Teoria Del Complotto: TSUBO - "Capitale Umano" CD Review

    My first introduction to Italy's TSUBO was a blind purchase of the band's 2012 release, .​.​.​Con Cognizione Di Causa, through Give Praise Records' old distro. I didn't have any real expectations other than the promise of some form of a grindcore experience. With its stringent vocals and wailing guitars, the twenty track death-grind release made for a sufficient entry to both the band's then fledgling discography and to the T-section of my alphabetized CD media shelf. It would be another five years before the band released a follow up seven inch and another six years after that before they released their second full-length album, Capitale Umano. In all honesty, I hadn't paid much attention to TSUBO after that initial 2012 CD, up until last year's submission of Capitale Umano.

    So, these reviews tend to be formulaic in how I breakdown albums and instrumentation. That is half intentional and half unintentional. Having a methodology is helpful, yet I will often try and change things up if I happen to notice that a review is running too much of a familiar path. Still, occasionally while listening to a certain type of album I'm tempted to throw out the usual recipe and just write about the things that specifically caught my attention. Such is a release like TSUBO's Capitale Umano. At the risk of being non-linear, this is the kind of record I would much rather review with a corkboard, thumbtacks and a spool of red yarn. 

    TSUBO's latest outing is not exactly what I expected. It has been a few years since I listened to .​.​.​Con Cognizione Di Causa and I vaguely remember that era of TSUBO having a Mumakil style of grindcore—a relentless and pummeling breed of grind (Mumakil of course being my personal favorite litmus test for straight down the middle, exhaustive grindcore.) But Capitale Umano presents us with a TSUBO featuring a new lineup that are flagrantly wearing their influences on their sleeves. 

    Capitale Umano is a thick and dense thirty-five and a half minute album that is tightly packed with almost every type of extreme and heavy subgenre that could be shoved into grindcore. The first quarter of the album is what you would typically expect from your archetypal grindcore record—again, my Mumakil-esque yardstick shtick. 

    TSUBO offer no introductory fanfare, no pithy sound clip, not even a count off; just everything all in, all at once. And within that, depending on what kind of listener you are, there are a few things that might immediately grab your attention—either the tone of the vocals, the tone of the snare or the competency of the guitar.

    The band's vocals are a choir of gruff, scorching flays of crusty roars and deep guttural barks. They are aggressive and have a memorable cadence. I much prefer these vocals compared to the vocals on ...Con Cognizione Di Causa. Not that the vocals on the two albums are that dissimilar, but something about this latest recording goes down a little smoother and pairs better with the music. 

    A more atypical characteristic to the band's vocals is the frequent occurrence of spoken word. Songs like "Rivolta," "Arma Ideologica," "Cosa Sei Disposto a Perdere" all have a spoken word portion that is so frequent that it's obviously a preferred choice. It reminded me a lot of spoken word passages common with anarcho and peace punk bands. I can't be certain if those were influences on the band, but it wouldn't surprise me given the close history of the multiple genres, like Napalm Death's association with Crass Records. An oversimplification of this aspect in Capitale Umano could be if the 2002 split release between Resist And Exist and Phobia bled into one cohesion of music. (A triggering example, I know.) It's not exactly a one-to-one comparison and it doesn't quite capture the depths of Capitale Umano, but more on my opinions about that later.

     The drumming on Capitale Umano is as fast and hard hitting as you would expect or would want in any grindcore band. Emphasizing that sentiment the most is the snare drum. It's something that I immediately noticed upon first listen and is something I had heard previously in regards to this album. The snare tone is loud and upfront in the mix and, more importantly, the tone is extremely impactful. Whether it's from crafty studio engineering or drum triggers, I'm not for certain. But whatever the method, the snare is certainly potent and dominating. Surprisingly, the striking power of the snare isn't felt so much in the blast beats as one might initially assume, but are in fact more prominent in the fast punk beats. The snare also emphasizes the band's slower and rather unconventional time signatures that much more. Match this with the push of the kick drum and I feel like the snare really resonates and entrenches the tempo within the listener.

       Lastly, TSUBO's guitar is doing a lot of heavy lifting. When not implementing heavy grindcore plowing, the guitar is a teetering flurry of nimbleness and technicality. The guitarwork is a bumper car of death metal pinch harmonics, thrash riff ripping, classic metal solos and melodic crust punk symphonies. The attitude of the song can change on a dime depending on the guitar. Songs like "Vili Bastardi" can start out as thrashing grindcore and pivot into spider walking fretwork before rounding out into some circular metal riffing that skips like a broken record. It's a frequent combination that the band employs throughout the album. Although, a song like "Antropocene" goes full Iron Maiden and finishes in an almost symphonic black metal dirge.

    Unconventionally and almost a rarity in grindcore is TSUBO's addition of the use of synthesizers in the form of an electric organ. Before you clutch your powerviolence pearls in trepidation, I can assure you that the use of the organ is a master stroke. It is used pretty sparingly only on a total of four tracks, I believe. The organ is used as a tool to create a somber melodic melancholy atmosphere to great effect. We are first introduced to it in track four, "Rivolta," as a hypnotic and serpentine outro that is vaguely reminiscent of the theatrical score to that orgy scene in Conan the Barbarian. The synthesizer is a good way of injecting melody, catchiness and musicianship into a song. It's a big part of the cathedral black metal serenades, the midtempo crust excursions and the smoothness within the transitioning of those organ heavy songs. 

    

    Following the metaphoric red thread back up to the initial push pin—TSUBO are indeed that layered brutishness that we established. The band's multiple influences and analogies are plainly sewn throughout the album and its songwriting. The band is a brackish mix of crust and metal; like England's Napalm Death and Pacific Coast's Resistant Culture. The aforementioned peace punk spoken word diatribes gives TSUBO the impression of being as much punk rock as they are death metal, yet still totally grind. And the band's melodic crust punk juants are indicative of the crust and D-beat bands of the early aughts, specifically bands like Australia's Schifosi come to mind. The album's title track, "Capitale Umano," is most representative of that. Whereas the previously stated black metal influences can be found in songs like the six minute "Antropocene" and the sirening "Guerre." To that end, each song on Capitale Umano is approached with a sense of epicness and grandeur that I think is very much achieved. 

    Capitale Umano could rashly and unjustly be regulated to yet another run-of-the-mill grindcore album, but I can honestly guarantee you that it's much more than that. Capitale Umano is one of those albums that you will want to give repeated spins because you will most likely find something new each time. TSUBO are offering a high level of musicianship with a mature sense of song structuring. 

    Capitale Umano, as a record, is a fierce combination of heavy bombing and sophistication. I, like many others, am overly fastidious about the purity of my grindcore. TSUBO perceptively toe the line between proper grindcore blasting and progressive musical boundaries. They never tip too far into the melodic or too far into the more traditional classic metal riffs, keeping the main focus on the band's hammering grindcore. The band's introduction of the synthesized organ might seem at odds with that sentiment, yet it only amplifies the entirety of the album. TSUBO are at their best here and now.

