Blind To Faith - The Seven Fat Years Are Over 12"

You will probably know Amenra, Rise & Fall, Reproach and Insult, but Blind To Faith might not sound that familiar. Well.. It's the sideproject of members of aforementioned bands. Sideprojects aren't always a good thing, since the time you put in them is a lot less compared to the "main band", though Blind To Faith looks and sounds very well thought out. Proof of that is the band's first 12inch "The Seven Fat Years Are Over". The concept is more or less this one: take pissed off Integrity/Ringworm alike hardcore (like the song "Dead Mantra"), combine it with the doomy sound of Celtic Frost (like "Mountains Of Gold" for example) and the crusty beats of Tragedy ("The World Ablaze"), add a good dose of antitheism and Blind To Faith is ready to serve. If you like what you heard then "The Seven Fat Years Are Over" 12" is probably something you should pick up because well... It's pretty awesome! And it spins from the inside out!

www.myspace.com/blindtofaith
www.myspace.com/holyterrorism
Stino

Thousandswilldie/Kill The Client - Split 7"

When I saw this one sitting in Sandro RSR's distro I emmidiately picked it up and took it home with me, because both bands are very appealing in my eyes.

First up: Thousandswilldie's side!
I've been following this band since their demo days and they've never let me down and they're not doing it this time either. As a matter of fact these are probably the best things I've heard from them. The 5 songs (well they have no pauzes between them so it all kinda sounds like "long" track) are brutal as fuck and quite diverse, ranging from grind/hardcore to sludgy mathcore... Maybe somewhat similar to In Disgust or Circle Of Dead Children albeit less deathmetal and more grindcore.

On the other side: Kill The Client.
I really liked their first EP sounded like a raging madman, but "Escalation of Hostility", the band's first full length kinda let me down, because I missed some power in the songs, so I kind of lost track of the band, until I heard the songs they contributed for the "This Comp Kills Fascists" compilation, on which the band delivered some excellent grindwork! The tracks on this split are in the same vein as the compilation tracks, which can only be a good thing. I think Terrorizer would've been jealous of the 3 tracks on this split. (very) fast oldschool grindcore, not unlike aforementioned legends, but with a modern sound to it. Maybe I should give their new full length a shot too!

Conclusion? A great split with awesome bands on both sides. A must-buy for every grindcore fan!

www.myspace.com/thousandswilldiegrind
www.myspace.com/killtheclient
www.myspace.com/rsrec
Stino

Shaïd - S/T LP

I am septic about today's French grindcore scene… yes we have Blockheads and Inhumate, but what else? A bunch of smaller bands, some good, some well... not that good. Shaïd is part of the good ones. I discovered them two years ago, the songs on their myspace were not so good infact, but about a month ago, led by curiosity, I bought the S/T LP (their first full lenght release). And hell yeah: this is just great! I have to admit that it's my favorite French release of 2009. These guys from Nancy (also known as Blockheads grindcity) play fast crust/grind with hints of power violence. 13 tracks of pure craziness! The dual vocals sound a little bit linear but are not boring. I can't tell anything objective about the sound of this LP because of my crappy old vinyl player, but on it, it sounds like hell which is just perfect!
If you want to discover the good part of the French grind/crust scene, you should get this stuff!

http://www.myspace.com/shaiid
Pibe

Coke Bust - Lines In The Sand LP

Sometimes you buy records because you read a good review, heard somebody talk about it or even for the cover. I bought Coke Bust's "Lines In The Sand" because I heard it was good and because it has Chris from Magrudergrind in it.
Most of the time those impulsive buys turn out to be the most rubbish purchases of the year, but it seems I got lucky!
Ok, I didn't know what to expect when I bought it (I thought it was going to be grindcore, like MG), but I can't say I was disappointed when I heard the furious hc/thrash that is being played on this album. It made me think of Infest, Blank Stare, Youth Of Today and other warriors of the straight edge movement. Fast, fierce and with a message, the way hardcore was intended! Too bad the length of this LP is only 17 minutes. I wouldn't be complaining with another 5 or 10 minutes extra to be honest.
Anyway... a lot of good records have been released this year, but I think this is(like the latest Magrudergrind) one for my top 10 of 2009. Excellent shit!

www.myspace.com/cokebust
www.myspace.com/sixdub
Stino

Venomous Concept - Poisened Apple LP

Kevin Sharp, Dan Lilker, Shane Embury and Danny Herrera... Doesn't ring a bell?! How about Brutal Truth, Napalm Death, Nuclear Assault, SOD, Anaal Nathrakh and Lock Up?!
Still nothing??
Than please leave this blog!
Some years ago these men decided to form a punk band and they called it Venomous Concept. Today we witness the second full length of the band, entitled "Poisened Apple". Although this might remind you of Snow White, the album itself sounds more like the soundtrack for a story about partying and giving people the finger instead of lying dead, waiting for a handsome prince on a white horse to show up and french kiss your snow white ass back to life. "Poisened Apple" has a bit of everything in it: Punk, crust, hardcore, grindcore, metal, ... and - like in a real story - is the result a good and happy ending. A very vivid sounding record, that'll appeal to more or less the same audience as the other bands these 4 young lads are playing in. Punk's not dead, but it would've been a close call if it wasn't for Venomous Concept!

