with the Hobo

85% - 95%: Killer release for the genre, check it out.

80% - 85%: Solid release with a few minor shortcomings.

70% - 80%: A little disappointing, but hints at potential and by no means 'bad'. I'll await future recordings before final judgement.

60% - 70%: Unimpressive, average and quite possibly boring.

< 60%: Don't waste your time on this piece of rotting faecal matter.
 

Blood Duster – Str8outtanorthcote

Genre: Grinding Stoner Death
Year: 1998
Rating: 89% 
Label: Dr. Jims Records

Blood Duster – one of Australia’s most well known metal groups, combine death metal, Grindcore, stoner metal and Aussie rock n’ roll, infusing it all with undeniably catchy grooves and offensive, politically incorrect humour. What you get is twenty great tracks of fuzzed out, whacked out, blues-ridden, styling crusty southern rock – Grindcore with a massive Kyuss and Fu Manchu influence. Infact the back cover is an exact copy of Kyuss’s Sky Valley cover, with “Northcore 6 Springvale 6 Compton 6” replacing “Welcome to Sky Valley”.

With songs like Giving’astifftoastiff, Wheredoesallthemoneygowhenreleasingafulllengthalbum, Puredigitalsilience and Hippie Kill Team you can be sure this album is a hell of a lot of fun and sure to piss off metal purists (and did it ever!). This album just oozes pure class – a killer debut full length from the group back in 1998. Check it out if you’re a fan of Aussie rock, stoner metal, metal groove or just grind in general!

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Bodies in the Gears of the Apparatus – Simian Hybrid

Genre: Grind/Noise
Year: 2004
Rating: 81%
Label: The Spew Records

“We’re in the middle of a machine designed by the devil and fuelled by the dead.” B.I.T.G.O.T.A. play psychotic/insane f*cking flat out Grindcore, going 666 km per hour, seemingly in all directions at once – thrashing, grinding, kicking outm causing all forms of destruction and death. Ably assisted by a drum machine, songs randomly leap in all directions from breakdowns to solos to bursts of pure violence, most the time at break-neck speeds.

Running at a total of 19 minutes the album is a bit too short to really draw any major conclusions about the music other than it is undoubtedly insane. I did enjoy what I heard. If you like a bit of F*ck the Facts, Genghis Tron or even Dillinger Escape Plan style dissonant chaos then you’ll like B.I.T.G.O.T.A.

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F*ck the Facts – Discoing the Dead

Genre: Crust/Noise/Grind 
Year: 2000
Rating: 86% 
Label: Black Hole Productions

Yet more crusty discordant computer-aided grind, punk and noise. When unleashed, F*ck the Fact’s Discoing the Dead became a massive underground cult hit. The group began as a one-man side project, but grew to become much more (nowdays they are a full-fledged band). Somewhat unlike B.I.T.G.O.T.A. a lot of thought seems to have gone into song-writing – that is in terms of flow changes, variation and riffs. The vocals have a lot more variation and range as well.

Again, there’s some real good chaotic grindcore here. And the fact that they stole that awesome interlude music from Adult Swim makes this album all the cooler.

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Funerot – Invasion of the Death Dimension

Genre: Death/Thrash
Year: 2006
Rating: 93% 
Label: Razorback Records

Looking at the cartoonish cover of a ‘robut’, zombies, chunder and general derangement I can honestly say I had no idea what Funerot had in for me. The answer? Stylish, classy death/thrash grooves, blistering hot lead lines, mind boggling musicianship and song revolving around comic book, horror film and sci-fi inspired anecdotes. Their primary influence leans towards thrash as opposed to the death/grind tendencies of Engorged, and their vocals might sound more at home on a hardcore punk rock album.

But those lead lines! The riffs! The dual-guitar shredding with ridiculously over the top solos! These guys sure know how to play their instruments. Their style is somewhat similar to older Engorged (minus the gore, grind and general sloppiness) mixed with the catchy good natured fun of Ghoul – though every single riff, every solo, every lick and every riff-tail is injected with as much pure style and flashy musicianship as inhumanly possible.

An absolutely awesome debut album – a hell of a lot of fun. At times I think this album may just have surpassed Engorged’s Where Monsters Dwell in terms of catchiness, musicianship, raw talent, enjoyment … well everything! Head over for some MP3s now!!! 

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Mangled – Witness Disposal Program

Genre: Death Metal 
Year: 2005
Rating: 78% 
Label: Deepsend Records

I hadn’t heard of Mangled before today, but staring at their killer cover art (a bloodied, aged and decadent fridge) I knew that at the very least, I was about to experience some brutal f*ckin death metal. Mangled hail from the Netherlands (which seems to be simply exploding with death and grind groups lately) playing fairly progressive brutal death and grind in the vein of Decapitated and Aborted. 

Churning through sickening mid-paced passages, up-tempo gallops, semi-technical brutal death grooves, and occasionally breaking out into a crushing blast, the somewhat reserved nature of this largely mid-tempo brutal death metal band makes the faster passages all the more powerful. Complex structuring, powerful vocals, and great musicianship is further complemented by beefy yet audible production where no hint of technicality is lost in the mix.

Though brutal death metal does start to wear thin on me after a while, Mangled kept me interested with their brand of unpredictable death metal by fusing elements from the old, the new, the European and the American styles. This album is sure to please fans of Deeds of Flesh and Decapitated as well as newer style death metal groups like Aborted and Cephalic Carnage. Great quality death metal which hints at influences across the extreme spectrum.

