grind – Page 34 – Wonderbox Metal

Torch Runner – Endless Nothing (Review)

This is the second album from US Grinders Torch Runner.

Their début album Committed to the Ground was a very enjoyable release containing some extremely harsh and abrasive Grindcore. I’m very pleased to say that on Endless Nothing the band have kept up the intensity levels and this new release is just as acerbic as the first.

They show off once again that they may be committed to extremity but it’s not all about the blast, (although there’s still plenty of that). They know how to use dynamics and slow proceedings down when necessary to create heavier atmospheres before ramping up the intensity once more and going in for the kill.

The guitars seem to have a bit of a Swedish Death Metal tone going on, which is interesting to hear when combined with the infections high-energy riffs. The songs explode out of the speakers and alternate between sheer scything hate-filled blasts and bouncier groove-laden sections that threaten to level the house.

With this kind of ultra-violent Grind there’s nothing to not like really. It’s as if Napalm Death released a short covers album of all of the most extreme Converge songs whilst playing with a Swedish Death Metal sound and dragging the At The Gates singer in to do some high-pitched screaming.

You know Converge’s cover of Wolverine Blues? Like that, only Grindcore.

In other words, this is a great release and should you be privileged enough to hear it you’ll be instantly hooked.

Warfuck – Neantification (Review)

Warfuck are from France and this is their second album. They play Grindcore.

Over the last few years France has proven to be adept at producing quality Extreme Metal bands and Warfuck are no exception.

I have enjoyed their previous work and Neantification is just as pleasingly unhinged and rabid as the rest of their output. More so perhaps.

Warfuck play furious Grindcore with insectile screams and pinpoint precision guitars sharp enough to puncture flesh. The riffs are frequently angular, atypical and mark the band out as different from the larger part of the Grindcore herd.

There is a touch of the old noisecore scene about these tracks. Warfuck’s songs bleed out from a chaotic Hardcore base and the band channel this twisted spirit into something immense and dangerous.

In some ways they come across as the Grindcore cousins of a band like Uphill Battle, (who were already pretty extreme in their own right), and have similar levels of intensity.

Short songs, short album. This release may cater towards people with a short attention span but there’s enough content here to keep even the hungriest Extreme Metal fan satiated.

Why sell youself short by listening to only the latest Deathgrind clones? Get Neantification and remind yourself how interesting, exciting and devastating real Grindcore can be.

Top marks.

Interview with Boddicker

Earlier in the year Boddicker released their False Flag EP. It was like a kick to the face and really caught the attention of the authorities. I wanted to find out more so I contacted them via the underground and I’ve shared this communication below.

Since this EP they’ve released their début album Crime Upheaval, which is another short, sharp bout of violence that will surely raise their wanted status. Let’s find out what it’s all about…

Tell us a bit about the Boddicker concept – can you fly Bobby?

Clarence Boddicker is an uncompromising cold-blooded killer driven by profit and sadism. So are we.

What are your influences?

80’s UK grind and crust, old school death metal, New York, Scandinavian, and Japanese hardcore, Slap-a-ham era powerviolence, Eyehategod.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Nothing really new except for Water Torture, Teitanblood, and Vallenfyre. Right now the OCP office has been spinning 70’s Aerosmith, early At the Gates, Dark Angel, D-Clone, Machetazo, and God Macabre.

How do you feel the current Grind scene is holding up – healthy or not?

Hit or miss. There are a lot of great grind bands currently hustlin’ like Nak’ay, Archagathus, Water Torture, but at the end of the day we’d rather rob a liquor store while Repulsion’s ‘Horrified’ plays in my camaro.

You have an unusual Grind sound in that you also have a large Sludge influence. Is this something that’s intentional or did it just happen?

A little bit of both. Everyone has their own eclectic tastes, but one of the few bands we can all agree on is Eyehategod and Buzzov*en. It’s only natural that their influence made their way into our sound.

Boddicker Band What did you want to achieve with False Flag?

We wanted to curate an intense, distinctive, aggressive and memorable release. Whether or not we did that is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Overall, yes. However, we’ll be a little generic and self-serving and say that we’re overall more satisfied with ‘Crime Upheaval’. Saying that, we all firmly believe that ‘False Flag’ is a ripper.