    

FFO: Looking For An Answer, Cripple Bastards, Blockheads

Listen to the album: https://tsubo.bandcamp.com/album/capitale-umano 

Split Level Housing: Chadhel/Fâché Split 7 Inch Review

 

"I had drifted o’er seas without ending, Under sinister grey-clouded skies That the many-fork’d lightning is rending, That resound with hysterical cries; With the moans of invisible daemons that out of the green waters rise."

-H.P. Lovecraft

Nemesis

    Cautious and shrewd readers might recall that the last words written within this blog about the Québécois Chadhel was a January 2023 entry regarding the release of the prior year's Failure//Downfall. They have consistently been active for the better portion of a decade. The band has produced no less than one release annually with the single exception being in 2020, owing to a latter-day plague. Their 2023 offerings to the old gods consisted of a five inch lathe cut split record with French/German multinationals, Eastwood, as well as a split seven inch with Drummondville, Québec's Fâché in the spring of last year. 

    Failure//Downfall saw Chadhel unfurl their blackened wings and display the band's monstrous severity while taking advantage of the space and production that a full-length album affords you. Their 2023 short form split releases strategically consisted of more concise compositions. Yet, the insidious behemoth maintains their cultivated sound and swelling progressiveness. 

    The purveyors of cosmic terror and terrestrial despair, Chadhel, have rightfully claimed their perch upon the tower of grindcore's modern elite. Their polished, punctuated and fibrous musical marque remains principal. There is a blazing darkness that resounds brightly within their releases, especially in those that have been documented here in this blog. 

    Much akin to their often analogized confrères and inspirators—Pig Destroyer—Chadhel's metal twanged dissonant guitar burrows its way among hammering blast beats and soiled screams. The guitarwork is as penetrative as it is crushing. The frantic fingering fretwork is trickling with a dissonant deluge. The quick tottering between sawing and sirening is the driving heart of the band's salient sound as the guitar is the band's screaming aura of desolation.

    That cry is personified, quite literally, in Chadhel's vocal performance. The band's lead vocals are yet again a further reflection of Pig Destroyer and their frontman, J.R. Hayes, with his distinctive tortured blatherings. Similarly, Chadhel's rendition sounds more like that of spews and smears than traditional grindcore croons. Their taunting sneers are flanked by a pair of deeper barks courtesy of the band's string section which fosters a strong back and forth.

    Chadhel's customary surge of galloping basslines and battering drums are still as deeply engraved as you could want or remember. The boiling blast beats and trampling kick drum triggered tirades reign supreme. As the plowing drums stampede with exactitude, the bass guitar pulses underneath as a rhythmic heartbeat. Dark and slithering, it seethes.

     

    To reiterate, Chadhel's side of the split very much remains in the same vein as their past few releases and I would like to think of them as hitting their stride within those said releases. Yet, their split with Fâché seemingly has the band performing decidedly more loose and springy. Not in a way that would suggest being out of pocket or diminishing the band's musicianship, but in a way that refers to a comfortability. Chadhel sounds like they are especially having fun on this record. The introductions to the songs "Mindless" and "Remnant Of A Glorious Past" are testimonials to the fact. The bounce and sashay of their half of this split rides the line of a buoyant impishness and a wonted dimly sinister brutality.

    Chadhel's Québec countrymen, Fâché, are a new addition to the House of Grindcore stable as well as a new addition to my personal turntable. These strictly Francophonic grinders formed in 2021 deep in the throes of Covid. While Covid saw many bands and venues going belly up, the three members of Fâché found themselves idle, angry and with the intrinsical need to form a new band that mixed elements of grindcore, noise, powerviolence and hardcore punk. Since their formation in 2021, the band has sired half a dozen releases in the way of EP's, splits and most recently a sixteen minute, thirty-three track self-titled full-length via Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. 

    Now, what this split introduced me to was a truly ravenous band in Fâché. The band's music is a maniacal speed ball of savagery and momentum. They remind me a lot of a le français version of Mellow Harsher, bereft of any sense of a breakdown or breath. Even though the band has only been around for a short four years and six releases, they retain a remarkable amount of consistency from their first EP to their latest full-length. Songs are short and production is dirty without being negligent. The only difference from start to current is that the band seemingly used more harsh noise elements in the beginning that aren't as prevalent presently.

    But as far as Fâché's split here with Chadhel, the band is just as relentless and pummeling as ever. The drumming is an exhaustive mowing of blast beats and snare rolls. If there's a style of drumming or a specific beat that you've heard prior within the genre, chances are you'll hear a piece of it mixed into one of these thirty second songs—stiff armed metal chops to mechanized blast beats. The latter is emphasized by the metallic chipping of the cymbals, sounding comparable to the fast reciprocation of the charging handle on a semi-automatic assault rifle. 

    Similar to Fâché's crazed drumming, the band's vocals are just as frenzied. The Loup-Garou styled vocals are utterly unhinged. They shift unpredictably from one second to the next, from one riff to the next, like a Hollywood exorcism film or dissociative identity disorder gone haywire. The vocals careen from gremlin-esque growls to gore-filled gutturals to powerviolence grunts to strangled screams that are so searing that you'll feel like you need a lozenge from just listening to them. There is even a rendition that sounds like the howling high winds of a tornadic storm. Unless I am mistaken, I am fairly certain that each member of the band is contributing their own unique take on vocals and are creating a whirlwind of a violence. 

    The guitarwork on this split—as it is on most all of Fâché's releases—is a blown out blast of zooming distortion. Their fast paced punk riffs serve as a musical backdrop to the chaos, supplying some sense of catchiness—a term that I use very loosely. Unfortunately, the bass guitar is largely lost in the fuzz of the mix and fails to make any real impression. But this is rarely problematic in grindcore. 

    2023's split between Chadhel and Fâché stands as a well made, exceptionally paired pressing of grindcore vinyl. The regional partnership of two Québec born bands playing two distinctly different brands of the genre makes for a valuable release. Chadhel brings a polished and exacting death-grind, whereas Fâché exhibits a more raw and chaotic punk laced grindcore. Both bands sound like they are really enjoying themselves on this release. While Chadhel carry themselves with a dark and disciplined exuberance, Fâché are seemingly fully taking the piss—albeit with a healthy amount of unabashed rage. This EP is a fun, blast heavy record that is sure to incite multiple spins. And as I did, a lot of listeners might find a new and amazing band in Fâché after betting on a sure thing in Chadhel.

    As I look north beyond Chapel Hill, past the Great White, into the spreading blur of denser blackness, I see the growing frenzy. I hear the storm—the blast beats—the grindcore—Yog-Sothoth save me.

FFO: Pig Destroyer, Maruta, Mellow Harsher, Hørdür

Listen to the album: https://chadhel.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-fach

https://fache.bandcamp.com/album/split-with-chadhel

Pandemic Equals Solution: Vermintide - "Virus Pedigree" Album Review

    Last we heard from Vermintide was 2022 and the band had released their debut EP, Meaningless Convulsions, the year prior. The band's budding brand of Israeli slamming death-grind was just congealing as was the band's line-up. Meaningless Convulsions was an admirable and propelling first entry. You can read my review of that release here.  Since then the band has released two full-length albums—2023's Ashamed Of My Species and early 2024's Virus Pedigree.

