[February 2005]

LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER "buscando una respuesta" Gatefold 12" Lp

(Throne Records - Chapter 15/Hombre Lobo Records - Lobo 015)
Release date: 2004

Review: Looking for utterly blistering, feral Grindcore with crisp sound production? Well look no further... Unrestrained speed, devastating aggression, this Lp never lets go... Overwhelming and exhilarating raging violence from start to finish... Some damn catchy tunes, a masterful use of breakdowns and all-out moshings... This stuff just feels so incredibly liberating... the way only fine grindcore can... A very clear but fierce sound production helps alot but song-writing is also really genius here; Certainly this is calculated grindcore chemistry, but not to worry... Not overly technical or anything, it's just well-organized, gutsy, in your face savagery! Vocal-wise, dual low guttural roaring/pissed off shrieking aggression is law... Add to this implacable riffage, a monstrous bass sound and crushing drum-blasts and you get Looking for an Answer! There appears to be a new wave of spanish grindcore bands on the rise, some really swell bands... It's the very first time I'm actually listening to Looking for an Answer, but they've been around since 1999... Previous incarnations of the band were known to use a drum-machine, but believe me this Lp contains nothing but real live drumming and this stuff absolutely destroys... Tight, fast as fuck, leaping and bouncing... This stuff will make you wanna completely thrash the place! Really... Each song on this lp amounts to more and more brutal intensity... Of course, it also ends on a very anti-climatic chill-out reggae-type jamming session entitled "Crustafari"! haha... But these guys are in total control here... The gatefold sleeve artwork and layout is absolutely gorgeous. Lyrics are in spanish but also translated into english for people who didn't take spanish in school or just skipped it alot (like me): politically-charged stuff, straight and to the point! Oh and Looking for an Answer contains members like Inaki from Denak (R.I.P.) on the sing and Ramon who also plays in Unsane Crisis... My final words: Simply one of the best bands there is in the field of Grindcore nowadays... The only defect I could detect on this release is that its whopping 15 tracks are over too fast!

Tracks: I: 1)Machoviolencia 2)Cybercrack 3)Mas Alla de su Razon 4)tierra 5)Caminando en la Direccion Equivocada 6)Dogmatico 7)Cerrojo por Cerebro 8)Excluidos por el Sistema
II: 9)Genocidio Educativo 10)Verdera Amistad Falsa 11)Hablais de Solidaridad 12)Aislamiento 13)Los Olvidados 14)Medios de la Mendira 15)Crustafari

Band E-mail/Website: unsane_crisis@hotmail.com - http://www.lookingforananswer.cjb.net

UNSANE CRISIS/HASHASSIN Split Cd

(Throne Records - Chapter 09)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 25:37

Unsane Crisis Review: Unsane Crisis comes from Spain and plays grindcore of the highest caliber; these guys know what they're doing... Steady and fast, blasting, thrashing, groovy when it's appropriate and breakdowny at regular intervals too. This is just awesome grind performed with stamina and assurance. Song-writing is pretty memorable too, with enough diversity to keep things interesting... Vocal-wise, there's a definite emphasis on scathing screamy parts but low guttural counterpoint growlings are never forgotten and make for some furious dual vocal assaults.
Hashassin Review: Here we trade a spanish band for another on the second side of the split release... Somewhat wilder, more crazed than Unsane Crisis, pretty similar although perhaps slightly rougher around the edges... Don't get me wrong, sound production here is still nice and warm enough... But musically this is a veritable maelstrom of hysterical grinding madness; obsessive guitar riffs, harsh and crushing rhythms, strident shrieking and thick growls, loads of disorienting samples... Hashassin makes a clear attempt at raping your senses with their material here and well, they actually do a pretty swell job at it! As for comparisons, I'll just say Hashassin is almost like the spanish response to Total Fucking Destruction... 2 awesome bands plus very slick packaging art and layout... All in all, this release has alot going for it and therefore I recommend it.

