Reviews

To Live A Lie

Backslider Psychic Rot LP

A versatile mix of fast hardcore, crushing death metal, punishing slow sludge, and weird-ass tempo changes. Not quite powerviolence, not quite fastcore, but they seem to have their shit together and aim for pure aggressive music. The clashing of the genres works very well and the curveballs they throw at you hit like a truck. Formed in 2008, and now on their third album after a truckload of splits and EPs, they seem to be a busy bunch. If you are a fan of NAILS and don’t quite enjoy their newer material, or even if you miss HATRED SURGE, here is a good one for you.

Blind Solution Blind Solution cassette

Hardcore out of Tacoma, with a style that I’ve come to refer to as “blink and you’ll miss It” punk. Six songs in roughly three minutes and change. I’ll be honest, folks. If your band can write a decent twelve-second song, chances are I’ll love you. Like a more modern, polished NEGATIVE APPROACH. Great stuff here.

Campaña Del Terror Atropello cassette

This is the debut EP from a one-man Chilean project started by Luis from MISA HISTÉRICA and INCENDIO, edited as cassette by To Live a Lie Records. Imbued by the violence and strife of Chile’s recent socio-political climate, this pandemic bedroom-core document of fast-as-fuck D-beat and powerviolence with furious high-pitched vocals is a visceral chronicle of the South American country’s last two years of popular rebellion. The super-short EP reflects the frustration and impetuosity of the rioters with ten songs that cover the full spectrum of the experience: media manipulation, police violence, corporate greed, the terrorist violence of the state forces, and the burning desire of change. The sound is brutal and will leave your ears ringing, there’s this feral intensity akin to MOB 47 and that whole scene that I particularly find addictive.

Caveman Opinions EP

The latest EP from the Bay Area’s CAVEMAN is disgusting, noisy hardcore with two-stepping breakdowns in the vein of HOAX and GAG.. Heavier emphasis on grooves and mosh parts for the fans for that realm of hardcore. Does the world need more of these bands? I’m good, but maybe you do..?

Caveman Something’s Got to Give EP

CAVEMAN is the ideal music for any hardcore pit. It has the perfect formula for a good time pushing, shoving, or slamming: groovy, mid-tempo stompy parts that may be a direct result of having a SPY member, fast powerviolence-esque blast parts, the human equivalent of a rabid dog on vocals, and the slamming always comes full circle for a climactic resolution. These six songs are not too short and not too long, just the right length to get the blood boiling. The lyrics deal with a range of subjects, from the malaise of modern living to strawberry banana smoothies?!? Knuckle-dragging hardcore fanatics will want to add this one to the collection.

Cinnamon Demo ‘24 cassette

Hailing from Albany, New York and heavily influenced by the NBHC scene, CINNAMON plays surprisingly accessible powerviolence infused hardcore. Produced by ORCHID’s Will Killingsworth in his prolific Dead Air Studios, this tape has got some high-ass quality for a demo; there isn’t a blemish to be found. Every element is fully locked in, from the perfectly gravelly vocals to the frenetic drums to the crunchy and thrash-y guitars (especially on opener “Cinntro”). All in all, an impressive first showing—I’d expect to see CINNAMON on some pretty big festival lineups in the not too distant future.

Codeseven Division of Labor LP

Reissue of CODESEVEN’s 1999 release Division of Labor. Again, not really MRR-realm music, and most likely will deter the average reader—somewhere between the blurry lines of the DIY side of ’90s metalcore bands like RORSCHACH and the obscure side of the pro-core pool of bands around Victory/Equal Vision/Trustkill Records. Sonically, it’s somewhere between metalcore and post-hardcore; proto-”mall screamo,” which many probably wanted to bury under the rug in the past couple of decades because of what it eventually became, until recent years which, in hindsight, showed its unique sound at the time. For fans of early CAVE IN and GLASSJAW.