www.myspace.com/venomousconcept
www.obscene.cz
Stino

Doomriders - Darkness Comes Alive CD

This is Heavy Rock ! Here it is: The second full lenght of the mighty Doomriders (Starring Nate Newton from Converge!), and it's just great! I wasn't a big fan of "Black Thunder", but I have to say that "Darkness Come Alive" blew my mind at the first listening. Doomriders are a crossover between Heavy Metal, Hardcore and Rock'n roll, building on epic melodies, punk beats and powerful vocals, the recipe which makes your head bang! Each song is different, from the very punk "Blood Suckers" to the awesome heavy rock on "Come Alive" and the many interludes on the album. All this is well produced (done at the Godcity Studios of course) but maybe a bit too clean for me but that's the only negative point I can find for this one. And of course the artwork, by Thomas Hooper, is beautiful. If you need some Heavy shit, get it!

www.myspace.com/doomriders
www.myspace.com/deathwishinc
Pibe

V.A. Grind Madness At The BBC: The Earache Peel Sessions 3CD

3 CDs full of grindcore, deathmetal, hardcore, crust and what not, a collection of all the "Peel Session" by the 7 legendary bands that are Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, Carcass, Bolt Thrower, Godflesh, Heresy, Unseen Terror and Intense Degree, that must be good, no? Well I was and still am quite sceptic about it actually. First of all because it's on Earache Records. I'm not the person that is against certain labels but seriously, what good grindcore release has Earache brought out the last decade? Except for the Insect Warfare rerelease and maybe the last Terrorizer album - Nothing! Zero! Nada! And all of a sudden they release this thing, with band that all left Earache Records some time ago. To me, that smells like someone's trying to make money of something they've left in the corner of damnation for the past 10 years.
Other than that are some of the recordings of the bands of doubtful quality. I know the scene police will threaten to rape my dog for this but it has to be said: some of it is utter shait. Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all for the pollished recordings that metalbands tend to have these days, but when you can't recognize one song from another, the fun ends for me.
So why SHOULD you buy this thing?
Because most of the recordings are decent to great. Because we're talking about fuckin' Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Heresy, ... here! Because it comes in nice packaging, with nice artwork and a cool booklet and because it's a nice collectors item for your already way too big collection! Thát's why!

www.earache.com
Stino

Asshole Parade - Welcome Fucking Home EP

Asshole Parade, the uncrowned kings of fastcore, are backfrom a (short) hiatus. Not only do they play live again but they've also released a new EP, called "Welcome Fucking Home". And it's tits. To be honest, I didn't own any release from AP up 'til this one (yeah yeah, shame on me...), so I can't really compare it to previous releases but it doesn't take a genious to figure out that this release is example of how fastcore should be played: FAST! The 7 tracks on this EP are raging, the only time you're allowed to gasp for air is on the epic "Much Preesh" track (also my favorite track of this EP actually), with a long and threatening doom riff in it. All the rest is a smashfest of everything faster than everything else. The kings have taken their rightful fastcore throne again - with ease! And that we can only applaud.

www.myspace.com/assholeparade
www.myspace.com/noidea
Stino

Cancer Clan - Demo 2008 3" CD

Cancer Clan might not sound that familiar, though the band has played quite a few shows already ánd has 2 Cyness members in it. I saw them live on the last day of our European tour in The Netherlands and was pretty impressed, though I forgot to buy something from them. Lucky me the dudes from Cyness brought some 3" demos to the infamous Bloodshed Fest. What can you expect? Melodic crusty grindcore with a metal feel to it. Catheter playing metal riffs if you want. Nothing earth shattering, but very decent nonetheless. The sound is also very good for a demo, I quite like the very natural sound of the drums and everything's mixed just right. Good stuff!

www.myspace.com/cancerclan

Stino

Insect Warfare - Evolved Into Obliteration LP

This is actually the vinyl release of a self released demo CDr Insect Warfare sold on tour a few years ago. A Rerelease if you want, though only a 100 people were lucky enough to be able to buy the demo CDr. All the tracks are demo versions of tracks that eventually ended op on the "World Extermination" LP/CD + a Napalm Death cover. Not really anything new you might say, which is basically true, except for the fact that theses songs (obviously) have a different mixing than the "World Extermination" tracks and that they're in a different order. I like these more, the drums sound a lot better (read: heavier) and I like the tracklist more than the one on the actual album. Some might agree, others might disagree. Nonetheless a nice collectors item, but it's also quite limited if I recall, so get one while they last!

www.myspace.com/insectwarfare

www.myspace.com/rflrecords

Stino

Weekend Nachos - Unforgivable LP

To be honest, I'm a big WN fan, but when a lot of people told me the new album "Unforgivable" was too posh, too slow and not as good as the previous work I was somewhat worried. And yes, "Unforgivable is somewhat slower than previous releases, it sounds a bit more hardcore indeed, but not as good as previous releases?? Nah. It's still Weekend Nachos and it still rules the shit out of most "hardcore" bands. What makes WN so different from the rest you ask? Well for starters they're probably the heaviest band at this moment, playing this type of hardcore. "Unforgivable" eats bands like Hatebreed alive when it comes to heavyness, really, even though they haven't used 40k to record it. The breakdowns are skullfracturing, the sludgy parts make your intestines tremble, ... And like most bands WN is also pissed off, but this band takes "being pissed off" to the next level. Everybody and everything has a crosshair pointed at their skull, with WN ready to pull the trigger and they're not afraid to take a few bullets themselves by saying shit people in "the scene" might not like to hear. So my conclusion: "Unforgivable" might have a few small differences with older work, that's only normal I guess, but it's still a WN album and that means it's still a very good album too!

www.myspace.com/weekendnachos

www.deepsixrecords.com

Stino