Unsane Crisis: 1)Circle Of Hypocrites (1:02) 2)100 Innocent Victims (0:31) 3)Unreason (0:25) 4)Wrong Tradition (0:32) 5)Deem The Truth (0:49) 6)Hopeless Material Corruption (0:31) 7)Warrant Angels (1:11) 8)Definitive Failure (0:44) 9)Anti-Emo (0:43) 10)Nobody (0:09) 11)Inconsistent To Your Chaos I (0:31) 12)Inconsistent To Your Chaos II (0:04) 13)Global Drug-Addiction (1:03) 14)Gritar (0:17) 15)Ask Yourself Who You´re Crying For (1:06) 16)Suicide God (2:12)
Hashassin: 17)Murder Mongo Junk (1:08) 18)Street Fighter Asi Se Cambia El Mundo (0:36) 19)Angel-Christ I (1:05) 20)Angel Christ II (1:29) 21)Carnicero/a - Charcutero/A (0:49) 22)Queremos Darnuestra Mas Sincera Enhorabuena A La Cadena De TV Antena 3 Por Emitir Series Como "Policias" Y "Manos A L (1:29) 23)Satan Is Fitness (1:16) 24)Prefiero 1 Cargadito Que 2 (0:44) 25)Master Personal Trainer (It´s Time To Savage) (0:33) 26)Lokin Eirousimina (LA Estatua De La Heroína) (0:59) 27)Si Tienes Algun Problema, Habal Con Tus Padres O Con Algun Crisitano Maduro De La Congracion (0:50) 28)Feel The El Perro (0:57) 29)Sin Duda Haces Tu Vida Peor (Elapajaocandil) (1:52)

Band E-mail/Website: unsane_crisis@hotmail.com - www.unsanecrisis.cjb.net

BATHTUB SHITTER "Wall of World is Words" Cd

(Power It Up)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 20:42

Review: Bathtub Shitter shouldn't need an introduction after all the reviews I wrote about them but here goes anyway... This band is japanese and they carved their own style into grindcore with something of a sizzling, sludgy vibe, a set of gruff guitar riffs, gnarly growls, spastic high-pitched screaming, grinding rhythms and quite a little bit of groove too... Their sound seems like it's almost been roughened up intentionally, it's got a definite crusty, distorted edge but everything's clear enough so you can make out what's going on... Most of the songs are quite catchy and memorable and this stuff is always a pleasure to listen to! What else to say? In regards to the layout, it's simple but so very cool-looking; lyrics deal with social topics of some kind, and there's at least one shit metaphor in every song... This is the cd re-issue of the band's first Lp from 2000, it's got some fun additional bonus tracks, basicly alternate versions of other tracks. This cd is something of a raw grindcore classic to me... Basic, primitive, nice and crunchy, just the way I like it!

Tracks: 1)I.N.W.W.W. 2)Wall Of World Is Words 3)M.A.D.S. 4)We The Helpless 5)Imitation Of Life 6)Wrinkly Wall 7)Fuck You 8)Light Out 9)New Clear War 10)O.U.T.W.W.W. 11)Wall of World is Words (Ass Plugged Version) 12)My Last Word

Band E-mail/Website: info@bathtubshitter.com - www.bathtubshitter.com

Label Contact: Power It Up Postfach 114 38156 Vechelde Germany
www.power-it-up.de e-Mail: Mailorder@power-it-up.de

