UDDERCOCK – ‘LAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENT’

Uddercock is a Noisecore project from Janus and Martin, also of the excellent Kusari Gama Kill. Uddercock is basically the xenith of what Martin and Janus do in Kusari; take a million weird samples, lots of angry Grindcore vocal and programmed blast beats, throw them into a cement mixer and you have a track. However, whereas Kusari will often experiment with Dance beats and other tropes of electronic music, Uddercock basically give the briefer, noisier(is that even possible?) and sillier version. All of these tracks are 2 seconds long. 25 tracks in less than a minute. Yeah, it flies by really quick, but I just can’t get enough of these mad Danes’ brand of electronic Noisecore. Harsh, ridiculous and good fun!

GK#85

CUSTODIAN – ‘TIME FOLDS UPON ITSELF’

Single track Grindcore Karaoke release from Jon Engman’s Harsh Noise unit Custodian. White hot chunks of molten electronics, heaps of colliding cut up, blistering volume surges and unbearably sharp pitch eruptions make up Custodian’s output. The super short moments of silence between constructs adds a great deal of dynamics and intensity to these sounds. This stuff is genuinely suffocating, bleak and soul crushing. Recommended if you like Harsh Noise, but maybe find HNW a little too endurance based, and want to taste this stuff in shorter bursts. Custodian never, ever lets you down.

GK#477 / Minimal Flesh Audio

 

VECTOR GRAPHICS – ‘MIDNIGHT LOVE’

More Pop/Ambient/Synthwave/Vaporwave from the excellent Fortune 500 imprint. Vector Graphics delivers 10 short tracks of cut up cornball 80’s futurism, laden with silky ambiance, looped beats, reviled samples from crappy chintz sources, and a weird introverted/drugged out vibe. Foggy, hazy, nocturnal. Cuts from 80’s car commercials, re purposed into low rent, chill-out drug music. Debonair, strange and pretentious in concept but very listenable, ambient and relaxing. If you enjoy any of the previous ‘Wave’ records I’ve reviewed, this one won’t disappoint.

Fortune 500

SELFISH BEINGS – ‘PLAY FAST, MINCE HARD’

11 track demo of bonehead Mincecore from Canada, featuring Andy of Hyperemesis etc. and others. Stomping, blown-out mid paced Mince with blasting Grind sections, D beats, gnarled Guitar walls, terrible sounding Bass and heinous super low vocal dirge mixed with crusted-over roar. Sloppy as hell, tooth chippin’ and unbelievably loud and badly recorded. There’s a thick, gross streak of Crust influence here too, with some of this stuff sounding a bit like Shitlickers or Global Holocaust but noisier, and occasional Doomed out slow parts to grind it all to a halt. It’s a shame this project was so short lived, because ‘Play Fast, Mince Hard’ rules.

Bandcamp

SIX BREW BANTHA – SELF TITLED

The self titled album from Canadian three piece Six Brew Bantha, a record dropped in 2012 to lots of well-deserved hype. Six Brew Bantha’s furious, raging Grind is augmented with a comparatively clean, loud production, and ends up sounding a little like a Grindcore Haymaker, if that makes any sense. These songs flail wildly from out and out Grindcore into swingin’, stompin’ Hardcore sections, Death Metal(ish) serpentine riffs and the occasional un-distorted Math/Jazz part, all written expertly into cohesive, memorable Grindcore songs. The Guitar combines grimy Punk riffs with massive, toxic production, the Drumming is extremely tight and fast, with a really awesome rimshot Snare sound, and the three headed vocal attack offers a lot of variation, unifying the combination of sounds Six Brew kick out. This band well defines why Canada is a total hot bed for Grindcore and Noise of all shapes and sizes, combining different elements of UG sounds into this absolute beast of a record. Whether you like the metallic side of Grind like Nasum or Rotten Sound, or whether you like your Grind gritty and raw like Agathocles or Warsore, there’s gonna be something here for you. I may be more of a fan of their demos and splits, but this record is still fantastic. Go get it!

