Grindcore, el caos como consigna: 20 álbumes recomendados | vía #NaciónRock

https://www.nacionrock.com/grindcore-el-caos-como-consigna-20-albumes-recomendados/

#anaalnathrakh #assück #brutaltruth #carcass #cattledecapitation #cloudrat #discordanceaxis #escuelagrind #especiales #exhumed #fullofhell #genghistron #gridlink #grindcore #insectwarfare #magrudergrind #nails #napalmdeath #nasum #pigdestroyer #repulsion #terrorizer #wormrot

Houkago Grind Time – Koncertos of Kawaiiness: Stealing Jon Chang’s Ideas, A Book by Andrew Lee Review

By Cherd

It’s a reliable pattern that every two years, Andrew Lee (Ripped to Shreds) crawls out from under his waifu body pillow, clears his work bench of Haikyuu!! figurines and Mountain Dew Code Red cans, and assembles a new full-length LP of otaku-themed death grind. Houkago Grind Time’s appropriately named third album Koncertos of Kawaiiness: Stealing Jon Chang’s Ideas, A Book by Andrew Lee finds Lee bowing to his senpai of Discordance Axis and Gridlink fame, the first to deem anime an appropriate theme to explore through the lens of grindcore. If you’re familiar with past Houkago Grind Time material, or anime culture in general, you’ll be well prepared for these 21 minutes of completely unserious meme music packaged as brutal death played at neck-snapping speed. For the uninitiated, I’ll break it to you gently: there’s less hentai here than you were probably hoping for.

As I noted in my review of Houkago Grind Time 2: The Second Raid, this all may be ridiculously themed novelty metal, but Lee is a talented death metal riffsmith. You can expect stank face grooves like the ones in “Some More Moe” and “Miyajima Reiji Can’t Keep Getting Away With It” and impressive, if short, guitar solos like the one in “Kirara Chainsaw.” Lee, who handles all instruments as well as vocals, employs a deep, distorted belch/growl that approaches goregrind levels of burbling illegibility. There are “lyrics” to the songs here, but the vocals don’t match them since both exist in that same joke-space as the concept and spirit of the entire project. Themes range from annoying character catch phrases (“Nico Nico No!!”) to criticizing those who worship at the altar of that little piece of shit Shinji Ikari (“Cruel Grinder’s Thesis”), but if you really want to know what’s being said, all you need are the lyrics for “Yuru Yu-Rot.”

Koncertos of Kawaiiness is a good record, and I’ll happily tell you why in a minute, but first let’s lay out why it isn’t better than good in this reviewer’s estimation, though the potential was there. Facing his battle opponent (me), Lee dons a bejeweled Shinobi headband, slightly askew. He takes his stance and initiates his technique. “Sound Breathing,” he says, “Sixth Form: PONG SNARE!” and with that, his huge, chained Nichirin blades whirr, jab, and PONG from all directions. For a high-ranking Upper Moon like Dolphin Whisperer, this attack would pose no issues. He would laugh maniacally and insult Lee’s bloodline. But I’m not even a Lower Six when it comes to annoying drum tones, so it’s a barrier for me. If someone like Kenstrosity, an enjoyer of pong snare and other brutal death metal affectations is Mob from Mob Psycho 100, that would make me the fraudulent but well(ish) meaning Reigen. So be it. It tarnishes an otherwise highly enjoyable grind record.

For those who can push through the snare tone, fun brutality awaits. Songs like the knuckle-dragging “You Broke My Nutbladder” make good use of the contrast between the frequent UwU sound samples and the stupidly violent deathgrind assault. The real highlights come when ugly grooves jumble together with sudden machine gun blasts and economical solo squealing like so many toddlers in a bouncy castle with one big kid that just keeps launching them into each other (“Some More Moe,” “Kirara Chainsaw,” “Houkago Grind Time Still Cares”), but songs like the 30-second scorch mark “Get On the Stage Bocchi” form the connective tissue that make Koncertos of Kawaiiness a more varied yet unified effort than The Second Raid. There are fun riffs packed into every corner of these 21 minutes, and Lee’s gore gurgles are employed with more creativity than most.

