grind – Page 36 – Wonderbox Metal

Hashed Out – Hashed Out (Review)

Hashed Out are from Canada and play angry Hardcore.

This is violent music that’s noisy and Crusty. A hint of Grind, a smattering of Metallic fury, a good Hardcore base and even a touch of Sludge here and there – Hashed Out play music that’s full of rage and bile.

The singer shouts and spews vitriol across the 6 tracks and keeps the intensity up for the full 15 minutes playing time.

The songs may be short and furious but they have some hooks in them that keep you coming back for more. This reminds me of a more extreme version of some of the 90’s Metallic Hardcore bands like My Own Victim; the sense of songwriting that’s heavy but still catchy is similar, only with added Crust, filth and blasting.

Think of a Punk band swallowed by Eyehategod and powered by Grinding Crust. The songs stick around and the singer in particular is very memorable. In a sea of mediocrity Hashed Out stand tall.

This is an EP worth getting hold of.

Boddicker – False Flag (Review)

Boddicker are from the US and play Grindcore with a healthy Sludge influence.

A short release at 13 minutes, this nevertheless allows Boddicker to flex their musical muscles and supply us with an all-you-can eat buffet of extremity.

Brutality and aggression are in bountiful supply as you would imagine and there is a Crust/Punk aspect that propels the delivery along with gusto.

Their sound is dirty and Sludge-fuelled and in addition to the standard Grind speed there is a relatively high incidence of slower, Doomier parts where the band take on the aspect of Eyehategod/Buzzov-en and destroy the listener with heaviness and slow-core battery.

The vocalist sounds suitably unhinged and bellows at the top of his lungs with anger and barely suppressed rage.

A very enjoyable EP, mixing a Punk Grind sound with a tasty bit of filthy Sludge. Boddicker are to be commended and recommended.

I bet they’re amazing live.

Interview with Dead in the Manger

The mysterious collective that is Dead in the Manger have unleashed something special on the world with Transience. We tried to pierce the veil of secrecy…

Tell us a bit about Dead in the Manger

DITM is a collaboration of people who aim to create a feeling of unease, aggression and sadness through various elements of sound.

I understand you anonymity is important to you as individuals – discuss

Who we are or anything else we are associated with is not important. We just want the music to speak for itself.

Dead in the Manger 1 What are your influences?

Sadness, depression, suicide.

You have an unusual juxtaposition of Funeral/Depressive Black Metal and Blackened Grindcore – how intentional was this or was it more of a natural occurrence?

We are just writing what comes natural. We want to portray how we actually feel, in an aggressive manner.

We didn’t intend on necessarily fitting in with any particular genre.

Will you continue to develop your songs in this style in the future or do foresee something different for Dead in the Manger?

I don’t believe it would truly be DITM without these elements. We are writing these songs out of pure negative emotion, so without that, there would be no DITM.

Where do Dead in the Manger go from here?

It’s hard to say what the future holds, but as long as the negative creativity is there, we will continue writing music.

There *might* be even the possibility of some select live shows if the offer and setting is right, but I can’t make any guarantees.

Interview with The Drip

Having just released their devastatingly brutal brand of state-of-the-art Grind onto the world with their latest EP A Presentation of Gruesome Poetics, US Grinders The Drip are poised for big things. Bobby Mansfield answered some short questions with some short answers. Grindcore style…

Give us a bit of background to The Drip

We formed in 2007, we’ve toured extensively in the northwest, Recorded 2 previous EP’s before our Relapse debut.

What are your influences?

Heavily influenced by Nasum, and Rotten Sound, we also take inspiration from other bands such as Napalm Death, Nails and many others.

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

Currently been spinning Afgrund’s Corporatacracy, and Fuck The Facts’ Misery. Stoked to get ahold of the New Misery Index as well.

What are your opinions on the current state of the Grindcore genre?

Grindcore is an ever growing genre, boundaries are broken, rules are rewritten. Grindcore will always be the most abrasive form of extreme music. Bands just keep getting better.

What did you want to achieve with your new release?

Establish ourselves as a Modern Grindcore band, It’s really awesome exposure being part of RELAPSE.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Yes, we are, it came together very well for being recorded in 1 day, production is awesome, record sounds aggressive.

Talk to us about the lyrics

Angry, pissed off. That’s what we go for.

What’s the meaning of the EP title?

It can have many meanings, my personal take is that its meant as glimpse into our music.

How do you go about writing your songs?

We write individually and as a group. We aim to make better songs each time we start a new one.

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

Heavier, Faster, sicker. Already writing for a full length.

What can we expect from a future album?

A continuation of the material from APOGP. Songs will be aggressive and pummeling.

What’s next for The Drip?

Summer West Coast tour, with a stop at the 2nd annual DENVER BLACK SKY fest, writing and recording our full length.

I, for one, look forward to that full length very much.

Super Massive Black Holes – Calculations of the Ancients (Review)

Canadian band Super Massive Black Holes play Experimental/Progressive Jazzy Death Metal, and this is their début album.

This is bright and shiny music that’s technical but also slightly whimsical in nature; there’s something of the Devin Townsend about it.

The band manage to mix disparate elements of Devin Townsend, Opeth, Ephel Duath, Gojira and Cephalic Carnage; schizoid jazzy breakdowns, atmospheric interludes, Stoner vibe rockathons, pseudo-Grind workouts and heavy melodic cyber Metal all collide on this album.