    Ashamed Of My Species saw Vermintide as a more cultivated and developed death-grind act. This sophomore release was not only a furtherance in musicianship, but it brandished an openly aggressive and feral disposition. The guitarwork on the album was an engaged whirlwind of furious churns and scribbling tremolos. There appeared to be both a denser layering of the guitar in the mix as well as more comfortability behind the playing. The same could be said for the drumming and vocal performances, frankly. I was honestly surprised at the instantaneous ferocity of the opening track, "How Dare You?" and the subsequent songs thereafter. 

    Much of the Meaningless Convulsions review was spent with me trying to decipher what exactly slam metal actually was. (I watched more than a few educational videos.) But when it came to Ashamed Of My Species, when things did slow down, especially in the second act, I just felt like it was plain and simple brutal death metal. Maybe even a groove and doom metal vibe as well. 

    Overall, the cohesion of the fledgling band and the boost to production made Ashamed Of My Species a respectable first full-length, not to mention the band ends the album with both a Napalm Death and a Magrudergrind cover. The latter of which you rarely see outside of YouTube "Bridge Burner" tutorials. 

    This year's Virus Pedigree full-length only compounds the band's above stated accolades and after a lineup change, finds the band at their strongest. Vermintide's vicious onslaught of pounding death-grind is sharp, quick and to the point here. This latest release boasts an even more well-balanced and polished production that highly compliments the instrumentation as well as couples the heavy and the high. You can't really ask for more out of the album's mix.

    The guitar playing is a roaring tidal wave of HM-2-esque distortion drenched gnashing. It still has that metal kink, yet drives with a more single focus. There's less of those warbled scribbles and more of a whipping torrent. There are still some through lines that call back all the way to the Meaningless Convulsions days, like the band's tell-tale signature writing structures, i.e., the ascending and descending of those trumpeting leads. Likewise, the band's slam—or as I would naively oversimplify it as, deathcore— and death-grind cocktail still has that undercurrent of some 90's era groove metal. 

    I feel that the track "They Told Me I Did It" emphasizes that groove metal notion and it bares a familiar resemblance to White Zombie's "Ratfinks, Suicide Tanks And Cannibal Girls" from the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America soundtrack. It seems to hit a lot of the same beats, in my opinion, yet obviously plays as a grindcore song instead of some noise rock turned toxic cult alt-metal, pre-2000's throwback. Or maybe it's just me.

    Like the guitar, Vermintide's drums have trimmed away some of the fat in this leaner take on the band's songwriting. The drumming mostly pivots between fast snare hammerings and even faster blast beats. While Virus Pedigree's drumwork is markedly improved and bereft of that original debut snare tone, it still carries the same established drumming style of mid-tempo kick drum trots, bouncing two-step beats and stuttering blast beats. And like Meaningless Convulsions, I'm assuming the drums here are programmed in lieu of an actual drummer. A fact that the casual listener will undoubtedly never notice. It's a generally consistent style that has become somewhat of a signature sound throughout Vermintide's discography.

    The slower, death metal drenched breakdowns of Ashamed Of My Species are not as plentiful here in Virus Pedigree, but the band does play around with pacing. There are a lot of quick tempo changes and breaks which could support an argument towards the band's style on the new album being of the stop-and-go grind variety—almost.  

    Much can obviously be said about Vermintide's growth and evolving sound, but my favorite, by far, is the inclusion of the band's new bassist on Virus Pedigree. Their talents are best exemplified with the track, "The Consumer Automaton." The track's punctuated introduction is broken up by another ascending/descending riff, only this time in the form of an extremely pleasing bass solo. The bassline is not overly complicated, but is used to great effect, especially considering the scarcity of the bass within the genre itself. The riff just sounds fun—fun to hear and fun to play. These bass asides dot the album sporadically and add so much to the enjoyment of the record. The bass has a really great tone that is a cleaner, brighter sound. It's a tone that sounds like a cross between skate punk and prog rock. The bright slinkiness coupled with the higher than average incorporation of the bass guitar within the mix really sets this aspect of Vermintide above the rest. I also noticed a warmer, lunging bass sound throughout the album that consists of slides up and down the fretboard. These always remind me of the song "The Gael." Again, fun to hear and fun to play. The bass on"The Consumer Automaton" makes the album for me. 

    The appeal of Vermintide is their unorthodox approach to grindcore. The band's evolution from a one man solo project to a group of hired mercenaries presents its own unique challenges: they have guitar riffs written by a non-guitarist and filtered through an actual guitarist, drums without a drummer, but written by a drummer, on top of the fact that the band members seemingly come from non-grindcore backgrounds. Yet, they are continuously and quickly improving themselves and Virus Pedigree could easily hold its own with any given grindcore album. I enjoy how the aggression and musicianship have escalated in tandem on Virus Pedigree.  

    Watching Vermintide's metaphorical musical sutures fuse in practically real time is an exciting process to watch and be a part of. I feel like the "slam" moniker may no longer apply, especially when it comes to Virus Pedigree. From what I think I know about slam metal, the band seems to have shed any explicit connections and tends to lean towards a general death metal or deathcore. I would say that this is just straight death-grind. 

     Virus Pedigree is the best offering to date from Vermintide. With the band improving in both their sound and skill as well as leaning more and more into grindcore, it's easy to understand why. With no offense to the band, the album really shines a light on how early Meaningless Convulsions really was. Yet, that is a comparison true of most bands, I suppose. This also means that given the pattern, we can expect the next iteration to be even more exceptional by comparison. 

    P.S. Virus Pedigree ends with a gridcore rendition of The Exploited's "Daily News." This is possibly one of the best punk-to-grindcore covers I've heard in a while. It's a cover after my own junior high school heart. It just shows that you have to make these covers your own. It's not as simple as a 1:1 ratio of a punk song with the addition of blast beats. Something to keep in mind for a lot of these grindcore cover tribute albums cropping up lately. 

FFO: Convulsions, Squash Bowels, Napalm Death

Listen to the album:

https://vermintide.bandcamp.com/album/virus-pedigree

License To Kill: Genocide Doctrine - "Sleepers" CD Review

State Department spokesperson, Christine Shelley: 

"We have every reason to believe that acts of genocide have occurred."

Reuters correspondent, Alan Elsner: 

"How many acts of genocide does it take to make genocide?” 

State Department spokesperson, Christine Shelley: 

“Alan, that’s just not a question that I’m in a position to answer."

-During a Clinton Administration press briefing 

  in regards to the genocide in Rwanda. 

