grind – Page 37 – Wonderbox Metal

The Drip – A Presentation of Gruesome Poetics (Review)

Hailing from the US, The Drip play Grind, fast and brutal.

This EP is 12 minutes, 6 tracks of mutilating Grindcore. The band worship at the altar of Grind legends Nasum and Rotten Sound, and are just as tight and focused.

The songs are streamlined and belligerent, with a good grasp of Nasum-esque dynamics.

The vocals are mainly high-pitched screeches designed to curdle milk and other such meanness. They sound savage and layer the top of the music like broken glass.

The production is clear enough to hear everything but also dirty enough to avoid the band becoming sterile or safe. A band with bite.

Each song is a self-contained furnace of energy and destruction, with nothing being held back. The band manage to give off a very complete feeling of listening to both state-of-the-art Grind but also one that’s aware of its heritage, going all the way back to Napalm Death when they unleashed Scum upon the world.

This is a great little collection of high octane grinders and it bodes well for a future album release. Definitely ones to watch.

Antigama – Meteor (Review)

Meteor is the latest album from Polish Grind band Antigama.

Straight away you can tell that the latest Antigama album is just a top quality Grindcore release; the sound, the vocals, the playing, the delivery – it’s all spot on.

The recording is full and complete, with a devastating sound that makes the most of the band’s aggressive heaviness.

The vocals are brutal and satisfying with enough variety to keep things interesting but sounding good enough that the variety is a bonus and not something that’s necessary.

The playing of the band is tight and focused. They alternate between fast and aggressive, staccato stop-starts, brutal blasting and atmospheric heaviness with ease and the confidence of true professionals.

They’re also not afraid to experiment, with electronics and effects on some songs as well as guest and alternative vocals; it all adds up to something special.

Another solid, top quality release from these Grindcore masters; Meteor should see them at the head of the modern Extreme Metal pack.

Interview with Human Cull

Human Cull’s latest release Stillborn Nation is a fantastic slab of top quality Grind chock full to the brim with maximum aggression. I quizzed them for more info…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

We are Human Cull, a 3 piece grindcore band from south-west England.

How did you form?

Human Cull was the refocused effort of a former band. We had a bit of a line-up change after our old drummer left, so I moved from guitars to drums and Edd added playing guitar to doing vocals.

What are your influences?

The usual mishmash of old and new grindcore bands, early (proper) death metal, thrash, crust, heavy metal, lots. Basically anything we think we can get away with chucking into the mix.

What are you listening to at the moment that you want to recommend?

Everyone should check what the UK grindcore scene is putting out at the moment, because there are some excellent bands in there; Fetus Christ, Atomck, The Atrocity Exhibit, Evisorax, Godsick, Oblivionized. There’s a list as long as my arm of lots of different takes on fast noise.

What was your writing process like for the songs of Stillborn Nation?

It was very organic (as cliché as that sounds). Edd and I would hash over ideas ’til something stuck. There were no shortage of ideas so we had to be pretty brutal with it all to weed out the weaker bits. Eventually we got to a point where we were happy with all the new stuff. There’s some re-recordings of older tracks on there too that had slowly changed over the course of playing them live so many times.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

We try and take a few different themes and construct a bleak narrative about them. It’s a mix of current and often political situations, apocalyptic future sci-fi esque shit and some other bits and pieces, but all from a pretty nihilistic point of view.

In my review I praise the growling of the vocals in particular, comparing them to the characterful delivery of The Red Chord. How much thought went into the vocal patterns and rhythms?

With Edd and I both having to play instruments as well as doing vocals we tried to make sure we could play the songs live as well as just record them. Some are easier than others. The vocals are an important aspect to the texture of our music to us so we try and make them as fitting as possible.

Are you happy with how the album came out?

Yes. We always have set out to make music we’d enjoy listening to and I think we’ve managed it. We recorded with Dan Couch (from Godsick) and the album was mixed by William Blackmon (from Gadget), and they both did a great job of capturing the kind of sound we were after.

What does the future hold for Human Cull?

We’re hitting Europe next month for a tour with Oblivionized, Temples Festival in May, and more writing and recording for some more releases and splits we have lined up. We like to keep ourselves busy.

Thanks!

Die Choking – Die Choking I (Review)

Grindcore band Die Choking are from the US and this is their first release.

With only 5 tracks in just under 6 minutes this is fast and brutal. Die Choking like their Grind raw and rough, with Punk and Crust elements to the songs. Think of a band like Misery Index only with shorter songs and you’ll get the right idea.

Even with such short tracks the band show that they can play insane blasting just as well as heavy and brutal.

The playing is tight and focused and the sound does the songs justice. The passion and enthusiasm of the band is obvious and this is fresh and above all savage. This is Grindcore to pay attention to.

As an opening salvo into the world of Metal this short EP is an excellent warning shot. Let’s see what they can do with a longer release now.

Human Cull – Stillborn Nation (Review)

Coming from the UK, Human Cull play Grindcore and Stillborn Nation is 23 tracks in 25 minutes, which should tell you something, (especially as 5 minutes of the playing time is taken up with final track Echoing Silence).

This is ultra-brutal Grind with short songs and maximum aggression. The vast majority of the tracks are on, around or under the 1:00 mark so the entire album is essentially short episodes of shocking violence and mayhem.

But is it any good? Why, yes! Primitive riffs that don’t last for long tear out over rigorous drums and stringy bass. The band’s sound is rough and ready and perfect for the delivery. Each song wants to rip your face off and stomp on your skull.

