Napalm Death - "Enemy Of The Music Business Plus Leaders Not Followers" CD

Fine return to form from grind legends...

Combining the band's 2000 album and attendant EP of classic covers, this 57-minute disc opens with the corrosive "Taste The Poison", which signaled a welcome return to form from the Birmingham-based grindcore legends. 

The tracks to follow prove equally worthy, being extreme clots of aggressive post-metal noise & grindcore. "Vermin" captures the unbridled spirit of Napalm's punk/metal roots, being an ultra-speed-fueled ride, complete with clearly-mixed instruments and Barney Greenway's primal, gutteral vocals. "Volume Of Neglect" features a seriously amazing blur of bass-heavy drums and guitar that rivals the band's earliest work. I could go on, and sure, each song is pretty similar, but that's the beauty of Napalm Death. Discount their shaky death metal period, and the countless lineup changes, and you have one of the most stalwart of their crossover breed. "Enemy of The Music Business" is a solid and exemplary work from the band, and offers crunchy clots of abundantly aggressive metal/punk/grindcore noise that just doesn't relent. 

"Leaders Not Followers" is an EP of covers, including works by Napalm influences like Raw Power, Repulsion, Death, and Dead Kennedys. It's refreshing to hear the band making pretty reverential and faithful covers of their heroes -- yet still maintaining that inimitable Napalm blend of blur and bluster. I wasn't familiar much with most of these underground classics, but the cover of the DK's "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" is just classic. 

Secret Records

Napalm Death site

Accion Mutante - "Worse Than A Virus" CD

Brutish grind-punk from German thugs

Accion Mutante is a veteran grind metal/punk act from Germany who's been around since the late 90s, but they haven't released a proper album since 2002. Well, they make up for that with this 17-song gutter-grind-punk barn-burner.

Opening with the spoken word intro, "Narcissism of Mankind", the band launches into the primitive punk/metal of "Stop FGM". The remainder of the tracks are equally as barbaric -- steamrolls of classic  grindcore chug and vomit-style vocals. With bands like Accion Mutante, the tracks nor their subjects matter. After all, this could be political, or it could be about the pain of an ingrown toenail. The gutteral grunts are competent, but hardly unique, and the bare-bones music is, well, really quite forgettable. 

Power It Up Records Germany / Give Praise Records USA

Accion Mutante site

Accion Mutantespace

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

"The Lost Realities Of Hog Caller" DVD (director: Tom Richards)

Less of a narrative film, and more of an extended promo video for Pennsylvania gore/grind/noise/metal duo Hog Caller, this one is all over the place, and not in a good way. 

Mostly, "The Lost Realities Of Hog Caller" is an overindulgent mess of offensive imagery. You'll get plenty of gore, some breasts, comedy skits, pig costumes, Three Mile Island, messing around with dead animals, G.W. Bush hanging out with Bin Laden, magic mushrooms, LSD trips, eviscerating Elvis, and plenty more. Trouble is, there's no order to the madness. And the music? Messy, sloppy, and fairly well unlistenable. A great gift for friends of the band, but anyone else? Seen it before, heard it before, and done better on both counts.

(Wild Eye Releasing)

Hog Caller Music

Corrosive Carcass - "Composition Of Flesh" CD

The debut from a Swedish death/gore metal band, "Composition Of Flesh" is a thick and sludgy attack, with the requisite gurgled vocals. Is this some kind of tribute to early Carcass? Not necessarily, as Corrosive Carcass seem more structured and, dare I say, almost tuneful as compared to Steer and Walker's legendary English gore/grind act. There remains some quality, if somewhat derivative, work here, nonetheless.

"Self Mutilation" is a solid slab of fuzzy, downtuned guitars and a breakneck pace. "Born In A Casket" would be perfect for a frenzied mosh pit (if those exist anymore), with multi-tempoed attacks that divebomb into blurry thrash madness. Other cuts are dynamic and well-produced berzerkers, as well. Corrosive Carcass aren't doing anything too unique, but they do a wonderful job creating ugly, sludgy metal monsters that mosh with the best of them. I liked.

(Abyss Records)

Corrosive Carcasspace

Drug Honkey - "Ghost In The Fire" CD

Chicago underground noise leviathan Drug Honkey have been away for a few years, but "Ghost In The Fire" reinstates their place among the finest, darkest, and heaviest acts around. Combining the dirtiest aspects of grindcore, sludgy doom metal, noise, and hints of dub, Drug Honkey's music is the soundtrack to a horrible drug trip, or a walk through a back alley littered with junkies, spent needles, foul odors, and possibly a corpse (or aborted fetus) or two. This is decidedly NOT "feel-good" music.

Right off the bat, "Order Of The Solar Temple" opens with nary a flicker of hope. It's a monolithic attack of sizzlingly shrill feedback, plodding, thick drumming, and agonized, gutteral growls from Honkey Head (aka Paul Gillis). "Dead Days (Heroin III)" is another slow-burn cruncher, while "Five Years Up" is an ominous slow lurker, with tripped-out psychedelic vocal effects alongside dub reverberations and sludgy guitar. "Out Of My Mind" could be "Cop"-era SWANS on a bad heroin trip.