June 10, 1994

    Danish grinders, Genocide Doctrine, released their debut full-length, Sleepers, out of seemingly relative obscurity in April of last year. The independently released album debuted with a small pressing of a mere fifty compact discs and online digital downloads. The album showcases Genocide Doctrine's approach towards Scandinavian grindcore and the slick blend of crust punk and metal that the region is known for. 

    Prior to Sleepers, Genocide Doctrine released an award winning self-titled demo EP in 2022. That debut EP marked the genesis of Genocide Doctrine as a downtuned, bass heavy, crusty death-grind force of nature. While in hindsight the EP can clearly be seen as preliminary in regards to Sleepers, it is still a consummate first outing for any band and reminds me of my early encounters with Barren and their 2021 demo. 

    Sleepers is an evolution of that self-titled demo and the foundations that it laid, while also shedding the more raw aspects in favor of a whetted and lustrous production. A production that transforms that downtuned heft of the initial EP into a less monotone, more impelling grooved based blasting bounce. And with the two releases being only within a year of each other, that evolution is profound. The musicianship is tighter and the composition more engrossing. 

    Now, with all that being said, Sleepers is very much the standard fare of Northern European/Scandinavian sounding death-grind—albeit somewhat immaculately performed. But what I feel makes Sleepers, and Genocide Doctrine for that matter, exceptional is the nuances within the compositions themselves.  

    Genocide Doctrine's vocalist, Mads T. Madsen, belts out sabulous growls of gravel pit-like fury that drag low and rise in inflection towards a sound that can only best be described as scraping. The vocals contort with the music and play as more organic when compared to the seemingly measured and devised vocal performance on the 2022 demo. Madsen's lows have a dark timbre with the cadence of that cinder block on concrete analogy that I am so fond of using; yet he stokes it like a flame.

    Additionally, one aspect of the band's laryngeal shredding that I wanted to draw attention to was the use of the backing vocals. It's commonplace in grindcore to have a back and forth of vocal contrasts, yet Genocide Doctrine have made use of actual choruses within their songs. Tracks like "Nuclear Salvation," "Pillars to Collapse," and "Gouged," among others, have the vocals sung concurrently; creating a catchiness that isn't really explored by a lot of bands in the genre. Bands like Phobia make use of these punk rock type choruses consistently, giving audiences something to latch on to in a genre of purposely obscured lyrics. 

    While creating hooks and earworms in grindcore isn't Genocide Doctrine's goal, the band does emphasize chorus archetypes in song compositions, namely in the form of syncopation. The track "Discipline the Lesser," which appears on both Sleepers and the self-titled demo, utilizes this tool specifically. The 2022 version of the song plays as a springy crust tune in which a chorus of barked vocals are plotted along inside of a skipping guitar riff and rhythmic snare hits. In Sleepers you can see this same chorus tightened up into a headbanging groove metal style of drilling grindcore. I don't know if that's just practice, perfection or production, but you can see that year's worth of evolution from a good band into a better band. Moments like this are all over the record. 

     As one might expect when speaking of rhythmic devices, the drumming is of course intrical. Genocide Doctrine drummer, Richardt Olsen, is a real talent of behind the kit. From the click of the play button, Olsen is blasting through the songs in a relentless effort to let you know that this is in fact a grindcore album. On top of some extremely pleasing sounding blast beats, Olsen also embodies that subtle nuance and minutia, while also being technically proficient. My favorite being a line in "Pillars to Collapse" that begins at the minute twenty-three mark and starts as a collapsing drum fill that rises to some attention-pulling snare triplets that then crescendos with a small china cymbal hit and into blasting fallout. Olsen is keeping the tempo flawless and tight. Even when songs are not in an all out sprint, he is still using fills and time signatures to get you through them feeling just as invigorated as if they were. 

    

    The rhythmic pacing of Genocide Doctrine doesn't end with Olsen. Guitarist Lars Johansson and bassist Thomas Fischer are a large part of creating the band's punctuated death-grind flavor. Johansson's galloping death metal power chords and dipping dissonant riffing are fundamental to the band's sound. A sound that borrows as much from later Nasum as it does from Pig Destroyer. I'm starting to think the technically adept, polished, metal style of playing that Johansson and many bands today are writing is likely the growing standard for modern grindcore as we know it. 

    The bass on Sleepers does not appear to be as high in the mix as it was on the 2022 recording. Normally, this would be something that I would deduct points for, but in the case of Sleepers, I think it's actually a good call. The debut demo clearly has audible bass, but I feel like the mix creates a drag and puts too much space between the bass and the guitar. Alternatively, the mix on Sleepers downplays the bass and emphasizes the guitar. This reinforces the songs and further speeds things along. 

    Bassist, Thomas Fischer, is on the full-length, yet audibly marginalized. At least that is until the final track, "Barren." "Barren" is a departure for the band as it is a four and a half minute, feedback drenched doom crust-metal trudge. The heavy and melodic closer reminds me very much of symphonic sludge crusters, Fall Of Efrafa. Here, you can hear a classy interplay between the bass and guitar as they create a thick mood. Unlike many grindcore albums that utilize the sludge ending, "Barren" is actually engaging and has a great payoff.  

    For those of you who have read this far, I could obviously anatomize this album to death, but I won't for the sake of all of us involved. Suffice to say, Genocide Doctrine's Sleepers is a sharp and fierce piece of Nordic apocalyptic death-grind. If I'm correct, they are the first band from Denmark that I have reviewed here at The House of Grindcore and it seems that the Danes have sent over their best. The smears of dissonant guitar and pummeling blast beats weave a rich and textured sound of dystopian hostility. The band's exponential growth from their demo to Sleepers in just a year is extraordinary—and we the listeners are reaping all the benefits. 

    

FFO: Barren, Nasum, Infanticide

Listen to the album: https://genocidedoctrine.bandcamp.com/album/sleepers

Return to the House of Grindcore: Top 10 Favorite Releases of 2023

    As I recall, around this time last year I was struggling trying to narrow down my 2022 top ten favorite grindcore releases due to the exceptionally strong output of material. Once again, I find myself in similar straits this year with yet another crop of amazing records to scour through. With 2023 being a year full of economical and political strife, a string of great albums to listen to is the least that can be afforded to us. What was truly unexpected was a collection of releases from bands that hadn't put material out for several years. Bands like Bandit and Organ Dealer finally released long awaited albums, while bands like Shitstorm and Gridlink released their first new material in nine years. 

    Now, I've decided to make this year a little easier on myself by only including full-length albums on this list and omitting EP's and splits. It was still a difficult chore and I will tell you now that the positioning of the top three releases were frequently rearranged right up until the end; citing different levels of personal preference for my indecisiveness. 

     As you few readers know, the blog has been in a bit of a state lately with reviews trickling out through life's levees of responsibilities and prioritized commitments. Time for reviews has been vastly limited, but I'm hoping that will change in 2024 starting with the compendium below. Well, here we go.