Bandcamp

NOOTHGRUSH / SUPPRESSION SPLIT

A pairing of US giants. Two of the best underground bands from the 90’s. An impossibly brief collision of Doom, Noise, Grindcore, of abject misery and innate fury. Two of my favourite bands. A Grindcore Karaoke release, from a long forgotten Heart Plug release attempt, also released on 5″ wax on Fuck Yoga and Blow The Reactors. Noothgrush deliver crawling, Punk-inflected Doom full of hate, hardship and RIFF. Thick crushing Guitars, minimalist, hard hitting Drumming and throaty vocal torment. Sludgy and raging, yet inert, ponderous and melancholic. Noothgrush balance the rage and sorrow like no other; easily one of the best at what they do. Suppression, on the other hand, sound like the reptilian core of the human brain gone completely haywire. Their track opens with a caustic blast of scraping Power Electronics, before ripping into a wild, frenzied burst of 90’s Hardcore/Grindcore unparalleled in left-field, arty aggression and intent. Rumbling, repetitive Bass lines wobble over hammering nearly blast beats and Jason Hodge’s signature vocal howl. Suppression are again a band that totally define a sound and aesthetic for me. They blow nearly all the Power Violence they were associated with out of the water in terms of pure, unadulterated speed and intensity, and their bugged out, paranoid vibe is uniquely defined through Hodge’s excellent lyrics. If you’re reading this review and haven’t downloaded this record yet, please do, and also drop some credits on a physical copy if you can. The special edition version comes with a puzzle!

GK#355

INOPEXIA – ‘MYOCARDICAL BIOPSY HAD A LETHAL OUTCOME’

Never before have I felt so stupid ignoring a record because of the terrible album artwork. Don’t get me wrong, the art for Russian two piece Inopexia’s ‘Myocardical Biopsy Had a Lethal Outcome’ is as rubbish as they come; highlighting the infantile fecal obsession of many of the Goregrind underground’s artists past and present. Rubbish enough that I ignored this record for a very long time, despite a glowing review from the always reliable Free To Grind blog, in which Evan actually highlighted the bad artwork. But I was so, so wrong to ignore this record. This is one of the most punishing, gnarly and downright disgusting Goregrind records I’ve come across in recent years. The Drums are basically the most accurate LDOH worship ever. There is a literal ton of blast beats on these songs, with the most ringy ringin’ Snare you could want, but there’s also lots of quick fast tempo changes, and technically there’s some seriously impressive patterns in the lightning fast fills and Punked out Thrash parts. The Guitars are thick and putrid, noxious and crushing, with a fair amount of hooks and groove for a record so noisy. And the vocal is some of the most foetid, vomiting roaring puke this side of Gorenoise. The best thing about the vocal is that he manages to sound actually pissed of and raging, something many Gore Gurglers lack. This record basically walks a very thin line between older, groovier Goregrind, out and out Gorenoise wall and Crusty Grindcore, with a sense of dynamics often lacking from such sounds. Completely essential.

Bandcamp

SEAGULLNEEDSAFRIEND – ‘MINCER LOVE’ EP

Seagullneedsafriend is a terrible band name, one which is probably an inside joke. Now that’s out of the way, here we have 5 tracks of noisy Mince/Grind from this US two piece. This little EP is equally grooved-out, Mincecore stomp and heinous Gory Noisegrind. The Guitar is echo-y as hell, but with a sharp razorwire edge, which is most notable in the stampede palm-muted Mince sections. The Drums are very Punk, with lots of D beats and Polka-Mince slowing things down between the blast beats and the vocal combines shrieks, super burly lows and Hardcore type shouts. The recording quality has that always desirable 4 track tape sound, making everything sound a little distant but steaming and harsh. Pissed, fun, and most importantly stompy as a rhinoceros. An excellent blend of repellent sounds!

