Grindcore – Page 41 – Wonderbox Metal

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.

Invidiosus – Malignant Universe (Review)

Invidiosus are from the US and they play Death Metal.

After the usual pointless intro we get dirty Death Metal with a Grind influence. It’s foetid, riffy, and full of rotten warmth.

The singer has an impressive growl. Deep and satisfying, straight from the bowels. Nice. The higher screeches are good too.

This is a kind of timeless Death Metal that might take cues from the past but is quite content in the present also. It’s heavy and fast, but also allows moments of technicality into the fray as well as slower, more considered parts.

The riffs rip and the drums pound. The gritty nature of the recording works in the band’s favour and overall this is a most enjoyable ride down the Death Metal canal of grisly delights.

Check them out.

Jesus Crøst – 1986 (Review)

Jesus Crøst are from the Netherlands and play Grindcore.

This is 22 songs in 15 minutes, so yes; here we have Grindcore of the short, violent variety.

There appears to be some form of football theme going on, which is not something that even vaguely interests me so I have no idea what that’s all about.

The music is nicely savage and scathing, with short bouts of violence and mayhem. There are some good riffs and even some catchy moments on some of the songs, (Horst Hrubesch for example).

The vocals switch between pignoise grunts and serrated screams and sound very nice indeed. Coupled with the fierce music it really promotes a vicious image.

The music has a good, strong production and sounds heavy and professional.

I have enjoyed this way more than I was expecting to, (put off by the football thing and cover), but if you ignore all of that then musically this is top-quality Grindcore.

Check them out.

Keitzer – The Last Defence (Review)

Keitzer are from Germany and play Deathgrind. This is their fifth album.

This is pissed off Grind with the rhythmic brutality of Death Metal thrown into the mix in order to have every base aggressively covered.

The Last Defence is lean, mean and full of hatred. The blastbeats are furious Grind and the slower parts have Death Metal’s focused, crushing attack.

This isn’t flash-in-the-pan, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Grindcore, although the shorter songs are suitably represented. The songs are a little longer on average than a lot of Grindcore bands which gives the band the chance to deal out their Death Metal influenced assault with enthusiasm and a destructive will.

The riffs are tight and the entire attack that the band have is controlled and utterly lethal.

Keitzer know how to keep things interesting and have produced a relatively varied release in the sense that the riffs and drum beats don’t descend into monotony. Interest is held throughout this very brutal and proficient display of Deathgrind.

The singer has a great voice and he barks, screams and growls his vicious diatribes throughout the duration of the tracks. The songs themselves are surprisingly catchy and memorable. They’re backed up by a great sound too so that you can almost feel the devastation they leave in their wake.

A top class album. Combining the rhythm of Death Metal with the wanton destruction of Grindcore rarely sounds this good.

Check this album out.

Pretty Little Flower – Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration (Review)

This is the fourth album from US band Pretty Little Flower who play Grindcore.

This is savage Grind mixed with a bit of Old-School Death Metal and Punk/Thrash influences to some of the riffs.

The vocals are deliciously deep and guttural. A real pleasure to listen to. Total cookie monster vocals but they’re deeply satisfying growls that hit the spot nonetheless. There are also occasional high rasps but these are of the average variety.

There’s plenty of blasting and band seem quite content with keeping things fast, nasty and angry. Fine with me.

The nature of the riffs and the deep growls remind me of certain aspects of early Brutal Truth, which is probably why I found myself warming to this album so quickly.

The songs, as one would expect, are short and to the point, with most hovering about the 1:30-2:00 mark. This means they have enough time to build up a good head of steam before the relentless blasting and Grinding comes to an end.

The sound is fine and the drums in particular have a pleasing analogue sound to them.

This is for fans of simple, stripped-back-to-the-bone Grindcore that takes no prisoners and doesn’t even vaguely understand the concept of mercy.

An enjoyable release.

Ass to Mouth – Degenerate (Review)

This is the second album from Polish Grinders Ass to Mouth.

Just under 31 minutes, 20 songs; you know it’s not going to be pretty. But do we want it any other way? Certainly not.

It’s immediately unsubtle and makes its mission statement known within seconds of the first track.

Angry shouts and sickening screams are spewed forth like vomit, backed up with some good old pignoise for good effect in the background. The vocals are relatively versatile for this kind of release and you certainly can’t accuse them of being monotonous.

The music is Grindcore of the crusty and blastbeat-fueled variety. The songs are short, tight and dirty. Punked up and furiously brutal, they lay waste to their instruments and sound pretty much exactly like I expected them to sound with a name like Ass to Mouth.

Some of the tracks have a good Metallic Hardcore groove to them, adding a different facet to the band which makes the album better than it would be if it was just a one-dimensional blastfest.

This might not be anything new but originality is overrated, sometimes you just need to GRIND!