Con Artist Subservient cassette

There’re eleven tracks on this tape, but if you told me there were half that, I’d believe you. They whip through these in rapid-fire succession with all the grace of car wreck, ultra-fast stop-n-start HC with excellent drumming and some seriously pissed-off vocals. CON ARTIST is from Victoria, BC way up in Canada, featuring at least one member of the grind unit SIX BREW BANTHA; excellent debut and I thoroughly look forward to a slew of splits to come.

Corvo Cortadas cassette

Where the fukk did this come from!?! From the opening blast, DC’s CORVO absolutely obliterates six manic, fast hardcore tracks, dropping in mind-bending riffs just when you start to get comfortable. Each track keeps you guessing, even though they never stray too far off the path—guitar solos that jump out from behind a corner, breakdowns when you least expect them, marble-mouthed Spanish-language vocals that struggle to keep up with riffs that are just….just…well, there are a lot of wild riffs. This was my first exposure to CORVO and I loved all ten minutes of it

Crom Early Shit 1994–2004 cassette

Collection of compilation tracks, demos, and outtakes by ’90s Pessimiser Records/L.A. grindcore legends CROM. You get to hear everything in one place so you don’t have to pull out a bunch of physical releases. For fans of ’90s PCP stories, couch-lifting grindcore/powerviolence, push-moshers getting kicked out of the gig vibes.

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.

Death Toll 80K The Future is Yours 12″

Finland has always been a hub for death metal and black metal, but what about grindcore? Is Finnish grindcore any good? The answer is “fuck yeah!”. Similar to their grinding countrymen ROTTEN SOUND, DEATH TOLL 80K has been relentless at the grindcore game ever since their inception in 2005. Taking cues from the likes of ASSÜCK, PHOBIA, or TERRORIZER, they take the crown as one of the most extreme grindcore acts at the moment in the absence of INSECT WARFARE. Unrelenting grindcore with a death metal feel to it, complete with pummeling drums and moshing grooves. Nine songs in eleven minutes. What more can you ask for?

Deliriant Nerve Uncontrollable Ascension cassette

Absolutely pummeling death metal/grindcore from Washington, DC. Tight riffs, relentless drumming, short songs which end as soon as you start to get a feel for them. My biggest gripe with most straight-up grindcore bands is that they seem to put the pedal to the metal and play endlessly full-speed without anything to differentiate their songs. Thankfully, you don’t get that with DELIRIANT NERVE. They slow things down often enough for a catchy breakdown or a circle-pit part, helping the album easily keep your attention. I believe this to be members of DC grindcore band NEEDLE, as well as ZTUPED who I think are absolutely top-notch. If you’re into this style, this cassette will not disappoint. This is To Live a Lie showing why they are debatably the best name in the game when it comes to extreme music labels.

Dragged Dragged cassette

Hailing from New Bedford MA, DRAGGED is new to me, although I knew the name sounded familiar (they played a gig with CONSERVATIVE MILITARY IMAGE a bit back). From the sound of the opening “blergh!,” I was expecting a WARTHOG or maybe POISON IDEA-style hardcore punk, and while those influences are definitely there, the overall vibe reminds me more of NEGATIVE APPROACH, especially in the vocal department. All of these songs kick ass, but my favorite is “Tough Look.” Its mid-tempo metal chug goes well with the mean vocals and breaks the proceedings up nicely, giving you a moment to bang your head before the remainder of the tape bangs you in the head. Check it out!

Dry Socket Sorry for Your Loss LP

Powerhouse hardcore from Portland—DRY SOCKET sounds confident and aggro on their first LP Sorry for Your Loss. An album focusing on grief, internal struggle, and finding your place in the world; you can hear the frustration in vocalist Dani Allen’s voice, which really tends to be the focal point on the album. The delivery is fantastic, sounding feral and desperate in equal measure, my favorite example being “Cultivated Fore.” Sonically, DRY SOCKET opts for a more angular guitar sound rather than the blunt force usually heard in this style. It’s cool and refreshing, making for a very engaging listen. Check out “Equinox” and “Born Again.”

