Reviews

Regurgitated Semen

Cryptic Void Physwar//Psywar LP

Brutal death-doom out of Texas. Drums are absolutely incredible here and are all over the place. Recording quality is conducive to this, picking up every little thing the drummer does—almost mind-blowing at points, and really what caught my attention the most. Guitars are heavy as all hell, slow and low at points, and manically fast at others. Vocals are in the traditional death metal styling here, but sound great. All in all, a fantastic record for those who are fans of the genre.

Escuela Grind Indoctrination LP

“Escuela“ (at least via my shithouse translation methods) means “school,” so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but what I got was seventeen tracks of punishingly heavy grind-violence that achieves what should probably be the goal for people seeking to write a grind LP, making something that careens by with all the gusto of a 7″. The riffs in this remind me of more modern grind, admittedly, but the sheer aggression on display and abrupt time signature switches and that utterly relentless blasting make this a band I’d love to see fucking destroy a basement show. If the labels on the back of this LP didn’t make it a blind buy for you then take this recommendation to heart and blow out your eardrums.

Systemik Viølence Negative Mangel Attitude LP

Cathartic maniacal screams and great sound all around from these chaos-bringers and riot-exciters from Lisbon. Thrash mayhem of blackened punk with fast tempos and sick drum cuts that never stop and stomp on you through the whole ten-track course. This is the sixth release from these Portuguese mad people, delivering a fusion between blackened metallic punk and classic USHC cadences in an almost perfect balance. Imagine BAD BRAINS and MERCYFUL FATE entered the blender and got out ready to drink it all in a second—I mean a frenzied, crazy feeling. All tracks are rippers in their own way. Sick artwork on the cover from these sick metal punkers. Good riffage, good blastbeating, and the vocals ain’t a cut-and-paste in any way, with colors very distinguished in-between.