Nails - "Abandon All Life" CD

 "Abandon All Life", the second album from American black/death/doom/grindcore merchants Nails, certainly economizes. It's 10 songs in a meager 17 minutes, but I swear there's at least an hour's worth of hate in those brief 17 minutes. Recorded by Kurt Ballou (Converge), who ably handles the ear-splitting highs and grisly lows, this is a seriously intense recording.

"Abandon All Life" sounds like a family being violently hacked to bits, crushing bones and explosive blows alongside blood-curdling screams and thuds. Track titles aren't too important, as this flows together as one extended piece of evil audio carnage. Devastating and riveting, Nails make most metal acts sound like kindergardeners. This is the most violent, aggressive recording I've heard in some time. All hail Nails.

Southern Lord

Nails site

All Pigs Must Die - "God Is War" CD

Fronted by Hope Conspiracy bellower Kevin Baker, and including Ben Koller (and producer/mixer Kurt Ballou) from famed hardcore nihilists Converge, APMD unleash a devastating blow on this debut album. It's a brief yet grueling affair, running all of 8 tracks and 33 minutes, but All Pigs don't waste any time showing their crust/hardcore roots. Every cut here is positively ferocious.

From the opening of "Death Dealer", APMD bruise and pummel with unrelenting viciousness. "Sancrosanct" approaches black metal, whereas "The Blessed Void" is a low-end blur of head-smashing thrash. It all leads up to "Sadistic Vindicator", which closes things out with a huge wall of guitar sound and brutal, churning rhythms. This is an album of violent aggression, and though it's a limited palette of sound, it's a wholly effective one. (Southern Lord)

All Pigsspace