“While my fair U.K. may be enjoying something of a qualitative metal renaissance as of late, I’m still not sure I am entirely convinced. The raw ingenuity of Anaal Nathrakh, Akercocke and, of course, Voices has yet to be matched—their capacity for redefining parameters gone largely unchallenged.” Disharmony in the U.K.
“A revolving door of members and seven-year break since dropping 2010’s Hypomaniac hasn’t dulled the band’s commitment to keep on grinding, returning with their sixth full-length opus, fittingly titled Razorgrind. But do they still have what it takes to match it with the new breed of talented grinders? Or are Leng Tch’e destined to die a musical death by a thousand cuts?” Shave and a haircut, grind it!
“After scaling back the blackened and melodic tendencies that marked their 2000 self-titled debut, French loonies Benighted rapidly morphed into the finely-tuned deathgrind butchering machine they are today, releasing a consistent string of high-quality albums drenched in blood-spattered brutality, while keeping the fun and creepy factors cranked. Their sound may be set in stone, but the beauty of Benighted is the distinctive quirks and curve balls they splice into their brutal and musically dynamic brand of pig-squealing lunacy.” Hurls before swine.
“Okay, let’s get this out-of-the-way right off the top. This album cover gives me the creeps. It also makes me think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. So I alternate between grimaces and laughter whenever I’m looking at this bizarre choice for sludgy avante garde collective Obake’s third album, Draugr.” Happy Halloween!
“Sometimes you’ve just got to sit back and appreciate simplicity. The first lyric here is “Retrogore!” The first non-introductory song is “Retrogore.” The album is Retrogore. Hell, Aborted is retrogore. There’s no other band more deserving of such a title. Their songs are filthy, dripping with the viscera of whichever woman they’ve just verbally brutalized, and their activity now spans over 20 years.” Violence is now in session.
“It must be tough carving out a lengthy career within the somewhat narrow and restrictive confines of the grindcore genre and remaining vital and relevant as fresh faced young upstarts storm the scene. This problem hasn’t seemed to halt Finnish stalwarts Rotten Sound, who started their career back in 1993, from delivering consistent, high quality output.” And yet somehow these guys keep it up!
“Apparently I am now the designated AMG reviewer wot gets all the grindcore, which suits me fine as, though it is amongst my top genres in the crazy world of extreme music, it’s one that I mysteriously neglect for long periods. Probably mostly because I’m listening to Toto’s first five records on a loop.” Gonna take a lot to drag me away from Magru!
“My flailing interest in grindcore has been reinvigorated over the past couple of years, due to a handful of excellent bands combining intelligent songcraft with the genre’s typical blasting, white knuckle intensity. So when the opportunity arose to review the latest output from long running grinders Agoraphobic Nosebleed, perpetrators of gleefully brilliant past offerings such as Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope, I was stoked for what these drum machine wielding maniacs would have in store for us.” Let the nose run red!
“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.
“I jumped on reviewing Putrid Offal’s debut album, Mature Necropsy, like a retiree on an early bird special when I saw a lineup of three guys that may actually have a few years on me. These French gore hounds formed 25 years ago, split up five later, and dug the carcass up again in 2013.” Getting tired of juvenile necropsies? Well these geriatric gore rockers are here to make you watch Murder She Wrote and eat ribbon candy.