SEWN SHUT "Rediscovering the Dead" Cd

(Selfmadegod Records - SMG 014)
Release date: 2005
Running time: 26:51

Review: Sewn Shut is, in my not so humble opinion, one the finest grindcore act Sweden has to offer... They're surely one of my personal favorites; for one reason in particular: they haven't completely abandonned the lower guttural, growling aspect of their vocals in favor of more and more ear-piercing screaming (like many grindcore bands seem to do these days) and the screaming parts are really more like angry shouts! They aren't unbearably high pitched and stays in a lower frequency I enjoy really... Anyway, this "Rediscovering the Dead" disc is somewhat similar to what Selfmadegod already did on their release of My Minds Mine's "48 Reasons to Leave This Planet"... This is a collection of all Sewn Shut's Split 7" Ep releases, not exactly a complete discography cd per se since I believe stuff like the band's first full Ep might be missing... The cd starts with the more recent, cleaner-sounding recordings and goes back in time getting slightly rawer along the way... Needless to say, despite the varying sound quality, this is all around solid grindcore from beginning to end... I remember enjoying the hell out of each and every one of these Ep's when I first heard 'em... and well, I still do now! It's interesting to hear them all in a row though... Honestly I found myself digging the older stuff a little bit more. It's slightly rougher-sounding but the energy found through these songs is that much more communicative! Constantly on the move, turbulent song structures, fast blasting drumming, flesh-ripping thrashing or sludgy guitar riffs, nasty bass sound, raging vocals so full of anger... Oh and short songs, rarely running over 1 minute. I may be totally out of line here but I was often reminded of Lärm or Siege when listening to this, of course also mixed with an additional Phobia/early Nasum-type thicker, more "metal" sound... In the end, Sewn Shut is one of the most important recent grindcore bands, at least for me... The cd layout here is simple but effective, in a dismal/lugubrious way... Unfortunately though, no lyrics to be found... Anyhow, a very worthwhile cd... Missing all that grindcory goodness on here would be a crime!

Tracks: 1)Where Night Falls All Day Long (0:48) 2)Progress (0:37) 3)The Charade (1:00) 4)Foreign Corporate Reorganization (0:57) 5)The Butchering (0:54) 6)Eruptions Of Violence (0:57) 7)Assess The Damage (0:49) 8)Cretinism (1:31) 9)Reduced To Nothing (0:53) 10)Twenty-Three Million Zombies (0:56) 11)Swear Of Destruction (1:05) 12)Four Star Opposition (0:57) 13)Charred Remains (0:35) 14)Fall To Extinction (1:11) 15)Cycle Of Despair (1:00) 16)Contamination (0:38) 17)Deteroriate (0:42) 18)Dissension (0:42) 19)The Rebirth Of Freedom (1:32) 20)Knives To Our Throat (1:04) 21)Children Of Wonderland (1:20) 22)Black Gold (0:37) 23)After The Storm (1:00) 24)Dying World (0:30) 25)The Final Chapter (1:22) 26)Consistency (0:45) 27)Night Of The Long Knives (1:07) 28)Hung By The Balls (0:18) 29)Bring Forth The Killers (1:04)

Label Contact: Selfmadegod c/o Karol Pienko / POB 46 / 21500 Biala Podlaska / Poland
tel# (+48) 600 87 82 17
E-mail: karol@selfmadegod.com - karolsmg@o2.pl
Website: http://www.selfmadegod.com

Band Website: www.sewnshut.da.ru
Contact: SEWN SHUT
Box 7092
200 42 Malmö
Sweden

DEPRESSION/MESRINE Split Cd

(2+2=5 - 2+2=15)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 44:39

Depression Review: Hailing from Germany, Depression already has quite a bunch releases of their own, most notably some interesting split releases with bands like Agathocles or Haemorrhage... They play a very heavy and downtuned type of Death/Grind and keep things going at a steady pace, honestly more focused on groove and catchy mid-tempo rhythms than genuinely all-out speed; Still, this is pretty hard-striking and intense stuff. Depression might well be a perfect example of the "german touch", their music simultaneously reminds me of Dead (for the the ultra-downtuned guitars and catchy hooks), Gut (basic and groovy song structuring as well as weirdo squealing), Mangled Torsos (sick mood, heaviness, plus those almost liquid-sounding , gurgling growls) and finally Blood (an overall flavor). The execution is pretty tight, the song-writing is simple but adequate, the sound production is nice and thick... Sure, this isn't anything earth-shattering but definitely a very enjoyable band for me...
Mesrine Review: Sick Grind/Death from this Canadian outfit... Ferocious vocal trade-offs, guttural growls and brutal shrieks, lowtuned, grindy, dissonant riffage, pretty savage drumming... Sound is a little on the rough side, in a sort of cavernous way... But songs are sufficiently energetic to make this a nice, albeit slightly muddy ride! If I had to make a comparison, I'd say a cross between Hemdale & Dahmer. Overall, a solid split release.