Eärthdögs Distorted Static Addicts EP

Fuck me, this is one intense listen, and I am not sure where to start. First thing first: this is very noisy and chaotic. Dementia-driven. This is not something you’d get your little cousin for his birthday (unless he is possessed by some evil force). EÄRTHDÖGS play insane and vicious, black-metal-influenced, raw, distorted hardcore noisepunk. Distorted Static Addicts feels more like an experience than just a record, and with less than ten minutes of music, you can’t afford to be late to the fuzzy black mass. I love the genuinely malignant vibe of the record and the overall aggression, especially how energetic and noisy it is. The music sounds like it hates you, and that’s paradoxically what makes it lovable. It is difficult to properly describe even though the ingredients, taken separately, are familiar, but I guess that if a savage powerviolence record were possessed by ORDER OF THE VULTURE and if you distorted the result further, it would be quite close. Solid and furious. You should probably get it for your cousin, actually. This was released on two labels that specialize in these sorts of nasty things, 625 and To Live a Lie.

Eärthdögs Cry Now Cry Later EP

I don’t have an advanced degree, so I can’t tell the difference between grindcore and powerviolence, but I know a ripping EP when I hear it. Five short songs growled into your dead soul with hyperkinetic rhythms and wall-of-sound guitars. “A Soft Throat for the Grip of Domination” dips a toe into noisecore territory. This California five-piece brings the pain. I want the album cover framed on my wall, too.

Endless Swarm Manifested Forms LP

I feel like I’ve been a little bored with today’s grindcore scene at large, and was perhaps a little nervous that I was falling out of love with the genre. Enter the UK’s ENDLESS SWARM, reminding me that the style is still alive and kicking. Quintessential powerviolence here; the perfect combination of hardcore punk and blistering metal. SPAZZ-like dueling vocals, heavy riffs, and breakneck drums bouncing between insanely fast blastbeats and groovy breakdowns. Very high-energy and intense as fuck.

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.

Endless Swarm / Fuck on the Beach split EP

Somehow, even after all these years, FUCK ON THE BEACH still brings an unprecedented level of speed and ferocity to their side of this split; it blows my mind how fast and manic they sound 22 years after the release of Power Violence Forever, shit like this gives me hope as a punk slipping slowly into my thirties. ENDLESS SWARM had me tapping along as well, if not further in the INFEST direction of things; good to see this Glasgow unit still kicking.

Gasp Stardonas EP

Discovering GASP’s Drome Triler of Puzzle Zoo People album back in the day—after the band was done, but a long time ago nevertheless—was a real light in the darkness for me. A band from (or at least adjacent to) the powerviolence scene who deployed all sorts of weird gloopy psychedelic shit and covered STRETCHHEADS! Somehow, they’re back after, it says here, sixteen years with a couple of new items, including this three-song 7″. “Husband is the Lake” is your go-to track if you want more of their chomping LSD grind; the other two are pretty far beyond “rock,” or the regular notion of it, although “Sign of Victor” feels a bit like something FAUST cooked up in a German commune circa 1971, all analog electronics and sludgy backmasking.

Glue Traps Future Shocks EP

This Baltimore outfit ensures that twelve-song 45rpm 7″ EPs are not a thing of the past! Short, frantic snotty punk songs edited tightly together for maximum money’s worth. Self-deprecating and anti-authoritarian themes alternate, succinctly written, no solos, no breakdowns, no effects—refreshing, isn’t it? Minus 69.420 points for including Joe Biden in the thanks list and noting Mystic Records for “eternal inspiration,” but still up enough points to make it a winner.