Also, One Shot Too Far has a cowbell in it. So there.

A solid album that doesn’t outstay its welcome and is a perfectly adequate soundtrack to the crushing of pigeons. Or something.

Usurpress/Bent Sea – Split (Review)

Usurpress are a Death Metal band from Sweden and for this split they have gone halves with International Grindcore supergroup Bent Sea.

Usurpress give us three tracks, the first of which is an intro.

The second song, A Tidal Wave of Fire, is the main meat of their split and is 7 minutes of impressive death-dealing, whilst the third is shorter but no less rabid.

The band play Crusty Swedish Death Metal with an underground swagger and a healthy groove. Rather than adopting that famous chainsaw sound though, the band have opted for a dirtier, less-produced sound. It’s raw and nasty but suits the nature of the music.

The vocals are grim growls that alternate with infected screams, as well as a bit of semi-sung spoken word.

Bent Sea are up next with 8 tracks of furious Grind.

In contrast to Usurpress’ rawness, Bent Sea have a more professional sheen, albeit one that’s still heavy and very aggressive.

Taking cues from Napalm Death, Terrorizer and Repulsion, they savagely hack their way through the songs with aplomb and violence.

That the band is comprised of seasoned veterans is never in doubt, as their mastery of the genre is apparent from the start.

Each song is expertly executed and delivered with venom and bile. I’ve always loved the singer of Aborted’s voice and to hear him on these tracks is a great pleasure.

A very enjoyable split, with the Bent Sea tracks in particular shining bright.

Worth it.

Haemophagus – Atrocious (Review)

Haemophagus are from Italy and play Death Metal with lashings of Grind. This is their second album.

The first track is an intro, and rather than the usual pointless nonsense most bands have as an intro, this is a lovely piece of relaxi-prog that doesn’t really prepare you for what comes next, but sounds great regardless.

The primitive thrashings and grindings of Partying at the Grave exposes the band’s true intentions and the brutally simple heaviness of Death Metal is unleashed.

This reminds me of bands like Atrocity and Abscess; Old-School, brutal, evil and fun!

Groove and chug or blast and burn, Haemophagus rip the house down around you and stomp on the fiery devastation. And then throw turds around. Or something. It’s all gloriously, horrifically messy fun regardless.

With a sound that means this could have been recorded decades ago the band plough head-first into the material and make their dirty mark all over the walls.

Don’t be deceived by the apparent simplicity though as the band know their instruments and are more than capable of shredding out a good solo. The bass also has a good presence, adding an eerie dimension to songs like Dismal Apparition.

A strong album that’s a very enjoyable listen. This may be thoroughly Old-School in many ways but it deserves a place in every modern playlist.

Super Fun Happy Slide – Drop Your Pants and Grind (Review)

Super Fun Happy Slide are from Australia – can you guess what genre they play…?

You guessed it – this is Grindcore. Nasty and aggressive Grind with massive balls and a baseball bat with a nail through it.

The guitar sound alone is enough to peel skin. It’s like they’ve taken the Swedish Death Metal tone, wrapped it in barbed wire and distorted and warped it into a tight, hard bundle of super-condensed matter.

The vocals are at both ends of the extremity spectrum, with deep growls and piercing shrieks vying for a place at the front of the carnage.

This is in the best tradition of a band like Regurgitate only with a bit more of a Hardcore feel to some of the riffs.

This is the kind of Grind that takes you back to a long time ago when you were just getting into the genre and everything sounded fresh and exciting. For that reason if no other you should seek this out and listen to it loud.

Idols Plague – Nursery Crimes (Review)

Idols Plague are from the US and play Hardcore.

This is short and to the point; 14 minutes of energetic, stripped down Punk. It may be a short EP but it captures the attention quickly and wastes no time in displaying its wares.

It’s heavy, nasty and all of the things that Hardcore should be. The songs are a blur of speed and groove with the band knowing when to put the foot on the accelerator and when to ease off; they really exploit the groove-laden riffs in this manner.

The band mix a few different styles with their Hardcore, as there is a strong rust element to their sound but also a bit of Classic Grindcore, more Modern Hardcore and even the odd hint of Crossover Thrash.

The songs are surprisingly catchy, both vocally and riff-wise. The vocals are suitably unhinged and desperate-sounding, as if he’s screaming and shouting for his very life. They’re timelessly Hardcore in that they flit between sounding Old-School and sounding Modern, ultimately performing equally well no matter how he employs his lungs.

The band are loose and underground enough to sound very natural, with nothing forced or contrived. This, coupled with the songwriting, means that this release sounds very fresh. The merging of the different styles into the Crust Punk sound adds a deeper shade of murk to a band that’s essentially song-focused, really bringing home the quality of the tracks and impressing with their vitality and longevity.

Rolling through a town near you like a freight train, I give you Idols Plague. Listen loud.