[December 2011] US POWERVIOLENCE & GRINDCORE

CHAINSAW TO THE FACE "Agonizing Pain and Perpetual Misery" Cd

(Blastasfuk Grindcore BAF006)
Release date: 2009

Review: I've seen mentioned somewhere this New Jersey Power Violence band were straight-edge... And while I'd have to see that with my own eyes, it would certainly explain this band's extra layer of bitterness and cranky nihilistic rage to their stuff, an abnormally high level of discontent only a sober lifestyle can produce! On top of the self-explanatory band name, these song titles are just bleak! The quote that greets you inside the cd booklet (attributed to a certain Lan Wright ) isn't exactly cheerful either: "I've never been frightened of anything in my whole life and you know why? Because I wish I were dead. I wish I'd never been born and if you wish that then there's nothing left for you to be afraid about. There's only hatred to live for. There's only pleasure in that." With that I know right away this is my kind of band!
Being a discography collection made out of several different sources, this cd is something of a bumpy ride, not that their music is anything smooth anyway! This is frenzied & brutal Power Violence/Grind with short blazing short songs, abrupt blastbeat outbreaks, plenty of stop and go moments & false starts, something not too dissimilar to repeatedly trying to crank-start a chainsaw! Rumbling bass lines, grinding austere guitar riffing and a very blunt drum sound... Vocalist covers the high to midrange tortured roaring and lower grunting registers pretty much equally. I'm not that well-versed in terms of Power Violence but Infest comes to mind at times, although perhaps alot rawer and more primitive, just the really angry kind of fast hardcore often going to brutal extremes. Getting through this cd in one sitting is a bit daunting, this is seriously hardcore hardcore, 64 songs all in a row without too much variation can get pretty nerve-racking at times!
It all starts with four songs from "This comp kills fascists" which sound pretty raging, the following tracks off a split w/ Humminbird of Death are probably my favorite and the best sounding part of the whole cd together with the unreleased material that appears later in the compilation; it offers more bass in the mix and better compressed drum sound. You've also got a slew of demo material that's probably the roughest sounding stuff on there but overall still quite listenable. The most fucked up recording pops up at the end but is still very interesting and unique sounding with a ragged guitar sound and oversaturating drum beats guaranteed to destroy your brain cells even if you've given up booze a long time ago...
Chainsaw to the Face is definitely one of the most furious and angriest bands out there, no compromise...

Tracks: 1)Hating Life (0:39) 2)Skewered (0:53) 3)Burnt To Death (0:26) 4)Ripped In Half (0:48) 5)Suffering You (0:42) 6)Cancer (0:23) 7)Knee Deep In The Dead (0:31) 8)Crippling Depression (0:08) 9)Narcosis (0:51) 10)Inadequacy (0:26) 11)Crawl (0:42) 12)I'll Bury You (0:33) 13)Pessimistic (0:12) 14)Misogynist (0:20) 15)Pox (0:46) 16)Purgatorial Existence (0:48) 17)Abandonment (0:31) 18)Retardation (0:34) 19)Endless Repetition (1:04) 20)Corpse Maker (0:39) 21)Gas Chamber (0:37) 22)Swallow Your Tongue (0:16) 23)Die Alone (0:11) 24)Social Claustrophobia (0:17) 25)Corpses In The Crawlspace (0:18) 26)Guilt Trip (0:15) 27)The Butcher (0:33) 28)Blistering (0:07) 29)Tyrant (0:30) 30)Nazi Killer (0:16) 31)Swallow Your Tongue (0:22) 32)Attrition (0:40) 33)Flies To Shit (0:18) 34)Poison Veins (0:32) 35)Invertabrate (0:09) 36)Gas Chamber (0:43) 37)Guilt Trip (0:20) 38)Treacherous Fucks (0:52) 39)Maggot Eaten Brains (0:20) 40)Deprivation (1:16) 41)Disappointment (0:40) 42)Addiction (0:33) 43)Self Deprecation (0:28) 44)Leech (0:04) 45)Gag Reflex (0:33) 46)Bottom Feeder (0:43) 47)Edgebreaker (0:25) 48)Choke (0:22) 49)Oubliette (0:13) 50)Hospital Mishap (0:46) 51)Merciless Execution (0:41) 52)Check The Pulse (0:20) 53)Fetal Position (0:22) 54)Purification Through Pain (1:15) 55)Difference (0:16) 56)Lamentation (0:40) 57)Isolationist (0:36) 58)Chopped Off Heads (1:10) 59)Corpse Maker (0:39) 60)Flies To Shit (0:15) 61)Edgebreaker (0:22) 62)Oubliette (0:15) 63)Hospital Mishap (0:35) 64)Model Of Christianity (0:32)