If you appreciate sick death metal riffs played really fast and girls in school uniforms, Houkago Grind Time might be your jam. If you like those things AND snare drums that go “pong” AND pig burp vocals, you’ll be chasing after Koncertos of Kawaiiness like a pathetically love-sick Zenitsu Agatsuma chases Nezuko Kamado.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Outrageous Weeb Power Productions
Websites: houkagogrindtime2.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/houkagogrindtime
Releases Worldwide: August 16th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AmericanMetal #Aug24 #DeathGrind #DeathMetal #DiscordanceAxis #Goregrind #Gridlink #Grind #Grindcore #HoukagoGrindTime #KoncertosOfKawaiinessStealingJonChangSIdeasABookByAndrewLee #Review #Reviews #RippedToShreds #SelfRelease

Full of Hell – Coagulated Bliss Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

If you’ve been following the modern grindcore scene in any fashion over the past fifteen years, then you’ve at least heard of Maryland’s high-output, low-trend grindmongers Full of Hell. Collaborating or splitting space with everyone from tough punks Code Orange1 to Japanese static spinner Merzbow to pneumatic pulse demons The Body, Full of Hell scrapes ideas from every corner in the extreme music space to fuel the iterative process of the twenty to thirty-minute burners that are their “full-length” releases. In the truest sense, this eclectic and thirsty act follows the crack of their own whip, but when it comes to the stage that bears only Full of Hell in title, the path steers a touch more straightforward, though not quite predictable. Nevertheless, with the dial cranked to grind and a color palette that screams anti-monochromatic, does Coagulated Bliss amass all the right parts?

In many ways Coagulated Bliss is the Full of Hell we’ve come to expect, its bleeding extremities of punch-and-cackle powerviolence (“Doors to Mental Agony”), playful industrial deathgrind (“Fractured Bonds to Mecca”), drag ’em bleeding sludge (“Bleeding Horizon”), and unshackled grindcore (“Vomiting Glass”) congealing into a boisterous sonic injection. However, much like higher-treble back half of 2021’s Garden of Burning Apparitions and the whole of 2022’s Aurora Leaking from an Open Wound continued, Full of Hell has adopted a stronger penchant for groove and noise rock-infused, treble-loaded licks. No, Full of Hell does not suddenly sound like Melvins or The Jesus Lizard, but this incorporation of twangy, tasty tunes does help them come across more like the barking, manic side of Today Is the Day on a mystery bag of pills with one labeled ‘grindcore’ (“Coagulated Bliss,” “Gelding of Man”).2 And though the average BPM may render a bit lower than the most aggressive Full of Hell releases, but that doesn’t stop them from sneaking in a Discordance Axis riff or six.

A shift like this requires smart songwriting and a production job highlighting the force of new convictions. Freed from the chains of Kurt Ballou’s (Converge) hammering soundboard touch, both the growling lows and warm, twisting highs find new space to hook with vicious intent (“Half Life of Changelings,” “Coagulated Bliss”), ironically in the manner similar to 00s Converge classics like Jane Doe or Axe to Fall. And though Dave Bland’s (Jarhead Fertilizer) kit has remained reliably savage throughout Full of Hell’s catalog, booming industrial reverb cranks the assault of the most martial tracks (“Doors to Mental Agony,” “Fractured Bonds to Mecca,” “Gelding of Men”), and the traditionally speedy numbers, murderous cymbal crashes lay littered with interjecting tom scatters and cymbal drives that drill the ears with loving precision. Whether Full of Hell is channeling Thou (“Bleeding Horizon”) or Terrorizer (“Gasping Dust”), the space and pace of each moment feels natural in its intensity, a stark contrast to the oppressive landscape in which this band has previously existed.

However more approachable it may seem, Coagulated Bliss isn’t a turn toward the accessible. If anything, this breezier distillation of Dylan Walker’s paint-stripping shrieks and gutter punk tongue-lashing puts his inimitable incantations3 at the forefront in a frighteningly catchy way. With rhythms to which you could reasonably twerk, 4 it’s easier than ever to pick up a lyrics sheet and at least try to croak (inadvisably) along to the hypnotic swing of “Doors to Mental Agony” or provide the demonic guttural accompaniment to “Schizoid Rupture.” At first, this did make Ross Dolan’s (Immolation) punchy verse contribution on “Gasping Dust” and Jacob Bannon’s (Converge) goblin garble on “Malformed Ligature” feel like slightly lesser cuts. But with time and repeat exposure, the resplendence that Full of Hell can find in this soured worldview pours through these late-album swings all the same.

As a long-time enjoyer of Full of Hell, I’ve always hoped to come across one of their records that could feel like an ‘any day’ kind of jam. These contemporary torchbearers have always seemed to scoff at the notion though, with each of their efforts brimming and bursting with a talent so raw and crushing that the zig-zag experience would come across as impressive rather than attachable. Expansive in soundscape, focused in its weird expression, and reliable in foothold to the grind, Coagulated Bliss feeds a shredded, rocking, great time effortlessly.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Closed Casket Activities | Bandcamp
Website: fullofhell.com | fullofhell.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/fullofhell
Releases Worldwide: April 26th, 2024

#2024 #40 #AmericanMetal #Apr24 #ClosedCasketActivities #CoagulatedBliss #Converge #Deathgrind #DiscordanceAxis #FullOfHell #Grind #Grindcore #IndustrialDeathgrind #JarheadFertilizer #Melvins #NoiseRock #Review #Reviews #Sludge #Terrorizer #TheBody #TheJesusLizard #TheMelvins #Thou #TodayIsTheDay #Turian

