“Grind doesn’t do much for me these days. Sure I still get the itch for some manic, face-peeling extremity but one of the main reasons I’ve lost interest in the scene over the past couple of years is largely due to the difficulty of finding interesting bands capable of balancing the core speed and blasting ferocity of the genre with actual songcraft and hooks to keep me coming back.” Until now, that is.
“Extreme metal has a problem: It’s aggressively conservative. For a culture that’s supposed to be about pushing forward – physically, intellectually, musically – it too often circles back into itself. The supposed outsiders and iconoclasts that comprise the metal scene rabidly pounce on opportunities to become insiders and conformists. Wanna write about metal? Rub the right elbows and suck ass for “access.” Wanna proclaim your allegiance to poseur-crushing death metal? Join a club. Wanna start a band? Grab a template and start building your box from the inside out. Ah, you want to go for the gusto, don’t you? You want to start a band. Good for you. Now: What kind of metal do you want to play? Thrash metal? Death metal? Black metal? Because there are rules, kid. You need to tweak your tone. Bolster your BPM. Hire the right artist. Wear the right t-shirts. You need to minimize risk. Unless you were born with gigantic balls. And you’re Beaten To Death.” Got an appetite for risk defying grind? Follow Jordan Campbell to the promised land.
