Chairmaker – Leviathan Carcass Review

By Andy-War-Hall

Shit’s gone to the dogs, man. I don’t need to justify this claim. I know it, you know it, and multi-instrumentalist/university lecturer/UK extreme metal devotee Neil Erskine sure knows it, confirmed thoroughly by his new grind outfit Chairmaker and their debut record Leviathan Carcass. A solo effort outside of mixing and mastering,1 Chairmaker is Erskine’s newest conduit for the condemnation of malignant societal forces and the “reactionism and lack of critical thinking that occupies the online political landscape.” This is grind. This all checks out. Chairmaker’s blood is boiling on Leviathan Carcass, but can they get the listener’s boiling, too?

Leviathan Carcass is made of small pieces that all embody the grind spirit: nasty, brutish and short. Chairmaker rages with the pointed hostility of acts like Brutal Truth, describing extreme conditions via scathing lyrics and throat-eviscerating screams while prescribing extreme responses by way of belligerent speed and riffcraft. Songs like “Ratlicker” and “Good Art by Shit People” begin and end with little or no to-do, and every track hovers around a minute long except the two-and-a-half-minute “Dead Optimists.”2 Chairmaker are economic on Leviathan Carcass, filling every second with riffs and beats of deathly (“Making Nails”), scronky (“Leviathan Carcass”) and chugging natures (“Half a Puppy”), recorded with caustic tones and a suffocating production sure to sandpaper the sides of your brain smooth. The emotional needle of Leviathan Carcass sits motionless at the far end of pissed-off, reaching rancorous fever pitches on the blast beat bonanzas of “Pigfucker” and “Loud, Confident and Wrong.” For almost fifteen minutes, Chairmaker states in certain terms just how Erskine feels about our current socio-political landscape on Leviathan Carcass.

Amidst the flash-in-the-pan bursts of pure aggression, Chairmaker display sneaky depth in Leviathan Carcass. Despite the breakneck business of Leviathan Carcass, its riffs are discernible and technical. From the dissonant and squeal-filled “Dead Optimists,” to the one-string ascending “Powdered Nostalgia,” to the math-y chops of “Others’ Interest,” Leviathan Carcass lives in chaotic intentionality. Further, though Chairmaker’s songs flow together so seamlessly that it’s easy to miss where they start and end, Leviathan Carcass contains personality within individual tracks. Even in simple riffs there’s identity: “Making Nails” has a more vintage death metal sound, “Pigfucker” goes off with hammer-offs and “Hagiographers” sees Chairmaker make quick stops that gives the song a jerky, off-balance feel. Naturally, being grind, there are samples throughout Leviathan Carcass, and the ones here either introduce the songs effectively and amusingly (“Micron-Thick Skin,” “Half a Puppy”) or are incorporated in the middle of songs naturally and unobtrusively (“Leviathan Carcass,” “Dead Optimists”). Bundle it all with well-written, inflamed lyricism,3 and you got yourself an album with legs.

This being said, Chairmaker still don’t rise above some of the things that make grind a hard sell for many. For one, I wonder how effective Erskine’s lyrics can be to most listeners when delivered in such an indecipherable, monotonous manner. Whether railing against ideologically-driven historical revisionism on “Powdered Nostalgia,” the bottomless greed of the 1% on “Others’ Interest,” or any number of other topics on Leviathan Carcass, Chairmaker use the same language of relentless noise to communicate it vocally. I think some of the individual nuances of the messaging are lost as a result. Further, though many of its songs are fully baked despite their runtimes, some songs like “Ratlicker” or “Micron-Thick Skin” feel somewhat incomplete, like they’re missing a section or two needed to really bring it home. The relentless energy of Leviathan Carcass also means the album is mostly one-note, meaning it’s both easy to lose focus and hard to get in if you aren’t already bought in on grind. Chairmaker is a more than competent grind outfit, but Leviathan Carcass likely won’t change too many minds about the genre, either.

