“The impression I’ve always got from Noisem is that their primary goal is speed. Velocity is not an aspect but the essence of their sound. It’s a fun callback to the 80s speed race – which neither Noisem or I lived through – when bands would hear new grindcore demos via tape-trading and then try to write something even faster.” Speed thrills.
“Ahh, religion. Bane of metal’s existence, religion has been the genre’s punching bag since its dawn. Many songs wove stories of people killing, raping, and pillaging for God, with some of their own followers (past or current) calling them out as well. It’s all with good reason, of course; you do good deeds just for the sake of helping someone or something out, not to look good in the eyes of others. Don’t even get me started on the excessive hoarding of expensive gifts or getting away with dubious activities in the name of God. That’s where international noise outfit, Their Throats Are Open Tombs, comes in with their second full-length helping of electronic grindcore.” Repent less.
“Originally spawned from the remnants of the classic Dying Fetus line-up from the monumental Destroy the Opposition, Misery Index wasted fuck all time getting their act together and becoming an immediate force in the extreme metal scene in the early aughts, grinding out a powerful and now lengthy history of their own. Their insightful and vicious socio-political tirades and passionate values matched up perfectly with their grind and thrash-infected style of muscular death metal. Misery Index have managed to deftly shift and evolve their sound along the way, crafting a consistent and high-quality body of work, highlighted by 2008’s vicious Traitors album, and arguably their finest hour, 2010’s modern masterwork, Heirs of Thievery. But nearly 20 years into their career, are these modern-day descendants of Napalm Death still able to muster the strength and power to dominate in 2019?” Misery loves power.
“My first review under my own moniker here at AMG LLC Sole Proprietorship & Sons was for an unholy mix of plodding sludge doom and breakneck hardcore. If you can remember lo those many weeks ago, I concluded that however much you enjoyed each individual component, the combination never truly gelled. Well, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about metal, it’s that if a hybrid style exists at all, someone out there is doing that shit right. I submit to you now Plague, the second full length from misery making monsters Mastiff (Muppet, meet thy match) who play just such a mix.” Dog bites metal.
“We all have our dirty metal secrets that we selfishly keep to ourselves, only sharing with a select few close to us. Or alternatively, we incessantly talk up underground gems and spread the gospel to anyone that will listen, as we cherish our slice of underground cred. Into the Obscure aims to right the wrongs and unearth the artists/albums that for whatever unjust reason didn’t get the exposure or credit they sorely deserved the first time round.” Everything’s Rune(ed).
“I’ve come around to better goregrind since, first by early Carcass and then Haemorrhage and General Surgery. Novelty grind, such as the shockingly good Trappist, has also wormed its way into my rotation. I haven’t listened enough to form an opinion, but Bitchfork and their “farm grind” is making a splash too. Defecal of Gerbe is novelty goregrind, except instead of gore the focus is on the scatological. Mothershit is also sung in French, meaning I miss about ninety percent of the jokes outside of some titles. C’est la vie.” POO-urns.
“Nasum’s influence on modern grindcore and the entire history of the genre can not be overstated. Across a relatively short recording career, featuring four full length albums, the Swedish legends created an intimidating, high quality body of work that helped propel grindcore into the modern era. Along with other modern innovators like Pig Destroyer, Nasum played a crucial role in raising the genre’s underground profile, without losing an ounce of the white knuckle intensity and raw aggression typical of grind.” It’s all in the grind.
“The Norwegians’ 2015 masterclass Unplugged earned every bit of praise it received as it ruined thousands of scoliosis patients’ dreams of reaching the top shelf. I’ll say it up front: fourth record Agronomicon doesn’t top it, doesn’t even try. But don’t you dare to call it inferior; if anything, Agronomicon testifies to Beaten to Death’s staying power as a force in the grind scene.” The list beating goes on and on.
![Infernal Coil – Within a World Forgotten [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Infernal-Coil-Within-a-World-Forgotten-Cover-768x768.jpg)
“I have not seen the sun for ten days except through a haze of ash. A fire the size of Chicago has been burning for as long upwind of me. Every day I am breathing as dust the lives it destroyed. The fire will not reach me, but it will not stop burning soon. There has never been a fire like this one before. I can do nothing about it even though I fueled a tiny part of it every day of my life. I cannot stop the next fire. I cannot know when or where the next horrible thing will happen. But this has happened, this will happen, and this will get worse. Amid my guilt and powerlessness, I seek art that reflects life. Nothing could better match the ash entering my lungs than Infernal Coil’s Within a World Forgotten.” Music for days of fire.
![Wolf King – Loyal to the Soil [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/WolfKing-LoyaltotheSoil01.jpg)
“Wolf King’s impressive debut LP Loyal to the Soil dropped back in April and marked the young Californian band as an act to watch. Vitriolic blackened hardcore sits at the core of Wolf King’s sound, with sludgy beat-downs and whiffs of grind fleshing out their confident and aggressive formula. Although by no means a pair of peas in a pod, there’re certainly some aesthetic and tonal similarities with Germany’s Mantar, with Wolf King arguably having the upper hand when comparing their 2018 releases.” Wolf King can do anything.