36th Chamber Of Thrash

PERISTALSIS – RAW REHEARSAL

Raw Mincecore from Seattle’s Peristalsis. 5 live recorded tracks of dank 4 track Mincecore filth, with a nice mix of blast beats and Polka-Mince beats, howling crusty Guitars and high/low Grindcore vocal. Raw, punk, aggressive and very brief. There’s a kind of Goregrind flavor in the Guitar slop and buzz, but really I’d say this stuff is more on the stomping, stripped down, crusty Mince side of things. Reminds me of Rot, Agathocles or Subcut. Totally rad demo, it would be nice to hear a full release or split from these dudes because this one’s full of promise.

Bandcamp

PYEMESIS / REEKORRHOEA SPLIT

Mince/Grind/Gore split from Reekorrhoea from Canada and Pyemesis from Ireland, both one man projects. Pyemesis serves up 7 tracks of pulverising, obese Goregrind, with barely audible groovy riffs, hammering programmed Drums and retching howling vocal, and pathological samples. Quite straight forward, but well executed nonetheless, with a massive, destroyed production. Unfortunately, the Pyemesis side of the split is currently unavailable to download, but stream it for now until you can get hold of a physical copy. Eric, the maniac behind these sounds, is also responsible for the more Carcass-y Hydropneumothorax, and is currently in a hole learning to play blast beats so he can ditch the Drum machine and crack on with a new project, so get stoked on that! Also, i’ve included the artwork from the Pyemesis Bandcamp page for this release, however this image will not be the artwork for the physical release. Reekorrhoea, one of Andy Ringdahl’s myriad and nefarious Gore/Mince/Noise projects, here delivers 7 ropey, stripped down MinceGore clotheslines. Unweildy Drum machine bludgeon, echo-y buzzing Guitar and/or Bass trauma and gurgled, inbred vocal grunt. Admittedly there’s nothing new from Andy here, but that doesn’t stop me diggin’ his obsession with creating totally backward, punk as fuck Goregrind/Mincecore/Noisecore devastation. Great split.

Pyemesis Bandcamp / Reekorrhoea Bandcamp

JUCIFER – ‘NADIR’

Jucifer are a notorious Noise Rock/Doom/Sludge two piece from the States with a fairly large and varied discography. This release is a Grindcore Karaoke re-issue of an older cassette, remastered by Scott Hull and given a cover. This is one of my favourite Grindcore Karaoke releases, showcasing Jucifer at an early, primal stage in their evolution. Muddy, murky Noise Rock/Sludge with sombre melodies buried in waves of distorted, buzzed-out Guitar and thunderous Drums. The restrained vocal performance of Amber Valentine is caustic and pained, and perfectly reflects the burnt out Hippy nihilism of Jucifer’s world. The production, although cleaned up and fleshed out somewhat, still maintains a gnarly 4 track sound, perfectly capturing Jucifer’s emotionally brutal, heavy vibe. Down-tempo, miserable, crushing, primordial. The ‘liner notes’ written by Valentine offer an insight into an era when the band truly suffered for their art; it’s a nice touch. An important part of Jucifer’s history, showing them at arguably their grimiest, most minimalist and ‘Punk’. Essential!

GK#107

CAPTAIN THREE LEG / MEAN DAVE SPLIT

Recent split between Captain Three Leg and comedian Mean Dave. To cover the Mean Dave side of this split, I will preface by saying I’m not a huge fan of stand up comedy as it is; in general I find most stand up too forced and situational to really enjoy. However I won’t go as far as to say I dislike the Mean Dave side. These two recordings from separate nights highlight Mean Dave’s mean, confrontational and self deprecating comedy styling. It actually makes a nice change for a split to be a pairing of music and comedy, and the novelty isn’t lost. The Captain Three Leg side of the split is why I’m here; reworkings of Andy’s earlier Ottumwa Punk band Unisex. Humorous, personal lyrics belted out over barnstorming, curb stomping Hardcore augmented with lots of blast beats. These tracks have a kinetic urgency and fun vibe, with plenty of hooky Guitar lead lines, lots of mid tempo parts and even clean(ish) vocal here and there. It’s awesome to hear the Captain resurrect these youthful, snotty tunes, and shoot them up with their current beefy, manic Hardcore sound. This is some of the catchiest, melodic Captain Three Leg material released, and easily their most straight up Punk Rock sounding stuff. If you’ve enjoyed their recent run of Hardcore flavored records you’ll love this one.