Tracks: Depression "Die toten Tage kommen...": 1)The Grime Rise of... (1:33) 2)Human Prey (1:40) 3)Maggot Eater (2:09) 4)Hate the Kids (2:27) 5)Depression Vs. The Devil (2:13) 6)Behram (2:26) 7)Leichenduft (2:11) 8)I Spit on your Grave (2:19) 9)Dare the Pain (1:42) 10)Just a Piece of Flesh (3:17) 11)A Farewell (0:11) 12)...The Reborn Brutality (Outro) (1:28)
Mesrine: 13)Uncle Jimmy (1:41) 14)Robert Pickton (1:59) 15)Bud Petterson 2:39) 16)Malvo (0:46) 17)The Mangler (1:57) 18)Le Restaurateur Georges Tannous (1:39) 19)Rénald Côté (2:08) 20)Jack (1:28) 21)Steve Racine (1:52) 22)Gino Camacho (1:08) 23)Charles Bishop (2:41) 24)Saddam (1:05)

Label E-mail/Website: info@2plus2equal5.com - www.2plus2equal5.com
Contact: 2+2=5 Records
C/o Douglas Alves Junior
Caixa Postal 1668
Sao Paulo / SP
CEP:01059-970
Brazil

EXACTLY VIOLENT STYLE Cd

(Negative Federal Fund Records)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 47:53

Review: Here's a pretty special-sounding, unconventional band from Japan... A tonic and schizophrenic mixture of sludge, grind, & free-jazzy metal, with some pretty delirious and wild guitar & bass work, truly out of whack song structures and a crazed delivery of raspy midrange/high vocals. It's pretty intense and unique in sound, with many bursts of aggressivity juxtaposed with smoothing moments in an interesting manner... It's well-executed, technically proficient and quite trippy but I have to admit it didn't exactly grab me; Perhaps is it a little too over the place, rhythmically speaking... Anyhow, this is still interesting work, very densely composed, the band is not afraid of writing long-running songs either... I'll just say it slightly reminds me of Naked City or even Dillinger Escape Plan, with some slightly more chaotic song-writing and an added particular japanese vibe... If you're into this kind of bands, then E.V.S. might suit you as well...

Tracks: 1)No Lights All Around (2:26) 2)Arrived the New Dimension (3:21) 3)Diametric Notion (4:39) 4)Before the Overpowering Strength (2:48) 5)The Given Load (5:51) 6)Pray with feeling Shifted (4:55) 7)Catastrophe of the Couple's Escape (6:43) 8)Mental Subversive Activities (5:03) 9)In the Double Scenery (5:46) 10)Hard Stricken Life (1:57) 11) (4:24)

Band E-mail/Website: evs@hotmail.co.jp - http://evs.hp.infoseek.co.jp/
Label Website: http://sound.jp/nffr/

CRIPPLER CROSS FACE "Where Did We Put the Dead horse We've Been Beating" Mcd

(Urchin Incorparated)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 6:49
Review: Screamy fast metalcore/grind... Short, expeditive songs, very metallic-sounding riffs, blazing drumming, high pitched screaming... Very capable band but overall song-writing seems pretty bland somewhat, it didn't captivate alot of my attention. Sound is clean, good enough for me, although it seems to vary from song to song. Reminiscent of Discordance Axis or Agoraphobic Nosebleed, that sort of things...

