HATRED SURGE "Collection 2005 - 2007" Cd

(Blastasfuk BAF004)
Release date: 2009
Running time: 27:07

Review: Hatred Surge is such a great phrase, perfect for a grindcore band... I've always been disappointed with Napalm Death's actual "Hatred Surge" demo though, it's so painfully slow stuff, I just can't get into it! A bunch of different people took that name in the past (including fucking me for an awful noise project!) but this Hatred Surge from Austin, Texas is clearly the best band that was ever named Hatred Surge... Sonically the band is a perfect, beautiful balance of raw and heavy, nice and sludgy bass sound, blistering guitar tone, a kind of warm distorted vibe with absolutely crushing old school Mick Harris type drumming on top. This band has the ideal grindcore sound production in my opinion. Vocals are a stunning demonstration of pure heartfelt rage... This also contains some pissed off female vocals here and there, a welcome touch of batshit crazy femininity and a Disrupt sort of flavor too (they cover "Lack of Intelligence" in there, but that one doesn't have female vocals anyway) Structurally this is where the band is perhaps a little too schizophrenic (for my taste), constantly oscillating between grindcore and hardcore and some slow sludgy stuff. Obviously I absolutely totally love the blazing fast grind parts here, they're some of the best I've ever heard... I just can't help but wish the whole thing was just purely grind songs! I'm trying hard to enjoy sludge but it's just not taking on me. You know From Enslavement to Obliteration just had the slow opening and then the rest was pure mindblowing grind, well that's what I'm taking about! Hatred Surge has a very hot and cold effect on me, I find the hardcore breakdown parts a little jarring sometimes (If blast is really as fuck this is like coïtus interruptus or something!), I think some of the songs lose momentum because of it. But the grind parts are really fucking amazing sounding, amazing enough to make this band essential. This reminds me of Lärm or Siege blended with classic Napalm! And my favorite song on there is absolutely the Napalm Death's "C.S." cover, one of the most perfect sounding ND cover you could ever hope to find! I hope I haven't whined too much because this is clearly a totally awesome band and a must-have release, hence the almost full marks. This is a collection of recordings from 2005-2007 and Blastasfuk Records, archivists of grindcore, is preparing another volume covering the rest, coming soon it seems, check it out right there... http://blastasfuk.blogspot.com
Mp3 Sample: Hatred Surge - C.S. (Napalm Death Cover)
Tracks: 1)Pressures (1:11) 2)Domestic (0:22) 3)C.S. (1:15) 4)Split Personality (0:30) 5)Gag Reflex (0:27) 6)Respect (0:31) 7)Unanswered (0:23) 8)Jaws Of Life (0:33) 9)Addict (0:15) 10)Society Sucker (Agnostic Front) (1:04) 11)Surge Of Hatred (0:32) 12)Casket (5:20) 13)Rot (0:38) 14)Out Of My Head (0:15) 15)Pile Of Shit (0:32) 16)Funeral (0:34) 17)Old And Tired (0:43) 18)Farce (0:55)
19)Con Artist (1:15) 20)Lack Of Intelligence (Disrupt) (1:01) 21)Horrible Mess (0:25) 22)Trapped In Lies (0:24) 23)Stubborn (0:19) 24)Numb (2:07) 25)Wolf In Idiot's Clothing (0:33) 26)Creation For Destruction (0:19) 27)Invisible Noose (0:42) 28)Waste (0:24) 29)Hand Me Down Existencia (Despise You) (0:50) 30)Destiny Of Hate (0:19) 31)We All Die (0:28) 32)Destined To Kill (0:40) 33)You Must Die (0:22) 34)Moving Forward To Degredation (0:32) 35)Enslaved By What We've Created (0:27)