Greyhound Greyhound cassette

This ten-track ripper is for those who love their hardcore old school and in-your-face. Starting with a great stomping track called, appropriately enough, “Intro,” this Oakland, CA two-piece rages fast and hard. Any one of these songs could have been on a seminal hardcore compilation from the mid-’80s, but instead of lyrics bitching about Reagan and Thatcher, GREYHOUND gives you 2020s existential despair, alienation, and personal pain. The only track hinting at anything vaguely political is “Mirroring Constructs,” touching on corporate exploitation and getting caught up in the illusions of status, materialism, and career. GREYHOUND proves that great hardcore doesn’t have to be all politics, all the time. With guest vocals by Trevor McBride (YOUTH IN CRISIS) and Frankie Oh (KANTA KANTA), this is an album to play on repeat.

Herida Profunda Power to the People LP

Latest release by HERIDA PROFUNDA from Poland. This sort of stuff probably would’ve been considered just “thrashy” or “crusty,” reminiscent of the pre-internet era of DIY punk when people didn’t have enough info to pigeonhole bands. Somewhere in the context of being in squats, social media track sharing, tagging, and dollar bin punk records, Power to the People must have been created. The world may need this unclassifiable aggressive music that just simply is an output of intuitive pure aggression.

Hogg Arahant cassette

Swirling, bass-forward hardcore out of San Francisco, this brief but intense release by HOGG foregoes blistering speed for driving, circle-pit rhythms. “Stuck” brings some D-beat, and the closing track “Steep” is the longest, most complex, and most interesting in terms of pacing and mood. Overall, it’s a strange mix of head-scratching lyrics, odd audio samples, and gritty punk.

Hummingbird of Death Full Spectrum Dominance 2005–2008 LP

This is a big slab of fastcore fun for fans of early D.R.I., back when their songs were 35 seconds long. Boise, Idaho’s HUMMINGBIRD OF DEATH manages to squeeze 83 of their early recordings onto this comp. Recorded between 2005 and 2008, these tracks remain relevant, as with “Stupid Bills,” which says “Off to the record store / Where did all my money go?” Ain’t that the truth. The lyrics range from the political (extolling LGBTQIA+ rights, shitting on racism, dissing animal cruelty, etc.) to the personal (loneliness, anger) to the simple joys of rocking out and moshing it up. The track “I Wanna Be a Frog” gets cerebral by posing “Bears are always angry / But frogs are always cool.” And just the title of the song “Fadeouts are for Chumps” made my day. Then there are these oddball tracks that stray from the fastcore formula, such as “Coward.” Clocking in at a massive 4:37, HUMMINGBIRD OF DEATH is suddenly a stoner doom metal band with a firecracker fastcore section sandwiched in the middle. “Frayed Nerve Endings” is an instrumental. “Waste” has a nice, D-beat swagger. “No Child Left Alive” manages a guitar solo in its seven-second runtime. This album is one of my favorites of the year. Raucous, angry, sometimes silly—it has everything.

Natural End Natural End cassette

Five traditional hardcore anthems from this Raleigh band. Their sound and energy deliver DIY NYHC energy, like a non-corny MADBALL, with lyrics about life’s injustices and the current state of the US. The band frequently switches from fast punk to mid-tempo, fuzz-bass crawls with a few measures of blastbeats powering the intelligible, shouted vocals. “New American Age” finishes out the tape with, “Anger, rage, hatred, malaise / This is now the new American age,” so, yeah, that checks out. Is NATURAL END especially original? Nah, but this well-produced and energetically performed collection might be just the thing if you like your hardcore with some tough-guy vibes.

Needle Shattering Retinal Matter cassette

Ripping grindviolence with obligatory metallic intros. File alongside Gulf Coast Power Violence fodder, and when things get a little too chaotic and disjointed? Well, that’s pretty much the point of extremity. Choice cut: “Inter-Dimensional Game of Suffering,” if only because that guitar break is so unbelievably sick.