But Leviathan Carcass was not assembled while senselessly incensed, but instead incensed by senselessness, and that makes all the difference for Chairmaker’s success. Leviathan Carcass is a vicious record, and while specific details of its listening experience might not stick easily, the overall impact of it lasts well after its conclusion. At Leviathan Carcass’s worst, Chairmaker is still an entertaining and thoughtful entity. At its best, Leviathan Carcass is the kind of teeth-gritting, knuckle-whitening ragestorm everyone needs once in a while. I have no idea why he went with “Chairmaker,” though. It’s a bit befuddling.

Rating: Good
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: ~260 kb/s VBR mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: chairmakerblast.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: November 14th, 2025

#2025 #30 #brutalTruth #chairmaker #deathMetal #grind #leviathanCarcass #nov25 #review #reviews #selfReleased #ukMetal

Sự thật cay đắng sau tháng học và bán dịch vụ AI: không dễ như lời khuyên từ các chuyên gia. Cần tự lập và tìm ra con đường riêng #AIServices #DịchVụAI #SựThật #BrutalTruth #AIReality #TrườngHợpThựcTế

https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1oj27pk/0_made_after_months_of_learning_and_selling_ai/

Back to the Grindstone: Brutal Truth – Need to Control

By Saunders

Back to the Grindstone is a love letter feature dedicated to the appreciation of all things grindcore. This most extreme of extreme niche genres has been kicking since the late ’80s, growing in underground stature as the years march on. The rule of thumb to this feature is simple; spotlight will be on grind albums old and new, though will not include releases from the past five years, or albums previously covered on this website. Genre classics, underappreciated gems, old school and nu school will be covered, highlighting albums aimed at established fans and curious listeners interested in diving into the cesspool of the grind scene.

Despite being a big name in the history of grindcore, arguably New York’s legendary Brutal Truth is a touch underrated. While the band split in 2014, they left behind an excellent catalog of game-changing grind, highlighted by their first two LPs, 1992’s stone-cold classic, Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses, and the subject of this feature piece, their experimental, wildly innovative sophomore album, 1994’s Need to Control. Already boasting an early grind classic under their belts courtesy of the nasty, precision slice of death powered grind of the debut, Brutal Truth turned the genre on its head with Need to Control. Originally, I planned to write this piece as a double whammy, Yer Metal is Olde/Grindstone feature in 2024. Unfortunately, after chasing my tail again, it didn’t eventuate. Nevertheless, seems the time is right to dust off Back to the Grindstone to applaud and unpack the grind masterwork well ahead of its time.

Need to Control both encompasses and rejects grindcore conventions. Daringly expanding on the genre’s early groundwork, while spitting jagged shards of noise, industrial, death, and punk into a brutally violent, nuanced, and thoroughly demented mutation of grind’s core values. The line-up of Kevin Sharp (vocals), Rich Hoak (drums), Brent McCarty (guitars), and legendary bass slinger Dan Lilker (ex-Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, S.O.D., Venomous Concept) captured a lightning in a bottle moment. Kicking off a bold sophomore effort with a decidedly non-grind song was a ballsy move that paid off. “Collapse” illustrates Brutal Truth’s bold adventurism outside grind parameters, its clanking industrial death stomp, dual powered vox, and ominous mid-paced grooves striking with an iron fist. Deviations from the out-and-out gold-plated grind blasters (“Black Door Mine,” “I See Red,” “Bite the Hand,” ‘Brain Trust,” etc) dominating the album fail to compromise cohesive flow or blunt the band’s visceral attacks. The atmosphere is intense, the energy electric, while the varied pacing and experimental flourishes serve to add increased potency and creativity to the finished package.