Label: http://blastasfuk.blogspot.com

PRETTY LITTLE FLOWER "Crushing Fury of Bastardization" Cd

(Power It Up - P.I.U.#95)
Release date: 2008
Running time: 28:19

Review: Here's a rather traditional sounding Us grind/death band in the Excruciating Terror/Assück mold... I can't say I'm the biggest fan of this particular genre hybrid. Terrorizer did it best, but it's one of the most difficult styles to pull off I think, even Napalm Death failed on Harmony Corruption (after nailing it on Mentally Murdered perhaps thanks to Bill Steer's genius). I like pure, all-out grindcore and I like pure death metal, but usually the metal influences dull out the raw grindcore aggression and the grind influences erase any death metal melodic poignancy leaving us with a crushingly furious bastardization of both genres!
Pretty Little Flower does pretty good in the style though, guitar riffing is intensely thrashing tapestry work, quite technical and intricate stuff, almost in a thrash metal vein and reminiscent of Sepultura guitar work and sound (Beneath the Remains/Arise era), drumming is relentlessly fast, tons of head-on whirlwind blastbeats, reaching extreme speeds, the drum impetus reminds me of early Brutal Truth alot. The whole thing is backed up by a rather abrasive guttural roaring/throaty shrieking duo of vocal stylings, they're never too intrusive, music takes the forefront in this band. Sound production is nice and heavy but it lacks a little bit of a raw edge to open up their sound. Same with song-writing which sounds very dense and elaborate but maybe lacks a little focus, songs keep chugging and chugging and the album gets almost exhausting at some points, just a slight effort to make things more basic and catchier could turn this band into a power-house! This band must be pretty awesome to see live (although I could do without the live bonus tracks on this cd, I'm really not into live recordings for grind bands) Performers on this album are only two guys though with one guy named Dave doing guitar, bass & vocals and some other guy, let's call him Frank on the drums! I can't really fathom what the lyrics are really all about, just a bunch of topical grinding and getting pissed off about a bunch of things... But anyway this album is solid and this is a good band.
Mp3 Sample: P.L.F. - Crushing Fury Of Bastardization
Tracks: 1)Crushing Fury Of Bastardization (1:14) 2)A Walking Hell (1:06) 3)Hellshredder (2:09) 4)Sleep When I'm Dead (0:14) 5)Seize Your Fate (1:38) 6)Point Of Impact (1:14) 7)Unseen Deceiver (1:43) 8)Retardation Hatred (0:56) 9)Wrath Of Intensity (1:31) 10)Siempre Yo (Cover Denak) (1:09) 11)Ironic Curse Of Possession (2:27) 12)Eternally Numb (0:55) 13)Massacred In Totality (1:07) 14)Necessary Neglect (1:17) 15)Boiling In Idiocy (1:06) 16)Walls Of Ancient Stone (1:00) 17)Lost The Fight (Cover Doom) (1:06) 18)Fighting The Urge (Live) (0:16) 19)Terror Alert (Live) (1:00) 20)Worn Thin (Live) (0:47) 21)Strangled In Icy Dreams (Live) (1:21) 22)The Highest Honor (Live) (0:47) 23)Concrete Justice (Live) (1:15) 24)Dissolution Of Rights Pt. II (Live) (1:01)

