Music that helped me survive 2020

 No order, no ranking, just the sounds that blew my mind this year.

Electronic Chaos - Anarchaos Vol​.​1 (From Concept Art to Reality)

 

Hailing from Canada, this is a sonic pit of aggression. 

Fast and powerful, these songs drip with elements of crust and 

hardcore, while the depth and tone of their sound have that 

black metal sonic solidness that are evident in Coverge or 

Trap Them. 

Electronic Chaos fuse all these elements together with some 

wonderfully mangled guitar riffs that strays out of generic 

templates and delves into some intricate but still heavy madness. 

These tracks are interspersed with spices of news reels, police 

sirens, background talking which elevate the whole thing into a 

montage that helps to keep your attention and makes listening 

an event rather than “just some more grindcore shit!” 

Production is top notch - keeping the sound big and tight but 

without descending into muddiness. Oh yeah - and the 

vocalist sounds like a werewolf fucking around with 

bad drugs and a microphone!

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Facething

Barren Hope - Anaffa

Barren Hope are from Israel and have released a slab of
rage and power. Any record that starts of with the lyrics "I
declare war on everything" gets my attention!

Hardcore tinged with sludge and crust may be an unwieldy
mouth full but perfectly describes the passion and power which
this band are serving up.

Raw throaty vocals overlay these songs with real intent and
lay out the message that this band are not to be fucked with.
The production is a revelation  - with so much distortion and
spite being played at full volume, there is a real clarity to the
sound that brings a sense of suffocation and tension.

Massive rumbling bass lines pave the way for razor sharp
guitars that combine with the drums in a head-ache inducing
 experience. There are little guitar fills and runs that combined
with some interesting song compositions give these tracks a
vitality that is sometimes missing from this genre.

Barren Hope sound like they should be on Throatruiner
Records - if that ain't recommendation enough - fuck ya!

Name your price at Bandcamp

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Mammoth Grinder - Underworlds

Mammoth Grinder return with an album that shows their sound

to great effect. Hardcore, crust and thrash are mixed together,

giving you short sharp shocks of brutal goodness which have Venom/

Slayer type solos spat out across the songs.

Ranging from fast to mid-paced, the tracks run together more

smoothly than Ozzy ingesting drugs straight after rehab.

The production is impressive, giving all the instruments a massive

sound and in particular, the vocals sound nicely deranged but

without being buried in the mix. This genre is not always for me

but when it is done this good, it fucking rocks.

Band Blurb:

It’s been nearly four years since the last MAMMOTH GRINDER full length Extinction Of Humanity was released via Relapse Records (CD) and Cyclopean Records (LP). That album showcased the band’s direction into a distinctly death metal permutation, full of aggression and punk rawness. The band continued in this spirit on 2011’s split LP with fellow Austin, Texas-based Hatred Surge. Now in 2013, after much anticipation, MAMMOTH GRINDER has found a home on 20 Buck Spin for the release of their wildly destructive third full length album Underworlds. 

Underworlds marks a peak at which MAMMOTH GRINDER have sharpened and perfected their sound into a seething grind/death/thrash maelstrom of intense degree; unrelenting in its concentrated raw precision and focused power, Underworlds careens violently through ten tracks with effortless versatility and the fixated songcraft expected of a band on their third record. Tracks like “Wraparound Eyes” with its Unleashed style mid-section or the short sharp shock of “Paragon Pusher” illustrate MAMMOTH GRINDER’s mastery over multiple variations of metal to assemble their own sound. Fans of Entombed, Pig Destroyer, Municipal Waste, Discharge, Napalm Death and Iron Lung will beat themselves into submission for missing out on this album, so do yourself a favor, and don’t miss out on it... 

MAMMOTH GRINDERis a live band and that is where the songs on Underworlds will expose their most virulent strain. Additionally the album is adorned with artwork by the legendary Joe Petagno whose work has graced albums from artists like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin to Motörhead and Marduk. 

20 Buck Spin will expose the damaging Underworlds on LP, CD and digital worldwide on July 23rd, and MAMMOTH GRINDER shall tour extensively upon the album’s release. In the meantime the band will play out regionally, providing support for the May 10th appearance of this year’s Decibel Magazine Tour featuring Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death and Immolation as it hits Houston, Texas, and a badass spot alongside Magic Circle, Iron Lung, Cruciamentum, Tragedy and the almighty Bolt Thrower at this year’s Chaos In Tejas in MG’s hometown of Austin on Friday, May 31st.

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I cannot find any embeds of this album yet but check out the EP
from last year and it will give you an idea of what to expect!

Thanks to Earsplit PR for link.

Bute - Crustatomic

Band request from France.

Bute are a two piece who manage to make huge racket without

the help of any other band members.