No Comply East Coast Powerviolence LP

Holy shit, this fucking shreds. This 42-song collection gathers tracks from the Florida band’s storied history. Like GODSTOMPER, this is bass-heavy powerviolence with noise interludes, threatening samples, and absolutely unhinged shrieking vocals. I don’t have a lyric sheet, but the songs have a meanness to them that can’t really be translated anyway. The production varies a little from track to track due to the different source materials, but all the tracks sound thick, blown-out, and filthy. Some of the songs venture into near grind/noisecore with brief bursts of screech, while others stretch out into doomy breakdowns, and we even get a few STIKKY and SPAZZ covers. “The Noise Set (9 Songs)” is like a Whitman’s Sampler of the band with furious PV, emoviolence passages, and jazzy bass. It all rules, and if you like powerviolence, consider this essential.

Nucler Blud Form Raze cassette

Blistering buzzsaw punk that goes straight for the jugular. More raw than dumpstered T-bone, this slab of hardcore is dripping with vigor and fury. Fans of the noisier side of Japanese hardcore should take note, as I’m picking up on strong influences from CONFUSE, KURO, and FRAMTID. While the tempos vary throughout the six cuts on this tape, things never slow down too much, and none of the songs crack the two-minute mark. I appreciate the unceremonious approach NUCLER BLUD has utilized. No build-ups, intros, outros, or really anything extraneous. Just laser-focused on pumping out the damaging frequencies, and it’s over before you know it. There’s also quite the interesting pedigree going on as well, with former members of NO STATIK, IN/HUMANITY, JUD JUD (!), and END OF THE CENTURY PARTY comprising this beast of a band. To Live a Lie doesn’t tend to fuck around, and this tape is no exception. NUCLER BLUD is a band to keep an eye on.     

Obsolete Man Glory Be to the Bomb cassette

Four angry blokes from San Francisco, OBSOLETE MAN. On the table here is a really good mix of heavy hardcore, metalcore, and powerviolence, making very good use of uncommon song structure to create something very unpredictable and unique. These vocals drip with anger and venom, with the instrumentation following suit very nicely. These guys know how to set a damn desolate mood. Solid stuff!

Peace Test Uniform Repression EP

PEACE TEST from Providence, Rhode Island’s newest EP. Stomping, misanthropic non-posicore straightedge hardcore in the vein of IMPACT UNIT, or the STRAIGHT AHEAD side of things that many older powerviolence acts like INFEST or CROSSED OUT had. For fans of the aforementioned bands or HOUNDS OF HATE/CONCEALED BLADE.

Persecutor Global Prison Experiment EP

Raw and aggressive, sick anti-racist and anti-punitivism powerviolence quintet from Naarm, with shockingly blunt-force-driven riffs, mad, unnerving drums, and a creation of momentum through the songs which is really good. The vocals hit overwhelmingly, but might be a bit disorganized in the mix. It seems that Australia is not only filled with eggy eggs or garage rock’n’rollas, and let me say that I’m glad. Blunt. Force. Project. Keep. On!

Pig City Terminal Decline LP

Take DYSTOPIA’s misery dirges, mix with some of HIS HERO IS GONE’s pitch-black crust and throw in a bunch of TERRORIZER blasting and you’ll get the idea of what this Arizonian band is trying to tell you—that everything’s fucked and we’re all going to die in a grave that we dug. I don’t know about you but that’s a message I can get behind. If you’re a fan of dark crust from the mid to late ’90s then check this out.

Pig City Pig City LP

Super violent hardcore punk from Phoenix, Arizona exuding some kind of GULCH vibes, but with a much crustier soul, bashing non-stop drums that go from powerviolence blastbeating to nonsense straight to sick breakdowns, and demonic echoed vocals. This one is pure fire, blast the speakers and let the demons do the rest ‘til the trance hits. Seven tracks and  eleven minutes of pure mayhem and corrosive trans hardcore punk that will get you. Favorite track: “Bash Back,” with a great breakdown and excellent guitar coupling.

