Archive for May 2021

There’s something sweet about the chilled out yet morose tunes of Portishead. Sure, the beats are definitely sounding their age, but the spacey atmospheres and glorious vocal performances that makes this debut so exciting, even today.

What I like about Waco Jesus is that they are primarily a death metal band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously, yet also manages to retain a brutal and sinister edge. Some of the misogynistic overtones are a bit much, especially by 2021 standards, but this is brutal death metal we’re talking about so realistically I need to shut my fucking face about that. A solid record, if not a little short for a death…

Another few months go by, its time to listen to another NxVx split. This time its the pretty fucking good split with the legendary Stoma from The Netherlands. NxVx are on their own sickness ting; rattling bass that echoes through the slave pits and pleasure pits of the seediest vice planets, all lo-fi as shit. Stoma on the other hand still sound pretty lo-fi but also massive as fuck. The sound is perfect. A great…

P.L.F. are always a pleasure. Continuing my shitty P.L.F. puns, having this record queued up in my to-do list could have been called a Pleasurable Listening Forecast (I’ll show myself out). Despite my love for this band I am not super familair with the ins and outs of their splits, and this is the first time I’ve heard them use a pitchshifter, which is an interesting variation. Before I chuck this on and actually press…

Reset is the sophomore Tower Of The Sun record, and showcases the gorgeous expansion that the project has made with its sound. Like an unusual fungi growing across a dirty crystal on a far away planet spinning around an even farther away star, Reset does not so much as press restart on the group’s sound, but instead represents a delicious mutation instead.

Darkthrone had an oddly clean beginning for a band that would go on to spend decades wallowing in lo-fi disgust. Soulside Journey is, if you’ve not heard, quite different to most of what was to follow from this excellent duo. There are echoes of the frostbitten riffs that would define their sound going forward, but for the most part, Soulside Journey is a clanking death metal beast and an interesting beginning for one of the…

I heard you like foot fetish oriented slabs of crushing noise, bro? No? Oh. Well, The Rita brought some anyway. I have a rip of this on my computer and I have absolutely zero idea where it came from haha – either way its a lovely harsh massage of the senses. Its impossible to keep abreast of The Rita but when our paths do cross I always enjoy the experience.

Become The Bitch is the delightfully titled third album from Dutch party goregrind legends, Rectal Smegma. Here, the Smegma have chunked out further since their first release. Gone mostly are the party vibes and tupa tupa grooves, instead a more punishing death metal sound is utilised, through a chunky production that is heavy yet crystal clear (that bass sound, aye aye aye!). What makes Rectal Smegma sound apart from other bands of this style though…

Can’t say I’m the biggest fan of this kind of thing but in 2020 I made the decision to look back at some of metal’s greats, including Maiden, Sabbath and Priest. Killers is, of course, a world-class record. I absolutely love the old analogue production, the drumming and the bass are a pleasure to listen to. For a casual listener such as myself, hearing Maiden without Dickinson is weird, but refreshing. Plus, I love that…

I was performing the impossible task of hunting down Reekorrhoea demos when I found out via Discogs that the legendary Grindfather had released the entire collection on cassette. Time to break out the Walkman with the dodgy drive belt then, for some excellent gore. Honestly, a few of the sessions are bit hit and miss, but when it hits, Reeko is fucking unbeatable. I’ve covered some of this material before in various demo reviews but…

Jurassic Park for the Genesis was a slow, clanky mess of a game, but one that had its own kind of bizarre, dark atmosphere. A lot of that lives on today in this minimal and bassy soundtrack. From the groove of the tectonic “Jungle” theme, the anxiety of the “Pumping Station”, the abstract “Volcano” or the balls-out rock of “The Visitor Center”, the music of Jurassic Park for the genesis is a unique and haunting…

A back to basics approach is given on this early release from Imminent Starvation. I’m enjoying the “end of humanity” vibes on offer here, which are always good fun. Tops. All in all, pulsing, no nonsense electronic music for those who like it to hit that little bit harder.

Target Earth was the first Voïvod record that I ever heard, asides from a few minutes of Dimension Hatröss when I was a younger gentleman (Lies! I was never young!). Target Earth is also the first record that allowed me to “get” Voïvod’s bizarre brand of sci-fi thrash. Expect the usual wailing guitars, robotic vocals and odd time signatures, but of course, with Voïvod, always expect the unexpected. A fantastic progressive metal adventure.