Label: http://blastasfuk.blogspot.com
Band: Chainsaw-to-the-Face-book
www.myspace.com/chainsawtotheface

HATRED SURGE "Collection 2008-2009" Cd

(Blastasfuk Grindcore)
Release date: 2011

Review: I must admit having difficulties getting into alot of the more reknown US grind bands out there maybe due to asphyxiating overproduced sound or overly complex and cluttered song-writing but for some reason that's not the case with Hatred Surge which is a band that to me sounds absolutely fucking perfect in every aspect!
Everything just clicks, riffs that really speak to me, one of the heaviest and crunchiest downtuned tone ever coupled with such a crushing bass sound too.. Masterfully constructed compositions, constantly on the razor's edge, a real balancing act seemlessly blending blastbeat speed & brutality, crust & catchy midpaced sludge... Everything with a powerful sound that's real dirty as well as heavy in a quasi-swedish death metal fashion... All these influences are put in a grinder and that's what defines real grind I guess! The outcome is some of the most musically satisfying grindcore in years. No song-writing faux-pas discernable. Drumming kicks serious ass, the sound is very impactful in a clearly old school Mick Harris way. The dual vocals hit the spot too... Male bellows filled with genuine anger contrasting with slightly more eccentric female counterpart's scalding shrieks. The chemistry of the band is simply stunning... Not much else to say. Hatred Surge gets it done for me! The closest comparable bands could be Disrupt or Doom for a similar raw crust energy mixed with some Dystopia for the sludgier parts (except slightly less boring) and boosted with alot of radical old school Napalm Death blast beats!
Lyrically some of this stuff can appear a little affected firsthand but I'm really digging the darkness and malaise behind it all, this stuff wallows in topics such as suicide, depression, nihilism & hate in a pretty ruthless fashion! This "collection" mainly consists of the "Deconstruct" LP with 2 Ep's as bonus... The cd still feels short at 30 minutes, the sheer genius of it all just makes this shit go by really quickly! But this album's brevity is what makes it so good, it doesn't overstay its welcome... The 2 bonus EP's tacked on at the end sound slightly rougher than the LP but this is the still shit of the highest caliber. "Isolated Human" Ep is pretty much grind orented, with fast & short tracks, the female vocals perhaps lack some of the intensity displayed on the album, "Servant/Bestial" Ep delves more into slower sludgey kind of stuff. It's worth noting these earlier Hatred Surge Ep's were the work of one single person, Alex Hughes (with the addition of a female screamer), while "Deconstruct" features a full fledged 4 piece line-up for the first time I think... The song "Infinity" that concludes "Deconstruct" is really one of the catchiest and most exhilarating tracks I've heard in a long long time, I can't stop playing that one, it just kills me! Hatred Surge is definitely the best grind band US has to offer for me, this album's faultless.

Tracks: 1)Deconstruct Pt. I / Weightless (1:47) 2)Draw the Curtains (0:41) 3)Skull Cell (0:44) 4)Dark Circles (1:12) 5)The Slithering (0:47) 6)Outsider (1:23) 7)Rotten to Forgotten (2:14) 8)Maladjusted (0:15) 9)Deconstruct Pt. II (0:18) 10)Out of Balance (0:56) 11)Feeding (0:39) 12)Big Smile (0:45) 13)Sleep Terrorizer (2:01) 14)Lethal Pedigree (1:07) 15)I Hate (1:08) 16)Infinity (2:54) 17)Black Box (1:56) 18)Hell and Back (0:21) 19)Isolated Human (1:01) 20)Monster (0:57) 21)Fatalist (0:31) 22)Gaining Momentum (1:38) 23)Servant (2:53) 24)Bestial (2:10)

Label: http://blastasfuk.blogspot.com
Band: http://hatredsurge.bigcartel.com/
Hatred Surge/facebook
www.myspace.com/hatredsurgetexas
www.hatredsurge.com

MAMMOTH GRINDER/HATRED SURGE Split LP

(Cyclopean Records)
Release date: 2011

Mammoth Grinder Review: This split is also available on CD through Regurgitated Semen, but the LP seems worth getting on account on the larger sized artwork... This cover art is definitely the coolest thing I've seen in a long time! The Hellraiser-like imagery of chains and hooks absolutely carries over to the music in this case which definitely grabs you violently and doesn't let go! Mammoth Grinder is sharing members with Hatred Surge and they definitely the same grisly buzzsaw guitar tone, the music here is undoubtedly old school swedish death metal worship! The decisive and melodic downtuned riffing, raspy or crusty shouting vocals and crushing drumming is done in total early 90's Dismember fashion, the pace stays pretty moderate but extremely engaging on the first track but things quicken with a nice little d-beat grinding on the second track. The objective is not ultra-speed here, Mammoth Grinder is clearly going for an entrancing stoner feel, but it never gets boring, the riffage is just too fucking catchy and captivating for that! It simply feels like headbanging death metal with a dab of crust... Stylish songwriting and one of the finest and most perfect sound production ever man! Can't get enough of that stuff... The good thing is that Mammoth Grinder has been around since 2006 and seems to have a nice back catalog for me to sink my teeth into! Lyrically this is filled with alot of paranoid bleakness and a nightmarish worldview, you know just fun stuff!
Mammoth Grinder Tracks: 1)Pulverizer (06:12) 2)Societal Collapse (02:38) 3)Surveilled (05:24)

