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

Open House: An Interview with Irving Lopez (Cognizant, Trucido, Real Life Ugly, Anomalous Mind Engineering)

    

    For the sake of the uninitiated, Irving Lopez is a talented guitarist and recording engineer living and performing out of the Dallas, Texas area. I say this as a formality because grindcore listeners and Return to the House of Grindcore readers should already be familiar with his name in at least some regards. Lopez has graced the liner notes on more albums, EP's and splits than even I am aware of—including the likes of Phobia, Noisear and PLF. Globally, he should be recognized from his work in Cognizant, his work with Takafumi Matsubara and the up-and-coming bands, Trucido and Real Life Ugly. Unofficially, he's participated in far more than that, in some form or fashion. Lopez is a genre-crossing, DIY musical jack of all trades—from one instrument to another. From one side of the mixing board to the other. For over the past decade he has been a huge helping hand in keeping the local Dallas and Fort Worth grind scene alive, as well as contributing to the DFW underground metal and punk scenes. Outside of a life dedicated to grindcore he is a devoted family man, working full-time in his family's business. I got a hold of Irving back in May before he left for tour and I was able to ask him a few questions.

 

Hey man, thank you so much for taking the time for what will hopefully not be too awkward of an interview. You're my second interview to date, so please excuse me if this is less than professional.

You've done a lot in the DFW grind scene, on both sides of the mixing board, and I have a lot of ground to cover and a lack of smooth segues to do it. Again, my apologies for the erratic interrogation. 

So first off, how are you doing? How are things? How are the parents?

    Hey, Elliott, Thanks for having me! I really love that you're keeping grindcore alive in DFW with House of Grindcore and I'm super stoked to be part of this. I am doing great! Finding the time to write and jam while running the family sign shop is a grind of its own. My pops is officially retired and my mother and I are taking it day by day to take care of my father who isn't doing so well right now. He recently had a few diabetic episodes so we are trying to look after him. I am about to go on tour so it will definitely be very tricky, but luckily I have siblings who are willing to help out.

What was your first introduction to grindcore? How did you get into the genre?

    My brother, Set Lopez. He introduced to me heavy music when I was 12 years old. It started out

with Jesse Pintado's bands, Brutal Truth, Slayer, The Locusts, Metallica, Misfits—you know a lot of the 90's and 00's introduction stuff that was floating around back then. Of course back then YouTube was a different animal before Google. I would spend most of my days sitting in front of the computer searching for the most obscure music there and Metallum Encyclopedia. I eventually found Bryan Fajardo's bands on Myspace. I didn't know him back then. I never thought that I would be jamming with him in the future. I was like 16 at the time (2007-ish). He eventually took me under his wing and exposed me to a deeper underground level of grindcore with bands such as Gride, 324, Force, Multiplex, In Disgust, Lethargy, Mule Skinner, etc.

You have a distinct yet versatile playing style. Which bands influenced your playing and have any of those influences changed?

    Eiichiro Suzuki of Force. His riffs are catchy, simple, complex and heavy; all at the same time. His approach at guitar is somewhat traditional in terms of heavy metal 2000's guitar but he still

takes it to a whole different level. Picture Jesse Pintado, but Japanese—they both have a unique style that not many can copy. That's what Force is—Japanese Terrorizer.

    Steeve Hurdle of Negativa/Gorguts. His dissonant/noise and artificial harmonic approach to guitar is just out of this world. It's heavy yet torn apart into an unhinged melody. He's not a grindcore artist, but he's definitely a crazy song writer. Negativa only released one EP and like many grindcore acts the lyrical content for the EP, I believe, is about overcoming drug addiction—which at the time, I was also struggling with a bit. His lyrics/words really touched my heart. Grind is protest and Negativa is protest against drug addiction and mental illness. 

    Erik Burke of Sulaco/Lethargy/Napalm Death(live)/Brutal Truth. Erik's fluid like riffs are a tornado of emotions and death. His old band Lethargy is very much technical without being widdly-diddly/sweep picking. It's old school 90's NJ Death Metal mixed with spastic space grind riffs. His approach to grind would probably throw off new grind kids, They would find it odd and misplaced. Which is what grind is to me—a lot of stop and go's with fast and odd bar chords. 

    Takanaka Masayoshi. One of many of Japan's top guitar virtuosos. His song writing and shred techniques prove that you don't need so many strings or that you need to widdly-diddly all night long on guitar. He has virtually taught me you really only need a few strings to write a powerful riff melody—one that will last for decades. 

You performed on Takafumi Matsubara's (Gridlink, Mortalized, Retortion Terror, etc.) Strange, Beautiful And Fast album. Given your playing styles and his resume, that had to be a bit of an honor. The list of guest artists on that album is impressive. How was that experience and how did that come up?

    I met Takafumi through Bryan and Dorian Rainwater of Noisear. Matsubara was already a fan of Cognizant, so when we connected we had great respect for each other. I look very much up to him. He's a mentor of mine and I learned a lot from him when we met in person. The amount of respect he has shown me brings me to tears because I feel like I should be the one praising him. He asked me to mix the whole album which was a challenge having to work with many musicians on that album. It required a lot of communication and waiting to hear back from everyone on approvals with mixes, etc. It was a lot of fun and I also had the honor of mixing Hee-Chung's (Unholy Grave) drums.

What is the current state of Cognizant? Obviously a lot of emphasis has been put on playing and traveling with Trucido. Are you and the guys in Cognizant still playing or planning to do more?