These guys play frantic and fast crust/punk with a blinding disregard
for your ears or sensibilities. This is basic stuff but with the furious
sound of passion that overrides any aesthetics.

Short songs that grab your attention are blasted through their paces,
giving these tracks areal sense of urgency.

This ain't no macho posturing, just some noise filled ditties
to blast away the cobwebs from your brain!

Name your price at Bandcamp

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Ruined Families - Blank Language

Band request from Greece.

Ruined Familes have a violent mix of hardcore and crust
that propels this collection of songs along with aggression
and passion.

The music is dense and chaotic and pretty much unrelenting.
There are some melodic guitar riffs that weave through the
tracks, giving some passages some light and dark sonic
shading but in the whole is pretty full on.

The lyrics are personal and bleak which is reflected in the vocal
style. The production has a "live" feel to it which seems to suit
this band right down to the ground.

Buy from Bandcamp

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Thanks to Bariann at The Black Birch.

Burning Bright - Domesday

Band Request from North Cult Records - a new label
started by Benou from the great French band Direwolves.

With Burning Bright, Benou has hit the ground running - if this
is the quality of music he plans to keep on releasing, I cannot wait
to see what  comes next.

Burning Bright have members from Amanda Woodward and Aussitot
Mort (who I loved) and play a mix of hardcore/crust/screamo.

The songs are epic and massive sounding with filthy guitar riffs
that actually have tunes to them rather than a blanket of identical
tracks that blend into one sludgey mess. Great burts of solos are threaded
behind the powerful rhythm section which retain their brutal sound
thanks to an excellent production job.

The vocals are emotionally charged with passion but it is the
little details that make this record stand out - the sparse plaintive
guitar chords ringing out with distant reverbed vocalst in "Kalopsia"
or the horns/keyboard/samples at the end of "Dreamcatchers".

Highly fucking recommended!

Name your price at Bandcamp

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Cortez - Phoebus

Request from Lost Pilgrims Records.

Cortez are a hurricane made of evil intent, that leaves a trail

of destruction behind in its wake.

Hardcore is twisted into song passages that rub shoulders with

crust and sludge giving you a raw distorted barrage of dense,

chaotic tracks, overlaid with a bleak and ferocious emotional

message that is expressed through barking and tortured vocals.

Song compositions are taut and complex but the crucial basic

element that make you want to bang your head remains.......

this should sit nicely next to your Converge or early Botch collection.

Band Bio: “Phœbus” , the new album of Cortez, confirms the come back of the Swiss trio, just after the release of their 10’’ split with Plebeian Grandstand released last year.With this album Cortez is again proving that you can get out of the habitual pattern of power trio(guitar, drums and voice), and still burps noise-hardcore fury and incandescent anger. The band recently reorganized itself with the arrival of Antoine Tinguely on the guitar (ex-Berserk For Tea Time), Samuel Vaney, former guitarist, is now supporting the band as composer / mixer.Recorded partly in the REC Studio of Serge Morattel in Geneva, drums, and partly in their own rehearsal space, guitars and vocals, this new album is the result of hard work, giving the band big freedom in creation and the possibility to fully assume the production process. Complete independence in learning, creating and finalizing the record.“Phoebus” reaffirms the taste of Cortez for saturation, but also explores a wide range of possibilities. 

Like a threatening and corrosive mist the aggressive sound still remains intense, melancholic and emotional.The artwork accompanying this new album has been entrusted to Dehn Sora, bringing a subtle spark to this dark masterpiece.As a reminder, Cortez, formed in 2001, was revealed in 2005 and the horrific world of their first album “Initial”, was praised by unanimous reviews. After the release followed several tours in Europe, during which the group forged a reputation of exceptional performers. Sharing the stage with THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, ISIS, UNSANE, JESU, GOJIRA, BURST, THE OCEAN … each occurrence tended to confirm and affirm their originality and mastering of their subject.

This masterpiece is due out in january 2013 on Deluxe digipack CD (Lost Pilgrims Records, Basement Apes, Get A Life! Records) and 2XLP (Throatruiner Records, Basement Apes, Get A Life! Records)

Buy from Bandcamp

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Haut Et Court - La Vie

Band request from Eastern France.

Haut Et Court describe themselves as playing Mathcrust - 

although this is the first time I have heard of this genre, it

describes them perfectly.

Sounding like they should be signed to Throatruiner Records,

playing these 6 tracks is very much like a boot in the face.

Fast and powerful, these songs drip with elements of crust and 

hardcore, while the depth and tone of their sound have that 

black metal sonic solidness that are evident in Coverge or

Trap Them.

Haut Et Court fuse all these elements together with some

wonderfully mangled guitar riffs that strays out of generic

templates and delves into some intricate but still heavy madness.

Production is top notch - keeping the sound big and tight but 

without descending into muddiness. Oh yeah - and the

vocalist sounds like a werewolf fucking around with bad

drugs and a microphone!