Prayer for Cleansing The Rain in Endless Fall LP reissue

Here’s a recent reissue of this cult classic late ’90s metalcore LP, PRAYER FOR CLEANSING’s only full-length release The Rain in Endless Fall. Their approach to metalcore included heavy amounts of influence from black metal and from Swedish melodic death metal like AT THE GATES and IN FLAMES, with the top-notch musicianship and technicality required to pull this sound off out in full force (it may or may not surprise you to find out members of PRAYER FOR CLEANSING went on to play in the progressive metalcore band BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME). This freshly remastered version comes courtesy of To Live A Lie. While this admittedly isn’t the type of thing that I regularly go out of my way to listen to, I dig this record a hell of a lot and can certainly see why it is so well-regarded. This one a must-listen for any fans of ’90s-style metalcore.

Rot Organic CD

Oh, this rips: 25 tracks of blistering crust grind from São Paulo. Dual vocals, totally guttural death and clearly sung Portuguese with killer conviction. This is very much for fans of the most crucial NASUM, early BRUTAL TRUTH, EXCRUCIATING TERROR, MORSER, early PHOBIA…this really takes me back to ’90s gigs where you can see no light and you hear 5,000 decibels at once (yes, I realize that would shatter the solar system). Super tight non-stop blasts that have several groove breaks for brief moments, mid-tempo beats, then back to over-the-top clobbering. ROT has this sound down so well. As the CD goes on, the vocal tradeoff is more like later E.N.T. or DEATH TOLL 80K. And, well, certainly current NAPALM DEATH, it may even rival them! Through a punk lens. And thankfully, this is not gore cartoonishness in content at all: political, apolitical, social (unrest), anti-fascist, cerebral. Some of the guitar tones on “Under Black Clouds” are downright sinister. Terrorize your best grind memories with this one. Since 1991, almost all of ROT releases have been an EP or split. Absolutely brutal album, like ROT does this shit effortlessly!

Sex Prisoner State Property EP reissue

Hard to believe this dropped ten years ago, but here we are, and To Lie A Lie is giving new life to this Arizona powerviolence slab. Ten tracks, overloaded with low end and a lumbering, awkward approach to the fast part of the equation, while the slows just hit you in the gut and then take up residence there. This record still crushes, their approach to PV is legitimately unique and totally holds up…but it would be a copout to review the record without noting that the band name has always sucked and still does.

Sidetracked Hollowed Out LP

24 tracks, not one of which is longer than a minute? Yeah, it’s a powerviolence record. It’s got that classic west coast style Á  la DESPISE YOU and CROSSED OUT. There’s nothing wildly different about this record compared to the last 200 or so that To Live A Lie has put out, but it does hit pretty hard. The songs, though short, are pretty dynamic, stacking tons of riffs and different styles. Some of the songs sound more punk and driving, like “Turmoil,” while others like “Suffocate” and “None the Wiser” get groovy. What I appreciate about this band is that they really trim the fat: there’s no obnoxiously long heavy parts leading into a four second blastbeat. The breakdowns on this record run an appropriate amount of time, and don’t take away from the fury. Other powerviolence bands: take note!

No Comply / Sidetracked split EP

The SIDETRACKED side will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with their erratic start/stop, no time to breathe approach to powerviolence—seventeen tracks in three-and-a-half minutes, taken from different recordings and different sessions, so it sounds even more fucked-up and weird than they normally do. But speaking of old heads, NO COMPLY is still in the game after more than twenty years, and still they sound like they just crawled out of the grooves of a 1994 dollar bin score. Treble-heavy and bass guitar-driven, classic PV in the West Bay tradition—there’s nothing polished here, but there’s a lot that’s pure. This split needed to happen, and it didn’t disappoint.