Honorable mentions: 

Chepang - "Swatta" LP 

    Chepang's 2023 magnum opus was a popular release this summer and for good cause. Not only was it a massive release with a staggering twenty-nine tracks of the band's self-described "immigrindcore" and beautifully packaged in limited edition collector's choice double vinyl LP, but the band pushed themselves in the album's songwriting and instrumental experimentation. Chepang's usual brand of dissonant drenched grindcore is perforated with spacey symphonic interludes, jazz laced compositions, abstract noise pieces and melodic guitars. Swatta also hosts a large cast of grindcore co-conspirators with collaborations from the likes of Triac's Jake Cregger, Discordance Axis' Dave Witte, Chadhel's Georges Tremblay, Cognizant's Irving Lopez and Bryan Fajardo and many many more. Swatta is much more than a great album, it's a true artistic accomplishment. 

The Arson Project - "God Bless" LP

    Sweden's The Arson Project was one of the earliest grindcore bands that I got into thanks to their 2008 CDEP, Blood And Locusts, and their split with Noisear in 2010. Yet, I didn't hear much after that, so you can imagine my keen interest when I saw the band starting to promote a new album on their social media. God Bless isn't the blast heavy Blood And Locust version of The Arson Project that I remembered, but rather a dark and heavy blend of crust, grind and catchy riffs that Scandinavian grindcore has become known for. And don't be misled, God Bless isn't lacking in the blast beats. But additionally, the band gives every other song room to breathe in the form of feedback and breakdowns. The album's harsh and heavy production matches the band's militant politics and antagonistic style. This is a solid record with a fiery production that really conveys how collectively pissed off we should be at the world right now. 

10. Sulfuric Cautery - "Suffocating Feats of Dehumanization" LP

    Now, I don't normally go in for the throat croaking, gut gurgling, groaning gutturals of goregrind, lest it be something truly exceptional. Enter Sulfuric Cautery. Since stumbling upon their LP, Chainsaws Clogged With The Underdeveloped Brain Matter Of Xenophobes, a couple of years ago, I was hooked on the band's insane high pitched hyper-blasting snare drum. Sulfuric Cautery's latest is just as brutal and unhinged. The record is a perfect balance of dirty blown-out production, animalistic vocals, heavy distorted guitars and absolutely blistering drums—which range from fast as fuck to supersonic. Seriously though, Isaac Horne's drumming alone is well worth adding this LP to your collection. If you typed grizzly bear+snare drum+machine gun fight into and AI generator you'd get Suffocating Feats of Dehumanization.

Listen: https://blastaddict.bandcamp.com/album/suffocating-feats-of-dehumanization

9. Bandit - "Siege of Self" LP

    Bandit's 2018 Warsaw is a beloved, almost mythically regarded EP that left fans patiently waiting for a follow up. Five years later we are presented with Siege of Self—a full-length that picks up where Warsaw left off, but in an evolved, more mature form. Their original hardcore/grindcore hybrid now plays more like a metalcore/grindcore mix. Siege of Self finds the band's same Pig Destroyer style of modern grindcore, yet at a higher performance capacity with a beefier production than previous releases. This is only amplified by guitarist Jack McBride's unreal, heavy technical lifting and song composition. It's enough to make Scott Hull sit down and take notes. I also love how the album's studio mix uses the heavy impact of the drums to fill in for the band's lack of bass guitar. This is an ingenious bit of mixing and a varsity move. Vocalist and popular stage regurgitatist, Gene Meyer, sports a deeper rasp here compared to Warsaw and it brings a more cohesive pairing with the rest of the band. Both Warsaw and Siege of Self make use of Meyer's ultraviolent spoken word intermissions—drawing further comparisons to both Pig Destroyer and J.R. Hayes. But don't write Bandit off as some swine destroying doppelgänger. They are an articulated powerhouse of proficiency and one of the most talented grind acts operating today. 

Listen: https://banditgutterpunk.bandcamp.com/album/siege-of-self

8. Noisy Neighbors - "Derailing the Hype Train" LP

    Early readers might recall my review of Noisy Neighbors' 2018 self-titled EP and that I often still use it as a yardstick when reviewing subsequent releases as a way to measure proper snare mixing levels. 2023 had the band dropping their first full-length way back at the beginning of the year and I almost forgot about it before writing this list. Derailing the Hype Train demonstrates a better produced and equally crushing version of the band's well known, self-avowed "raw D-beat grindcore." Noisy Neighbors are an incessant systematic grindcore machine that effortlessly churns out erratic zigzaggy buzzsaw riffs, ferocious dual vocals and expertly apportioned blast beat hammerings. For fans of PLF who are stuck waiting on new material, Derailing the Hype Train fills that void nicely. Noisy Neighbors keep things very pure and strictly grindcore and don't worry about reinventing the wheel or wasting time with experimental dabblings.

Listen: https://noisyneighborstx.bandcamp.com/album/derailing-the-hype-train

7. Cognizant - "Inexorable Nature​ ​of Adversity" LP

    Dallas' premiere dissonant tech-death-grinders, Cognizant, return with their first full-length since their 2016 self-titled debut. 2023's Inexorable Nature of Adversity is an expanded, warmer, more fluidly mixed version of that initial release. The band's staple soundscape of lightspeed labyrinthian blasting and technical siren riffing remains intact, if not honed. Yet, Inexorable Nature of Adversity is the darker, more sinister version of Cognizant. Guitarists Irving Lopez and Alex Moore sew a dungeonous web of rapid-fire technical speed riffing and skipping metal acidity. While grindcore drumming legend, Bryan Fajardo, carves a maze of cymbal catches and flying blast beats incised with the surgical precision that Fajardo is world renowned for. The only sense of guidance in Inexorable Nature of Adversity is vocalist Kevin Ortega's deep scathing monotone, and frankly, his sinister peels make for a menacingly unreliable narrator. Cognizant are an apex level grind band playing a scorched-earth level of grindcore. The band sets a mathematical exactness to their tangled storms of death-grind that is perfected so well that it should easily appeal to fans of Gridlink and Discordance Axis.

Listen: https://cognizant.bandcamp.com/album/inexorable-nature-of-adversity 

 

6. Lycanthrophy - "On The Verge Of Apocalypse" CD

    The legendary Czech sovereigns of stop-and-go grindcore, Lycanthrophy, have been doling out some of the best music in the genre for almost twenty-five years via some almost forty releases. Lycanthrophy blends punk, powerviolence and grindcore into a storm of blast beats that the band fires at you in quick bursts like a belt-fed machine gun. On The Verge Of Apocalypse is another one of those highly anticipated albums and was in the making for five years. The wait was well worth it. On The Verge Of Apocalypse is eighteen tracks of wound up grindviolence lightning strikes that are just riddled with heavy blasting. The album is full of powerviolence breakdowns and pacing, but maintains the speed and weight essential to grindcore. The guitarwork on every song is manic and can turn on a dime from shifty circular riffing to heavy hardcore breakdowns. Likewise, the drums are equally spasmodic with stuttering blast beats and split second tempo changes. For as long as I have listened to Lycanthrophy they have always been one of those bands that when you see a new split or album drop, you just buy it, because you know it's the best shit. On The Verge Of Apocalypse is that blind-buy-best-shit. 

