STORMCROW – ‘ENSLAVED IN DARKNESS’

Stormcrow’s ‘Enslaved In Darkness’ EP, released back in 2005 on No Options Records. A classic of US Stenchcore and a total monolith to miserable DETH! Salvos of muscular, primordial, massive Guitars and foreboding Bass form stoic, forlorn melodies of warring death, strafing chugging Crust Thrash riffs mount a rhythm section of devastating simplicity, Metal and Punk boiled down to their most furtive and mercurial and combined in the cast, powerful dynamic rhythms with an organic looseness and a barreling heft akin to the heights of Bolt Thrower, simultaneously soaring and crestfallen leads charge headlong into withering fire, bellowed low crust vocal command – moments of metallic acoustic to draw breath from the fog of war, tempos grinding to a chugging mid paced cruise after fire is exchanged across the martial, punk as fukk Drum work. Stormcrow also manages to pull off that absolutely hopeless, rain swept atmosphere of misery that makes Axegrinder’s ‘Rise of the Serpent Men’ so potent and terrible. This particular sword will keep sharp a fucking long time yet.

Update – Brainsand has remastered and re-released ‘Enslaved In Darkness’ on wax, snag yourself a copy below!

Brainsand (Remaster/Re-release)

Brainsand

Bandcamp

AXEFEAR – ‘PROPHETIC END’

Following up a despairing, miserably heavy demo last year, Seattle’s Axefear unleashes a hellwave of horrific Metallic Crust on full length ‘Prophetic End’. Stenchcore from yesterday’s collapsed future, Axefear harbors the prophecy of doom within their furiously miserable metallic riffage, ringing the deathknell with roiling midpaced metalpunk chugger apocalypse, looming mournful melodies soar downcast into the abyss, evoking shredded battlestandards from the final conflict, cruising-speed thrash with killer riffs and despairing leads, muscular grinding war Bass and thumping, rocking, vicious drums with blast-forward moments amidst the metalicrust chug carnage, withering expulsions of grind within the more mid-paced bombardment landing like bunker-busters. ‘Prophetic End’ bears a particularly excellent production job, thunderously loud and sculpted, accenting every war-scarred lead and despairing bellow against clean guitar interludes with crowsong choir amidst the presumed dead. If you’ve been following and/or digging on Swordwielder, Cancer Spreading or Moribund Scum, you’re certain to dig this.

Archaic Records

Felopunk

DOLDREY – ‘CELESTIAL DECONSTRUCTION’

Colossal dungeon serpent Death Crust from Singapore’s Doldrey. Deathly and despotic, crusading Crust from the deep, deformed in it’s darkened succor into a beast of mutant Death Metal, Stenchcore and Crust, with frosty elements of Black Metal and straight up Integrity style Holy Terror Hardcore too. Massive Guitars rippling with siege spikes form a wall of thrashing vast stench Crust, full of lithe Heavy Metal riffing and deaththrash chug, battering battlement Bass and cruiser pummeling drum work which stomps and heaves with savagery, heavily utilising tupa tupa D Beats and UK 82 style stomp along with descents into axe swinging breakdowns as it  smashes into the fray with a swift and thunderous rhythmic bent, all adorned with gritty puking Crust vocal. Gloomy, murderous Crust from the dark recesses, full of repeat-listen headbangin’ bangers. Get into it.

Iron Lung Records

Pulverised Records

Pissed Off! Recs

HEXX / SHITGRINDER SPLIT

Nasty little split 7″ between Australian punks Hexx and Shitgrinder. Hexx features members of Territory and the excellent Warcycle (I think), playing some exceptionally aggro Crustcore that leans into Stenchcore Metallic riffermania sound but sacrifices no brevity of song length, making for some seriously rowdy Crust bangers. Dense metallic riffing and chugging, rumbling tank bass squashed into a suitcase of fast blasting/mid paced lumbering Crustcore, with warlike bellowing and foggy atmosphere, some killer sampling too. Furious and doomed, wicked shit. Shitgrinder is one of the best Grindcore bands in the current international crop. They belt out a lean and mean as FUKK Grind sound, streamlined to cruise at blasting or stampin’ speed, super minimal, concise blasters with leaden buzzing mids Guitar sound scaffolded to super snappy, detailed precision thrash’n’blast Drumming, kicked up the arse and sent flying propulsively skyward with old school grind vocal high/low tradeoffs. Crusty and bloody neckbreaking Grindcore with stomping breakdowns and tempo deviations to surprise and provoke immediate violence to peers. Grab a 7″ from Televised Suicide in Australia, or from Grindfather in the UK.