If this grabs ya - free download from Bandcamp

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Direwolves - Me From Myself, to Banish

The latest release from the always impressive Throatruiner

Records are the Direwolves. 6 tracks of heavy hardcore crossed

with crust and screamo make this a ferocious beast that wants to

track you down and tear your face off.

Fantastic production makes sure that every riff and scream comes

out crystal clear but still captures the awesome power of the music.

I have being playing this non-stop today and have come to the

conclusion that this could be one of my favourite hardcore

records of the year so far.

Highly recommended!

Bio: "Hailing from Lorient (western France), DIREWOLVES merge modern hardcore, crust and screamo on their debut EP "Me From Myself, To Banish". Recorded by producer/sound engineer Amaury Sauvé at La Senelle, these six songs find the perfect balance between emotion and heaviness, reminding of bands such as Alpinist, Lewd Acts or Killing The Dream. After a self-released demo last year, the Wolves confirm their huge potential - don't sleep on them!" 

released 15 October 2012 

• Recorded by Amaury Sauvé ~ amaurysauve.tumblr.com

• Mastered by Sylvain Biguet 

• Artwork by Fortifem ~ fortifem.fr

• 12"EP limited to 500 copies on clear vinyl

Name your price at Bandcamp

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Broken Limbs Recordings - new releases

Request from Broken Limbs Recordings.

Peter & Bariann have from Broken Limbs have an

incredible amount of releases on their label which

lurks on the swampland of dark, black sounds which

revolve around crust/dark hardcore/black metal.

I am not the person to review these as I know fuck all

about the genres but I do know they made my head feel

as if spiders were eating my brain.

Instead, I recommended those of you into these sounds to

check these two bands at once and make your own mind up.

The first record is No God But The Wild by Hunter's Ground

This is bleak, punishing black metal.

Bio:
Hunter's Ground was established in 2009 as a raw, primitive expression of rage directed at modernity and to re-invent a North American mythos in order to develop a deeper relationship with the land itself through the ancient art of storytelling.
The album was recorded in continuous fashion over 23 grueling hours, using generator-powered equipment to allow the process to take place in the heart of the woods that Waggener resides in without power or running water. The band felt that recording in the same place that the concept of the band and album was conceived would maintain a continuity in the feel of the music and the ongoing narrative of the Hunter's Ground mythology.

The next release is Unsacred with their Three Sisters EP

This is pissed off dark hardcore with a vicious crust feel to things.
Listen to the tracks below to feel the pain!

Broken Limbs Recordings - Three Sisters - 02 Lethe by an_tiarna_dubh

Like I said, these and much more are available from Broken Limbs Recordings

Give them a visit

Comity - The Journey Is Now Over

French heaviness that defies genre tagging.

Comity play a brutish but thrilling brutal mix of hardcore,

sludge and post-metal but keep things dark and dank with

descents into crust.

The four tracks are long and epic with a crushing feel to the

atmosphere. Extreme sonic noise is suddenly brought to

a stillness with piano notes echoing in the silence until

the chaos explodes - this reminds me of when Neurosis

still termed themselves as hardcore but were plainly

mapping new territory into post-metal.

The intensity of these songs seem impossible to keep up

but Comity play the tension out with an ease that is

helped with sudden bursts of Dillinger Escape Plan type

guitar riffs spewing out over the schizo tempo changes.

If you are not aware - I really like this - despite the fact that

it was released in December 2011, this goes onto my album

of the year list for 2012!

Listen

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Pay what you want at Bandcamp on Throatruiner Records -

one of my favourite labels out there at the moment.

Flightless - The Descent

Here is some Hardcore/Sludge/Crust noise from

Australia.

Heavy and intense, Flightless unleash a Converge

type barrage of sound which has a very raw sound

to it. There is some nice metallic riffing going on

here and a dense, solid feel to things.

The vocals are up in the mix a bit too much for

my taste but if ya want some aggressive tunes in

your face, give this a listen.

Free download from Bandcamp

Discharge - Never Again

Ever since the death of Seth Putnam, I have been

listening to early abrasive punk - this will probably

be the theme of posts this week.

This Discharge album is a collection of singles and

EPs and gives a pretty good indication of their sound.

If I need to give a description, you are probably on

this blog by mistake.

Band Info

Litany For The Whale - Dolores (2009)

Some really excellent crusty hardcore here with

a healthy touch of noise rock as well.

The intro starts with what sounds like a piano

being thrown down some stairs before the pounding

songs start being played.

There is a hint of sludge in the solid dense sound

but never strays from hardcore.

The small instrumental interludes do not break

up the flow but rather act as beginnings for

the heavier tracks.

The album has quite a short running time but

I think any more tracks would possibly spoil what

is on show here - a very accomplished record.

Listen

Band Info