Evisorax - Goodbye to the feast... Welcome to the famine (2015)

This 12'' called Goodbye to the feast...Welcome to the famine, is the best release by Evisorax so far. The english grinders are still more technical (in a chaotic and furious way) than your average grind but this time it sounds like they focused more on the impact than on the chaotic course and it's for the better. They deliver shorter, more compact songs, in a more "normal" grind format along with a five minute, slower and more "melodic" song, in a kinda neo-crust style. They also get a better production ont his one (raw and powerfull). They start their new association with Bones brigades records in the best way with this very good piece of grind.

Megaton leviathan - Past 21 beyond the arctic cell (2014)

With a name like Megaton leviathan you'd expect some brutally heavy music. But no, that's not what they do, but it's excellent anyway. Their music is more in the vein of bands like Earth, Arbouretum or maybe even The silver mount Zion orchestra. The tempo is slow, the mood is quiet, layers of droning guitars, subtle arrangements, clean solemn / ritualistic  male and female vocals, acoustic guitar parts, cello parts. What is more especific in their sound compared to the bands previously cited is their somewhat psychedelic melodies (trippy in a tone more spacey / mystical than flower power, and with a oriental like flavour in one of the songs especially) and especially the nice guitar solos (or soli).  their album released in 2014, Past 21 beyond the arctic cell, is really crafted with taste and makes an enjoyable sonic journey.

Their BC page

Beton - Konsky kokot (2014)

Beton from Slovakia is one of the best band playing the crust meets death metal  style I heard recently. their album, Konsky Kokot released last year is a really well done and enjoyable headbanging festival. If you like dwelling into Dis-Entombed territory, just put on your leather vest, listen to Beton and I garantee you won't regret!
They really are excellent and deserves to be more well known.

The BC page

Suffering mind - Waste farm (2015)

Sufferind mind, from Poland, is one of those highly productive grind band. and that's cool because they also happens to be one of the best grindpunk band. most of the time they are releasing splits. Who said Agathocles? yes, surprise surprise, they recently released one with Agathocles!  that was bound to happen... there's also one with Detroit (don't miss this one!), and Lifes, and Nak'ay. but a 12' EP is coming soon! it's called Waste farm and most of it can already be listened to on their Bandcamp, and  it's killer stuff! simple but very effective, and with a production better than on some of their other releases, while keeping an old school grind feel. nice grind punk drumming, good dual vocals, good hardcore trash riffing, a good balance between speed and agression and groovier parts to get dynamic and memorable songs, and you get a very solid candidate for being one of the best grind release of the year... that's it... a mandatory listen if you're into grind.

their BC page

Anholt - Karma evangelika (2014)

This russian black metal one man band deserves more recognition for it's first album is really good and interesting. It's really black metal without belonging to a specific current in black metal, combining in a personnal and effective way different elements from various black metal schools. You have the strong msytical and epic atmosphere like in the original BM scene, but with machine drum parts that add some more brutality with ferocious blasts and a cold industrial like feel, and with some noisy guitar layers beside the more melodic lead parts, it evokes the more modern and experimenting BM school. The songwriting is inspired and the songs memorable. One of the best BM release for last year and a very promising start.

If you like quality black metal don't fail to check it's BC page.

Autopsy - Tourniquets hacksaws and graves (2014)

Autopsy are definitely back! after an excellent Headless ritual (read my review Here) they stroke again in 2014 with another really good album nicely called Tourniquets, hacksaws and graves. well, maybe it's not as good as Headless ritual, maybe it's a little bit more straightforward with less surprising twists in the songs. But it's still a really good and enjoyable old school death metal album. Easily better than most other death metal release. I said it was old school, but don't think old school like early nineties, it's more old school like late eighties (the band started in 1987) and some songs wouldn't sound really out of place on Hell awaits (the second Slayer album). So it's kinda proto-death metal more than old school death metal. anyway it sounds like Autopsy (with the trashy / punk rythms, the great grotesque vocals of Chris Reifert, the crazy soloing, the morbid melodies, the slower doomy parts, etc.) and Autopsy is good for you! 

Abortion - Konvert (2014)

When it comes to old school grind Abortion, from Slovakia, counts as one of the "big names". These guys started releasing grind records in the early nineties and their ability at doing it the right way imposed them as one of the major forces in the excellent eastern european grindcore scene. Konvert, released last year, is their sixth full-length (along with many splits) and it's another concentration of good old school grind, firmly rooted in hardcore punk, with many mid tempo parts with a good groove, good typical grind accelerations and efficient trash-punk riffing. It's as typical grind as it's cover art is but what matters is that it's a really enjoyable grind album. good stuff. They don't disappoint.

Their Bandcamp