Bandcamp

DETHRONED EMPEROR – ‘BULLSHIT IN, BULLSHIT OUT’

Dethroned Emperor is a Death/Grind two piece from the States. This short 2 track release is blistering, harsh Death Metal/Grindcore, with a really beefy Guitar tone, savage low vocal howl and thrashy, punky blast beats. Dark, raging and monumental. An obvious comparison can be made to Assuck, however I feel Dethroned Emperor have a far more loose, punk delivery. More comparison can be drawn with bands like Misery Index or Death Metal like Incantation or Malevolent Creation. I enjoy Deathgrind when the elements sit comfortably together; too melodic and it may as well be heavier, slower and deathy-er(?), too sloppy and It may as well go full frontal Grindcore. I do find though that Dethroned Emperor do a good balancing act on this release though, with enough savagery and riff to warrant the mix of sounds. Their later stuff leans too hard on 90’s Death Metal for me; this one is excellent though. Cool artwork too.

Bandcamp

WHIRR – ‘DISTRESSOR’

Whirr are a Shoegaze/Post Punk band from California. ‘Distressor’ is 7 tracks of reverb drenched Shoegaze, slow, metronomic and introverted. Very loud, overdriven Guitars roll out over minimalist Drums, with echoed out, tonal vocal. There’s also Synth to be found here and there, augmenting the beautiful Guitar and Vocal melodies. The songs are catchy and surprisingly driven; there actually isn’t a lot of Ambient meandering on this record, with most tracks in forward momentum, even if at a slow pace. Lush and rewarding, if somewhat melancholic. Being not all that familiar with Shoegaze besides the big names, I would have a hard time comparing this to anything other than My Bloody Valentine; the Guitar is very noisy, blown out and massive sounding, and the record does has a very Doom and Gloom sound and aesthetic. A very enjoyable, meditative listen.

Bandcamp

G.O.D. – ‘NEUROFIBROMATOSIS DEMO’

First demo release from G.O.D. . This stuff has less Death Metal influence than some of their later releases incorporate, instead delivering a dank blast of straight up Dead Infection style Gore. There’s lots of blast beats, D beats and Mince parts, the guitars have a Gore staple mangled tone and some groove, and the vocal is varied from ruptured organ pitch shifter skronk to full on Grindcore low/high trade off. There’s lots of darkly comical samples, and a big influnece also taken from old Napalm Death/Fear Of God/Warsore style hammering Grind. It’s easy to see why this band is at the for front of the current Canadian Grindcore/Gore/Noise scene on the strength of this demo. This reminds me a lot of the first Parfumerie release, taking classic Gore/Grindcore sounds and tropes and molding them into something equally fresh and old school. Totally sick demo!

Bandcamp

BLARGHSTRAD – SELF TITLED

Blarghstrad is a one man Noisecore project from Australia. Brad Smith, the nutter behind this racket also plays in Internal Rot, Super Happy Fun Slide, and the less known, criminally overlooked Umbilical Tentacle. This self titled release is 28 tracks of violent, sloppy, raw Noisecore. Heavy handed blast beats, Bass noise slaw and manic, burly grunt vocal that’s completely off reservation. Super blown out recording, with some musicality and riffs to be found, particularly in the aping of more famous songs. There’s humor in here by the bucket load, but musically this stuff sounds way pissed off and harsh, deftly straddling the divide between angry and comical. If you enjoy any of Brad’s other musical endeavors, or you like Deche-Charge, WORLD or Nihilist Commando you’ll dig this one. Completely troglodyte. Completely essential!