    Cognizant is actually releasing a new album next month. We recorded back in 2019, the day before Bryan's surgery. It was insane how fast we tracked those drums. Soon after tracking, Covid hit and we all kind of had to deal with a lot of family health issues at home and even today we are facing those realities especially with the amount of income and economy issues we are facing. We are glad to finally get this recording out. We are sticking to only local shows that welcome bigger bands into town. Pro Rehearsal just shut down as well so we have to find a new jam room to continue working.

Cognizant

I recently saw Trucido last month with Deterioration in Fort Worth, you guys just played a string of shows in South Texas and you have a tour planned for the Summer. How's the band doing and what plans are on the horizon?

    Trucido is actually going on tour in a few days from July 5th-11th [2023]. As well as in September we are going to be hitting up the east coast and play Necrofest. I unfortunately won't be able to tour as much since I have to keep a good eye on my folk's health. But I do plan on at least touring once a year for sure!

You and Alejandro (Trucido) just released a demo for your latest band, Real Life Ugly. How's that going and what made you guys want to start another grindcore band together? Are there more releases planned for the project?

    Real Life Ugly is a band Alejandro and I started to have an opening band for SNAGG(HTX). Bryan taught me how to spontaneously write riffs, so I tried the same approach with Alejandro and those songs came out like fluid once I was in the right headspace. I plan to do at least two more releases with the band.

Real Life Ugly

For those readers who aren't aware, you are Anomalous Mind Engineering and have recorded not only your bands, but some great grindcore bands across Texas—such as Noisear, PLF, ASADA, and BOZO. How did you get into audio engineering? What's your take on being an engineer and recording bands? Were you ever under the gun as far as deadlines?

    I went to school for audio engineering in 2010 after dropping out of high school. I originally wanted to go there and study as a technician, but ended up being an engineer because they only teach you how to use the equipment not build it. I started recording a bunch of rappers and hardcore/brocore bands in those days. Eventually, I met Bryan and he saw that I was a good engineer and musician so we started working together on different recordings and eventually started a band—Cognizant. 

    Deadlines are crucial especially when a tour is coming up and you need to have merch ready. Vinyl takes forever and artwork can take a minute, depending. Being an audio engineer requires a lot of responsibility and essentially it's like being in another band or relationship. You have to communicate sonically and transfer all the ideas as clean as possible. I've stepped down as an audio engineer so I can focus more on my bands and personal song writing, but every now and then I might record a really good band, it just depends if the stars align at the right time. 

What's your proudest moment in the studio?

    I think the feeling of having a accomplished a nice sounding mix. Everything is clean and there's no over compression or over polished drum samples. Everything is pumping like a punch and you can feel the raw energy taking over the room. 

How would you describe the current grindcore scene in the DFW metroplex?

    Every seven years or so there's always a new crowd of kids getting into heavier music. People come and go, but the "real" rawkers always stay, hahaha. People move on or move to a different state. The grindcore scene across the globe is very small, though—everyone knows everyone—everyone sees what they post and their opinions or political garbage. We're all a big happy family.

I have noticed that grind shows after Covid are very different from the grind shows before Covid. A lot of bands and people aren't around anymore and I noticed a ton of young, new faces in the audience. Do you think the DFW grind scene has found a new audience or are people just wanting to go to live shows again—any live shows?

    It is strange to see MCR Black Parade kids wear grind shirts, but also not surprising because it's a reflection that has been going on for years—an endless cycle. I love seeing the pioneers of grindcore still blasting. I'm glad I am in a era where I can still see these mentors show us how it's done. I have a lot of respect for those originators. Some of them might be haters, but I don't blame them. A lot of these young kids have attitudes that stem from misplaced rebellion and don't know yet how to solve problems. They also act like they've been doing this for years when they were just born yesterday. But I don't want anyone to get it twisted, anybody can come out and support the bands if you're old, young, green, blue or whatever. Just keep your hands to yourself and leave the shitty weird creepy attitude at home. Dance and have fun and buy some merch.

Do you have any crazy stories of playing shows or touring that stick out?

    I try to avoid crazy shit on the road. I try to make sure everyone is safe. We all want to just rawk and then get home safe back to our chicks. It can be hella weird out there. Getting robbed, gear flying out the van, running into cops, running into sketchy people trying to be your friend only to get robbed. I usually try to make sure we all have a good place to stay and hot meal to have at the end of the night.

I am aware that this next question is controversial and we can cut it out if you don't feel comfortable answering it—but if I'm not mistaken, you were an engineer working at EMP Studios or the Rechordamantium or whatever it's called now in Arlington, correct? And probably about ten years ago Kill The Client was recording an album there—allegedly—before they spontaneously broke up. Does this mean there is an unreleased Kill The Client album somewhere out there? Did any of that turn into Triage? I've always wondered. 

    I know a few songs ended up being on the Triage recording. It was a super fun time recording both of those albums. Sadly, the KTC album didn't make it out. I think there was some legal paperwork about samples that needed to be filled out, but so-and-so couldn't put it together and it never made it out into the real world. But I'm not really sure honestly. I do remember getting paid from Relapse [Records] for the first time. That really made me feel like an official audio engineer. I was proud of myself. But yes I used to work at EMP a long time ago. I was up there about fourteen hours a day making zero money for them and myself. I like that my parents traveled to risk everything just so that I can record broke musicians!! Haha, but making the Morbosidad, PLF, Phobia, Noisear recordings there was awesome.

What grindcore bands are you currently listening to?

    The latest Triac and Shitstorm album is nuts!

What are your top grindcore bands or albums that you would consider essential listening?

