SARCOPTES – ’50 TRAXXX’

 

50 super short Gorenoise eruptions from Sarcoptes. Clicking, throbbing, fleshy echo noises with weirdo aquatic vocal and rudimentary rolling snare blasts, with absolutely zero subtlety. There’s rumbling Bass(?) at an almost constant throughout, and theres nearly no dynamic between sounds present here at all, with each ‘track’ being pretty much identical to the last. This stuff is weird, spectral, misshapen and otherworldly, and has a kind of older Noisecore vibe, particularly in ’50 tracks in less than 2 minutes’ approach. Sarcoptes stuff always has this weird feel to me; it’s not even all that ‘heavy’, more creepy, swampy and gross. Cool.

Bandcamp

ROEX – ‘2033’

Roex presents three tracks of mid paced, throbbing pulsing Synthwave with an obsession with Neon Genesis. These tracks have a very neutral, ice-cool quality, building simple melodies and thumping pulse beats in layers to create a driving, mechanised Soundtrack vibe. These sounds are bright and pristine, lacking the haze of other sample-based ‘Wave’ projects in favour of sharpness and contrast between each wobbly Synth sound and piston Beat. Glistening, shimmering, sky high. Like the soundtrack to an obscure Anime you’ve never heard of.

BIZCO58

HERUKRAT – ‘I BEAR WITNESS’

 

7 tracks of dense, squalling Power Electronics from the States. Impassioned, pained Vocal is here used in the traditional Power Electronics method, applied over analogue scrape and utterly frigid, cold walls of sound. Crushing, devout, ear-bleeding, transcendental. Much has been made of the project’s Islamic imagery; I’ve read elsewhere Herukrat is ‘Pro-Islam, Anti ISIS(QSIS)/Terrorism’. I would call this stuff devotionally Muslim, rather than necessarily pro-Islam. I know the difference may be slight, but to me this manifests in these sounds feeling deeply personal and kind of introspective, rather than a rallying cry for Islam in general. I would agree some of this stuff could fall under a form of ‘protest music’, in it’s decrying of ISIS/QSIS and terrorism. The use of prayer call samples is particularly powerful, bringing to mind Power Electronics unit Koufar, and also reminding me of early Ramleh recordings, with that wounded animal Vocal style. Excellent.

Bandcamp

ACID FEAST / GIRTH SPLIT

Split between two younger Goregrind/Mince bands from the States, who both absolutely kill it on this one. Acid Feast is a three piece from Seattle, who play a dextrous blend of classic Grindcore and affiliated styles. Death Metal, Mincecore, Grindcore and Goregrind are each borrowed from, forming an instantly enjoyable and totally brutal sound. Hardcore Punk influenced Drums mixed with classic blast beats, sharp Guitar attack and varied yet devotional High/Low/Gore wipeout Vocal. Everything’s done just right; each influence keeping the others in check, never leaning too hard on a specific style and in doing so creating something loveably familiar feeling and totally reverent to the old gods. Totally Punk approach too, with no room for noodling and plenty of high energy Crust power chord parts. Girth from Michigan play a similar yet fatter, broader side to what Acid Feast are doing. If Acid Feast is a razor to the face, Girth is a sledgehammer to the skull. Absolutely crushing, fat-cocked Minces just slamming down on your weak frame over and over again. Big fat Bass/Guitar explosion, super stomp-into-blast beat Drum patterns, super low/shriek Vocal and a layer of filth all over everything, so deep you’ll never scrape it all off. Their side is mixed much louder than the Acid Feast side, which is a shame, but otherwise this is another excellent split highlighting the cream of current Goregrind (un)talent.

Acid Feast Bandcamp / Girth Bandcamp

ALBERT TROSS, LEADER OF THE DEMONS – ‘THAT’S A LOT OF FISHSTICKS’

More muddy, murky Noise crap from Albert Tross. Suffocating, creepy, somewhat drab and impossibly brown soundscapes carved from extremely minimal tones and samples. Droning, totally minimal, claustrophobic and tense. There’s a sense of dreary, pedestrian, primal fear just oozing from this thing. Totally sidesteps any of the conventional elements of what you could call the Noise scene in favour of the genuinely disturbing and nightmarish. An isolation tank lined with terrible 70’s shag carpet, lo fi Psychedelia. In his own words, this is ‘Noise for the mentally deficient’; I will admit to feeling less mentally efficient after listening to this. Feel the dread.

Bandcamp

YUNG BAE – ‘ANIBAE’

5 track EP from US producer Yung Bae. Shimmering plunderphonic love song smorgasbord. Upbeat yet scintillating Brass and Bass samples, crisp Hip Hop beats, endless love song refrains shot through filters. Hypnotic, repetitive, sultry, positive, less incidental and more exuberant. Hazy, loungin’ laid-back goodness. This has that endless-summer vibe of Macross 82-99, who features here on a remix, but with less direct Science Fiction influence aesthetically; rather than building future city-scapes in the listener’s mind, I feel Yung Bae is more content in drawing the listener into past romances and rose tinted nostalgia. I’d say this stuff shares as much DNA with Hip Hop as it does with any Internet genre / Future Funk type sound, and would probably appeal to fans of either.

Stratford Ct.

CAPTAIN THREE LEG / DEEP FRIED EMBRYO SPLIT

Split between the chameleonic Captain Three Leg and Noisecore band Deep Fried Embryo. The Captain’s tracks feature lots of mid paced plodding and Thrash parts, blast beats in short blur songs, a generally snotty, mean spirited vibe. Punk, fast, Hardcore inflected Grindcore (or Grindcore inflected Hardcore? Who cares). Lots of goofy samples, a very present, loud production and the addition of Nate on Vocal, with a rasping, scraping Vocal style that suits well. As with much of Captain Three Leg’s output from this period, these songs are catchy and simplistic, with memorable riffs and arrangements. The track ‘Microwave Massacre’ is a good example; super catchy Guitar parts and a classic trashy Hardcore attitude. Most satisfying. Deep Fried Embryo’s side consists of some absolutely furious Noisecore vomit. Although their song titles are humorous and very silly, their sound certainly is not. Super short shrapnel ballast, pure devastating nose-bleeding Noisecore. Totally blown out Guitars/Bass, endless caveman blast beats and insane, off reservation Vocal shriek. There are the occasional slower parts, with the Bass occasionally playing over feedback and Drum only, or brief moments of static and rumble, punctuating the infinite speed and slowing their Noisecore hyper speed into lurching slo mo misery. I love their stuff. An excellent pairing of complementary sounds.

Bandcamp

C-PLEX / BOXGUTS – ‘”PLEX’N’GUTS” MIXTAPE’

Mixtape from New York based Boxguts and collaborator C-Plex, released on Grindcore Karaoke. Brooding, moody and minimal beats ‘n’ Bass with some most impressive sampling, head-nodding melodies playing out in cut down loops underpinning aggressive, aggrandising and lyrically diverse flows. Smoked-out, stripped down, left field, faded. There’s plenty of dissonance and harsh sound here too, and a certain obstructive, blunt quality to the pairing of short looped beats and sample. If you’ve enjoyed any of the other Boxguts mixes released on Grindcore Karaoke, this one’s not vastly different but you’re still gonna dig for sure.

GK#144