Tracks: 1)Volens Non Valeo/blood On The Dancefloor 2)Sex Toys And Power Tools 3)You Will Never Know Us 4)We Make Insanity 5)Vae Victus/it's Tough To Be A Loser 6)I Miss You Sweet Mercy 7)Can I Get A "hells Yeah" 8)Dear John... 9)We've Only Just Begun

Label Website: http://www.urchininc.com
Urchin Incorporated
740 Ortona Court
Winter Springs, FL.
32708

SHACKLED DOWN "The Crew" Cd

(Selfmadegod Records - SMG 013)
Release date: 2005
Running time: 26:51

Review: Ok, this polish band plays fast hardcore/metal, not really something I have a huge interest in nor really know much about... This is stuff with an overall up feeling, positive kind of stuff... Clear vocals, gang vocals, fun thrashing riffs, groovy prominent bass lines, pretty short songs full of speed, very fast drumming and even a few blastings at some point... I like the whole speed aspect and some of this stuff actually made think of Repulsion/Unseen Terror in a way, which is cool... But I'm definitely not a fan of cheesier moments like the hand-clapping in the intro song or some of the more sirupy vocal arrangements... Anyway, if you're into this kind of metal, this is surely quality stuff for the genre, energetic, catchy, straightforward concise songs, blazing speed and a pretty nice sound production...

Tracks: 1)The Crew (1:03) 2)Praying For Unity (1:04) 3)Fight With Sorrow (1:11) 4)Bros (1:05) 5)Get Out Off My Face (1:06) 6)Show Me Your Tolerance (1:11) 7)Shake It Off (1:24) 8)No One's Slave (0:43) 9)Improve Yourself (1:10) 10)Six 6 Six For Life (1:23) 11)TwentyFuckTaLife (1:19) 12)Moustache Coated Boss (1:03) 13)Shackled Down (1:41) 14)Brain Damage (1:37)

Label Contact: Selfmadegod c/o Karol Pienko / POB 46 / 21500 Biala Podlaska / Poland
tel# (+48) 600 87 82 17
E-mail: karol@selfmadegod.com - karolsmg@o2.pl
Website: http://www.selfmadegod.com

ROTTEN COLD/HUMAN MASTICATION Split Cd

(Reverb Productions - reverb003)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 31:46

Rotten Cold Review: Here's an interesting austrian Death/Grind band... It's fairly obvious the band is mimicking 1990's era Napalm Death, especially "Utopia Banished", but I found their jab at this particular style pretty respectable. A strong execution, nicely flowing, catchy riffs, pretty smooth song-writing, some really tight and dynamic drumming... I just really appreciate the song-writing efforts in general here. Of course, everything from riffing to vocals evidently owes a great deal to Napalm Death, the tone of the vocals is almost exactly the same as Barney Greenway's, only perhaps slightly less forced and guttural and more natural-sounding. If you dig Napalm Death and if you aren't looking for originality at any cost, then you might enjoy Rotten Cold too. Sound production is fairly clean, nothing mindblowing by any means, but the mixing is good enough and makes the song's catchy hooks come across just fine... A cover version of Entombed "Wolverine Blues" can be found within, an odd choice but still a decent rendition of the song afterall...
Human Mastication Review: This is really rough death/grind, with guttural growling, crude, chunky riffing, chaotic drumming... Nothing really special, I really couldn't get into that stuff, the sound is pretty terrible, and the guitar riffs often feel too uninspired and meandering... The drumming can be pretty catchy on occasion and it's probably the best thing about this band, although I also like the bass lines that peak through the mess at times... Still, there's definitely ground for improvement here!