A faithful cover of Scorn's "Twitcher" appears later in the disc, and shows a deeper dark dub & bass vibe, while "Saturate/Annihilate" ends it all with a chaotic clot of vomited vocals and layered noise/grind . As with previous Drug Honkey releases, this one stunned me and had me addicted immediately. Amazing! (Diabolical Conquest Recordings)

Drug Honkey bandcamp

Drug Honkeyspace

Drug Honkeybook

Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - "Ghostmaker" album

The third album from this Pennsylvania band consists of 12 tracks and 45 minutes that instantly rage with an assault of death/grind riff and pummel. But these guys have a sense of humor about things, which is always refreshing. That's not to say that tracks like "Get Out Of My Grave/Gigantic Graveyard" or "Nightworms" are light listening, though. Quite the contrary. 

The dual guitar pyrotechnics of Ryan Moll and Matt Moore are thick and tight, and the rhythm section follows suit. Moore's vocals are of the throat-throttling death metal variety, and Moll's solos (as in "Run Through The Bastards") are impeccable. Production is deep, making "Ghostmaker" a superb album in every respect. Thumbs up here. (Candlelight Records)

RG website

Rumpelstiltskin Grinderspace

Squash Bowels - "Tnyribal" album

Intense and inventive grindcore from Poland, this reissue of a now-rare album from 11 years ago is full of speedy blastbeats, Beelzebub's blood-clotted "vocals", and even accents of near-industrial electronics. My copy is 6 indexed tracks, but there are really some 22 individual pieces (in 26 minutes). Cool and fun for the crusty nihilist metalhead in me. (Selfmadegod Records)

Squashbowelspace

Squash Bowels website

Retox - "Ugly Animals" CD

11 songs in 13 minutes, and fronted by Justin Pearson (The Locust), you know what to expect here. Yes, it's an earful of clotted punk/grindcore madness. You get screaming, nihilistic hardcore, abrasive post-punk, and more of the same. It's feral, anarchic, and primitive. "Ugly Animals" is an exercise in catharsis, pure and simple. Enjoyable. (Ipecac Recordings)

Retox site

Post Mortem - "Message From The Dead" CD

Hailing from Boston, this classic and early death/gore/punk metal band returns anew with this 11-song release (plus bonus unlisted tracks). But as new as this material may be, vocalist and founder John McCarthy passed away during the recording, so several cuts are present with guest vocalists respectfully finishing up in his absence. Despite this discontinuity, the album works well as a whole.

Tracks like "Human Pinata" slow it down to almost doom-metal levels, but still with throat-scratching vocals. "Pray Before You Die" echoes this sentiment...a churning metallic riff with more than a nod to classic punk ala Black Flag. "Field Trip" rages with a thrash-punk tempo, like if Megadeth covered Minor Threat. This is old-school crossover that just isn't heard much anymore, and a shame that is, as "Message From The Dead" is a killer album.

Post Mortem's punk-metal was never too well-known, but their legacy lives on, and here's to hoping this posthumous release garners them some well-deserved notoriety. (Taboo Productions)

Post Mortemspace

Post Mortem website

Soil Of Ignorance / Wadge - "Split 7""

This split 7" features a pair of underground Canadian metal/grind bands who can shred well, thank you very much. Soil Of Ignorance's side is a series of bursting, gutteral grindcore blasts that remind me of classic, early Napalm Death. Cool retro noise for metalheads. Wadge, on the other side, are more crusty speed/thrash metal. Their "Maim To Please" starts things out right, with lightning-speed guitars and spastic drumming. "Sir Gimply Biscuits Of Gibletshire III" shows the group's sillier side. "Topsy's Curse" is a violent minute or so. A lot of fun, for the 10 minutes you get. (Give Praise)

Soil Of Ignorancespace

Beer Corpse - "Keg Nuts" 7"

10 songs, 11 minutes. Beer Corpse are an Aussie band who scientifically examine the correlation between gore/splattercore and, umm, beer. Or, in other words, this is an ear-clogging boat-load of drunken grindcore metal. Either way, it's a fun, if juvenile and sick set of blurry and grunty noise silliness. Me likes. (Give Praise Records)

Beer Corpsespace

Nails - "Unsilent Death" CD

Now this is some formidable heaviness. Hailing from Southern California, this trio's debut is as concise as it is destructive. 10 songs here, 13 minutes. But perhaps brevity is good here, as there's no room to breathe for these 13 intense, apocalyptic minutes. Opening with the 30-second grindcore bloodclot of "Conform", it's sink or swim with these dudes. Hah! "Scum Will Rise" isn't any slower -- a raging fireball of gutteral post-punk, post-metal, post-hardcore nihilism. This is not for the faint of heart. Awesome and powerful. (Southern Lord)