    I am a gatekeeper, but I'm willing to show everyone my list, hahaha: 

Mule Skinner - Abuse 

324 - Customized Circle

Parlamentarisk Sodomi - De Anarkistiske An(n)aler

and of course Terrorizer - World Downfall

I'm always curious about people's hobbies and levels of nerdom. Do you collect vinyl, music equipment, Ninja Turtles or anything? 

    I collect anything Japanese from 80's-00's, guitar weaponry. Usually Jackson or Ibanez guitars. I'm really getting into ESP guitars, as well now. I recently met Toshi Hayakawa at a guitar festival and we talked about maybe getting a guitar built for me, but he builds more so Teles and Strats. I really want him to build me a Super Strat since he used to work at ESP. His shop is named Hayakawa Guitarworks. 

I also love Gundams, Batman: The Animated Series and of course Ninja Turtles! Hoarder status!

What's next for you and your many projects?

    Currently have a few songs in my head that I want to transfer onto vinyl. A lot of it being more dissonant metal than grind. But there are grind riffs and I do want to prep all this like a guitar jazz album—no band name, just our musician names and have it be treated as a musicianship collectors item.

Any last words?

    Love yourself and research your goals!

Thank you again for your time and for allowing me the opportunity to pick your brain. I really appreciate it.

Here are some handy links to some of Irving's more relevant projects:

https://anomalousmindengineering.bandcamp.com/

https://cognizant.bandcamp.com/

https://trucidogrind.bandcamp.com/

https://reallifeugly.bandcamp.com/

Graphite-Grind: Disintegration - "Carbon Shadow" Cassette Tape Review

    Disintegration are a death-grind band from deep in the heart of GWAR country, Richmond, Virginia, that play a type of grindcore that filters thrash and black metal through a crusty grindcore filter. They weaponize aggressive riffing and heavy blasting in the form of their 2022 full-length, Carbon Shadow. 

    Since the debut of their demo in 2016, Disintegration have been fine-tuning and polishing their said metaphorical munitions, resulting in a very Assück sounding style of metallic grindcore. Although, Disintegration might have a little more sugar in their licks compared to Assück, while also avoiding that telltale stink of grunge rock that stained many 90's metal bands back during that era. This latest incarnation of Disintegration that we are given here on Carbon Shadow also brings to mind certain similar Texas gulf-coast-insect-combatant-based-grind bands. 

    Disintegration vocalist, Ryan Zell—who might be better known as the guitarist of such legendary bands as Sacridose and Cellgraft, if I'm not mistaken—is laying down a solid front of mostly monotone, guttural cookie monster growls that undulates with an undertone of that cinder block on concrete kind of cadence. Vocally, he's somewhere amongst a light mince/gore dialect and throaty crust punk snorts; save for that one pig squeal in the twenty-three second song, "Melting Rot." The lyrical themes of war, famine and death also embody those crust punk platitudes of pestilence and pessimism.  

    I feel like a lot of Disintegration's charm is the talented uniqueness of the guitar work. Guitarist, Drew Brooks is serving up some rapid fire catch-and-release palm muted thrash riffs that carry the bulk of the songs and really steer them from one metal subsect to the next. He's the deciding factor on the subtle shifting from genre to genre that is happening throughout the tracklist. "Justified Retaliation" is giving major thrash metal vibes with the palm muting and double kick drum intro before rounding out the second half with some drilled-in black metal tremolo riffing. Meanwhile the brief intro to "Black Death Trebuchet" presents itself with more of an old school death metal influence. There are so many variation and delicacies translated through rhythmic palm muting. It would be easy to pigeonhole these influences as either death metal, thrash, crust or just good 'ole-fashioned grindcore. However, all would be more than apt.

    Brooks also pulls double duty as bass player on Carbon Shadow, out of what is presumably mere necessity. Now, there's not a lot of light to shine on the bass guitar within this album. It's very much there as a warm booming background tone and is sort of a shadow in and of itself. Yet, it's likely exactly where it should be in the mix. With a majority of the sound being given to the guitar, possessing a springy slinkiness tone of its own, the brightened growl of a bass isn't as necessary.

    Disintegration's drummer, Leland Hoth—previously of Occultist fame—sets pace with a cavalcade of intense drumming that is as chaotic as it is pummeling. Much like the guitar, Hoth is dodging in and out of the metal genre like a Fun Dip Lik-a-Stick. He constantly runs the gamut from the double bass pedal gallops of "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator" to the careening, overly fast mid-paced thrash-punk hammering of "Blood Eagle" before leaning into the boiling blast beats of "Perfect Life-form." The breakneck pace is very reminiscent of both Vermin Womb and Insect Warfare's styles of high-speed percussion. 

    Unfortunately, despite my veneration towards the band, Carbon Shadow is not without its more strident criticisms. Carbon Shadow is what the band has been building towards the past six or so years. The guitar and drums have evolved exponentially from their initial demo, not to mention their songwriting and production value as well. 

    Yet, Carbon Shadow seems to have some complication in the mix. Periodically, I get the sense that the instruments of the band sound like they are playing almost independently from one another; occasionally falling in-and-out of pocket—or at least sound like they are on the verge of it. And I understand the harshness of this critique and I'm willing to concede that I might be mistaken and this may not even be the case. Especially considering that there is no sign of this in the band's demo or on their 2017 EP, Cruel Slaughter. It may possibly be an in-studio issue. If this is even the case—allegedly. 

    Another issue with the mix is the de-emphasizing of the snare drum, however so slight. Again, compared to the previous releases, this just happens to be the most suppressed volume of snare—allegedly. It should be noted that the band's entire discography is self-produced and self-recorded. 