Arthouse Fatso – Sycophantic Seizures: A Double Feature Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

First, 2024 gave us NASCAR-themed heavy metal, then shortly thereafter Mortal Kombat-themed heavy metal. In this world of extreme tunes and extreme niches, artists look even more granularly into their fascinations for artistic inspiration. In turn, Arthouse Fatso, chooses Orson Welles—acclaimed and controversial American filmmaker—as its hammering theme for an industrial deathgrind adventure. It’s not often that such a grimy genre finds a muse in a figure that’s not a serial killer or something fictional and equally macabre. But Fatso seems ready to revive Welles as an industry outsider fit for patch-vested punk fixation . “The classy gangster is a Hollywood invention.”

Stylized in name similar to an old film feature, Sycophantic Seizures: A Double Feature covers the unlikely ground of cinema-guided industrial deathgrind with a levity and irony-laced humor that rarely features outside of silly titles in the grind world. True to the gritty and punky arts it follows, Fatso chooses various samples from a Welles reading of his own 1943 essay Moral Indebtedness to frame the central character as an idealistic man in a power-ravaged, capitalist society. And throughout the album’s run, Fatso’s sole credited member, The Director, makes sure to echo Wellesian thoughts, like criticism of the increasing corporate presence in the film industry (“Endless Trash”) and exploitation of vulnerable groups in affluent societies (“The Royal Adventures of Andy and Jeff”).1

Sycophantic Seizures, thankfully, eschews being a sermon by supplying loads of funky fresh riffs with diverse accompaniment. Rather than leaning on anything overtly techy, Fatso uses the weight of jaunty but groovy Macabre bounces (“A Message to Ben…,” “a Limerick”), the scrawling fervor of Discordance Axis (“Scandinavian Delicacies,” “Famous and Unfunny”), and the tough guy grind of Terrorizer (“Suburban Suffocation,” “Sycophantic Seizures”) to display a breadth of intense riff-cabulary. I’d imagine The Director fancies themselves a guitarist first, many of the skronky six-string lines and relentless rhythmic pummelings find either full harmonies or extra forward pulse from warm, popping basslines, very much in the school of Demilich oddness—no burps, only brees though. Well, brees, many scattered backing barks, and sudden but welcome clean vocal gang choirs (“Sycophantic Seizures,” “Imperialist! Dream Burst!”)—the unpredictable incorporations in each track go a long way to solidify memorable identities. Yes, that includes an incredibly warped guest violin solo on “A Message to Ben and His Lovely Sister Abby.”2

Either by choice or necessity, Fatso has also leaned into its drum programming as an industrial feature. On grind-speed numbers, the kick layers render so fluttered that they’re a stuttering wall of sound (“Suburban Suffocation,” “The Royal Adventures…”), but Fatso knows when to throw back still with an engorged, punctuated groove (“A Message to Ben…,” “Tweets of the Sane”). Sycophantic Seizures finds its most experimental position in “[INTERMISSION],” though, which starts with an olde-timey call for popcorn and devolves into a hissing, screeching noise-addled manifesto that feels like it fell off a Full of Hell/The Body collab. And, in a move that we’ve heard a couple of times recently in adjacent death metal corners, the journey concludes with an industrial hip-hop beat under a Welles diatribe, lifting his legacy as a rebellious auteur—at least in The Director’s eyes.

Again, many of this album’s inherent traits that could easily manifest as flaws for listeners—the abrasive programmed drumming, the noise diversions, the reliance on an incredibly strange niche. Why, not too long ago, Bloodbox came about with a similarly contorted industrial grinding piece that landed mixed in these halls, but not for me. Arthouse Fatso leans into exactly what it is: riff-forward deathgrind that centers around the mystique and controversy of Orson Welles and warps his character with left-field death metal and gritty electronics. Most importantly, though, Sycophantic Seizures in its presentation of certain grind tropes—sub-twenty-second songs, a paragraph-length song title,3 humorous samples, a high-concept cover art with a low-brow joke—ensures that it never quite takes itself that seriously. However cynical The Director may seem, and however self-deprecating Welles might exist in this fictional re-imagining, Sycophantic Seizures maintains a core of wild riffs and structured swells. It may not be Citizen Kane, but I think Welles would forgive that.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Horror Pain Gore Death Productions | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com/arthouse-fatso | arthousefatso.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: March 8th, 2024

#2024 #35 #ArthouseFatso #Bloodbox #DeathMetal #Deathgrind #Demilich #DiscordanceAxis #FullOfHell #GermanMetal #Grindcore #HorrorPainGoreDeathProductions #IndustrialMetal #Macabre #Mar24 #Review #Reviews #SycophanticSeizuresADoubleFeature #Terrorizer #TheBody