Skeng is one of the best Bug tracks, so of course it deserves its own dub. The original is cut, chopped, mangled, and turned into a new beast all of its own. 6 minutes of genius.

Find Candace is one record from what I like to call the “spooky” era of Venetian Snares. Unsettling samples, child-like doll artwork and an overall air of menace permeates these scatterfuck breakcore compositions. To write Venetian Snares off as pure chaos though does do the man a disservice; the beats and tracks in general here are meticulously created to provide you, the listener, with an uncomfortable electronic music experience.

Short, sharp and to the point. Featuring live soundboard recordings earmarked originally for a (cancelled) split release, Unholy Grave eventually found these tracks released on cassette by Grindfather Productions, and thats what we have here. Things are pretty grimy, even for a soundboard recording, but if you know what Unholy Grave are about then this is, pardon me for saying, more of the same. That’s not necessarily a bad thing in these circles. One for…

Cheers to Earache Records for reminding about this band in a recent tone-deaf meme post which appears to have significantly backfired for them. Anyway, Tomb Mold play a disgusting blend of muddy gore, which is coupled with an abstract and even a technical edge. The production is gorgeous, crisp and meaty. One of the best in the new crop of bizarre death metal legends. Speaking of which, Tomb Mold were one of, if not the…

Typical yet enjoyable slam from another disgusting band with another disgusting name. The incredibly small, tight and horrendous snare drum wins out here. The drum sound appeals to the deepest, most emotional core of my heart. Throw some hammers.

Dusty, sloppy, death metal inspired grindcore is the order of the day. Of course, Blood are the absolute best at this kind of thing. I’d always put off listening to them until I saw them one year at OEF and damn they blew me away. They still retain this incredible sound even now. Mental Conflicts is a bit all over the place, but its a fuckin’ doozy. You’ve always wanted a grindcore rendition of “Auld…

Roman Polanski’s Repulsion has been on the to-do list for a very long time, even more so since I saw Catherine Deneuve in Belle De Jour. I’m not sure that I like Repulsion as much as Belle but she’s perfect for this role, regardless. Deneuve has a still, fragile beauty which betrays no flicker of the chaos unravelling in her character’s mind. Which is, of course, perfect for such an artsy black and white psychological…

I’ve been putting off all things Dune for many, many years. The density of Herbert’s fantasy has always had me rescheduling my goosery into such. The movie, well, I heard was awful, despite being a Lynch film. But, with the 2020 remake coming, I figured now was the time to get caught up, at least with the previous cinematic offerings that came from this world. Dune is a mess, to put it simply. David Lynch…

Ah, here comes the inevitable disappointment. No? Well, that’s a relief. Although I will say watching this made me feel empty. Why? Maybe its because it disregards all original Halloween sequels. Sure, awful as they mostly are, you’re making a bold statement by erasing a chunk of horror cinema history to rewrite it with… what, exactly? Did the entire Halloween franchise really need to be undone for this? What does it offer in continuation or…

As part of my mission to explore more mainstream records that I have overlooked, the most-recognised “debut” of “proper” Pantera came into my periphery. Still boasting some silly tropes of their earlier style, Cowboys From Hell is an odd mix of redneck metal and cringeworthy power metal tropes. Honestly, I just fucking don’t like Pantera. At all.

I’ve always considered Umpskiptar the low key death rattle to the initial Burzum black metal return. The project is barely black metal at all anymore, the songs lean much more towards overt norse and Viking vibes than they do anything dark and evil. That’s not to say that Umpskiptar is necessarily bad however, it actually has its own kinda unique charm to it. The songs are generally long and winding, again that trademark Vikernes hypnotic…

Endroducing is a textbook case of the plunderphonics movement; samples are the focus of the audio collage here, all of which are artfully and gorgeously woven into fantastic tunes for us all to enjoy. This is literally the perfect soundtrack to walking through the city in the rain, at least in my case!

Don’t you just love it when you pick something random to listen to and it blows your head off? Galactic Edge is a strange release, coupling tracks from the Galactic Supermarket album and mixing them with a few new ones, but this doesn’t really matter to me as I am new to this artist and instead am more focussed on just how good this is. I guess it would class as some sort of thinking…

Ah, such woe, such wistfulness! If you’re in the mood for slapping your headphones on and losing yourself in a journey, then I would recommend this record. Great stuff.

I got sent one of these by Bobby back in 2013, which came with a cache of other massively disgusting gore and noise. Transpired Bowel Junk is no different; expect blasting, headache inducing goregrind with a noisy edge. A pleasure to listen to, no doubt.