Hatred Surge Review: Things get real crusty with some sludge and grind on the side here! First song is d-beat a-go-go, some blasting then ending on a sludgy slow-down note. Now the band has ditched the female vocals, the mood is perhaps a little more somber. I'm getting a serious Doom vibe from the catchy second track! "Mood Stabilizer" finally gets really swinging with some killer blastbeats and an old school Brutal Truth-style grindcore attack! Then this all ends on a slower almost death metal number... The fast grind quota is maybe a little too low for my taste here but the heavy guitar tone and dirty bass mush is still sounding so perfect, the heaviness and grittiness of the sound production is simply unparalled, song-writing and riffing is out-of-this-world excellent, just a great atmosphere mixed with some raw crushing power makes for one of my favorite US bands right now, I guess together with Mammoth Grinder! It seems like you can listen to the full thing here by the way: http://cyclopeanrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mammoth-grinder-hatred-surge-split
Hatred Surge Tracks: 4)Invega (01:20) 5)Disconnected (02:15) 6)Mood Stabilizer (01:16) 7)Supernova (06:38)

Hatred Surge Links: http://hatredsurge.bigcartel.com/
Hatred Surge/facebook
www.myspace.com/hatredsurgetexas
www.hatredsurge.com

http://cyclopeanrecords.com/

HATRED SURGE/INSECT WARFARE Split 7" Ep

(Regurgitated Semen Records)
Release date: 2006

Review: This one is starting to date, but I'm just trying to fill up these stupid review columns somehow! I thought a review of Hatred Surge's first split could be interesting in contrast to their latest one with Mammoth Grinder, you know, explore the beginnings... This copy is like the fourth pressing or something printed on pinkish red background, which I'm digging because it matches somewhat the old original paper color on which the classic SxOxB/Napalm Death split flexi was printed, the same split this particular skull/bones & cleaver cover art design was plagiarized from!
Anyway, this Hatred Surge/Insect Warfare Split is definitely one of the best split Ep of grind you could ever find... The side by Hatred Surge is completely mad, frantic grindcore that goes for the throat. 5 tracks of killer riffs, powerful compositions, really fast beats, dynamic rhythmic switching, there's some slowing down during the last track but it ends up exploding in your face too! Guest female vocals are by a certain Amy Small which was a different gal than the one screaming on the later stuff! Lyrics are super resentful, angry kind of stuff... And of course this material is also available on Blastasfuk's "Collection 2005 - 2007" Cd.
I have to admit I'm not the biggest Insect Warfare fan. This is one of these bands I know I should get into but can't completely, maybe because of the blunt growling vocals and thrashing guitar work, they remind me of Assück the most which always gave me more of death/grind feeling... Somehow grindcore doesn't grab me if it doesn't have enough punk/hardcore influences. But this is undeniably killer stuff, the sound is almost too intense and ear-piercing, absolutely crushing drumming, just fast and tight songs with some really exciting & ripping riffage! The totally nihilistic lyrics are also a nice touch. I can't think of a better band to complement Hatred Surge in this Gult Coast Grindcore Split!

Hatred Surge Tracks:1)Rot (0:38) 2)Out Of My Head (0:15) 3)Pile Of Shit (0:32) 4)Funeral (0:34) 5)Old And Tired (0:43) 18)Farce (0:55)
Insect Warfare Tracks: 1)Negative Appeal (0:39) 2)Obscene Creed (0:31) 3)Reanimated Horde (0:44) 4)But Now You Die (0:42) 5)Hurricane Death (1:01)

Hatred Surge Links: http://hatredsurge.bigcartel.com/
Hatred Surge/facebook
www.myspace.com/hatredsurgetexas
www.hatredsurge.com

