BRAINxTOILET

Utterly guttural Southern grind. Forceful, massive, chaotic, relentless....and fukk is it fast. Choice cut is "Infinite Regret" if only for the (slightly) slower kinda '90s sounding guitar part that creeps in just before the robotic lurch/squeal/mini mosh, but each of those parts whizz by in just a couple of seconds. This 2013 release from North Carolina's BRAINxTOILET requires maximum attention, and maximum volume comes highly recommended. 

BRAINxTOILET

CRUTCH

I wish that this tape could actually capture the fire that this trio started one afternoon back in March when I saw them lay waste to a glorified storage unit in Oklahoma City, but for the geographically challenged....this tape will have to suffice. Volume helps. CRUTCH capture the late '90s hc/blast/pv vibe perfectly - face melting hardcore tunes with brutally simplistic mid paced stomps trading off with grinding blurs and the things Max would always call "jerk off riffs" when WHN? were writing songs (you know, the hand just goes up and down the the neck...back and forth...sorry kids, I know this is a family friendly music blog - except for all the talk about drugs and stuff - but seriously....that is the motion, and that's what the riffs are called, and actually I'm not sorry at all). These dudes absolutely slayed in the flesh, and I was almost hesitant to press PLAY when I got home because sometimes it's just not as good, you know? But this collection rrrrrips right out of the gate, and CRUTCH have fully mastered that CROSSED OUT style 'hardcore into blast into slow DBeat back into blast' thing (and if you know what I mean then you totally fukkn know exactly what I mean) so perfectly that you feel like you know what's coming before they even do the damn thing but then they still manage to surprise you ("Exempt Employee" is a perfect example). I confess that I am not always (or even often) in the mood to listen to this brand of destruction (though I am always down to see it live), but when I am.....? This is the fukkn shit I want. 23 tracks (in just under 22 minutes) culled from comps and demos and shit, and every one of them is a banger. 

YEAR ONE

"MY LIFE"

Prepare to enter a mind filled with wonder and brilliance: The mind of August Alston. Almost two hours of improvisations, prose, ramblings, creations, noise, and constructs that will confuse most, annoy some and enthrall a few who appreciate the wavelength of The Other and the existence of The Different. Revolving (eventually) around the recurring track "Condo Woman," My Life aka Not A Lack Of Interest Cover is an actual journey to another place that lies dormant inside and rests just below the surface - a place that is more destiny than destination. Have a nice trip, and I'm not sorry if you never truly return. 

MY LIFE aka NOT A LACK OF INTEREST COVER

CONDO WOMAN: BAD NOISE 2016

MONOLITH

Seventeen blasts in just over twenty minutes, this is a premium dose of Austrian hc/grind. Guttural vocal (with howling backups), and a high speed metalcrust churn that makes this listener more than a little nostalgic. Check the bass when "Piledriver" starts....then listen to the entire song detonate. See what I mean? Exactly. Now listen to the awkward isolated blasts that stat "I Got My Coffe." See what I mean? Exactly. Now...continue.

SUPERMARKET RACE

GOD HARVEST

These Florida crushers paid us a visit almost six years ago, and they have certainly not mellowed with age. Heavier than last time, with more churning blasts and leads that hint to metal roots lurking under the stench that dominates the recording. Relentless punishment in eleven doses. 

INSULATED

CONTAINER CRUSTIES FROM HELL

If you were around in the '00s then you likely heard about this French band. And if you weren't turned off by the art then you surely dismissed them because of the name. I mean, you have a lot of stuff to choose from, a lot of things to enjoy, so it makes sense that you would want to focus on the things you think you might like. It's cool...I did the same thing. Thankfully, the folks at Dratsab Records in Malaysia are here to help us to get right with this one, and they've made these tracks available to a new audience - even if that audience is made of people who should have paid attention the first time around. Absolutely relentless crust/grind with searing female leads and harsh male backups. The guitars are like rusty knives, and there's a vibe that touches the killer German shits of the era that we all fukkn loved for a season (AKEPHAL, ACME, etc.)....but mostly this tape just rrrriiiiipppppssss. No reliance on downtuning or crushing riffs, instead CONTAINER CRUSTIES FROM HELL just drop a monster in your earholes and leave. Because after a half hour like this? There simply ain't nothing left.

CONTAINER CRUSTIES FROM HELL

¡¡¡REDIOXXX!!! "EL CANDELABRO"

One hour radio show from somewhere south of me. I'm not going to mislead you, the first song is really awful, but there are some creamers on here for sure, and I'm a fan of the DJ who talks after every...single...song. Everything from hardcore to grind to noisecore to punk to weird commercial screamo is covered, in other words: "something for everyone." But I know that only about 0.3% of you are going to take the plunge...

EL CANDELABRO

I want to party with this dude. 

LUCID TERROR

Raw and primal black grind from New York. It's just....ugly. Elements of cro-magnon death metal, but I feel like these mutants are, in their heart of hearts, pure grind freaks. No bullshit here, nothing special. Just filth and dirt and a distortion that comes from pushing too hard (as opposed to trying too hard....you get me?). Do it....

WHIP IT TIL YOU FAINT

KALI

Fierce and emotive (note the difference between this and emotional) grinding hardcore from Alberta. Pulls no punches, takes no prisoners, gives lots of fucks, leaves nothing on the table. Pure power.