    Minor gripes notwithstanding, Disintegration's Carbon Shadow is an aggressively dark and mean version of death-grind that incorporates almost all aspects of all associated subgenres. They fill the gap from Apocalyptic Noise Syndicate all the way to Iskra, if not just straight up Assück zealotry. I know I've named dropped more than a few bands already and I would name drop even more if I was more familiar with the metal community. So you can see the wide appeal for listeners either looking for a variety of inspiration or listeners merely interested in heavy grinding. 

    The full-length itself is decently polished and crisp and finds the band at top performance. Hoth and Brooks' skill behind the kit and on the guitar are the band's crown jewels and are shepherded through with Zell's coarse vocal command. Any of these are well worth the price of admission, but the headbanging catchiness and thick crunch of the guitar sends Carbon Shadow over the top. 

FFO: Assück, Insect Warfare, Apocalyptic Noise Syndicate

Listen to the album:

https://disintegrationgrindcore.bandcamp.com/album/carbon-shadow

Split Level Housing: Dope Needle/Chromatic Bastards Split Cassette Review

    Straight out of the fields and rolling hills of Carroll County, Maryland lies the dirty and uncapped powerviolence paraphernalia that is Dope Needle—a low-fi, high blasting, classic sounding powerviolence that mainlines an IV of PV directly into your ear holes. The band's side of this split consists of three and a half minutes of noisy Spazz worship nestled in-between chill hip-hop sampled clips from artist such as Necro, DKKAY, and HEEZ140. A very common treatment for modern powerviolence bands and despite the numerous powerviolence clichés, Dope Needle are pushing some primo blast. 

    Vocally, Dope Needle check all the boxes—manic phlegm tinged screeches flanked by those telltale inhaled caveman bawls that are so indicative of the genre, fired off at a breathless pace. They have a nice intensity to them and are frankly better than they have to be. 

    And speaking of intensity, the drumming is a constant barrage of blast beats, D-beats and a hop-skip-and-jump style of breakdown trudges. It's subtle, yet fully capable. The quick on/off transition between simplistic slow crashes and blast beats is exact. Fortunately, the band's preferred tempo is that of the high speed. I always appreciate powerviolence bands that prioritize the speed over the slow trudges.

    Carrying the same tempo structure as the drums is the guitar. The downtuned hardcore punk riffs are careening during the faster runs and take on more of a darker, metallic tone during the slower breaks. As a listener, you might take the presence of a guitar as a given, yet this won't necessarily be the case throughout this release.

    Probably the harshest critique I can give Dope Needle's side of the split is the production. The sound quality is unquestionably quiet and inconsistent. It's almost like the album was recorded off of a TV set on to a boom box tape deck or a band practice recorded onto a Home Alone 2 Tiger Talkboy (assuming that I'm not the only one who did that.) Not only that, it sounds like there a three different production levels within their three and a half minutes. All of which vary in volume and sound. The audio samples are louder than he actual songs. It's a very curious mix that within the realm of this noisy and rambunctious split isn't too abnormal, but I feel the band might be selling themselves a tad short. Given their other releases, I believe that this is probably very much intentional. Maybe, maybe not.

    Things did clean up markedly on the band's most recent release, a split cassette with VIBExCHECK in 2021. But even still, there is a noticeable production shift midway through their side of the tape. It's almost like there's a substantial time gap between studio recorded tracks or there is an inclusion of live tracks. I feel like a more uniformed and even keeled production mix could have put Dope Needle in to a higher bracket of contemporary powerviolence bands. There's no reason that their trap beat spotted brand of intravenous-violence couldn't have been given the 625 Thrashcore/To Live A Lie Records treatment. Many other bands have done well at straddling the bridge between stripped-down noisy powerviolence and successful popularity. 

 

    Chromatic Bastards... How to explain Chromatic Bastards? Their almost three minutes of harsh noise-grind yowling is definitely a memorable experience. I'm not up to speed on the grading system of noise and noise-core, but this is probably some of the more identifiable as belonging in the powerviolence and grind realm of classification. The band's three tracks consist primarily of distorted audio samples and feedback from massive microphone clipping. Don't mistake it as some highbrow Merzbow collaboration where there's noise breaks in-between standard powerviolence tracks. No, this is more closely akin to Insect Warfare's self-titled album of drums and vocals over static noise. Chromatic Bastards' side is a powerviolence version of that, yet digitally fried—blown out, overexposed and seared in a static fire. 

    

    Now, when I say "drums," I don't mean drums presented in the traditional sense. You can't hear the actual physical impact of the drum heads so much as the staticky peaking of the sound of blast beats, if that makes any sense. The rising and falling of binary strobing electrical crashing that is in the place of the snare and cymbals. It's harsh and hairy, but gets the job done. Visualize a snare full of metal washers run through a ProCo pedal and EQ'd to shit in Pro Tools. 

    Likewise, the vocals are equally hot, equally marred. The feedback from the vocals is what is seemingly constituting as the "music" on the tracks. They are screaming rings that bleat out from time to time amongst the vocals and fuzzed out drums. But the vocals themselves are what I feel will probably be the main talking points of the band. 

    With no disrespect intended, when I first heard Chromatic Bastards' vocals I immediately thought of the Disney character Goofy when he falls off a cliff or crashes through a floor. The band's vocals are not your typical screams or deep yells, but wild whoops. Whether there are lyrics involved or not is the least of my concerns. The whooping yelps are an acquired taste that I'm not totally mad at. They can go either of two ways for the band—listeners will either find it laughable or a little disturbing. Much like when you hear actual screams of panic somewhere out in a public space; just out of sight and with a chill that silences the crowd. The vocals are definitely primal and trill. Somewhere between Goofy and Leatherface. Wait, I narrowed it down! They sound exactly like the tortured screams from Judge Doom in the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit when he was slowly being steamrolled flat.