Tracks: Rotten Cold: 1)Lambs To The Slaughter 2)A Virus Called Stupidity 3)Ravishing Outlooks 4)Comfortably Numb 5)Manananso/Fake 6)Like A Disease 7)Man (Insatiable Atrocious Beast) 8)Wolverine Blues (Entombed Cover)
Human Mastication: 9)Misery 10)Media Enslavement 11)Greed 12)Suffocated 13)Suffered Humanity 14)Destroy For Profit

Label E-mail/Website: mailto@reverbproductions.ht.st - http://reverbgrind.cjb.net

SEVEN GATES OF HELL 7-Way Split Cd

(Reverb Productions/Chop2Death - reverb002/chop002)
Release date: 2004
Running time: 47:53

Review: Beef Conspiracy: Brutal death metal, thrashing riffs, drumming with a heavy use of doublebass and blastbeats, all pretty typical except for the vocals maybe... With midrange raspy sneering, still backed up by brutish growls... Pretty clear-cut and technical stuff...
Rotten Cold: Fine grinding death metal in the direct vein of Napalm Death ("Mass Appeal Madness" springs to mind)... The main vocal style is especially reminiscent of Barney Greenway's trademark growling... And the back also makes a use of some higher shrieking backing vocals. This is all pretty tight and decently composed. Although I'm not into this overdosing of harmonics, as they often feel unnecessary... Otherwise this is pretty neat death metal!
Dinn Addict: The most chaotic sounding band so far... This is grindcore with some crusty influences here and there. Some pretty rapid drumming and intensely grinding riffing. Vocals are your regular savage growling/high shrieking madness fest! The songs present here are taken from 3 different sources (Splits w/ Obliterate, Endless Struggle & Ulcerrhoea...) Therefore, sound production varies from clear but raw to slightly heavier... And the twisted bass lines are a bit more prominent on several tracks... Overall, very enjoyable raging crap, definitely one of my fave bands on here...
MxDxKx: We continue with more grind... This sounds quite messy and wild. Slapdash drumming, some rugged grind riffs (it seems to me like only a bass is being used here, I couldn't discern any guitars...) and dual grotesque sounding growls & screams... This reminds me alot of early Rot also from Brazil except with alot more bass in the equation.
Entrails Massacre: German grind! The band I'm most familiar with and definitely the tightest on here... The guitar riffing has a definite punk vibe to it... Songs are pretty crusty in parts as well as real devastating, blasting and grinding in other places... This shit is fucking furious and the drumming is tightest of the tight... What a killer band... Reminds me I have to pick up that of theirs...
Torture Incident: Blurry downtuned grind, sick low guttural grunts, pounding drums, great prominent bass sound, buzzsaw guitars, backing hysterical screaming. I like the cool obscure sound quality, there's a really gritty textures to it that feels real nice.
Peach-Her: Hardcore/Death Metal mixture, very hyper and energetic kind of stuff... This is the same material that already appeared on their split cd w/ Desensitised so go fetch that review in case you're interested...

Tracks: Beef Conspiracy: 1)Cerebral Mince 2)Jam Or Butter Not Both
Rotten Cold: 3)Milk of Greed 4)Aggressolution 5)Sunset Denied 6)Detoxify
Dinn Addict: 7)Ego Tours 8)Silicon Bastards 9)Dick Hunters 10)Another Stupid Whore 11)Peaceful Anarchy 12)Planet USA 13)Scream From Your Ass 14)Be High 15)See Your Enemy 16)V.I.P. Very Impotent Personality
MxDxKx: 17)Crematorio 18)Cemeterio Clandestino 19)Morte Encefalicia 20)Apoplexia Fulminante 21)Dramme Cerebral 22)Trauma
Entrails Massacre: 23)Hell On Earth Will Follow 24)Things That Keep Me Awake At Night 25)Real Beauty Comes From 26)Human Value 27)Mouth of The Wise
Torture Incident: 28)Purulent 29)Ulceral Erosion 30)Absolute Denial 31)Political Dog War Maroning 32)Brutal Bane Robber 33)Voice Your Disgust
Peach-Her: 34)PVP On The Rocks Starter 35)Pop Corpse 36)My Fork Is A Poltergeist part 1 Main Meal 37)Roasted Gambas Cheese 38)Tod Youngs To Die

Label E-mail/Website: mailto@reverbproductions.ht.st - http://reverbgrind.cjb.net