The songs are surprisingly cohesive for all this. Sometimes an idea or a section can feel a bit half-formed or unfinished, however, although from the sound of it this could very well be intentional; to keep the listener guessing or to stop them becoming complacent?

The vocals are mainly between a shout and a growl, with the vocalist reminding a little of the singer of Gorod, or even Gojira on occasion, only not quite as emotive.

I like this album, although it definitely needs time to reveal its charms and won’t be to all tastes. Give them a listen and see what you think.

Transient – Transient (Review)

Transient are from the US and play Grindcore.

This is professionally-recorded and nicely heavy. The songs are short and the anger high. The vocalist sounds like she is possessed by demons, (yes, plural), and is a whirlwind force of nature stalking these songs and shortening their natural lifespan by her presence alone. It’s an impressive performance.

The songs are hardcore-influenced Grindcore with lots to keep the attention with. None of the tracks reach over the 2:00 minute mark but that just means that every spare second is used for something useful rather than just filling space.

I love this kind of grind; modern and brutal but still with a firm emotional core and lyrics that have meaning rather than just being a pointless gore-fest, (which can also be fun of course).

Cross a band like Nasum with the scathing feral hardcore of Converge and Transient will be the product. This is a top quality Grind album and should be on the want list of every fan of this genre.

Cage Grind Noir – Pilots (Review)

Nicolas Cage themed Grindcore? Sure, I can get on board with that.

The vocals are hysterical raging, an insanity that seems to have infected the singer and left him with nothing to do but scream and vomit his love for all things Cage.

Samples infect the tracks like a disease, making sure you’re never too far removed from the subject matter. Each song is named after a film.

Grind of this ilk based on a theme/novelty-factor wouldn’t normally interest me that much if it wasn’t for the fact that the band are good at what they do. They know how to Grind. Puig Destroyer are another such band, and like Puig Destroyer the concept doesn’t get in the way of the Grindcore.

As far as the music goes the band actually peddle somewhat sophisticated, modern Grind, rather than the ultra-primitive variety I was initially expecting, (no idea why. Baseless assumptions and all that). It’s quality stuff. It’s only 13 minutes long but the band still have time for a bit of almost Post-Metal in the middle of the album, (Knowing/8MM), and some mid-paced atmospherics at the end, (Fire Birds).

I see no reason for you to not pick this up and enjoy a little bit of what they’ve got goin’ on!

Dead in the Manger – Transience (Review)

Screaming out of the US, Dead in the Manger are an unholy fusion of Black Metal and Grind.

This release is 18 minutes of pure depression and hatred in equal measure.

Unusually the band juxtapose Funeral/Depressive Black Metal against furious Blackened Grindcore. It works due to a skilful weaving together of the two usually disparate genres.

The slow misery of the haunting opening track gives way to the savage, focused Grind of the second. The third and fourth combine aspects of both styles in a way that’s a welcome breath of stinking air; savage Blackened Grind colliding with dirge-like riffs and miserably anger. The fifth is a haunting interlude of samples and dark atmosphere, while the final, (and longest), track is blistering and solemn; blastbeats rage over sorrowful chords.

And what of the vocals? Black Metal to the core. Like static being vomited up by a diseased corpse. Perfect.

Dead in the Manger are hopefully not transient, hopefully they will be with us for some time yet.

King Parrot – Bite Your Head Off (Review)

King Parrot are from Australia and play a combination of Thrash Metal and Grindcore.

Harsh and energetic; this is the sound that greets you upon pressing play and the first song Bozo rips itself out of the speakers. Kind of like a more Thrash Metal-influenced Pig Destroyer; the songs are short, 2 minute-ish slabs of spiky riffs and throat-damaging screams.

Speaking of the screaming vocals – they’re demented, chaotic and absolutely insane; the perfect counterpoint to the focused assault of the music.

There’s no denying the sheer exuberance on display here. The band are no one-trick ponies however; they have a fair amount of ideas and relative variety within these 17 tracks and the high-octane ride is fuelled by a powerful rhythm section that propels the songs along at frenetic velocities.

They know a good riff when they shred one; mixing crunchy Thrash attacks with melodic licks and chuggathons the band have a firm grasp of dynamics and make the utmost of their short playing time to get the most out of each song.

35 minutes of Thrashgrind nirvana.

Dead In The Dirt – The Blind Hole (Review)

Dead In The Dirt play Grindcore and do it from the US.

The band throw out highly aggressive Grind with short songs and even shorter tempers.

With a solid sound that’s so sharp you could do someone an injury, the songs blast out of the speakers covered in bile and thoughts of execution.

I do so love this kind of Grind! Heavy and fast at the same time; taking the blueprint and class of a band like Nasum and mixing it with bits of Sludge, Crust, Brutal Truth and Converge.

Take any selection of songs on the album and you’ll find a fair degree of variety. Sometimes it sounds like Eyehategod mixed with Deathgrind, (Strength Through Restraint), next it sounds like Uphill Battle if they totally gave in to their Grind influences, (Idiot Bliss), and then it sounds like a Hardcore Crust Brutal Truth, (You Bury Me).

Amazingly the band manage to perfect the balancing of frenetic, ultra-intense speed with heaviness and brutality in a way that most bands fumble, but Dead In The Dirt manage to make seem easy and the most natural thing in the world.

Better Grind you won’t hear in a while.