    According to the band themselves, these tracks were improvised songs recorded during microphone tests without their guitarist during a studio session for a separate split release with another band. This makes a lot of sense considering future Chromatic Bastards releases are just as corroded, yet have more audible drums, obvious guitar and vocals more in keeping with what you'd imagine from a noisy powerviolence band. Meaning the band may have abandon their more staunch leanings into the avant-garde of noise. But it looks like they got two releases out of this impromptu session, this and the EP, The Occult Roots of Surrealism. It appears that the original intended split was scrapped. 

    This split, I believe, came out in a cassette tape physical format in what looks like 2023 on Autumn Sounds—a experimental label out of Pittsburgh. Yet, the actual session recordings go back to 2019. Information on many particular details of the release here are a tad spotty, especially on Dope Needle's side. The interweaving of the sampled audio and the band's tracks gives the feeling that their side of the tape is just one cohesive song. If you find any of Dope Needle's music digitally, that's exactly how it will come. I also found different cover art on each website I visited, so there's a lot that I can't corroborate with this release. Although, in true underground punk and powerviolence fashion, these are all part of the charm.

    Each side of this split gives the listener opposing extremes of the powerviolence experimental scale—the more traditional and the more primeval. This split is a blown out, lo-fi, mixed down, fuck you to the overly polished records of the genre. It's also a great peek into what's happening in the avant-garde scene. It's for those who like it raw and unpalatable—and kind of weird. 

FFO: Holy Grinder, Internal, Spazz, Sissy Spacek, Suffering Brings Wisdom

Listen to the album:

https://autumnsounds.bandcamp.com/album/split-4

U-G-L-Y You Ain't Got No Alibi: Real Life Ugly - "Manifestaci​ó​n" Demo CD EP Review

    What's more exciting and appealing than professional wrestling? From Mexico's lucha libre to Canada's Hart Foundation, the cowbell kickoff of clean kayfabe competitive combat is for some the height of entertainment. It's a modern amalgam of clashing gladiators in a crowded coliseum and a Greek tragedy holding spectacle in an encircled amphitheater, brought to life in your home's living room like an in-ring telenovela. The conflict between larger than life baby-faces and sinister heels embodies the timeless morality tales of good versus evil via the most electrifying television programming in sports entertainment. Yet professional wrestling is not real. 

    During a three-day period between the days of June 22 and June 24 of 2007 the former Heavyweight title holder of both the World Wrestling Federation as well as World Championship Wrestling, Chris "The Canadian Crippler" Benoit, murdered his wife and seven-year-old son before taking his own life by means of a lat pull-down machine. After a twenty-two year career, it's theorized that chronic head trauma induced brain damage led to the murder-suicide. That was real. 

    

    Real life isn't the shiny family-friendly choreographed superstar mill that companies like the WWE and CMLL would have you believe. It's an ugly billion dollar marketing machine that chews up muscle and spits it out. 

    Wrestler Owen Hart fell to his death during a botched stunt on a live televised pay-per-view event in 1999. Darren "Droz" Drozdov suffered a neck injury in a 1999 match which left him as a quadriplegic. In 2019 skeleton clad luchador, Jesús Alfonso Huerta Escoboza, better known to the world as La Parka, was paralyzed and later died after an aerial maneuver went bad. In 2015 Mexican wrestler, Perro Aguayo Jr. died in the ring after what would become a fatal trick move from current WWE Superstar, Rey Mysterio Jr. 

    Real life is ugly. Real life is criminal negligence and greed. Real life is murder, drug addiction, disease and indifference. Real life is two tears in a bucket.

    TV isn't real. Shit, reality TV isn't even real. The twenty-four-hour news cycle is questionable at best. Social media is fake. TikTok, well fuck TikTok. The filtered, Photoshopped race to be famous for nothing and the selling of sex via dating apps are based on deception and manipulation. The whole culture behind swiping right, whether for love or lust, is a selective delusion that the populace buys into. The false sense of anonymity and control is not real life. Essentially, a life based on superficialities will ultimately lead to something or someone—ugly.

    Straddling this dark dualism of a Tinder date gone wrong and the existential terror of life is Dallas' newest grindcore band, Real Life Ugly. A band whose founding members consist of some of the DFW grind scene's heaviest hitters and all around good people, Irving Lopez and Alejandro Ramirez. Both of whom are current members of the rising Dallas grind-gore super group Trucido. Before that Lopez's tenure in the dissonant/technical death-grind group, Cognizant might ring a bell, as well as Ramirez's past in the cult hardcore/procedural-violence band, Dick Wolf and crusty grindcore THC-oholics, BOZO. With the addition of newcomers Randall Day and Brad Langton, Real Life Ugly are establishing themselves as more than just a side project with their debut demo release Manifestaci​ó​n. 

    Real Life Ugly's Manifestaci​ó​n is a love letter to Texas grindcore, most notably the gulf coast sounds of grind royalty like Insect Warfare. There's an emphasis on heavy repetitive riffing and fast blasting. Manifestaci​ó​n is a four song demo that doesn't need to meddle in blending genres and doesn't waste time with mood or atmosphere. Even the vocals are moderately sparse. No, this new EP is just straight snarling, driving, no frills Texas grindcore.