P.S. Who is pressing the vinyl?

Listen: https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-verge-of-apocalypse

5. Organ Dealer - "The Weight of Being" LP

    New Jersey's Organ Dealer (or "Organ Dweller" as Decibel Magazine so attentively called them) return with their first full-length since 2015's Visceral Infection and I have been ravenously awaiting its release. The Weight of Being is a razor sharp, shark-frenzy of new school grindcore brutality. The album has a refreshing crispness to it that might stem from the band's hybrid sound of dirty grindcore alongside of a more polished deathcore/metalcore sound. The album's mix is so well-balanced that each instrument—including the bass and often especially the bass—are accounted for and amplified. The guitar is a churning roar of distortion and at the same time a pinpoint accurate metallic mechanism, complete with tremolo picking and the occasional heavy metal solo. My favorite part of the album, besides the exacting blast beats and double bass pedal gallops, are the vocal performances. The tandem vocals seesaw between a mid ranged yell and spuming gutturals, but it's the passion and force behind their delivery that makes them so impactful and memorable. Between the biting fullness of the production, the impassioned vocals, the explosiveness of the drums and the pace and structure of the songs, The Weight of Being is a hugely enjoyable listen that begs for repeated spins. Not to mention, The Weight of Being boasts an impressive twenty-one tracks in twenty-two minutes—the way full-lengths used to be (old man yells at cloud.) Organ Dealer are at the top of their game as well as ahead of the curve as far as the future of grindcore and deathgrind.

Listen: https://organdealer.bandcamp.com/album/the-weight-of-being

4. Deliriant Nerve - "Contaminated Conscience" LP

    Truth be told, Contaminated Conscience was largely brought to my attention for consideration by a couple of you readers and friends of the blog. Deliriant Nerve's inclusion in last year's top ten was due largely in part to the band's dynamic sound and song composition, so I knew they were good. I just hadn't gotten around to listening to the latest release in full. That said, and after a couple of dozen run-throughs of the album later, Deliriant Nerve delivers with a hefty blast of grindcore groove ruination—still bolstering that same dynamicism. This is mainly due to the guitarwork at the forefront of the album. It's a constant flux of headbanging metal chugs and squeals, alternatingly picked tremolos, thrash riffs and dissonant harmonics. There is an extreme level of skill here, but also a consciousness of what works and what's unique. Correspondingly, the drumming is right there, hand-in-hand, matching the vivacity of the guitar with blast beats and drum fills that are ready to change in form and tempo before you are even aware of what's going on. Besides snare hits that sound too fast to be healthily maintained, there are some rototom rolls that are so nice and distinct that they command your attention. From start to finish, Contaminated Conscience is, in all respects, a thorough release that can't really be anticipated. Like I had previously remarked about the band, Deliriant Nerve are very reminiscent of bands like Insect Warfare, but they are a compelling band in their own right. Now, the controversy begins with whether or not this is an EP or an actual nine track, ten minute long album. The actual vinyl is a twelve inch record and is promoted as an LP. I am unsure of where the technicalities lie, but I'm including this as a full-length album because I do not want to have to rewrite this list again.

Listen: https://deliriantnerve.bandcamp.com/album/contaminated-conscience

3. Shitstorm - "Only In Dade" LP

    Did anyone have a new Shitstorm release on their 2023 bingo card, because I sure as shit didn't. Shitstorm's Only In Dade came out of nowhere and absolutely destroyed. The album is a staticky, grime drenched onslaught of completely pissed off grindcore vengeance. Shitsorm have their grindcore roots in hardcore and thus have an unflourished purity to their grind. They don't have time to fuck around, just bludgeon. The guitar riffs slide in and out of chord changes and different levels of distortion tone like nothing I've ever heard. The bass punches into the mix just long enough to let you know it's there and it's not happy about shit. But that all quickly means little as the whole thing is strangled out by screaming feedback. Like, literally blast beats over stinging white noise. It's like the instruments and fuzz are clamouring over each other for dominance. Meanwhile, the drums are just toppling over themselves at the most violent of speeds. The vocals act as ringleader to this head-on collision with livid barks reminiscent of 90's powerviolence. Only In Dade is plain and simple savagery for savagery's sake. And not to be outdone by Organ Dealer, Shitstorm fires off twenty-seven tracks in less than ten minutes! So, yeah. This album is not for posers or metalhead-weekend-warriors thinking they listen to grind. I love how Shitstorm just checked-in to remind everyone who the fuck they are and what the fuck they do. 

Listen: https://miamigrindcore.bandcamp.com/album/only-in-dade

2. Closet Witch - "Chiaroscuro" LP

    I first saw Closet Witch in Dallas in 2018 and it was one of the most impressive live performances I had ever seen. What I bore witness to was a demonstration of unconditioned power and catharsis. On that tour the band was promoting their first full-length record and now, five years later, Closet Witch have followed it up with their second LP, Chiaroscuro—an appropriately titled album because Chiaroscuro is high art. Closet Witch's latest is a concoction of grindcore, chaotic hardcore and screamo played with an air of melancholy and desperation. Guitarist Alex Crist sets the songs ablaze with a wall of noise and distortion that is both melodic and punishing. This creates a large atmospheric space within the album that gives you a sense of total immersion. Cory Peak's growling bass and Royce Kurth's drumming only fuels the fire. Kurth propels songs with his blast beats and stomping hardcore interludes, as well as some atypical drum fills that are understated, yet are completely in tow with the band's emotive audio environment. Mollie Piatetsky's vocals are a searing contrast of fury and despair. They cry of an exhausted longing, a burning torment, an empowered courage and a soul crushing disgust. They are a vicious seething well of feminine rage that I'm not even going to pretend to understand the depths of. Chiaroscuro is a brooding grindcore masterpiece and plays a little bit as the band's swan song since they announced a hiatus simultaneously with the album's release. Closet Witch elevates noise, chaos and speed into something beautiful and ethereal. Hopefully my favorite wicked witch is not dead and the band has more to offer in the future.

Listen: https://closetwitch.bandcamp.com/album/chiaroscuro

1. Chiens - "1.8.7. Myself" LP

    Although I have been buying Chiens records for the last ten years, ashamedly, I often forget about how good they are. Their hyper blend of grindcore and powerviolence is a frantic exercise in speed and intensity. The band's latest full-length, cheekily titled 1.8.7 Myself, seemingly doubles down on both of those attributes. Chiens' ultrafast French grindviolence sounds leaner and meaner this time around. The drums are absolutely blasting at a speed that is relentlessly pummeling. They spillover themselves at a devastating and erratic pace that is inhuman, yet too precise to be feral. With almost every track being under a minute, songs are battered into oblivion. The guitar's short punk riffs are a blur trying to keep up. The band's vocal smorgasbord runs the gamut from low barks to powerviolence grunts to a mainly implemented high pitched shriek. 1.8.7 Myself is akin to Lycanthrophy's On The Verge Of Apocalypse if you played it at 45 RPM instead of 33 RPM. It's a spry tsunami of blast beats that is both nimble and destructive. Most importantly—it's fast. While writing the list, many of these albums shuffled positions within the ranks and I went back and forth, a lot. Chiens landed where they did based on the fact that out of all these records, 1.8.7 Myself would be the record that I would probably find myself most easily throwing on.