 

Sidetracked Dweller cassette

Okay, the longest song on here is thirty-five seconds. The shortest is five. Yeah, it’s powerviolence/fastcore, with an emphasis on the power. A lot of vocal effects went into this. Vocals sound shouted out over the loudspeaker at Caldor or the drive-thru through an ugly sweater. Drums do the same roll over and over, though blisteringly fast, and then blast off a lot, too. I’m not sure what the story is here but I feel like I’m being drilled by an officer and forced drugs at the same time. It is extremely repetitive for a five-minute PV release and fucking clean. I want more slop and more mess. I want more grind, more surprises. It is heavily edited. Or maybe it’s not at all? I don’t have a moment to tell. I’m kind of nervous about this. If that makes you comfortable, go get it. You will. Understand.

Sissy Spacek Diaphanous LP

The barrage of noise in the intro serves as a premonition of the intensity to come—emphasis on “intensity.” SISSY SPACEK delivers a high-velocity attack of grindcore, solely using bass, drums, and vocals. You don’t feel the need to listen to some distorted guitars on top of this, as the drums and bass do a proper job of keeping the songs interesting. A blastbeat-driven fury of classic grindcore acts with the technical precision and sonic density of more modern exponents of the genre. The band has demonstrated a knack for crafting epic grindcore albums (28 songs in 12 minutes) that pack a tremendous punch despite their brevity—the songs rarely extend past the 30-second mark, but manage to feel epic in scope. For fans of extreme, boundary-pushing grindcore acts.

Spy Habitual Offender CD

Bay Area hardcore contingent SPY kinda popped up out of nowhere in 2020 and took the scene by storm overnight following the release of their first EP, Service Weapon. With Habitual Offender, SPY is back with more of the vicious, mosh-friendly hardcore punk that endured them to so many people when they first popped up. The vocals spit bile in every discernable direction toward the listener, with the instrumentation serving to further pummel them. This record exudes pure, unrestrained hatred from its first second to its last—it’s great!

Spy Service Weapon cassette

This is sick. SPY wastes absolutely no time kicking off, a squeal of distortion followed by some seriously fucked-off stomping hardcore. I’m stumbling for comparisons to make but it sounds so fucking furious, with that sweet tinge of delay on the vox that allows for a real fucking snarl to seep through. The stomp that comes through on this tape is so fucking prevalent I can feel my bad knee begin to throb beneath my desk and I’m only two tracks in; hardcore is best when it doesn’t try reinvent the wheel, but rather uses it as a vehicle for genuine aggression and frustration. This is some desperately pissed-off shit from the Bay Area and it shows. I’m a sucker for Bay Area HC, but regardless of your tastes in regional HC, this should easily tick all your boxes.

Suppression Spiritual Sepsis LP

Loud, fast, and tight as hell. Fantastic bass-driven powerviolence/grind that also has a tinge of ’80s thrash. The vocalist has a super impressive range, spanning deep growls, high-pitched screeches, and a vicious bark that lands directly in the middle of it all, almost like the three bears of hardcore vocalists. Or maybe I’m an idiot and there are several singers on this thing—no idea, they don’t have the personnel listed. Drums are absolutely insane and need to be heard to be believed. In a time when most grindcore bands sound the same, I love hearing something refreshingly unique. Well worth a spin if you dig this kind of stuff.

Nashgul / Teething split LP

Oh hell yeah. I have not heard much from this band since the mid-2000s I’m sorry to say, but I am stoked to have this for review. Am I bummed I don’t have a reviewer copy? You bet. Says on Bandcamp there are two remaining. Oh well. NASHGUL plays brutal grind crust in the style of MISERY INDEX with D-beat and early SEPULTURA elements, and a killer RATOS DE PORAO cover and motor-charged RIP cover. One song is called “VHS.” I like that. TEETHING, also from Madrid, plays even more furious grind with tracks such as “Going on Vacation” (yes, please) and “Eat Your Boss” (ew…sick track, though). TEETHING’s side also features various hardcore moments that are more like DYING FETUS meets early SUICIDAL and MDC. If BLACK FLAG went grind? I’m just riffing now. This is a punk grind onslaught and I totally dig it. Awesome collage cover art, too.