Label: http://power-it-up.de/

INSECT WARFARE "World Extermination" Cd

(Regurgitated Semen Records - RSE74)
Release date: 2007
Running time: 22:28

Review: Like Hatred Surge & P.L.F., this is another band from Texas, I don't what's in the water there but all these bands are some of the fiercest sounding grind bands around. This one is starting to date too... So what? I was just waiting for the hype to die down!
This is one of these albums I know I should totally embrace but to tell the truth it doesn't totally hit the spot for me. I'm seeing things written like "best grindcore album since FETO" and honestly I can't say I totally agree, there are plenty recent albums I like better out there like REALIZED "21st Century Terminal World" for instance (also what about Brutal Truth, Regurgitate, Dead Infection... they've been around since FETO).
But obviously the advertisement is not completely off the mark; this is extremely good stuff, effective, straightforward, cut-to-the-chase type grind. Short and dense tracks, terrifying blastbeat speeds that'll break your neck, totally bass-ass guitar riffs and genuinely raging bellows and throat-splitting screams, happening all at once... My main beef is probably the sound production, the guitar tone doesn't feel really natural, same with the drumming, it's sounding a little bit too mechanical and clicky, not quite as flowing, organic and cool sounding as the old Mick Harris swinging blasts! The insane drumming in Insect Warfare actually reminds me more of Fuck I'm Dead (Australia) drum machine! That's pretty much what keeps me from loving this more I think. Lyrics are pretty nifty, very nihilistic and hopeless (just the way I like em!), but on the other hand this is quite generic grindcore type stuff (Yes, I was expecting more lyrics about giant insects devouring humans!!!)
Still one can only admire the disorienting, unadultered violence that was forcibly injected into this album, the sonicly ravaging assaults keep coming and coming, each track faster than the next, and also kept short enough so you never get bored, a perfect 22 minutes running time, assuring absolutely no filler crap. Most people already know about this album I guess anyway, but this was one of the major grind of the last few years for sure so I thought I'd mention Insect Warfare at least once among these pages!
Mp3 Sample: Insect Warfare - Necessary Death
Tracks: 1)Oxygen Corrosion (0:53) 2)Self Termination (1:25) 3)Enslaved by Machinery (1:08) 4)Manipulator (1:49) 5)Zone Killer (0:20) 6)Decontamination (1:09) 7)Street Sweeper (0:13) 8)Dead Inside (1:01) 9)Human Trafficking (1:19) 10)Hydraphobia (1:36) 11)Mind Ripper (1:21) 12)Armored Virus (1:20) 13)Mass Communication Mindfuck (1:19) 14)Nuclear Deterrence (1:20) 15)Paranoia (1:18) 16)Necessary Death (0:51) 17)Protection Maze (0:54) 18)Lobotomized (1:18) 19)Internet Era Alienation (0:42) 20)Evolved into Obliteration (1:12)

SPOONFUL OF VICODIN "Bursts of Rage at the Speed of Hate" Cd

(Bones Brigade - BB041)
Release date: 2008
Running time: 13:51

Review: Behold one of the most flippant and fun, as well as face-ripping grindcore/fastcore band ever... Most songs here are 30 seconds long, never over the minute (with intros)... Honestly grindcore songs should never need to be any longer than that! Any longer is pure grind wankery... (Ok, that 10 minutes song off Parlamentarisk Sodomi's second album is pretty fucking jawdroppingly awesome, but that's THE exception, guy makes grind wankery an art). Vocal-wise what we have here is alot of hysterical bloodcurdling screaming and extreme shouting and some occasional gruff growling too; then it's all fucking blistering tortured guitar strings and blast attacks, guitars are pretty raw distorted shit but heavy enough. Sound production's clear enough but extremely raw at the time, just the way I like it! I think the line-up is just guitar + drum, no bass, no fucking around with 5 different instruments and that's why this stuff will definitely rip your face off. I like the band's smart-ass use of samples too with their grind assaults being the punchline... I especially like the one from Evil Dead: "there's a tape recorder here/see what's on it"! Funny stuff! This has got pretty hilarious song titles too, like "You Smell Like A Bag Of Rotting Dicks" that one reminds me of a Louis C.K. bit... The "Controlled by Fear" Fear of God cover in there is pretty fucking killer too, great cover for one of the all time best grind songs! This real short cd is actually a collection of a bunch of Ep's/split Ep's... I don't know if this band is still around? But at least this cd is pure gold.
Mp3 Sample: Spoonful Of Vicodin - Law Enforcement Perk-A-Thon
Tracks: 1)One More Second And I'll Explode (0:55) 2)Stages Are Only Good For Stage Divers (0:24) 3)I'll Sew With Floss Till All My Teeth Rot (0:23) 4)Grind Is Good For Acne (0:21) 5)You Smell Like A Bag Of Rotting Dicks (0:52) 6)Carful Of Potheads (0:28) 7)Sacrificed For The Thrash (0:26) 8)Cycle Of Desolation (0:27) 9)357 Channels Of Widescreen Perfection (0:18) 10)God Wins At Everything (0:33) 11)My Idea Of Anarchy Is Taking A Dump On Company Time (0:35) 12)Roadkill In The Lunch Line (0:13) 13)Tapeworms In Punk, A Documentary (0:32) 14)Law Enforcement Perk-A-Thon (0:41) 15)Starbucks Recolutionary (0:29) 16)Confession Booth Gloryhole (0:19) 17)The 60s Changed The World, I'm Sure You Will Too (0:40) 18)Whatever Happened To Fubu? (0:35) 19)Paved Paradise (0:44) 20)The Charles Whitman Anthem (0:12) 21)Library Grind Freaks Unite (0:24) 22)B.I.Y. (0:19) 23)Don't Support Sketchy Fucks (0:16) 24)Controlled By Fear (Fear Of God) (1:13) 25)Serial Griller (0:35) 26)Fossils Of Humanity (0:18) 27)Totally Brutal News Exposure (0:39)