    Irving Lopez's guitarwork is front and center on this demo. It sounds like he's performing his version of knuckle-dragger heavy metal riffs; purposely replacing his usual technical and dissonant guitar whirlings with crushing palm mutes and sharp heavy marching chugs. Nevertheless, his personal style of hiccup riffs and circular fret smears still make their brief appearances. I think I even heard some pinch harmonics in there as well. Regardless, the guitarwork that he's doing with Real Life Ugly is a direct contrast to his work in Cognizant. There is more of a linear process here compared to his usual more angular playing. Lopez is a casual guitar savant that seemingly can play anything in any style. 

    I don't know about you, but during live shows I'm staring a hole through the drummer of every band on the bill and watching technique and style. And when I tell you that other than Bryan Fajardo, Alejandro Ramirez might be the most effortlessly smooth and fluent drummer in the North Texas grind scene. Casual fans who might only know Ramirez as the vocalist for Trucido may not know him as a drummer, but he's one of those guys who is just good at everything. It's stupid. On Manifestaci​ó​n he is oscillating from mid-tempo trots that accentuate the chugging riffs to faster .50 caliber machinegun blast beats woven together with satisfyingly tight snare rolls. I genuinely believe his efficiency and solidity behind the kit is clear and present on this release. 

    Now, from what I can hear, Real Life Ugly could easily be recorded as a two-piece on this release—which was an early incarnation of the band, if I'm not mistaken. But I'm not hearing a defined bass in the mix and I'm not a hundred percent sure of who or how many are on vocals. Assuming the CD's liner notes listing Randall Day and Brad Langton as vocalists are correct, their vocals on Manifestaci​ó​n are a clamoring of some wild, caveman mid-ranged shrieking highs and some raspy low gutturals that are not too far off from Phobia's Shane Mclachlan. You can definitely hear the overlap in the mainly monosyllabic grunts that, again, are very reminiscent of Houston's Insect Warfare. The CD version of the demo EP comes with a fifth bonus track that is a different version of the previous track, "Just Die Already" only with a different vocal performance and the addition of one Arnold Santos. 

    Real Life Ugly's aesthetic is a huge part of the band's charm. They have a certain style of sarcasm and irony towards life, weeb culture, social media, the white trash metal community and Hulk Hogan Newspeak. It's a fun lampooning of the problematic and vapid qualities of the human condition and society as a whole, but also a celebration of the more laudable aspects of today's world. The sense of humor in this niche local scene is very specific. Real Life Ugly could very well be forging their own subgenre of grindcore—like a "cringe-core" or maybe "ironi-core." And despite all of this, the band's lyrical message promotes a progressiveness and shines a light on societal problems such as drug abuse and poverty. 

    A lot of the band's merch and imagery is based on underground wrestling and lucha libre. The EP itself pays homage the Latino cultural influence both within the band as well as in the Dallas/Fort Worth areas of Texas. I'd go as far to say it's an intrinsic part of the scene here. 

    Hopefully, Manifestaci​ó​n is the first of many releases from Real Life Ugly to come. I personally would like to see this band do more and not die on the back pages of Bandcamp, as many grindcore demos are wont to do. Yet as this demo is only a few months old, I guess we shouldn't necessarily be in a rush. But Real Life Ugly is a band well worth swiping right on, especially if you have a fetish for traditional flavored Texas grindcore. HYB!

FFO: Trucido, Insect Warfare, Phobia, PLF

Listen to the album:

https://reallifeugly.bandcamp.com/album/manifestaci-n-demo-2023

Grindfernö - "Human Stupidity" CD Review & Exclusive New Album Stream From EveryDayHate Records

    Full disclosure time: I don't know a single thing about Grindfernö. I have never heard of them before. I don't know who is in the band, where they are from or when they were formed. Occasionally, when reviewing releases it happens that I'm not privy to any of that pertinent information. Even my cursory Google searches of Grindfernö all came up fruitless. Usually when doing these reviews I listen to the release for weeks in addition to the band's entire available back catalog. I don't even know if Grindfernö has a catalog, frankly. Although, back when I would listen to music casually and not for reviews, I almost preferred that anonymity. There is a magic in the facelessness of a band in which you only having a craggy logo and enumerated tracklisting to usher you through their phonic maelstrom. 

    All I have currently are a name and a link to a private Bandcamp page of the band's upcoming release, Human Stupidity, where I was only allowed to listen to the album a couple of times through before it expired and I had to start writing a review of it. Like I said before, I don't know much about this record other than it exceeded my expectations upon first listening and hit me like a grindcore gut punch. 

    Right out of the gate, Grindfernö establishes a feral and berserker style of grindcore/crust punk fusion that grabs you and doesn't let go. It's a raw, punk as fuck, old school sounding melee of cymbal catches, blast beats, heavy bass, churning guitar and rabid vocals. Each song is a wound up one-two, one-two-three-go slingshot of foam-mouthed raving, tooth gnashing, throat ripping, punk sneering, blast beat laden hostility. 

    Grindfernö host a battery of vocals that spit and tear over each other, spouting anti-fascist rhetoric and general western world distain. The vocals, for the most part, are a tandem affray of gargled guttural lows and banshee like highs that ascend into the veil of white noise. The lows toggle between different shades of themselves, whereas the piercing highs soar as manic wraiths of anguish that peal over them. 

    The guitarwork on Human Stupidity is distinct and consistent. The chainsaw spun punk riffs are fast and repetitive, but never in a tedious and monotonous way. The riffs are tight loops of The Varukers-esque chords spiraled out into fractals of grindcore frenzy. There is definitely a formula to the band's composition style, but Human Stupidity is never stymied by redundancy. And with songs existing within mere seconds, how could they be? 