For such short songs they do mix in a bit of variety in the sense that it’s not full on blasting all the time; a hardcore influence can be felt on occasion, as well as a debt to the more restrained and inventive, (relatively speaking), approach taken by Nasum. The tracks may be short but the songwriting doesn’t suffer due to this.

The vocals are impressively gruff and deep, accentuated with much higher screams here and there. The growling works really well for the band, with the singer having the same kind of characterful voice and delivery as the singer of The Red Chord which elevates the vocals above those of most bands of this ilk.

Top quality Grindcore. Get it while it’s hot!

Isacaarum – Whorecraft (Review)

This is veteran Czech band Isacaarum’s seventh album of filthy Blackened Deathgrind.

Inhabiting the same degraded, run-down pay-by-the-hour hotel as The Meatfückers; Isacaarum are more at the Grind/Death end of the spectrum than the aforementioned band, but no less seedy and porn-obsessed for it.

The 9 songs that span this 30 minutes of depraved Metal never get stuck in a rut. In fact, for the genre this is a surprisingly varied release with even some melodic moments raising their rubber-clad heads at appropriate intervals.

The vocals alternate between higher and lower shrieks/grunts, (in a similar vein to, say, Exhumed), with the deep growls in particular being very well done.

A strong production with a heavy sound accentuates all of the questionable fluids that the band excrete and allows their songs to breathe and enjoy themselves while being mindful of the safety word at all times.

I have enjoyed this album immensely; the band have an ear for a good song and the album doesn’t get stale. This is the first time I’ve encountered Isacaarum and I’m very glad I have. I’ll be visiting them at their seedy hotel more often in the future.

Reproacher – Nothing to Save (Review)

Reproacher are a Metallic Hardcore band from the US. Having enjoyed Reproacher’s previous releases I was looking forward to checking this one out.

I was not disappointed. This is intense, brutal and heavier than a really heavy thing. Reproacher’s assault is one of pressure and deadly intent.

Coming from the Converge-style of Hardcore this is scathing and vitriol-fuelled extremity. Powered by an undercurrent of Sludge and Crust, these tracks seethe violence from every sweaty pore.

Reproacher are no one-trick band though and they add in variety to their bruising onslaught with some interesting and inventive sections and ideas. The predatory crawl of Ballast contrasts nicely with the grinding charge of The Champion is Fucked, for example.

The album rips along through up-tempo and low-tempo tracks, all the while displaying a feel for thick guitar-based atmosphere and a good variety of songwriting.

This is for all worshippers of heaviness. Bring Reproacher into your world.

Squash Bowels – Grindcoholism (Review)

Polish Grindcore band Squash Bowels have released their sixth album upon an unsuspecting world.

Every time I hear Squash Bowels they sound a little different. Tnyribal was different to The Mass Rotting – The Mass Sickening, which is again different to this. Of their albums in the middle of these releases I can’t judge as I haven’t heard them. Grindcoholism though is a very groovy brand of Grindcore, albeit still with plenty of blast to give Grind fans a good beating.

I really liked Tnyribal, and was disappointed with the more primitive incarnation on The Mass Sickening – The Mass Rotting. On Grindcoholism they have changed again; now sounding more muscular, direct and immediate.

This is enjoyable grind with relatively varied vocals and a good, solid sound; the drums in particular seeming to destroy anything they batter, while the thick Regurgitate-esque guitars swamp and cover everything in entrails.

As an aside; Squash Bowels remains one of my favourite band names ever. Just had to mention that.

Grindcore infused with a hardcore-groove while still steeped in the blood of countless victims. As extreme music goes it’s well worth a blast from the speakers, and a pleasant surprise for me to see how they’ve developed over the years since I last heard them.

Miserable Failure – Hope (Review)

This is the brand new 4 track, 4 minute EP from Miserable Failure.

This is scathing Grind designed to attack and maim quickly and efficiently, with no wasted movements.

Short and to the point; each track goes for the throat with vigour and a rusty bite. It’s not all blast though as the band inject a bit of groove and hardcore-esque guitar into the tracks for a bit of added dynamics.

The vocals are mainly demented, high pitched vocal chord-scrapings that probably leaves the singer sucking throat sweets for hours after making the noises he makes. The deeper vocals are merely for added flavour.

Surely you can spend four minutes of your time to check out these worthy Grinders?

Cripple Bastards – Nero In Metastasi (Review)

Italian veteran Grinders Cripple Bastards darken our doors once more with their new album – 18 tracks in 36 minutes.

Playing a pissed off Hardcore-tinged version of Grind; Cripple Bastards may have been around for many a year now but they are not falling short on the ideas or integrity fronts.

Riffs fly around all over the place like splinters and the drums pound like bowling balls being dropped. Effortlessly combining Hardcore, Punk, Grind and Death Metal into short songs with all being presented in their inimical savage style. There is a even a 9 minute epic Splendore E Tenebra which is as unexpected as it is welcome.

The vocals are a thing of rabid beauty; running the gamut from deep, guttural Death Metal vocals to higher rasps, the one thing that never changes is the intensity of them.

Favourite Track: Lapide Rimossa. The Old-School and the New merged flawlessly to create an excellent song. A microcosm for the album as a whole.

When Grindcore is played this well it’s easy to remember what you love about the genre. The energy and passion in these songs is infectious.

This is a Grind masterclass performed by people who are at the top of their game. This album easily differentiates itself from so many Grind-wannabes by the character and individuality of the band, let alone the quality of the songs. A must for any fan of Grindcore.