Label: http://www.bonesbrigaderecords.com/

PSYCHO "The Grind Years" Cd

(Self-Made God Records-SMG054)
Release date: 2010
Running time: 52:45

Review: Gotta admit, there's nothing like the savoir-faire of these classic grindcore bands! These guys really shaped the genre. The early Psycho stuff is akin to early Impetigo in that they're both bands that bridged the gap between regular punk/hardcore and faster, more extreme grindcore/death metal... A vocal styling close to Impetigo's Stevo, tortured and gravelly but still actually decipherable and with a lot of character. Stevo actually did some artwork for one of the Ep covers... Musically Psycho's maybe more like a whacked out Repulsion though. This has got alot of thrashing riffs, some blasting parts and pretty short 1 minute and half kind of songs. The band's style grew progressively more extreme and wild with the time, with increasingly lower guttural vocals (a couple of songs even seem to have pitchshifter effects). Actually I think I might prefer the early stuff, I wish more bands would sound like this nowadays... This is an impressive collection of mostly split 7" Ep with Anal Cunt, Meat Shits, Agathocles, Rot, Nasum, Blood plus solo Ep's "Mass Compumption" and a bunch of compilation tracks... I must admit the "Shrunken" Ep, Split 7" with Rot & Split 7" with Satan's Warriors are my least favorite material here on account of the slightly too abrasive sound production and crushed guitar sound, I can't really enjoy them. However the Split with Anal Cunt, Meat Shits & Agathocles are absolute grind classics. And I especially love the Split Ep with Nasum, for some reason "1000 Miles Away" is like one of my favorite songs ever! The chorus with the grunting girl (?) is engraved in my memory... I actually didn't remember this song was by Psycho before listening to this compilation! This compilation is making me so nostalgic for old grind, bands like Impetigo that poured so much sweat, blood and passion into their music, it's amazing! Not the tightest or most extreme band ever, but Psycho delivers the fucking goods on these split ep's, this cd is a must-have, filled with collages of band photos classic cover artwork, show posters, etc... Damn!
Mp3 Sample: Psycho - 1000 Miles Away
Tracks:1)Mooch (0:18) 2)Fletch (1:41) 3)Stupid People 2 (1:32) 4)No Decision (1:04) 5)Dead Wrong (1:12) 6)Predator (0:48) 7)Douch Bags Rule (0:16) 8)Zepplin (0:18) 9)Story Teller (1:32) 10)Roast Beef (1:04) 11)You're Next (0:21) 12)Natural Fiaso (1:31) 13)No Second Chance (1:36) 14)Mass Consumption (1:27) 15)Yawn (1:09) 16)Carnation Instant Death (1:13) 17)Sore Rectum (0:07) 18)Tortured Souls (1:17) 19)Loaf (0:25) 20)Extracting Your Dimensions (1:53) 21)Drive (0:45) 22)Equality - Ecology (1:45) 23)Has Been (1:05) 24)Convulsions (1:30) 25)Sore Scrotum (0:04) 26)Nicotine Addiction (1:15) 27)Riot Grrl (1:15) 28)Psycho 4 (0:22) 29)Friend Of The Family (1:33) 30)Garth Brooks (0:09) 31)Second Death (1:23) 32)Threshold Of Pain (2:19) 33)Incinerated (1:05) 34)Evil (1:04) 35)Ignorance (1:02) 36)Celebait (0:49) 37)Spineless Corpse (0:50) 38)Crushed Genitals (0:30) 39)Disturbed Revenge (1:42) 40)Violence (0:44) 41)Garbage (0:28) 42)Humanity Lost (0:38) 43)1000 Miles Away (1:24) 44)Drive 2 (0:31) 45)Slag (0:54) 46)Broken (0:39) 47)Fuego Y Azufrei (0:36) 48)Hoax (1:48) 49)Blinded (0:54) 50)Fish (1:11) 51)Crusted Sewage (0:41) 52)Postman (1:06)

Label: http://selfmadegod.com