    Just as prevalent, just as distorted and just as audible is the band's engine block of a bass. Often interchangeable with the guitar in those revved up song intros, the bass guitar is a persistent attribute that is carried well in the mix and is a homogeneous addition to the buzz saw guitar. It is an ever-present motor of rumbling distortion and combustion.

    The terms "persistent" and "incessant" can apply to practically any aspect or cog in the Grindfernö grind machine, but the drums are the embodiment of that concept. They blur the lines between D-beats and blast beats as they stay lively and inexhaustible. They remind me a lot of the thoughts I had on Vermin Womb's perpetual motion machine—Retaliation—back in my best of 2022 compilation. Although, maybe Grindfernö are not as fast and animalistic as Vermin Womb, they are just as chaotic in their own right. The drums never really slow down. In my limited listening of the album I never recalled hearing a breakdown or a sludgy throwaway track. Just signature cymbal catches, fast D-beat hoofings and noisy blast beats. 

    Grindfernö, in certain constructs, are a mystery to me and I cannot offer any informative rigmarole on their native geographical imports and exports or longwinded critiques of their past discography. In fact, I have good reason to suspect that Human Stupidity might very well be a discography CD. There are some forty tracks on this release. Yes, forty tracks—count them! Either this is a compendium of the band's total releases or they are prolific song writers and really go all out for an album. Other things that tipped me off were the subtle variances in production and songwriting—which doesn't vary much, mind you. But the first set of tracks do play as a little more polished production wise and are tighter overall. Additionally, the vocals seem more diverse in the front and more polarized towards the end. There is also a fun assortment of cover songs embedded within the tracklisting. Songs by bands such as: Agathocles, Napalm Death, Sore Throat and Carcass Grinder to name a few. I guess we shall find out if I'm correct or not together when this release goes public.

    Imagine all your favorite Japanese D-beat crust bands crammed into a blender or meat grinder or whatever grindcore food prep appliance cliché you can think of, speed it all up into a noisy and tumultuous grindcore/punk assault; add to it some brash, if not hauntingly fervent vocals and you will get Grindfernö. They are a band that I think has a lot of cross-over appeal and could fall under the umbrella of several grindcore subgenres. They bridge the gap of crust punk and grind as well as old school and modernity. There is as much of a Discharge influence as there is a Repulsion one. 

    With that, I am very happy to once again partner with my good friends over at EveryDayHate Records and help premiere Human Stupidity, as well as to hopefully give Grindfernö a worthy acknowledgment and perhaps a little more online presence, because God knows I couldn't find shit. Which is truly tragic. I, like all of you, look forward to learning more about Grindfernö through this, their latest(?) only(?) complete(?) release. 

    Available for download and on physical media through Polish grindcore super-spreaders, EveryDayHate Records, as well as streaming exclusively in full here on Return to the House of Grindcore! Thank you as always to EveryDayHate for continuing to throw me bones and allowing me to collaborate with forces much bigger than myself. To everyone else, on behalf of the label and this old house, please enjoy Grindfernö's Human Stupidity. 

FFO: Roskopp, Internal Rot, Asterisk*, Holy Grinder, Herida Profunda

Split Level Housing: Blue Holocaust/Morgue Breath "After The Fall Of Man/Hongo Atroz: Double Mushroom Attack" Split 7 Inch Review

     The After The Fall Of Man/Hongo Atroz: Double Mushroom Attack is a lengthily named international split between two blast heavy grind-gore bands from either side of the Atlantic—France's Blue Holocaust and California's Morgue Breath. I was a little apprehensive about this release as I am not the biggest fan of certain ardent strains of goregrind and I have never even heard of Blue Holocaust prior to the submission of this release for review. So it looks like we're going to discover this doomsday duo together.

        Blue Holocaust is a long running goregrind band formed in 2001 from Toulouse, France. Now, Blue Holocaust is a new band for me and apparently the band is a one-man solo project helmed by a gentleman named Pierre de Palmas. Pierre has a long list of accredited accomplishments that include being the founder and editor of the grindcore/goregrind webzine, Braindead Zine. A virtual publication where he has posted grindcore and goregrind music news, band interviews and album reviews. The zine seems to mostly be relegated to social media and YouTube these days as opposed to being at an official website address, or at least I couldn't find one anyways. As a founder and editor of a review blog, myself, I sympathize with the struggle of finding the time to make something like that work and sustain. He is also a member of fellow Toulouse gore peddlers, Vomi Noir, as well as being an artist that has produced work for several gore centric bands in the genre including Haggus and Sick Sinus Syndrome, among others. 

    Stylistically, I would put Blue Holocaust above most of your average goregrind bands. I find that most goregrind bands I hear either borrow heavily from the more extreme forms of death metal or from the more boring iterations of mincecore. Either of which can focus extensively on guitar grandstanding or mind-numbing alternating bass and snare, two-step drum beats. Instead, Blue Holocaust tend to keep things fast paced with excessive blast beats, D-beats and gnashing cymbal catches. The band is heavy on the grind and less so on the stereotypical gore sound. If it wasn't for the standard overly deep goregrind gurgled vocals and the obvious giallo-horror aesthetic I would have thought that this was a purely grindcore record. But thankfully Blue Holocaust have chosen to be it's own unique mixture of these elements to bring a refreshing brand of "grind-gore." 