Featuring brighter melodies, hooky riffs, and groovier accessibility, the didgeridoo-adorned “Godplayer” is the closest thing to a metal hit the Brutal Truth boys ever approached. And it works a treat, still packing a heavy wallop atop a typically unhinged vocal performance from Sharp. It’s another fine example of the album’s ahead of its time class, nestled amongst the album’s overarching grindy chaos, which also includes an overdrawn noise experiment (“Ironlung”), fun punk cover (The Germs “Media Blitz”), and crust punk-grind crossovers (“Choice of the New Generation”). The album is a non-stop blast, deftly balancing raw throat-grabbing grind attacks with innovative turns and burly industrial death stomps. Streaked with dark melodic flourishes and an innovative, technical and unhinged flair, Need to Control exhilarates in weird and wild ways.

Need to Control holds up remarkably well, remaining a cutting-edge example of the genre some thirty-plus years later. Brutal Truth continued to carve a unique pathway in the grind field during the subsequent years of their career. However, the blunt force thrust of energy and precision death-influenced grind of their debut and infectious genre-scrambling innovation of Need to Control remain the band’s greatest achievements.

#1994 #AmericanMetal #BackToTheGrindstone #BrutalTruth #DeathMetal #Grindcore #NeedToControl #Review #Reviews

Brutal Truth has gotta be one of the greatest bands on earth and I’ll throw hands over that.

Listen to #BrutalTruth
#grindcore #legends #NYGrindcore

Brutal Truth - Get A Therapist…Spare The World

https://youtu.be/Ifru1ekJgVE?si=gdor26Mzb1I7c_xF

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

Järnbörd – Filmer för blinda Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

Though every album lands into our grabby hands with a visual artistic adornment of some sort, and that representation may reflect in the music to varying extents, a lot of compositions don’t rely on the strength of that accompaniment for a full impact. To an extent, our eyes get the opportunity to shop before our ears in the modern day, with absurd band names and grand images (or conversely, the rejection of AI images) standing on lists and tag trees as important first impressions where a faceless radio single may have filled in before. Järnbörd takes the idea a step further using their own narrative recordings to adorn their grind-loaded messages with a fun cinematic flair—Filmer för blinda (films for the blind) indeed. I don’t speak a lick of Swedish though, so I haven’t the slightest clue what they’re saying. But that’s the beauty of mood and a killer riff, right?

On past affairs like their 2021’s Gör Om, Gör Fel, Järnbörd boasted a blackened punk feel in line with their countrymen in Martyrdöd, though finding a little more pleasure still in recorded diatribes and even harsh electronics remixes to accompany. These Malmö-based miscreants fancy themselves on the experimental side, with the noise-minded cuts and misanthropic monologues presenting like the abstract nature of Need to Control (Brutal Truth) grind or the bass-loaded paranoia of Die Kreuzen. Where Järnbörd before had harbored a tight and familiar sound, Filmer för blinda leans into exploring a romping metalpunk outing enriched by switchboard textures and analog manipulations. Though we can’t glean a vision into the meticulous layering that these Swedes have put into the various layers of electronics and growling instruments that adorn this careful work, Järnbörd’s detail flows through how rockin’ the complete package remains.

No matter how experimental Filmer för blinda turns in its twists down hypnotic asides and moody sermons, Järnbörd brings with them an interesting array of screaming, punky riffage. Finding easy breakaways down blasting and d-beating lanes, bassist Dan Widing1 (Pyramido, ex-Crowpath), much like he did last year with crusty ensemble Hatchend, barrels through accompanying amp lines and alongside relentless barks to tear a wanting pit apart (“Gärning Och Lidande,” “Filmer för Blinda,” “Okomplicerad”). But unlike that faraway Summer of ’69,2 Filmer för blinda wears a more spacious mix that scales well with the crank in volume it deserves. And letting that loudness fly allows Järnbörd’s jangly guitar character to rattle a psychedelic vibe when the beat breaks more industrial and motorik-like (“Rockens Heraldik,” “Flickan i snön”), even finding a brief Morbid Angel chuggening before tripping back into mosh land (“Dött format”).