Listen: https://chiensgrind.bandcamp.com/album/187-myself

Noisy Ghost: Phantom Lung - "Abhorrent Entity" EP Review

    When I was a little boy I had an intense fear of the second floor of my grandmother's country home. When it would grow late into the evenings, the upstairs would get pitch dark. The stairs seemed to ascend into a horrific inky black unknown. My brother, my cousin and I were convinced it was haunted and we would dare each other to be the first to go up and find the light switch. We—as I suspect most children in the early 90's had been—were infatuated with urban legends and ghost stories. The one about the creepy house with the neglected lawn and dilapidated front porch on the outskirts of some nearby neighborhood. The one about the hitchhiker in need of a ride only for them to vanish into thin air before reaching their requested destination. 

    Stories of folklore frighteners and terrifying tales of Christmas specters are told to children as cautionary fables. Shakespearian soothsaying revenants were used as literary plot devices. Even the Christian Trinity has their Holy Spirit. It seems like there isn't a culture or country in this suffering world that doesn't have a ghostly legend. 

    Ontario's capital city of Toronto is Canada's most populated city, which means more souls per capita and more potentiality for hauntings. There are more than enough tales of murder and tragic death to accommodate any bustling metropolis. Toronto has a string of alleged haunted universities, restaurants, prisons, opulent manors, a lighthouse, something called a "tunnel monster" and one certain Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre. The theatre is known to host a lavender scented lady, a shadowy figure in a bowler hat and, more aptly, it emits ghostly music from phantom musicians that played the vaudeville auditorium over a hundred years ago. 

    The phantoms from here on in are not the apparitions of the dearly departed, but instead are revelations of the soul and the desperation of keeping that soul intact amidst the savagery of a life in this world.

      

    I wish I could say that I was saving this release for October as a special review previously buried away only to be resurrected in the thick of "spooky season," with all its spectral and paranormal prestige. But the truth is that I am hopelessly and exceedingly behind on reviews. To that, I would like to apologize to Phantom Lung as well as thank the band for their enduring patience. But rest assured, my obligation to the band's clemency will in no way cause any form of biasness on my behalf in the reviewing of this release. I have instead decided to suspend all references to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in regards to the band's Toronto, Ontario origins as penance for my extreme tardiness. 

    Toronto's newest death-grind outfit, Phantom Lung—no relation to Toronto's snail-paced doom sloggers, Horse Lung—have exploded onto the grindcore scene with their debut EP, Abhorrent Entity, back at the beginning of this year and have become critical darlings of sorts. Yes, I've been actively working towards this since March. So horrid is my dilatoriness that the band has already released a follow-up two song EP—Abhorrent Entity ii: moribund. Yet, I will only be referencing the band's initial release in keeping with chronology. 

    Pictured currently as a four piece, but billed here as a three piece, Phantom Lung needle their stylized take on grindcore amongst throwback grind mainstays while also weaving through more modern metal bands that might sport a combination of "core" and/or "death" in their identifying genre monikers. The resulting efforts take the form of something exceptionally punishing and sharp. 

    

    Phantom Lung open Abhorrent Entity with "The Idle Mind is the Devils Playground," a mixed bag overture that really does a great job of summarizing the band's sound and style: equal parts metal double bass pedal chopper blade slaps, jerky guitar riffs highlighted with pinch harmonic squeals, and straight-up grindcore blasts. At this point, we the listeners, are first introduced to the actual weight and brutality that is Phantom Lung. 

    Vocalist and guitarist, Andy James Dinner, is bringing forth a vocal style that initially comes off as delirious and unhinged, but upon repeated listens, I'm convinced that they are more calculated and insidious. Generally, they are keeping with the genre's standard trope of high screeches and sunken low growls, but Dinner is offering a possessed, Evil Dead-style take on the convention. His vocals contain that profane "Deadite" layered choral demonic sneer that the cult film franchise is known for. The high screams sound especially hideous and mocking. Overall, think of the vocals as that of an unpurely resurrected Mieszko Talarczykhe—the blathering corpse of the late Nasum frontman, roaring and shrieking with a mouth full of pulpy mung. (Google it.) 

    What I'm assuming is Dinner's guitar work is just as ferocious as his vocals. It has a stop-and-go, skipping style that gives it that modern metal swagger. You might initially be overwhelmed by the wall of noise guitar tone, but it becomes immediately apparent that special attention was paid to the high end tones from the notable pinch harmonics on the aforementioned, "The Idle Mind is the Devils Playground" and the shrill ripping on "Heel." Yet, the two guitar tones are playing in tandem—the haze of noise roars like a funeral pyre while the highs carry the scarcest hints of melody within its crunchy dissonant gristle. At the risk of sounding cliché, I'm really enjoying how heavy and mean the guitar is on this record. Still, I know some of you are listening and already making a list of heavier guitar tones and some thick-necked kid is screaming "Mortician!" or something equally as fucking stupid over and over again like it's the ultimate throwing down of the gauntlet. I'm just saying it made an impression on me. 

    And just as impressionable is bassist Rino Matarazzo's refusal to merely play in the back ground of this record. Phantom Lung's bass is domineering and packed in-between that split guitar tone like some pebble-ridden grave dirt. The bass tone is rawboned and dark with almost a tinge of that slapped bass curdle. I love how it's omnipresent and just off-centered so that when the guitar cuts off, the tail end of the bass is still writhing just a little bit. During the last third of "Leave No Doubt," the bass is actually in the driver's seat and is the most prominent instrument in the song. It takes command, breaking down and strangling the song to death. 

    I could easily do a paragraph on every song in this EP. That is how much distinct personality each track has. But my favorite song has to be "Mea Culpa." There is a call and response in the chorus between the descending on and off again guitar and some cascading snare rolls. This, by far is my favorite thing in the album. Drummer Johnny Macri, you are seen. This little flourish makes the entire EP for me. And things like this run all through it, making it so exciting to listen to. A big part of that is due to Macri's stinging drumming. To make your snare work stand out in a grindcore album littered with overkill blast beats is no easy feat. Keeping songs driving and interesting during more mid tempo portions is crucial. Since Abhorrent Entity isn't exactly wall-to-wall blasts, Macri is leaning hard on the double bass, but has enough fills and skills on the snare to mind the gap. And again, his drumming is so in sync with the guitar that it permeates Phantom Lung's death-grind with the more catchier deathcore sound.

    The EP culminates with closing track, Ennui, that is reminiscent of grindcore albums from a decade ago, where albums ended with a token sludge track; later to be replace by the more contemporary and all together useless noise track. Fans of Magrudergrind's "Bridge Burner" take note, Ennui runs in a similar vein, yet doesn't overstay its welcome.