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Melancholy Pessimism – Dreamkillers

Genre: Progressive Death Metal 
Year: 2004
Rating: 72% 
Label: Epidemie Records

This album opens up with an introductory track; a discordant chorus of brass instruments and jazz guitar. And before you can work out just what in the hell is going on you’re hit with some killer technical, brutal death metal. Melancholy Pessimism hail from the Czech Republic, playing progressive type death/grind centered around technical elements, but not above included elements of groove.

This is an incredibly ambitious album, seen in The Killing Suffered Love – an epic-type song featuring a duet with a female! A classic song that made me laugh out loud the first time I heard it (the line “unfortunately I’m a female and my brain is under skirt” is unintentionally hilarious). That song actually came out really well. While the group wear thin after a while, this is certainly a very ambitious album deriving of merit. There are some elements which suggest you should watch out for this group in their future musical endeavours.

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Nasum – Helvete

Genre: Grindcore 
Year: 2003
Rating: 98% 
Label: Relapse Records

My new favourite grind album. It has everything – melody, brutality, catchy riffs, great lyrics, mind-blowing drumwork, great production and variation. To compare it to Nasum’s other releases, I’d say the song writing has evolved alot since Inhale/Exhale – which essentially was a no-frills, 40 second track blast fest. It beats Shift because of the clearer production, and the amount of variation put into structures and riffs. 

Don’t be me wrong, I still f*ckin love Shift, but to me that’s a straight out grind album. This is a little bit more intricate and varied – with less overt hints at melody and complexity. Overall the most Nasum memorable album to date. If you don’t own this album, buy it now! Simple as that.

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Terror – Lowest of the Low

Genre: Hardcore
Year: 2003
Rating: 82% 
Label: Bridge 9

Fast paced, thrashy, catchy and angry as Lucifer himself in the crush of a TLC concert. Terror are one of the rising forces in post-hardcore punk rock – with good reason. With killer grooves that’ll have you doing a 2-step jig, pissed off lyrics seething with energy and hatred and huge breakdowns you’ll be sure to tear the f*ckin’ house down.
 
I have come to like this, their debut album a lot more than their follow up One With the Underdogs – why? There’s more variation! One with the Underdogs gets irritating with it’s mosh-core riffing, continuous gang-vocals, identical chord progressions, same-tempo, same-song s*** which seems like the entire album has been made to get those little emo-core s*** eating kids into ‘real’ hardcore. Sinking to the level of Bury Your Dead isn’t the way to do that (well, that’s an exaggeration). 

This album I find much more powerful because it doesn’t seem like they’re trying so bloody hard to please the mosh pit all the goddamn time with too many breakdowns and gang vocals. I saw these guys live when they came down to Sydney too – pretty damn good gig. Check this out if you’re a fan of anything like Hatebreed, Madball or even that Bury Your Dead crap. 

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Silovanje – Taste of Death

Genre: Cyber Gore Grind
Year: 2006
Rating: 81% 
Label: Grindhead Records

Well I’ve got to review the newest release from Grindhead Records – impartially of course. In Silovanje we get some head-snapping computer-aided cyber gore grind, at times bringing to mind fellow gore-soaked Aussies F*ck… I’m Dead alongside Mortician, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Disgorge and Gut and featuring members of the almighty Captain Cleanoff.

This is a furious, dual-vocal full frontal grind assault – as opposed to the down tuned, sludgy, incoherent gore I care naught to little for. The vocals themselves switch from F*ck I’m Dead type screeches to death metal roars. At times we get a few stylish grooves and blistering solos amongst the ridiculously brutal drumming and higher pitch frenetic shredding. All the songs are structured well enough to keep me from getting bored, and the production is solid. A solid debut effort from the self-proclaimed Northern Lords of Rape Gore. Grab if for only $11.5 USD (MP3s on the site).

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Vulgar Pigeons – Burning Episode

Genre: Grindcore/Punk
Year: 2005
Rating: 84% 
Label: Deepsend Records

Vulgar Pigeons are a Grindcore group from San Francisco playing a high-paced mix of hardcore, punk, grind, gore and death. In more ways than one their music reminds me of Pig Destroyer – the maniacal vocals teetering on the edge of insanity, the crusty punk riffs, the breakdowns – but that is not to say they do not have their own unique style. They tear through metal grooves, thrashy punk/crust outbursts, hulking breakdowns and brutal blasts.

Vulgar Pigeons have been in existence for some eight years, in their time having played with the likes of Impaled, Exhumed, Dillinger Escape Plan, Benumb and Cattle Decapitation. This seven track, 3” CD released on Deepsend Records (Mangled, Serial Butcher) is the final material the group wrote before entering the studio to begin recording their sophomore full-length for Willowtip Records (Kill the Client, Cephalic
Carnage, Rotten Sound).

A great preview of what is to come from this promising grind outfit. Fans of punk and hardcore influenced grind should take the time to check these guys out.

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That does it for now. Expect another installment within 3-4 weeks featuring new albums from likes of Hymen Holocaust, Images of Violence, Frightmare, Onanizer, Nasum’s Grind Finale and perhaps even some Ghoul, Cryptopsy and Converge. As always, check out my label you heathenous swine – killer death, grind and gore albums from $11.50 USD! You can’t beat that! Grindhead Records for a mere $11.5 USD. (www.grindheadrecords.com). Email is thewinterofyourdiscontent@hotmail.com – if you do actually buy an album I’ve recommended I want to hear from you.