Televised Suicide

Bandcamp

NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR – ‘EQUINOX’

Savage shockwave Stenchcore from Crust warrior cult Nuclear Death Terror. ‘Equinox’ stands amid their fearsome discography as the furthest within an epic Stenchcore sound with lots of Metal influence, melted skylines and carbonised thrashing bodies, dynamic cloud burning mid-paced deathfog of Metalpunk! Snaking, chugging Metal riffage with moments of clean, downcast melody slung across hard driving deathgroove Crustcore, muscular Bass and concussion Drums march fearlessly into the mushroom cloud of tomorrow’s end, distorted deathly cruster vocal, scalding lead Guitars sounding a demented funereal dirge, hefty heavyweight production – merciless and miserable, Geiger counters screaming as the clock strikes midnight, mankind in the motherfucking microwave!  Despite being only three tracks long ‘Equinox’ leaves a marring impression, like a putrid blood and mercury taste in your mouth, crammed with murderous riffing and hopeless stench atmospheres to ride out the slow-motion apocalypse. Get disintegrated.

Bandcamp

SANCTUM – ‘ON THE HORIZON’

Doom mongering Stench/Crust stoicism from the US, a now-classic of crusty DETH ensconced in the fog of martial barrage, atmospheric and desolate recording quality looms a merciless shadow. Dynamically mid paced for the most part, trudging across fiery landscapes of doomed melody before barrelling into double time galloping war crust battering ram parts. Total Ork DeathMetalpunk. The influences of Axegrinder and Bolt Thrower, Dismember and Deviated Instinct adorn the standard bearers’ tattered colours. Bleak as fukk , furious warzone hardship and shellfire horror, charging straight into the leaden teeth of the enemy crossfire. One of the best Crust records of the past decade.

20 Buck Spin

Agipunk Records

SWORDWIELDER – ‘GRIM VISIONS OF BATTLE’

Swordwielder’s ‘Grim Visions of Battle’ LP is an epic of master-crafted Stenchcore of the highest order – muscular and primitive, violent and absolutely fucking miserable Metallic Punk ruin. Perfectly evokes the best elements of this ancient sound, harnessing the overt musical influences and doomed vibes of Axegrinder and Deviated Instinct. Rarely picking up pace beyond a gallop, these largely mid-paced crushers are dense with morose, crushed metallic riffs full of downtrodden melody and moments of droning Synths, sword-swinging powerful rhythms, vocal born of crumpled fury and rain soaked desperation and a totally bleak, fucked post-civilisation ambiance. There’s little of your more impassioned or positive Crust polemic here – just tears shed for the end of a wretched world. No hope, only Stench! Bleak and anthemic, dark and desolate. CRUST!

Bandcamp

REPRESSION ATTACK – ‘ALTAR OF DESTRUCTION’

Russian Stenchcore misery. Deathly Crust/Stenchcore, taking influence from Sacrilege, Axegrinder, Hellbastard, old Bolt Thrower, you know the sound. Downcast and furious, switching tempos from slow crushing to mid pace cruising Thrash, with metallic chugging and catchy punk riffs, strangled guitar solos, desperate ghost of war vocal and a fucken filthy sheen of apocalyptic despair and post-human Killing Joke desperation. Miserable and memorable Metalpunk, battle hardened Stenchcore. Humans in chains upon the Altar of Destruction. Dig it, mutie!

Bandcamp

LIFELESS DARK – ‘WHO WILL BE THE VICTIMS?’

Vast apocalyptic Stenchcore from Boston, Massachusetts. Thrashng Metalpunk from the darkest recesses of a failed civilisation. A short Synth opening piece gives way to barbarously crusty Thrashin’, thunderous drums underpinning muscular, downbeat and damn catchy guitars and throaty, echoic full-desperation vocal sorrow. Great sound quality, rough and booming, the drums in particular are perfectly burgeoning and classic-sounding. Properly downcast, archaic Metalpunk for bleak times; excellently executed, terminally filthy Stenchcore. A very promising demo. If you enjoy Sacrilege, don’t hesitate and grab this. Then blast it from the empty windows in an abandoned tenement building.

Bandcamp