When it comes down to it, there is little that can compare to the sheer chaos that is Revenge. Album after album, song after song, Revenge are relentless in their delivery of their warring black metal. Triumph.Genocide.Antichrist is a testament to the relentless pummelling the world has come to expect from such a band.

2020 was a good year for death metal. Its crazy to think, ten years ago when I started this site, death metal was probably my least favourite style of extreme music, I found it tired and uninspiring and the whole “brutal” thing cringed me out, despite loving goregrind etc. – turns out for many years I was just listening to the wrong death metal. Because I’m an idiot. Anyway, Of Feather And Bone’s Sulfuric Disintegration…

Dead have been around for a fucking long time. Despite this however, I seem quite adept at avoiding their releases. You’ll Never Know Pleasure, from all the way back in 1995, blends humour with the sick goregrind and death metal templates, delivering a solid performance (with a great, clear sound) that makes me feel a bit daft for not paying that much attention sooner.

Vol. 1 is easily my favourite Immortal Technique album. You can tell how young he is here, but the truth-laced venom and intelligence is entirely apparent from the word ‘go’, even if a few of his more flagrant statements haven’t aged well. Truly a stunning debut, with amazing guest spots and absolute wreckers of tracks, from the boastful opening “Creation & Destruction” to the now infamous “Dance With The Devil”. What a debut!

(I originally wrote this review back in 2014. Enjoy!) Well, if there’s one thing in the universe I never ever expected to hear, it’s J. Randall doing some sort of noisy porno-goregrind shit. Enter Ultracide; the new project by the ANB / Seal Team 666 mastermind, which went up recently on Grindcore Karaoke. I can’t tell if it is a joke or not (it probably is) but luckily for me, I love this type of…

Two of metal’s arguably sickest bands go head to head on this fitting split CD. I’ve mentioned before that Oxidized Razor are incredibly hit and miss, but here’s some good shit from them. Fluids however, whilst being a different beast all together, blow the Razor out of the water. My only complaint however is that this needs to be longer! More gore!

I love how this weird little record from a group of Dutch friends has become a worldwide classic in the goregrind genre. The cover art has no doubt aided in its spread across the musical underworld, but the proof is truly in the pudding, as they say. Groovy riffs, blasting drums and those imitable pitchshifted vocal performances. Absolutely timeless, of course.

I believe this is the only release by Blasted Pancreas. I have read comments that the creator may have passed away, in which case, RIP. Blasted Pancreas is, to boil it down to its barest bones, immaculate Lymphatic Phlegm worship. Eery riffs and reverb drenched compositions contrast heavily with bludgeoning goregrind. Bon apetit.

This is a great record. Real smooth, chilled out and laid back. The re-endition that is named as the title track is simply glorious, changing a big, showy song into a relaxed and horizontal affair. Attention to detail was clearly on the creator’s mind. There are so many little details to catch on relistens. Great stuff.

I look at the sleeve art for this record and I look at the name of the project and all I get are intense Annihilation vibes. Which is furthered by the project’s Bandcamp, where each release is augmented with a cryptic message for its listeners. Similarily, the music too has its own fractured, futuristic feel. Discogs has this classed under vaporwave, but I would class it as such in the loosest sense; Anomalous Planet sounds…

Rounding out a trilogy of Carcass worship records that I have listened to today, is this wonderful full length from Pathologist. The production on this thing is fucking so good. Every instrument hangs perfect in the balance, without losing any of its disgusting grime or charm. Kudos on that front. Musically too, this is a solid block of old school goregrind. Brilliant. One of the best records I’ve heard in some time, and up there…

Thornography could happily be considered the sister release to its predecessor, Nymphetamine. It was also the last album to feature Adrian Erlandsson on drums. It is also, unfortunately, nowhere near as good as Nymphetamine ever was. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great songs here, if we’re going song by song. Its just as a Cradle Of Filth studio album it lacks in several of the departments at which they usually excel: speed, intricacy…

This was a cool little random listen for me. I’ve heard the name Brother Lynch Hung thrown about here and there but it was when my Spotify randomly played me a track from this album that I took it upon myself to explore it further. Lyrically, we are pretty much in horrorcore territory here, with all the usual unpleasantness that comes with it (and then some), but the beats and vibes (and production) are spot…

Don’t you just love it when something sounds exactly like how the name makes you think it will sound? As far as I’m aware, Lair Of The Black Blowfly is another Bobby Maggard gorenoise based project, of which I’m of the opinion that the world simply cannot have enough of. This is a clever and almost artistic approach to the sheer sheets of noise that we are used to, where themes (and sounds, in the…