    

    The entirety of Blue Holocaust's side of this split is a concept album of sorts. In addition to the Armageddon-esque visuals of both sides of the split, After The Fall Of Man is lyrically themed with the tales of apocalyptic destruction—such as the mass extinction events brought on by nuclear war, the agonizing and gruesome effects of radioactive fallout and even a ground zero detailing of a zombie based outbreak. Not only are the lyrics on theme, but each track is proceeded and occasionally succeeded by old post-apocalyptical B-movie sound bites that give you more of that retro sci-fi/horror Blue Holocaust brand of schlock infused blasting. It almost reminds me of some kind of grindhouse/grindcore/Mad Max version of Conflict's The Ungovernable Force. I love that the nuclear war shtick is called out immediately in the first sound clip of the first song. 

    Tonally, After The Fall Of Man is some of the best production the band has had to date—even when compared to the just recent 2021 release, Nilbog Attack split with Houkago Grind Time, and especially when compared to the band's 2004 debut full-length, Twitch Of The Death Nerve. The ladder being an earlier blown out and lo-fi variation of the band. After The Fall Of Man is a more refined and traditional grindcore sounding release compared to most of the band's past installations. 

    For whatever reason, the Blue Holocaust on this release reminds me of Code 13, albeit a radiation riddled, gore diseased and metastatic grindcore mutant version of the band. But there is something about the vacuum cleaner guitar distortion and the throw away solos that remind me of that charmed Doomed Society luster. Obviously, Blue Holocaust is a totally different beast—unabating blasts and frantic chord smears taking the place of the gang vocals and catchy hooks of the aforementioned Havoc Records hardcore. I should probably stop name-dropping Code 13 so often. I don't know, maybe this is just the radiation sickness talking.

    California's Morgue Breath are the perfect pairing for a split with Blue Holocaust. While maybe not being as experienced as their veteran split-mate, the Los Angeles natives have skyrocketed in popularity since the band's formation in 2019—and very much akin to Blue Holocaust—began as the one-man project of founder, Ivo, before adding members from other grind darlings like Sulfuric Cautery and Shitbrains to form a full lineup. 

    Very much from the start, the band established a solid concoction of death-grind and goregrind. Even if the first release, Postrarse Frente La Flema, may have been just one man alone, Morgue Breath has always brought the blasts and some of the chunkiest, catchiest riffs in this niche genre. The band's first release as an ensemble was 2022's full-length, Expectoraciones Exequiales Desde Las Profundidades Fantamiasm​á​ticas and right away the addition of Sulfuric Cautery drummer, Isaac Horne's contributions can be heard in the album's hyper blasting and snare pummeling. Production does take a mild dip on the sophomore release, but the band makes up for it on this latest 2022 release, Hongo Atroz—their split with Blue Holocaust. This record is easily the band's most polished, although I don't think the snare was done full justice in the mix.

    Not running short of similarities of their flipside mate in human anatomical amusement, Morgue Breath also seem to favor the grindcore sound—or death-grind in Morgue Breath's case—ahead of the goregrind. Their guitar work emphasizes the death-grind with its dark and sharp tremolo riffs and layered distortion. Pair that with the chronic cymbal catches and you get some explosive compositions. 

    The one obvious attribute running borderline between the two subgenres is the mostly monotone burly and bubbly guttural growls that bark out what I assume are an all Spanish lyrical diatribe. I'm not privy to the lyrics, but I think it should be obvious by now that all the album titles in the band's discography and the song names are all en español. And for those listeners that don't speak Spanish, I can assure you they are all about a collection of some sort of internal organs leaking some sort of bodily fluids or dealing with something of a necrotic nature. Which is a nice change of pace for an American based band as well as a good way to avoid running the risk of an overly cliché track listing. 

    Although, I do concede that maybe not all the songs are in Spanish. Track four, "Gas Del Ass"—while yes, technically it is in a form of Spanish—is a cover of Polish goregrinders, Dead Infection's "Gas From Ass." I'm clueless to whether or not the lyrics were translated or not. Morgue Breath has made a tradition out of recording at least one cover song for each release. Previous releases saw covers from bands like Icons Of Filth and Brazil's Lymphatic Phlegm. Obviously, there is an eclectic well of inspirations for the band to draw from. 

 

    At the end of the day, or at the end of days in the case of this split, the aptly dubbed Double Mushroom Attack split is an equal yoked effort by two bands that are similar in style and execution. Both Blue Holocaust and Morgue Breath bring a slightly diluted and palatable version of goregrind that might prioritize the grind, but still keeps things gross. I think this record is a great launching off point for the casual grindcore listener to maybe delve a little deeper into the underbelly of the genre, while at the same time still pleasing the goregrind purists and traditionalist. Goregrind can be an acquired taste and this split is a great sounding entryway. 

    Blue Holocaust and Morgue Breath also serve as an American and French collaboration that stands as proof that music is truly a unifying and international language. It also is a testament to the legacy of the old school goregrind and its links to the new school—at least if you are of an age where you can admit that millennium era music is old school now. In either case, this split pays just as much homage to the truly old school goregrind of the 80's and 90's as well. 

    After The Fall Of Man and Hongo Atroz are each high ticks on the old Geiger counter—sickeningly lethal and virulently cancerous. This split acts as a brutally depressing reminder that a painful and irradiated end is extremely fucking nigh. But hey, sometimes deformities can be fun too. 

FFO: Squash Bowels, Intrepid Corpse, Trucido, Sulfuric Cautery

Listen to the album—

Out now on EveryDayHate Records:

https://everydayhate.bandcamp.com/album/blue-holocaust-morgue-breath