Nailspace

Unholy Grave - "Grind Killers" CD

Ah, this one is interesting. Unholy Grave are a veteran grindcore act from Japan who've released spades of split LPs, EPs, and cassettes since 1993. This 23-track, 34-minute blast was recorded live in a Dutch studio, and is a growly, lo-fi clot of brief grind blasts that could easily be a mid-80's UK act. Tracks are pretty well interchangeable, save for a faithful (and humorous) cover of the Ramones' "Beat On The Brat", and Unholy Terror's political direction is definitely more punk than metal. Tracks like "No Racial Superiority" mince no words. And a number of anti-terrorism tracks also show that Unholy Grave aren't all about fantasy or "evil" for evil's sake. This is pure, uncut crust/grind cut from the same cloth as early Napalm Death. Cool and fun. (Selfmadegod Records)

Unholyspace

Portal - "Lurker At The Threshold" picture disc 7"

Veteran Australian death/grind group Portal here unleash a reissue of their 2006 cassette demo, pressed on tasty (and highly-limited) picture disc 7" vinyl. The two tracks here remain somewhat muddy, but the sinister, blackened Lovecraftian vibe is intact. The A-side, "13 Globes", begins things off with an insane blast of grindcore that resembles a multi-tentacled leviathan battling a huge pirate ship, weapons flailing and hacking demonic flesh. Side B, "Omnipresent Crawling Chaos", is a frenzied lawnmower of sludgy grindcore madness with unintelligible gargled/grunted vocals. There's nothing lovely or melodic about Portal, not in the least. This is energetic death grind at it's best.
(Chrome Leaf)

Psycho - "The Grind Years" CD

This Boston group's 1990-1994 output is re-released on this fine 52-track collection, and it's packed with fast and fun furballs of noise, grunts, and riffs! Ranging from scuzzy gutter punk to ultra-blast grindcore, Psycho's over-the-top thrash and spittle-covered punk exhibit a wicked sense of humor and some superb musical chops. Fans of everything from classic punk rock to early Napalm Death will find plenty to chew on here. Production is hit-and-miss (invariably due to the numerous recording conditions and time periods), but the mood (?) here is of reckless abandon and good, heavy aggression. It's hard to single out tracks, as the majority of them run about a minute apiece, and some log in at as little as 11 seconds, but suffice to say there are plenty of gnarly and fun blasts here. "The Grind Years" is perfectly-executed old-school grindcore/punk with attitude, poise, and spirit. I dug it instantly! (Selfmadegod Records)

Psychospace

White Mice - "Ganjahovadose" CD

This is some seriously far-out, swollen, damaged stuff, from a group of Rhode Islanders who've been recording offensively for several years for a number of sub-underground labels. White Mice produce a potent cocktail of gross, tuneless and twisted mindfuck grindcore with enough rough edges to disorient even the staunchest death metal-head. "Ganjahovadose" features 10 tracks, though they blend together pretty well into one cluster of bent noise/beats and grizzled, agonized vocals. It's not blastbeats, though. White Mice's midtempo sound behemoth is hellbent on destroying through sheer overload. The mix and production here, by famous Skinny Puppy soundman Ken 'Hiwatt' Marshall, gives them plenty of space to throw their bloody furballs. The eighth track, "The Shroud Of Urine" brings on some proto-industrial sound loops to break up the din, but soon thereafter it's back to the hateful, psychedelic noise. Some of this even approaches a kind of free/out jazz, though jazz purists will scoff at that comparison. The point is, this is some seriously messed-up shit, for those with open minds (and maybe some ear protection). And the guys wear some sick white mouse costumes on stage, so I bet that's a sight to behold. You won't be hearing them on radio anytime soon, but this massive bloodclot of sound will clean out your ears, for sure. (20 Buck Spin)

website

Micespace

Drug Honkey - "Death Dub" CD

I've been a big fan of these Chicago boys for some time. Suffice to say, if you like music that is mean, ugly, greasy, and hateful - here's something that may float your boat. Drug Honkey (great name) create a twisted and subversive collision of noise, grindcore, and heavy electronic dub that transcends any certain genre.

On this, their third monumental slab of ugliness, Drug Honkey sucker-punch you with tracks like 'Communion'. See for yourself - it's heavy and dense as any death metal or industrial noise act, but even more disjointed and dirty, even. I mean that in a good way. Brutal? Most certainly. But whereas other acts may use speed to convey aggression, Drug Honkey are a slow, deliberate, plodding punch to the gut. Imagine if Flipper has a bastard love child with (early) Napalm Death, then did a threesome with the freeform dub madness of Kevin Martin's God. Insidious, dark, and feral, Drug Honkey has your number. Lock your doors - I wouldn't trust these chaps with the pets! Hah! (Drug Honkey)

various artists - "Earache iCrusher Complete" DVD

This extensive collection of promo clips from one of England's premier metal labels runs the gamut from the early proto-industrial metal of Godflesh (the rather boring clip for the otherwise classic 'Christbait Rising') to the theatrical goth/synthpop of Mortiis to the thuggish Linea 77. Also included are plenty of bland death metallers, the sophomoric hip-hip of Autonomy, and the flesh-hook shock rock of Society 1. The Berzerker is a return of sorts to the label's grindcore roots, with a tuneless blastbeat grind that assaults the eardrums. Not the best showcase for this label's frustratingly inconsistent sounds, and really only fit for completists. (Earache / MVD Visual)