Continued enjoyment of Filmer för blinda has allowed its quick quips of manufactured atmosphere to creep in as a necessary part of the experience. With most songs dedicating a majority of runtime to ripping and rolling with shouty fervor, the brief noise fizzles and spoken word clips that pepper the first few tracks don’t ever feel overbearing in exposition to the Järnbörd vision. And with one body dedicated to turning dials and crafting oscillating chirps and bleeps,3 the synth integration in the most engrossed tracks feels lively and natural (“Rockens Heraldik,” “Dött format,” “Nu kör vi”). Additionally, Järnbörd invites a wide range of guests to add their unique voices to different recitations—an eerie reading here, a wailing hardcore lashing there (Anna Wagner of Dead Sleep on “Flickan i snön”), and bright harmonized backings abound—which helps this small package of grind feel like a pinball machine that just keeps spitting balls into play.

In its consistency and commitment to self-expression, Filmer för blinda serves a sneaky slab of grind that solidifies Järnbörd as an eclectic, interesting outfit. Part of the success in Järnbörd’s attitude comes in the simplicity of their total assault, albeit refined and reinforced with a monstrous bass identity, a classically manic lead throat, and a thoughtful application of outsider influences. As a grind-wanter at heart, Filmer för blinda’s most skanking and stanking moments—the gnarled title track hook and the constant acceleration of “Okomplicerad”—leave me with pit-satiated but not as battered and bruised as I would hope. Nevertheless, Järnbörd’s charm rests in their ability to tell a story with their craft. And though I need a translator to comprehend their message, I don’t need one to understand their heart.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Labels: Self Release (digital) | De:hinil Records + 7 Degrees Records (vinyl) | Esagoya Records + Hecatombe Records (CD)
Website: jarnboerd.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/jarnboerd
Releases Worldwide: January 10th, 2025

#2025 #30 #7DegreesRecords #BrutalTruth #DeNihilRecords #DieKreuzen #EsagoyaRecords #FilmerFörBlinda #Grind #Grindcore #Hardcore #Hatchend #HecatombeRecords #Jan25 #Järnbörd #Martyrdöd #NoiseRock #Review #Reviews #SwedishMetal

On 25 October 1994, Brutal Truth released their second album, 'Need to Control', further establishing themselves as one of the most exciting and unique grindcore acts of their time.

"Brutal Truth's crushing follow-up to 'Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses' pushed the boundaries of what grindcore could be.

Almost 30 years on, the album doesn't just hold up, but remains a benchmark that very few have ever come close to reaching."

04. Godplayer

#BrutalTruth #Grindcore

Body Count's release of Comfortably Numb inspired me to look for Pink Floyd metal covers for @DXMacGuffin's #FridayMetalCovers, found this... 😱

Brutal Truth - Wish You Were Here...Wish You'd Go Away, on youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-f_naYwCU

#Music #Metal #BrutalTruth #Cover

Pyrrhon – Exhaust Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

Stretched, stuck, snapped—Pyrrhon has spent much of the past few years living, trudging the way many do in their 30s. It’s not that life becomes untenable in the twists and turns about which time inevitably navigates, but that reality grows a face, a scent, a terror that swells as its layers develop and crust and encapsulate. Uncertainty and anxiety weigh heavy in the heart, and, no doubt, after releasing 2020’s Abscess Time, which they couldn’t support on the road, the ever-reaching cast of Pyrrhon hit a wall. Time passed, and pressure grew. So to escape the grind with grind, to combat the noise with noise, to face life with death metal, Pyrrhon holed up in the woods to create (lightly ‘shroomed) again—not to Exhaust, but to explore and explode.