KALI

PYKA

Oh geez, I'm sorry - I thought you said you wanted to have your face melted. That's why I chose to share this fierce Connecticut grind act with you....because I thought you wanted you face melted. Tuneless treble rebels on a blast beat bender - you won't be singing along, you'll be running for cover.

TOO FEMME TOO FURIOUS

BRIDGEBURNER // SKUFF

Nasty, noisy crust/grind from Canada. BRIDGEBURNER are a classic, churning power trio, while SKUFF lose the guitar and make things even filthier. Get dirty, punks.

BRIDGEBURNER // SKUFF

MANHUNT

I would say that I'm sorry for the short break...but I'm not. Shit happens. Life gets in the way. But this shit is always there for you. And what do I mean when I say "this shit"? I'm talking about Australia's MANHUNT. Five creamers. Seven minutes. Desperate and vicious. The few sepos lucky enough to see them in the flesh earlier this year know what I'm talking about. ..the rest of you are about to learn.

PERMANENT PAIN

BAD ORGASM

Filthy Florida grind from 2007. Twelve songs in fourteen minutes, and I'm probably glad they didn't include lyrics. Enjoy your holiday, Americans, summer's over...the rest of you mutants just have a good Monday.

GENITAL LEPROSY DEMOS

GASMIASMA

I guess this is a super group? Whatever man. Grinding, grim and nasty DBeat hardcore from Louisiana delivered live and furious on the radio. Check the bass at the start of "D-832 Mortar Waste" and you'll be taken back to a time when the shit was less calculated, more filthy, less predictable, more reckless....and dare I say better? At least in some ways, I suppose it was. Derivative, definitely, but these fukks give zero fukks, and I like that. 

KRVS (KADAVERS)

AMYGDALA

We played San Antonio with these kids on the RITUAL CONTROL '13/'14 tour, an onslaught of hardcore delivered by people who were consumed by their own power and emotions. Their vinyl offerings are all great, and I hope to see them in the flesh again....but this demo? A baker's dozen of relentless drum machine driven one man grind/PV that's gone in less than ten minutes, the self titled 2010 banger from AMYGDALA is pure head spinning brutality to be filed alongside PARLAMENTARISK SODOMI and other mindfukkrs. Not at all what I was expecting...but exactly what I was wanting.

AMYGDALA

KUSTA PÄSSÄÄ

Filthy '90s Brasilian grind/crust. Ripping fasts, searing blasts, multiple vocals and pure raw attack. Choice banger: "Gasolina," if only because when they scream the word it sounds like a very real threat. 

DT '98

EXACERBACÍON

Costa Rica's EXACERBACÍON blipped onto my radar a few years ago, and I just took an extended tour of their discography and was reminded how appealing the world of guttural shit-fi grindcore can be. No nuance, just brutality and blasting and fukkn filth. Muerte Imminente is from 2010, but there are at least 15 more releases you should get into after to choke this one down. 

MUERTE IMMINENTE

BOOBYHATCH

Please, punk. Please do not let the cover of this '90s Tennessee hardcore demo allow The Doubt to sink in and lead you to the wrong decision. I urge you, punk. I urge you to make the right decision and download these creamers. Keep them with you, punk. I don't want you to be without, punk...I want you to have all of the metallic hardcore that you want. What were these mutants doing in 1997? File alongside OTTAWA, URANUS, MOHINDER...the kind of fukkd, discordant, chaotic 'core that would make your jaw drop when you witnessed a delivery by a van full of unpretentious and unassuming youngsters. That was BOOBYHATCH. Check the Grinding Asscore At Its Worst EP on Denied A Custom (dude - that guy used to send SO many stickers and weird shit with his mailorder packages...but I digress) and the slab with the same title as this demo (slightly different track list though) on House 'O Pain. Post REDNECKS IN PAIN and pre ASSCHAPEL, in case anyone is paying attention. Under appreciated hardcore is the fukkn shit.

HIP-SHAKING ASSCORE

METH LAB

As anyone who has enjoyed the substance referenced in the last few band monikers is well aware, too much of a good thing is never a bad thing. So on with the meth...this time in the crystalline form of disgusting grind/PV of the highest order from Virginia, circa 2012. This shit is light years beyond ugly, and appears to be all that METH LAB has left us with. 

METH LAB

METH LEPPARD

Sometimes you just want to grind, right? Sometimes you just want ignorant simplicity and devastating ferocity, and you shouldn't have to choose. Nor should you have to slog through piles of technical shitcore with fake riffs and triggered drums. Nor the endless barrage of sexist bullshit associated with the porno and gore scenes (note: I definitely realize that I just typed the phrase "porno and gore scenes" and it definitely made me laugh). Sometimes.....? Sometimes you just want to grind. I was in Texas a while back and my pal Clay brought me some tapes - he gives me way more things that I give him, and I want to return the favor but he just has SO much more cool (and, likely, cooler) shit than me. This banger from METH LEPPARD was in the mix, and has been on regular rotation ever since I got home. For the doubters, the NAPALM DEATH cover ("Siege Of Power") is on fukkn point....and it might be the slowest track on the tape. 

METH LEPPARD