 

No Comply / They Live To the Max split 5″

Due to some technical difficulties, this review is late, as the format is a unique 5” I could not get to play on my turntable. Well, the wait is over, and it was worth it. NO COMPLY play bizarre-core, as if the brood of RIGOROUS INSTITUTION played more like SWING KIDS, or if MAN IS THE BASTARD teamed up with ASSHOLE PARADE. Two tracks to grease up the wheels. THEY LIVE take a much more blasting hardcore approach, and it is awesome. Think DEVOID OF FAITH, or PLUTOCRACY in terms of distortion, but a little less crusty. Straight-up powerviolence HC with palpable tension. I’m pretty sure the last song is about Animal Chin and this all has an aggressive skate vibe to it. If you see this, get it. It’s a novel 5” and it’s great.

Completed Exposition & Blackphone666 / Transient & Bastard Noise split EP

Nothing makes me happier than seeing BASTARD NOISE still active and evolving after over thirty years of making ears bleed. Their most recent reincarnation has them teamed with Portland grindcore vehicle TRANSIENT, a partnership that has blossomed over the last several years. This pairing takes up the A-side, and it’s pretty much what you’d expect. Brutal powerviolence infused with classic industrial. COMPLETED EXPOSITION takes up the B-side and continues the flow with a style of death-grind that mirrors CARCASS mixed with MAN IS THE BASTARD. Go figure. A wonderful slab to add the collection for any extreme music fan.

Grin and Bear It / Musket Hawk / Sidetracked / Ugly split LP

This is a four-way split LP of grindcore punk rock. I don’t mean mincing splatter grind, or trigger-heavy technical grind. Classic thrashing grind, the best kind. I have a few four-way splits and they seemed mostly popular coming from Japan in the ’80s and ’90s. Anyway, this compilation of sorts starts off with MUSKET HAWK (Baltimore)—think GRAVES AT SEA meets POPULATION ZERO. Grinding crust. GRIN AND BEAR IT (Cleveland) plays psychotic grind leaning into powerviolence like DISCORDANCE AXIS meets CHEPANG. SIDETRACKED (Tacoma)—holy shit, this band has extensive releases. I know I was sent their tape Dweller for review. These tracks continue with halting, wild earhole abuse like AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED or CHARLES BRONSON, totally frenzied but denser and tighter than both. UGLY (Prescott) rounds out this day at the beach with echoing gloom-core similar to EYEHATEGOD, DYSTOPIA, or INITIAL STATE, but more to the rhythm of a metropolitan area collapsing. You’re getting a lot of grind/hardcore/PV bang with this well-rounded comp/split. We need more of these, again!

Under Attack Mercy Killing EP

This is UNDER ATTACK’s latest EP, co-released by 625 and To Live A Lie. Despite cover artwork depicting older hardcore members, looking like it’s going to be yet another crossover thrash metal band from their area, this record is straight-up raging fast hardcore hell with bursts of negative energy, with some My War-era BLACK FLAG dirge mixed in the slow parts. If the artwork consisted of more black, Xeroxed anti-war or dark imagery of society or something, it would easily sit well next to older DROPDEAD records, or on Pessimiser Records or the Youth Attack catalog from a few years back.

VIOLENCIA Viviendo Tiempos Aún Más Oscuros LP

Like the LP’s title suggests, we are “living in even more obscure times,” and VIOLENCIA delivers a soundtrack to accompany such a feeling of malaise. “Introducción a una Serie de Relatos Distópicos,” the intro song, begins with a melancholic weeping guitar that could be featured in any of the LEVIATHAN demos, but it soon erupts into the mid-tempo hardcore grooves that VIOLENCIA loves to stitch up in their songs. It soon escalates into violent, powerviolence-influenced fast hardcore as the second song makes its way through. VIOLENCIA are the bearers of the political banner that Mexican hardcore is known for, and this is a super violent and angry record that matches the times we live in.