    Abhorrent Entity is a gnarly, devilish act of modern grindcore that is produced to a malevolent magnificence. With modern production levels leaning further and further towards the higher end of the studio spectrum more often than not, it's almost a given that releases these days are of some considerable quality. With that, Abhorrent Entity's production is damn near flawless, so I'm going to assume that the mix and tone along with every bend and buckle are deliberate choices. Producer and engineer, Adrian McCann, and mastering engineer, Scott Middleton, Frankenstein'd one motherfucking hell of a goddamn monster in this EP. Phantom Lung deliver a punishing and deranged performance that might land them a spot on this blog's end of the year's top ten list, if not, on top of Toronto's list of the best grindcore bands.  

    Abhorrent Entity has a menace and ravenousness to it that presents itself as an amazing official debut and Phantom Lung might very well be that of the ghost of grind yet to come.

FFO: Maruta, Priapus, The Drip

Listen to the album: https://phantomlung.bandcamp.com/album/abhorrent-entity

Gear-Grinder: Grind-O-Matic - "Influencing Machine" Digital EP Review

"A concept release that relates the story of a man, who is deeply convinced that machines are controlling the world he lives in, feeding on people to grow stronger. Under their influence, he feels constantly observed. He tries to run and hide, in a never-ending race."

    Grind-O-Matic issued that Orwellian blurb above in regards to their latest digital EP—2023's, Influencing Machine. And I know what some of you are thinking, but a grindcore concept album isn't unheard of, yet it isn't exactly the norm in a genre that boasts songs that are just seconds long. Grind-O-Matic is making something of a habit out of themed albums. Their prior 2018 full-length, Regular Singularity, is a concept album of a similar climate about the dangers and ethics of technology, in particular, robotics and artificial intelligence. Now if that isn't topical as fuck then I don't know what is.

    With the further integration of ChatGPT, the fears regarding Deepfake technology, Amazon brand industrialism, data collecting and the Hollywood general strike, things are looking bleaker and bleaker. Regular Singularity and Influencing Machine are definitely straddling that line between Nineteen Eighty-Four's Big Brother totalitarianism and Skynet's anti-human/pro-AI genocidal offensive. Both of which are becoming less science fiction and more a grim reality. Grind-O-Matic has seemingly nailed the latest of humanity's upcoming extinction events with an aberrant grindcore EP laced with personality.  

 

    With a band name that is obviously pulled from the fittingly monikered vintage commercial meat grinder and food chopper, these French Parisian prognosticators are representing a unique, yet growing grindcore genre of that spacey technical grind. Think a little Psudoku chopped up with a little Gridlink with maybe some Napalm Death thrown in on the side. Grind-O-Matic are combining a lot of influences in and out of the grindcore genre, but are also implementing those influences in an atypical way. 

    Right away, Influencing Machine begins with the band's signature vocal plow over forty-five seconds of an increasingly rising electronic loop that sounds very akin to Air's "Sexy Boy," before fading into twenty seconds of a somber clean guitar instrumental ballad. This is merely the intro to track one, "The Cyclop's Eye" and is not what you'd immediately expect as an average grindcore opener. In fact, that electronic loop makes a reprise on the fourth and final track; bookending the EP with the electronica crescendo. It's an immediate window into the eccentric type of grindcore that Grind-O-Matic are peddling. 

    

    When "The Cyclop's Eye" does go all-out, it rips into succinct and concise guitar riffs that boast a higher than usual timber that is melodic and brings to mind a tone similar to Takafumi Matsubara's work. This is more implied when the guitar turns towards a more technical, pianistic style of fretwork that uses progressiveness and scales to bring some dissonance and a sense of thronging. The guitar tone has that bright, rich sound that has a nice snap, but refrains from being too brutish or menacing. It's vibrant and wound and has a crafty lightness to it. Again, very akin to the likes of Gridlink.

    The bass guitar on Influencing Machine is doing something very interesting and not something I remember hearing in grindcore before—or at least in recent memory. In addition to standard playing, the bassist is often sliding slowly up and down the fretboard in key with the guitar. This is appealing to me for several reasons. Firstly, this is a great way to create atmosphere and space within the songs, as well as keeping the bass up and discernable in the mix. But, as a bass player myself, I often employed this tactic when jamming in bands just to change things up and entertain myself. It was always fun and effective and works to great effect here.   

    Vocally, Grind-O-Matic are not too far askew from the archetypal grindcore vocals, but they are just as progressive and quirky as the guitars. The band's duel vocals intertwine among each other and they mostly stay in the overly deep growling gutturals; similar to that of Napalm Death's Barney Greenway. They have that heavy cadence that sounds like the shaking of a half-empty box of nails. Yet, they also have the tendency to peak in shrill high pitch cries that border on tortured. In the case of the song "Mechanical Beings," the vocals run the full gamut and then bottom out towards the end in a sort of Gregorian chant-esque drone. 

    If you're familiar with these types of grindcore bands that are playing in this similar style, than you can imagine the drumming is explosive and can switch on a dime—a requirement due to the sporadic and shifting guitarwork. Thankfully, Grind-O-Matic's drummer is no slouch. The closed hi-hats during the more spacey guitar squalls and the rock steady blast beats during the full tilt grind portions and abrupt flourishes are all present and played to perfection. There's nothing too flashy, outside of the speed of playing within the genre itself, just good solid drumming. 

    With only four tracks and one of them being a non-grindcore instrumental, Influencing Machine seems excessively short. And that's kind of the point. The digital EP seems to be a teaser of sorts, acting as a glorified demo for things to come. Influencing Machine is a precursor to a future full-length that Grind-O-Matic plan to release in the fall, celebrating the band's twentieth anniversary. Meaning that the band is embracing and exploiting this time of technological ruination and the modern corruption of automation. It also means that despite my now irreparable tardiness in publishing these reviews, I was punctual enough to release this review prior to that yet unnamed full-length release. 

      Influencing Machine, itself, is crystal clear, polished and well mixed. It is pretty exceptional for an in-house mixing and mastering job. Grind-O-Matic definitely have a memorable sound that you can tell comes from consummate professionals. The kind of musicianship that is talented without being showy or unrelieved. There's a clear vision with a clear message and an almost abstract way of getting there. But Grind-O-Matic are not absent the necessary speed and aggression. They carry that metal heft of Antigama with the nimbleness of Gridlink. There's more of the latter in this recent EP and more of the former in the band's past releases, in my opinion. 

     From the sounds of things, Grind-O-Matic are manufacturing a sound for themselves that is distinct in a genre that might lack what could be considered audible diversity, and they are doing it well. The band is experienced and they know what they're doing. They're fighting the good fight on the frontlines of the war of man vs. machine while also getting kind of weird with it. And I, for one, am here for it.

FFO: Antigama, Psudoku, Brutal Blues, Gridlink

Listen to the album:

https://grind-o-matic.bandcamp.com/album/influencing-machine