket. Great stuff! Released by fellow Welshman - Red Venice Records, and limited to 40 copies only.

You can stream a few tracks here from the label's Bandcamp page.

Necklacing - I

Wow! This is short and sweet but it sure does the trick of hitting the ol' grindcore spot. Could I shorten that to G-spot without sounding gay? Ha ha. Necklacing's pro-pressed tape release of I is a powerviolency grind smash up available in three lovely colors. I have the transparent red version. Don't take my word for how awesome this is, listen to it for free and then buy it because it's wicked awesome and cheap as chips. This seems to be released by the band themselves although I got my copy from Dead Chemists' distro stock.

Stream the whole thing below from the band's Bandcamp page.    

Electric Wizard - Legalize Drugs & Murder

So if you weren't at the London show when this 7" came out, you were pretty much boned for an original copy! Represses exist on 7" though thanks to Rise Above, and the EP was released more nationally as a free copy by the good folk at Terrorizer magazine, on the excellently under-rated format of tape and with a couple of extra tracks thrown in for good measure! You though vinyl had a warm sound? Son, you need to fire up that ol' tape deck and chomp this fucker into it.

Legalize Drugs and Murder is the usual Leccy Wizz affair of drugs'n'riffs; opening with a sample of bubbling bongwater before sludging headfirst into a muddy-as-hash-oil riff-fest. It is, quite honestly, the best thing in the world to nod your head to whilst smoking a fucking massive spliff. Word. All the tracks are excellent, including the remixes. I genuinely feel like I have stepped back in time plugging my headphones into my seldom used tape deck! Far out, man!

This is currently selling for a variety of different prices on Discogs and eBay because let's not forget that Terrorizer is a British magazine and there are still plenty of Wizard fans over the globe who cannae get a copy of this bastard!

Urinal Shit - Something Isn't Quite Right

How nice it is to look back on something you've created! I've been involved in my fair share of shitty projects, and Urinal Shit was my solo noisecore/goregrind crossover. In the myspace days it (somehow) garnered small levels of interest, and I was even offered a realise by a D.I.Y. label, which really rocked my shit. The now rather extinct Mental Abuse records released my first and only EP under this name in mid to late 2007. It included 6 tracks of pummeling shitgrind accompanied with watery-as-piss pitchshifted vocals.

If I ever stumble across the master disc I'll upload this for all y'all but beware, it is nasty! The tape version (limited to 15 copies) featured different artwork and a bonus song that I recorded under the name A Concubine's Diary. It is one of my favourite things I've ever recorded and it is sadly lost to time and confined only to this tape! The horrors of analogue formats!

Gorgonized Dorks / Humanextermination Project - Split Tape

"It's really hard to tell which side is which!" These are my first thoughts upon playing this little brown rectangle of hell. Both sides feature noise maniac Katz Seki, and I'm not sure what is meant to be Gorgonized Dorks and what is meant to be his solo/side project Humanextermination Project. After inspecting the packaging it seems that drums are only credited to the G.Dorks side so what I am listening to now must be them. This is apparently recorded live, and when it does sound rough as hell, it has a more d.i.y. studio feel than a live recording. It is horrible noise, but it is recorded well, regardless! The ever-prolific Gorgonized Dorks can be a bit hit and miss on occasion, but there is something about their strangle concoction of noisecore that keeps me coming back for more. I guess I have a limited noisecore palette, and Gorgonized Dorks is lodged firmly on that palette. 

I flip the tape over after a few minutes to catch a bit of side B to finish off this quick review and instead of the expected noise attack I am subjected to a whole bunch of shitty country music. I'm not sure if this is inserted as some sort of sick joke (if it is then it works, this God loving Western shit is physically nauseating and forty times more horrible than any noise music) or if it's just left at the end of a dub-over, but jesusfuck! Someone make it stop! I'm done with this confusing-ass tape!

Oh, and by the way, this was dubbed on one of America's finest shitty-noisecore tape labels; Sludglesicle Records. Go check them out, they don't half get through some releases.