What are the lyrics all about then?

Crime, anarchy, and spitting in the face of all authority.

What’s the meaning of the EP title?

A false flag is a covert military operation designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them. Collectively, we’re all interested in operations perpetuated in this manner, and felt it was a fitting EP title.

How are your songs written?

Usually after a crack binge and getting down with our favourite Napalm Death, Celtic Frost, Carnivore, Cro-Mags and Black Flag records.

How do you see your sound/direction developing in the future?

Louder, faster, and more ignorant.

What can we expect from a future album?

Well, it’s technically already out since we took a ridiculously long time to answer these questions. Pretty much more of the same, but with more succinct sounds, and more comfortable and confident songwriting. You won’t get too many surprises from Boddicker. We’re very much one-track minded individuals.

What’s next for Boddicker?

More recording, more touring, more playing, more criminal activity, more crushing the false and weak, more money, more problems.

Listen to their album below…

Die Choking – II (Review)

This is the latest EP from Grindcore band Die Choking.

Their previous EP was a tightly compressed ball of rage and hatred, played with obvious enthusiasm and savagery; II is no different, although if anything they have stepped up the heaviness and aggression this time round.

Once again it’s a short EP – five tracks in just under 6 minutes. Due to this there’s absolutely no room for filler and all of the songs are blistering with wrath and fury, exactly as Grindcore should be.

Furious, modern Grind like this is always an enjoyable treat when played and delivered well. Die Choking raised my expectations of them with their first release and the second keeps these expectations high.

So what comes next? Well, hopefully a full album is in the works, because after these two brutally short EPs I’m now primed for a meatier release from this band. I get the impression it will be worth the wait.

A top quality grind release; get your grubby mitts on II and revel in the carnage they unleash.

Tips for next time? More. Oh yes. More.

Jig-Ai – Rising Sun Carnage (Review)

Jig-Ai are from the Czech Republic and this is their third album.

This is utterly brutal Grindcore in the vein of Regurgitate’s style of Goregrind.

The vocals are deeper than a pit full of pig corpses, although you can occasionally hear higher screams coming from the bottom of the heap.

The band play brutally fast with the guitars being hammered and the drums tearing off left, right and centre. They are also aware that a full album of that can potentially get dull so they inject slower, groovier moments into places that need them.

At just under 40 minutes this is on the long side for a Grind release and the constant onslaught of gore and butchery will probably put some people off. However, although it won’t set the world on fire, if you are a hardened Grinder there are some nice cuts on this release.

If you like Goregind then this is ably played and competently delivered.

Have a listen and see what you think.

Favourite Track: Rest in Piss. Quality riffing and some nice groove.

Siftercide – Self Titled (Review)

Siftercide are from the US and play Grindcore.

This is abrasive, violent Grindcore with everything turned up to DESTROY.

The vocals burp, pignoise and shriek their way through the 19 tracks on this album and extremity of voice and music is the aim of the game.

So far, so Grind. However, Siftercide have an additional weapon in their arsenal – horns. Horns break the chaos like flashes of colour; little excerpts of cleanliness in an otherwise sea of rank odour and corruption.

The horns aren’t overdone and don’t appear on every track but it’s still an interesting addition that surprisingly does work rather than just sounding like some novelty tag-on.

This is Grind for the hardcore Grinders out there who like their music dirty and gritty. Give them a listen.

Listen to them here.

Vermin Womb – Permanence (Review)

Vermin Womb are from the US and this is their début EP.

Made up of members with an impressive Extreme Metal pedigree, (Primitive Man, Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire), this releases takes that collective knowledge and experience and funnels it into a veritable natural disaster’s worth of extremity and violence given form.

This is a combination of Sludge, Grind, Death Metal and pissed off Hardcore. It’s not for the faint-hearted and sounds like the end of the world is coming. It’s brutal, nasty, and very, very heavy.

The songs here combine the ferocity and general disdain of Hardcore/Grindcore with the murky evil of Sludge and the brutality of Death Metal. There’s even a Blackened edge.