STANDING ON A FLOOR OF BODIES Demo

(http://www.mikestitches.com/blog/?page_id=55)
Release date: 2010

Review: Here we have wild rambunctious grindcore from California, and it's the work of one man (named Mike Stiches!). This one gives me flashbacks of Agoraphobic Nosebleed at their most frenzied by the way of Noisecore Freak (maybe too obscure a reference but that was a canadian one man thing too with a similar sound and approach)... The drum machine is pretty standard-sounding but solidly blasting, nothing is done to try to hide the fact that this is drum machine stuff, but the programming is varied enough and ultra-fast. The rest is bass only stuff, no guitars, just downtuned and distorted chaotic riffs... Vocals range from manic yelling and shouting to deeper guttural growling. Tracks are all kept extremely short with pretty disruptive and schizophrenic song-writing... Upcoming material from this project may include female vocals too maybe something along the lines of early Hatred Surge stuff? Anyhow that sounds pretty intriguing.
Most of the songs here are also wrapped around atmospheric, nightmarish industrial noise interludes out of a David Lynch movie or something. Cover art design is pretty stylish too... Anyway this demo is available for free so you could just make your own mind about it right now: http://www.mikestitches.com/blog/?page_id=55
Tracks: 1)(pulse) (0:23) 2)slaughterhouse hitchhiker (0:27) 3)blunt force trauma (0:24) 4)coffin nails (0:36) 5)gone the way of all flesh (1:18) 6)teaching pigs to sing (1:07) 7)floorboards (0:36)

NOISEAR "Subvert The Dominant Paradigm" Cd

(Relapse Records)
Release date: 2011
Running time: 45:43

Review: The notions of technical & grindcore always seem antithetical to me, but that's the only way to describe Noisear. This album took several listens for me to really get into it. The dizzying ultra-technical riffing and dense guitar work almost felt like a frustrating strain on my atrophied brain at first, especially since I'm more used to slightly sloppier more basic grindcore. To put it in visual terms, Noisear music almost feels like a stroboscopic light... At times I'm having a hard time grasping at familiar things, this stuff just seems so damn fast with little to no room to breathe.
But at some point during my second or third listen I finally managed to get caught up in the band's spiralling maelstrom of grinding insanity. The relentlessly murderous riffs keep coming at an alarmingly fast rate... But once I stopped trying to figure out how the hell did these guys play this stuff I could finally just enjoy the ride!
Noisear is unequivocally grind at its core and designed to fuck shit up! The sound production is actually pretty abrasive... The first couple of songs opening the album feature really high & shrill shrieking vocals, but the largest bulk of the album is actually led by lower grunting and roaring vocals which I'm much more at ease with! Drumming is pretty damn impressive but I must admit I'm not completely digging the drum sound or maybe the way it's mixed very forefront, but you can't help but marvel at how insanely fast and tight as fuck this stuff is.
As for influences, Discordance Axis or latest Brutal Truth stuff definitely spring to mind when listening to all this fast intricate shredding and ultra-fast blastbeats relentlessly pumping away... There are also a couple of guitar leads that feel very Suffocation-esque to me too.
I like the way the band also seems to have fun with their stuff... "Almas Por El Infierno" sounds like a lost Brujeria song, "Ace is the King" seems like a hommage to Ace from the infamous Festering Puke/Dismembered Fetus? "Breaking Bad at the Mulberry" could be a reference to the TV show Breaking Show taking place in Albuquerque (New Mexico) where the band is actually from... And the album also ends on a 20 minute industrial/harsh noise track, Brutal Truth or Exit 13 did a similar trick in the past, this could be considerred as pure filler but this one track ("Noisearuption") is actually pretty trippy and surprisingly listenable (to me anyway).
In closing, this is one of the most solid grindcore full length releases in recent times for sure...
Noisear is now working on a threesome Split release with Antigama & The Kill which sounds like an absolutely perfect match!
http://www.facebook.com/Noisear

Tracks: 1)Breaking Bad At The Mulberry (0:40) 2)Waiting To Be Born (0:55) 3)Gestapolis (0:57) 4)Inevitable Extinction (1:00) 5)Global Warning (1:01) 6)Fraudulent (1:23) 7)Information Highway To Hell (0:48) 8)Stress Pandemic (0:51) 9)Inoperative (0:43) 10)Deformed By Society (0:31) 11)The Rail (1:18) 12)The Alternative Is... (0:37) 13)Blackout (1:28) 14)Slave (0:40) 15)Ace Is The King (0:36) 16)The Last Spark of Resistance (0:51) 17)Life Consumed You (1:21) 18)Ignorance Is Bliss (0:48) 19)Minefield (0:39) 20)Fighting Addiction (0:49) 21)Borealis Storm (0:26) 22)Poisonous Cure (0:49) 23)Four Walls (0:53) 24)The Perpetual Downfall of Man (1:23) 25)Translucent (0:20) 26)Almas Por El Infierno (1:14) 27)Silent Guilt of the Reaper (0:56) 28)Contaminants of the Earth (1:01) 29)The Blackened Sea (0:42) 30)Noisearuption (20:03)