A dry skronk persists through Exhaust in a manner that both befits Pyrrhon’s past and eschews elements of the established Pyrrhon sound. Modern classic What Passes for Survival and noise rock breakaway Abscess Time both found a bounce in guitarist Dylan DiLella’s manic string flips and vocalist Doug Moore’s echoing, encompassing howls. Exhaust, stripped by the intensity of its frustration, instead sees simpler, chunkier riffs dissolve and digest more easily into incessant snare guidance, with Pyrrhon finding a grooving, hardcore shuffle that owes its tangible hooks to the world of ancient Prong or Deadguy (“The Greatest City on Earth,” “Strange Pains,” “Luck of the Draw”). Pyrrhon hasn’t become accessible though—consonance incompatible whammy excursions (“The Greatest…”), psychedelic narratives (“Out of Gas”), and escalating, shrill recursions (“Strange Pains,” “Stress Fractures”) ensure otherwise. But they all build a feel relatable against the sense of mid-life dread that Exhaust embodies.

The lyrics that have always been Pyrrhon’s gravity come to focus in a manner that rings in the ear without the constant need for subtitles. Though Moore still possesses a demonic bleating, its power remains reserved for impactful moments like the grinding acceleration of “First as Tragedy, Then as Farce” and the closing quasi-slam of “Hell Medicine.” Spitting and sneering, Moore delivers higher clarity barked beats of plain-faced, pain-laced poetry detailing with little opacity existential musings of the current state of the world (“First as…,” “The Greatest…,” “Stress Fractures”), addiction trappings (“Luck…,” “Hell Medicine”), and exhaustion (“Out of Gas”).1 Pyrrhon teeters on the brink of collapse throughout each racing number, with Moore’s interjections finding psychedelic delay and rapid-fire tremolo modulation as layers beyond dense prose (“The Greatest…,” “Strange Pains,” “Out of Gas”). And as Exhaust’s back half unfolds, these same glottal expulsions find a distance and excruciated fizzle against Pyrrhon’s chaotic crescendos (“Stress Fractures,” “Last Gasp”). No matter the manner of narrative distribution, Moore’s words resonate with barbed intention.

Exhaust’s scathed landscape does come at a cost, though. Pyrrhon has steadily traded away complex song structure for riff-based impact and whiplash rhythms as a catalyst. Yet each lashing on this svelte journey maintains and thrives in a driving guitar chunk-and-twang that grip kitmaster Schwegler’s hopping ostinatos in an Obscura-by-way-of-Big-Apple-noise freakout,2 true to Pyrrhon’s trademark amplified scrawl. Phrase by phrase it becomes ever clearer that this more exacting songwriting approach means to snag your neck and groove as much as any long-form switch blast or paint-stripping sermon would. And with riffs that deliver the experimental grind of Brutal Truth as much as they do DiLella’s signature punk-frenzied whinny, even the simplest of pit-starters land with the bombast that Pyrrhon crafts (“First as…,” “Luck…,” “Concrete Charlie”). Marston3 has again taken the board for Exhaust, letting its rehearsal-room-on-fire-attitude muscle into DiLella’s tight, thrashing tone—a touch compressed on the ear at first, but a choice that lets darting chord squeals and tuning-challenging bends pierce through at will.

For an album dedicated to burnout, a theme all too appreciable to those on the wrong side of twenty-five, Pyrrhon charges forth with an experimental vigor and practiced ambition untarnished by time. Informed by age—by critique, applause, setback, adventure, waiting, watching, breathing, bleeding—Exhaust emerges as the product of a band that knows that lightning can’t strike twice: it must find a lead. Hunger steers Pyrrhon. Struggle defines Exhaust. Though far from the most avant, unpredictable set in the Pyrrhon registry, Exhaust billows with the fury of defeat and determination—damn fine music for a downfall.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Willowtip Records | Bandcamp
Websites: pyrrhon.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/pyrrhon
Releases Worldwide: September 6th, 2024

#2024 #45 #AmericanMetal #BrutalTruth #Deadguy #DeathMetal #Deathgrind #Exhaust #Gorguts #Hardcore #NoiseRock #Prong #Pyrrhon #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #TechnicalDeathMetal #WillowtipRecords