Take Eyehategod, Brutal Truth and Anaal Nathrakh, mash them all up, put the remains in a blender, force feed the resultant slop into a few hapless victims and the resulting screams of pain and agony will sound a bit like Vermin Womb.

The singer is probably one of these unfortunates as it sounds like he’s been gargling liquid nightmares and is now vomiting forth the worst of his experiences.

This is impressively ugly and it takes real determination and talent to create Metal this heavy and grotesque.

Absolutely horrible music that you can’t afford to miss out on.

Columns – Please Explode (Review)

Columns are from the US and this is their début album. They are a Grindcore band.

Columns play Grind that’s groovy and passionate. This is the kind of music that ignites pits and gets even reluctant Metalheads to start moving. Even when they’re playing at top speed and blast beats are flying everywhere the band have a definite swagger and rhythm to their grinding destruction.

Think rhythm, groove, brutality and individuality; think Pig Destroyer meets Aborted with the odd Carcass riff. That’s right, it’s wet-dreams-made-reality time.

The music is full of high energy riffs, crushing chugs, eviscerating speed and the occasional, remarkably Rock ‘n’ Roll, solo. For songs that are this short and brutal there is a surprising amount of variety and interest to be had.

The vocals are deep and growled or higher and intense. The singer has a good voice and range with some variety between these two ends of the spectrum occurring throughout the tracks as well.

Please Explode has a Hell of a lot of personality and each song is a hothouse of great riffs and brutal design. The thing Columns excel at, however, is ensuring that the songs become more than the sum of their parts. These riffs make full use of the band’s songwriting skills to really maximise the impact they have throughout the songs.

Rather then merely a few, (or a lot of), riffs stitched together to create a fast song, as a lot of Grind bands do, Columns create dynamic and purposeful riffs that gel with every other instrument and work synergisticly with the rest of the tracks to create a complete listening experience. It’s even more remarkable that this happens in songs that average about the 2 minute mark.

This is impressive, modern Grind that has a unique identity. It’s destined to be mentioned in the same breath as bands like Pig Destroyer as forerunners of the genre.

I loved this album. I’ll be very surprised if this doesn’t place highly on my year end list.

Essential listening for Extreme Metal fans everywhere.

Atara/Miserable Failure – Hang Them Split (Review)

This is a split between French Grindcore bands Miserable Failure and Atara.

Atara are up first and they give us 6 tracks of Punk and groove influenced Grind.

These are enjoyable short, sharp adrenaline shots of modern Grind with Punk attitude and a touch of Nasum added in.

The singer is particularly acerbic and he heads the tracks here like the focal point of devastation.

Scathing vocals and a rounded, heavy sound that’s not overproduced means that the band shine filthily and so do the songs. Top work by Atara.

We’ve met Miserable Failure before with their last EP Hope. They continue to impress here with 8 tracks of furious Grind that mix the best of the extreme nature of Grindcore with the violence of modern Hardcore.

The utterly demented vocals are present and the music sounds just as unhinged. Slabs of distortion that pass themselves off as riffs crash into your skull and before you know it you’re left wondering what the hell just happened. And then, without warning, Miserable Failure loom in suddenly for the killing blow.

There’s no reason at all you shouldn’t get this. None whatsoever.

Collision/The Rotted – Split (Review)

Collision are a Grindcore band from the Netherlands and The Rotted are a Crust-influenced Death Metal band from the UK.

This is a short split at just over 6 minutes in length that shows off what both bands can do, so let’s see what we have here.

Collision have two songs. The sound is raw and brutal, with serrated vocals screaming and shouting out over speedy Grind. Both tracks are a fast and furious blend of Hardcore-influenced Grind and angry outbursts.

Both are good songs that have plenty of blastbeats mixed with moments of heavier restraint. The riffs are solid and the band seem to be having a blast.

I’m sold. Bring on The Rotted!

After Collision’s barrage of ferocity The Rotted pound out Rotted Fucking Earth which is a d-beat Punk-esque song with a good sound.

It has a drunken swagger and an aggressive temperament; it’s probably not something you want to mess with.

Simple-but-effective songwriting is powered by decent riffs and pure attitude. As Metal songs go it’s a veritable anthem.

Short but oh so sweet, this is a worthy split to add to your collection.