Raging? RAGING! Torn Apart (uk)

In a scene where attitude and appearance is more important than the music it's always nice to find a band that takes you by the balls for 4 minutes, squeezes them into pesto and only lets go when their side of the 7" is over. Torn Apart from Leeds (United Kingdom) - Moloch member in it! - does that to me.

I first got to know them from a 4 way split with fellow countrymen Mouth, Closure and Bonestorm (check them out as well, well worth your time!) and their side of the double 7" knocked me off my socks completely. I eventually got a hold of their split with Sick-Fucking-O and their full length EP and it's not just a one hit wonder, these lads rage every fucking time! If you're into hyperfast, powerfull hardcore that leans to Crossed Out and Hellnation, this is your band! My personal favourites are the 4-way split tracks and the full length EP, go check!

Deep Shit - Creepin' While You Sleepin' EP

It’s hard to stand out as a power violence band these days. Everybody wants to play it and a lot of bands are good at it too. Yet some just do it better. Deep Shit does it great! This EP is brilliant on many levels. First of all is the cover rated as one of the 25 ugliest covers of 2011, but personally I think it’s more funny than ugly. Second of all they have one of the best intros ever made. You’d think they’d come straight from Compton to bust a cap in yo’ ass if you wouldn’t know they’re actually from the far north of the US of A, or Wisconsin for that matter (yeah, That 70’s area). But most of all the music itself is ball wrecking. The terms “short, fast and loud” have never been more accurate. Good stuff for fans of Spazz and other blunt power violence bands.

Available on a stream and for sale at Give Praise Records

Back among the living...

...eventhough the daily grind makes me feel like being in a coma 24/7.
But I'll be using this blog more often, just to keep me busy on nights when nothing else is there to do, really.
It'll be used for more reviews, opinions, cool new bands I discovered and other nonsense no one will give a damn about.

Let's start with a cool new band I discovered yesterday...

Grieved are from Sweden. Few bad things come from Sweden, except Robyn maybe.
They're young, angry and play heavy, somewhat sludgy hardcore, in the vein of Cursed and the likes and the one EP they have released is pretty intense!
Check a song out here (quality is pretty bad, but you get the point):
Grieved - Cursed Ideals or on their bandcamp page, which is linked above.



The show they played here yesterday was cool, Gold Kids was nice as well (if you don't know them, check 'em here: Gold Kids), but they were supported by one of those deathcrab/crapcore bands, fuck that!

Stino

Lycanthrophy/F.U.B.A.R. split 7"

It's been a while since I've updated this blog, mostly because I now have job and little time to start reviewing, but I haven't bought that much new material, eventhough I now finally have the money for it hehe.

Anyways... What I didn't wait for to pick up was the new Lycanthrophy/F.U.B.A.R. split on Bones Brigade records. Two bands that have been around for a while and with the reputation of delivering top notch grindcore each and every time, can't go wrong with a split of those, now can you?!

Up first is Lycanthrophy, Czech female fronted grind/powerviolence that really started to get attention when the enlisted a (very nice looking) lady on vocals. But they deserve every attention they get because besides the lady-fact they also produce virgin-ass-tight music, and again so on this split. Five songs of stop'n go grindcore, not unlike Yacöpsae and Jesus Cröst. Excellent stuff.

F.U.B.A.R. is on the other side. I have to admit that on the last thing the released (the split with Sylvester Staline) they let me down a bit, it had some songs on it that weren't all up to the level they preformed on previous efforts, like the Splitter split or the full length LP. The bands side on this split however is back on the same level and maybe even topping it. F.U.B.A.R. 's grindcore has never sounded better in my opinion. Great production and - above all - great songs! I'm personally a huge fan of the 3 vocals, as they add only to the furiosity of the band and sound. Can't wait to see these guys live again!

Conclusion? A must have!

www.myspace.com/fubargrind
www.myspace.com/lycanthrophy
www.bonesbrigaderecords.com

Stino

Altar Of Plagues - Tides LP

Life's full of surprises. One day you're relaxing on your apartment, the next day Altar Of Plagues is staying over for a couple of nights because some volcano cancelled their trip to Finland on their European tour in support of their new album "Tides". That same album is now part of my collection and I'm happy to tell you that if you're into ambient "modern" blackmetal, it should be in yours as well! "Tides" is no copy of the band's opus magnus so far: "White Tomb". it is slower, (even) more melancholic and leans more to bands like Shining, Lifelover and Forgotten Tomb, whereas its predecessor was more Wolves In The Throne room alike, though the latter influence is still present in the faster bits of the 2 songs and the EP (yeah EP, eventhough it is in fact 36 minutes long) has the same trancelike effect as aforementioned Cascadian band. The production isn't as good as on "White Tomb" though, it's not as polished and sounds a bit dirtier, which isn't a bad thing, but the drumsound could've sounded better. That however is just a minor flaw. Altar Of Plagues deliver yet again with "Tides" and I'm pretty sure more awesome stuff will follow from these Irish prawns.

www.myspace.com/altarofplagues
www.burningworldrecords.com
Stino

Millions Of Them - Failures LP

Many bands claim to be influenced by Botch, Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Locust, Coalesce,... but few achieve the same level as these legends, escpecially not in a little shithole like Belgium. Though we have a new contestant, called Millions Of Them. The Antwerp based ex- Reply, Am I Dead Yet?, Minus45°, ... hard/mathcore band has recently released it's first offspring: "Failures", and it has to be said: it's pretty impressive!
Take Botch, add some "When Forever Comes Crashing"-era Converge and season with a little Trap Them and Millions Of Them is what you'll be cooking! And no, it's not a bland and uninspired wannabe rip-off. It's hard and raw, just like the production, which was in the hands of Kurt Ballou of Converge (I think that alone is a pretty good reference, no?) and - above all - it's high quality stuff. Maybe a bit more variation in the songwriting wouldn't be such a bad thing, as I sometimes have the feeling that I'm listening to the same song twice, but that might just be me. Other than that I can only say: Buy this LP (it was also released as a CDr by the band) and keep an eye on Millions Of Them, they have the potential to get to the same level as their influences!

www.myspace.com/millionsofthem
adagio830.de

Stino

Aborted - Coronary Reconstruction EP

Aborted has evolved through the years. Not only did the line-up change more than Michael Jackson's looks, with frontman Svencho as the only consistant factor in the band, but also the music. More -core, more melody, less brutality, in-your-face-death(grind). Some liked it, some didn't. I for one lost my interest in the band these last couple of years, which is strange for a dude who had "Goremageddon" as the soundtrack of his late teenage years. However when Svencho told me that - after yet another line-up change - the band wanted to go back to the "Goremageddon", "Engeneering The Dead" and "The Archaic Abbatoir" albums the interest returned, especially after hearing the first few teasers from what would turn out to be "Coronary Reconstruction", the new Aborted EP.
And Svencho kept word. The new EP has the brutality, speed and power of aforementioned albums. Not too many solos, breakdowns or melodic jibba jabba, just full frontal deathgrind (yeah, the grind part is indeed back, thank you Eran/Whorecore?!). Hell, even the gory intros are back! It might not be as approachable as Strichnine.213, most of the The Black Dahlia fans probably wont like it, but I couldn't care less. It's the first Aborted release in 3 years that got me excited again and I can only hope that the upcoming album is somewhat similar to "Coronary Reconstruction"! Now if they only got rid of those horrible 1000-colour-shirts...

www.myspace.com/abortedmetal
www.centurymedia.com

Stino