When I was a teenager I had a Scum System Kill flyer on my wall for years without ever hearing them. I guess I got it through a trade or something like that. (2021 edit: Yes, it was a flyer from Langt Ner Tapes) It was nice then, to finally acquaint myself with the noisy hardcore / crust on display here. A.N.T.I.C.O.P.Z. is hardly a long record, but the 9 minutes or so here is…

I’ve probably opened a whole bunch of posts with this line now, but nowhere else is it more applicable than here: Secret Chiefs 3 are a trip! 1st Grand Constitution is a trip! With a line up featuring (of course) Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance, Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn and Bungle drummer Danny Heifetz, this Secret Chiefs record is the spirit animal of Bungle’s Disco Volante. Genres? What in the absolute fuck is a genre?…

Ah Lymphatic Phlegm. Initially I was not a fan of this band but as time has gone on I have come to appreciate their often-imitated “melodic” brand of goregrind. Spooky reverb drenched riffs and barely audible drums are the order of the day, topped with heaps of disgusting shifted vocals. Honestly, its a little unsettling once the oddness of it all sinks in.

This was not quite what I was expecting. I mean, just look at the ridiculous cover art (lol). Pornthegore have more in common with Gronibard than they do with say, (insert random chunky-sounding Bizarre Leprous death metal band dressed as pornogrind), but the record is well put together all the same. It is, of course, pure fucking nonsense, but that is kind of the point, isn’t it?

Here we are again, with another Satanic Warmaster release. For better or worse, the band sound a lot better here than last time I came across them, almost invoking an Enthrone Darkness Triumphant-era Dimmu Borgir vibe. The main reason I’m here however is Archgoat, which is a much more guttural and brutal affair, sound more like a death metal band in places than the bestial black chaos that they are renown for. Apples for oranges…

Bestial Machinery is the release that blew open the world of Agoraphobic Nosebleed for me. I quickly devoured their history, which is presented here in the form of basically everything released up until the Honky Reduction LP on Relapse Records. The quality is a bit up and down, but for the most part this is relentless, unstoppable, grimy drum machine grindcore. As much as I love records such as Agorapocalypse or the split with Insect…

I was very happy to see Broken Hope return with another record. I love the almost florescent artwork with its bright colours. Sonically, I suppose the record is much the same, and surprisingly bright for such a brutal death metal record. All in all, a good listen.

Entrails Tsunami has to be one of the best album names I’ve come across in recent times. Perfectly of course, it also fits Jig-Ai’s maturing aesthetic, so its a double whammy. The same can be said the for music on display here, the band have honed their unique goregrind and as the project moves further and further from its youth, the sonic clout only continues to improve. Jig-Ai are now a household name in the…

Stratosphere begins in ways that I would expect from this glorious project. Yet, it twists and weaves away through a whole different tapestry of sounds, some of which are an aural treat for the senses, and some of which are a bit tedious. On the whole however, this is a good album and worth a listen.

Arguably the album that ended the klassic era of Korn? And by klassic, I suppose I mean the 90s. In which case, Korn left the era with a return to the drab and dirty sound that they had pioneered on their first two records. Issues is a strange one, as alongside the usual clank and rattle of Korn’s nu metal is a whole series of shorter songs; vignettes if you will, which range from bizarre…

Oozing is a project from the dude behind First Days Of Humanity, which is great. Oozing is even better, with thick chunky slabs of pure goregrind mania. Absolutely top stuff of the highest degree and I cannot wait to get into some more of this stuff. Pharmacist are quickly becoming one of my new favourite things in goregrind. If you thought Medical Renditions Of Grinding Decomposition was good, wait until you hear this split. The…

I’m not a huge fan of the 80s Killing Joke output, with the self-titled and its follow up being an exception. This incendary debut has the sound of a band hitting the ground running, and unlike some of the band’s other 80s outputs, almost feels like it hasn’t aged a day. For its primitive beginnings, Killing Joke sounds as fresh and as interesting as ever. How striking is that cover image? Apparently it was taken…

What a noisy little fucker this is, falling more into the harsh noise camp rather than the harsh techno camp. Is this techno? Fuck do I know about electronic music? Not much, thats for sure. What I mean is, Tollund Men has that pulsing body-moving hypnotic throb to a lot of their stuff, but its buried under 16 layers of grime on this cassette.