Cicatrix are a Polish deathgrind band, and this is their second album.
Featuring 10 originals and 2 covers of Dead Infection and Terrorizer songs, Cicatrix wear their influences on their collective sleeves and deliver 29 minutes of utter carnage.
This is the debut album from The Sound That Ends Creation, a one-man grindcore project from the US.
This is grindcore with a strong technical aspect that takes inspiration from many sub-genres in addition to its own, including elements of hardcore, sludge, mathcore, death metal and black metal. This, though, doesn’t really prepare you for what happens when you listen to We Are the Burden.
Apoptosis are a grindcore band from Hungary. This is their debut release.
So what do we have here then? 12 songs in 10 minutes? Alrighty. Frantic grindcore assault? Sure. Blistering punk attitude. Yeah. Spiky thrash sharpness. Okay.
This is the third album from this US grindcore band.
Nails are an intense band. On You Will Never Be One of Us they take a grindcore base and add elements of hardcore and sludge metal into the mix, flawlessly creating a 22 minute album that wipes the floor with most of the competition.
As I sit here listening to Collision’s latest release Satanic Surgery, it strikes me that in addition to being a very brutal record, it’s extremely well put together and just plain fun! As it’s a very enjoyable album that I keep returning to, when the opportunity arose to catch up with the band I grasped it with both hands…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
We are Collision from the Netherlands! We play a crossover between grindcore and thrash metal with a lot of punk and hardcore influences! Collision is around for 15 or 16 years now, touring Europe and sometimes we will make an album… like we just did: Satanic Surgery! Released by Hammerheart Records on CD and LP.
Give us a bit of background to Collision
Collision started back in 2000, after a trying out some guitar and bass players we found the right line up for this band and we start to write songs and perform live. We were ask to do some local supports and shows on metal festivals. From one thing came another and before we knew we were in the studio recording our first album, released by Czech Republic’s grindcore label “Bizarre Leprous”. With this album in our pocket we did a lot of shows in The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Czech Republic. We changed bassist after this and now we are still in the same line-up. We just like to do a lot of shows and sometimes we record an album, a split single or some cover songs for a tribute album.
What are your influences?
Old school grindcore, thrash metal, hardcore and crossover in general. We are 5 individuals, but I think we all love Slayer and Napalm Death haha. More influences came from bands like Repulsion, Nasum, Wehrmacht, Stormtroopers Of Death, Brutal Truth, Municipal Waste, Dead Kennedys, Anthrax, Suffocation and more!
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
I’m currently listening to Skeletal Remains (groovy old school death metal, good stuff!), the latest album from Gadget (ultra fast grindcore with cool sludge and hardcore parts), Textures (awesome Dutch band) and some old school classics that are not metal like The Specials and Run D.M.C. But like I mention before, the other members will listen to complete other music then me haha.
How do you feel that you fit into the wider Metal scene?
I don’t know, we also love to play in the crust and grindcore scene… but for us it’s not about scenes etc. We just love to play and that everybody that likes grindcore, thrash metal, hardcore, death metal, punkrock etc will love our music!
Give us a bit of background to Satanic Surgery – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?
Normally we sing about drinking, stupidity of religion, girls, war and horror. We used to do some politics, but that’s just not our thing.
How do you go about writing your songs?
Normally our bass player Boris will come up with some riffs. We will select our favourites and make skeletons of songs from it together with guitar player Luc. These songs are sent to our drummer Job and together we finish the song. Normally Björn (sometimes me) will come up with some lyrics and topics to scream about. Some fine-tuning and the song is finished! These days we think it’s important to have the song full of power and energy, but also needs to be catchy and have a good chorus!
I’m glad you mentioned that – is it important to for you to have a good amount of catchiness in your music, rather than focusing purely on aggression and extremity?
Hehe, I already answered this! But yes, it needs to be catchy! But we also focus a lot of aggression and extremity for sure.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
I don’t know, I really love to play “Necromantic Love Affair” live because of the combination of grindcore riffs with a sludgy metal break. Lyrics are also hilarious hehe. I also really like “Cripple The Cross”… faster, faster!!
Tell us about the album artwork
The artwork is done by Luis Sendon, he also did the cover from our previous album and the split 7″ with The Rotted. The concept was already clear for a few months, so it was just up to him to visualise our ideas. And I must admit, he did an awesome job!
How did the recording process go?
Surprisingly smooth! We were not that prepared like the previous album, but we made nice demos for ourselves, so we finished the job in a few recording days.
What does the future hold for Collision?
We just hope to play a lot and everywhere! We have some cool shows booked at the moment, but we are still open for more! So keep an eye at http://www.collisiongrind.nl for updates!
Hailing from Denmark, Piss Vortex play Grindcore and this is their latest EP.
Piss Vortex return, subjecting an unsuspecting world to more of the angular, dissonant Grind that we so enjoyed on their self-titled début album.
As with their début, this EP is filled with interesting and inventive riffs, alongside a decent amount of Sludge influence in their killing sound. Piss Vortex don’t do things the typical way, which is only to be commended, of course.
Future Cancer is 12 minutes of savage experimental and exploratory Grindcore. There’s plenty of brutality and mayhem on offer, which the band do in their own inimitable way. These tracks focus on causing as much damage as possible from as many different directions at once, it seems.
I can’t help but be drawn into the odd time signatures and atypical riffs that the band use, and these tracks have a lot to offer someone who’s into their Grind with a side order of modern violent Hardcore and nasty Sludge.
This is the second album by US Grinders Morgue Supplier.
This is rabid, brutal Grindcore that takes some Death Metal influences into its nasty embrace, resulting in 41 minutes of punishing Deathgrind.
Fast and intense, the band launch into their assault with glee and these tracks are not for the weak.
An album of this length could get quite boring though in the wrong hands, which is where the Death Metal influence comes in; there’s more than enough tempo changes and slower, groovy riffs to provide additional variety and substance to the aggressive mix.
Scathing screams, sickening shouts and ugly growls provide the vocal contribution and, alongside the well-recorded music, makes for a very satisfying listen.
This is a really enjoyable album. The songs are well-written and provide much more depth and content than a lot of Deathgrind bands aspire to. It has the chaotic mayhem of unhinged Grindcore and the controlled slaughter inherent to Death Metal. Blend these two together and you have a recipe for a winner. It doesn’t stop there though; also add in some atypical, interesting riffs and ideas, and you end up with an album that has far more staying power than most.