Bandcamp

DJ NEVERMIND – ‘URBAN BLASTIFICATION MIX’

A continuous 40 minute mix from notorious US Speedcore producer DJ Nevermind. Samples cut from Heavy Metal, Hardcore, various Guitar sources and other nefarious sources are welded to hammering, migraine inducing Speecore Bass pulses, creating a manic, antisocial and aggressive Electronic sound. It’s violent, trashy and seedy, and super fast. Rather than affiliated sounds, notably Gabber, this stuff has dynamics and complex arrangements and interludes, keeping the thumping rhythms interesting. Speedcore in many ways can be seen as the Electronic cousin of Grindcore, with similar aspirations of ridiculous tempo and overwhelming sound, and DJ Nevermind specifically seems to embody these same musical fascinations. This one wont be for everyone probably, but I highly recommend it nonetheless. Gotta love that Nuclear Assault logo rip too!

GK#331

DYSTOPIAN CHIC – ‘KAWARIME EP’

Dystopian Chic is another Vaporwave/Synthwave/’Funk Noir’ project from the States. This little EP covers a fair amount of ground from smooth Funk, deep Ambient and cheese Rock, all wraped in a shiny, crisp and 80’s production. The interplay between disparate tracks, woven together with a vista-sheen production, makes for an Ambient, relaxed and thoughtful experience. There’s flourishes of Saxophone drenched in reverb, driving Synth rhythm parts, Ambient passages built from layers of incidental melodies that climax blissfully, and a sense of minimalism that makes the whole recording sleek and smooth. Calming, ponderous, cheesy and intriguing. Conjures images of automaton consumerist culture recycling itself into lush, bright oblivion. Excellent.

ZippyShare – Liked from Dytopian Chic’s Soundcloud page

 

SORDO – ‘TACTICAL PRECISION VIOLENCE’

More Bass and Drum ‘Power Violence’/Hardcore, this time from US three piece Sordo. Super fast, violent, obnoxious Hardcore/Grindcore, fit to burst with raw, sloppy blast beats, rattling Bass and pained, yelled vocal suckerpunch. Loads of samples from comedy movies and video games, humorous song titles and thick, gut-shot heavy production. At times this stuff almost crosses into Noisecore territory, only to swerve manically into half-time Hardcore beat downs lead by hooky Bass riffs. Harsh, raw, fast and pissed! For fans of Chulo, Marion Barry or Water Torture, this will be totally essential and deserving of the hype! Great record.

Prime Eggsample

WATER TORTURE – SELF TITLED

Hardcore two piece Water Torture’s first Grindcore Karaoke release might be one of the most popular and hyped records the label has midwifed, and it’s not hard to see why. Water Torture are a band that for me, could have really sucked; I’m not particularly into the ‘new school Power Violence’ aesthetic. I find way too many bands who throw that genre tag about are misusuing it, be intentional or otherwise, and I dislike much of the tuff guy bro culture that’s found its way into that side of Hardcore. However, Water Torture’s self titled EP also hold the basis of a good argument for ‘let the music speak for itself’, because this is a really enjoyable Hardcore record, in my opinion. Brutal, caustic Bass and Drum hostility, blast beats everywhere, noxious yell/burl vocal and hooky Bass patterns to catch you off-guard. There’s also plenty of slow, torturous tempo drops, and in the true Power Violence tradition the record switches from super fast to mad slow as often as possible. The Bass tone/production is monstrous and crushing, the Drums sound is ropey yet loud and blistering and the vocal struggles to come to the for-front, making the whole thing sound nervous and pained. There is also good use of analogue Noise segues, bubbling in and out under the thick hide of Bass and Drums. I suppose Man Is The Bastard are an obvious comparison, but Water Torture have a far more Doomy, Sludgy feel than the more Fusion/Jazz/Prog Bass lines of Wood and Kenyon. I’m sure there aren’t many Grindcore Karaoke followers/listeners left who haven’t heard this, so if you haven’t check it out.

GK#98