Man Must Die – The Pain Behind It All (Review)

Man Must Die - The Pain Behind It AllThis is the fifth album from Scottish death metal band Man Must Die.

Man Must Die play technical death metal and The Pain Behind It All is a 41-minute assault of vicious riffs, sharp technical blows, and blunt force extremity. If you’re a fan of bands such as Decapitated, Dyscarnate, Cattle Decapitation, Beneath the Massacre, and Misery Index, then there’s much here to enjoy for you. Although, as we’ll see, there’s more than just death metal here. Continue reading “Man Must Die – The Pain Behind It All (Review)”

Escuela Grind – Memory Theater (Review)

Escuela Grind - Memory TheaterEscuela Grind are a grindcore band from the US and this is their second album.

I love me some grindcore, but what Escuela Grind give us is actually more interesting than just that. This is grindcore by way of huge metallic hardcore groove. Memory Theater takes the strengths of both worlds to produce a monstrous collection of tracks that cut a swathe through the opposition. Continue reading “Escuela Grind – Memory Theater (Review)”

Sensory Amusia – Breed Death (Review)

Sensory Amusia - Breed DeathSensory Amusia are an Australian death metal band and this is their second album.

I was impressed by Sensory Amusia’s 2020 EP Bereavement, so I definitely wanted to check out whatever they did next. This turned out to be Breed Death, which scratches my modern death metal itch very nicely indeed. Continue reading “Sensory Amusia – Breed Death (Review)”

Misery Index – Complete Control (Review)

Misery Index - Complete ControlMisery Index are a death metal band from the US and this is their seventh album.

Complete Control is the follow up to 2019’s Rituals of Power and contains 34 minutes of death metal carnage. Yep, Misery Index can always be relied upon to deliver some crushing grind-laced death metal. Complete Control is a masterclass in death metal with a hardcore edge and grindcore intensity. Continue reading “Misery Index – Complete Control (Review)”

Lock Up – The Dregs of Hades (Review)

Lock Up - The Dregs of HadesLock Up are an international grindcore band and this is their fifth album.

Lock Up contain members of bands such as Napalm Death, At the Gates, The Lurking Fear, Brujeria, Brutal Truth, Misery Index, and Pig Destroyer. Yep, here’s a band that have a lot of experience with extreme music. The Dregs of Hades is a ferocious collection of tracks that showcases the band members’ expertise well. Across 38 minutes we get Continue reading “Lock Up – The Dregs of Hades (Review)”

Y-Incision/Treasonist – Mechanical Perdition – Split (Review)

Y-Incision Treasonist - Mechanical Perdition - SplitBoth hailing from the US, Y-Incision and Treasonist each play variants of grindcore.

Y-Incision open the split with 10 minutes of material – 6 songs, one of which is a Treasonist cover. Continue reading “Y-Incision/Treasonist – Mechanical Perdition – Split (Review)”

Misery Index – Rituals of Power (Review)

Misery Index - Rituals of PowerMisery Index are a death metal band from the US and this is their sixth album.

Playing furiously brutal death metal with aspects of grindcore added for savage flavour, Rituals of Power contains 36 minutes of raging aggression. Continue reading “Misery Index – Rituals of Power (Review)”

Cast the Stone – Empyrean Atrophy (Review)

Cast the StoneCast the Stone are a death metal band from the US and this is their latest EP.

An EP this may be, but we still get a meaty 27 minutes of material to tear into. Featuring current and ex-members of bands such as Scour, Cattle Decapitation, and Misery Index, (among others), this release draws on the individual band members’ experience, but easily stands as its own distinct entity. Continue reading “Cast the Stone – Empyrean Atrophy (Review)”

Scour – Red (Review)

ScourThis is the latest EP from US black metal band Scour.

Containing members and ex-members of bands such as Pig Destroyer, Decrepit Birth, Cattle Decapitation, Down, Pantera, Misery Index, and many, many others, before you even listen to this you know that a lot of experience has gone into it. Continue reading “Scour – Red (Review)”

Die Choking – III (Review)

Die ChokingThis is the debut album from US Grinders Die Choking.

After two very good-but-short EPs, (I and II), we now get III; this time, it’s longer.

Although not by much, really. Here we have a whole 14 minutes of tightly-compressed angry music. After the promise of the two EPs, this release lives up to my expectations.

The music is modern Grindcore full of extremity and rage, burning everyone around it with its intensity and brutality.

Their sound has progressed and developed from their earlier Grindings into an even more focused expression of hatred and violence. The vocals have improved and seem buried in the music in such a way it seems impossible to separate them.

Each song may be short, but they still manage to pack in a lot of content, with quite a few different sub-styles of Grind rearing their malformed heads throughout. It all adds a good degree of interest and variety in what is essentially a chaotic blast-fest of brutality and destruction. From old to new styles, from crust to modern, from Napalm Death to Misery Index; there’s a lot of meat on this violent treat.

If you’re into Grindcore, (and who isn’t, really?), then this is highly enjoyable and easily likeable.