Husmanskost - Ambi-Valence (2018)

Ambi-Valence is the third Husmanskost album  and this time again they improved on the previous one. Their old school grindpunk is even more catchy and straight to the point, stripped of all unecessary stuff like sample intros and with a bigger dose of heavier thrashy mid tempos parts letting you breath between the blast/d-beats. They also added a few more melodic riffs and choruses, a bit like in neocrust or in Nasum, and it works well.  Ambi-Valence is a really enjoyable album that is doing well everything I like in grindpunk. Like their previous one this album is among my favourites grind albums of the year. Highly recommended!

The BC page. 

Cognitive Dissonance video

HØRDÜR - Hubris (2018)

HØRDÜR is a new French grind band, and Hubris (released by the also new, good, and French grind label LIXIVIAT Records) is their first album. They play some old school grind, raw and simple, with a drumming alternating d-beats and blasts and some riffing with some neocrust and black metal kind of melodies (this is not super melodic as you guess, but I mean this is this kind of riffs...). They are good at doing it and if you like the more old school and punkish kind of grind you will very likely enjoy this album. I do!

The BC page 

their LIXIVIAT Records page

Oxygen Destroyer - Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death (2018)

Bestial Manifestation of Malevolence and Death is the first album of Oxygen Destroyer from seattle. But what they play is not really US style, their old school thrashy death metal reminds mostly Vader, and also the South-America black/death/trash scene, with also a modern touch with hyperblast drumming to speed up things even more. It's a style of death metal I like very much and since they do it really well, with excellent riffing, drumming and songwriting skills, it makes an album I enjoy a lot.  I will listen to it many times with pleasure. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

H880 - Self-Perception (2018)

H880 is a French producer that combines his techno beats and industrial/noise/dark ambient music. His new album Self-Perception (with the good German label Instruments of discipline) is another testimony of his skills at producing that mix with some more straight-forward beats driven tracks and some more ambient ones. I especially likes how he discreetly adds eerie unsettling sounds here and there, like it's coming from a great distance, from some forgotten memories or from deep under water, to contribute to his mysterious and dark atmospheres. Good stuff.

The BC page.

The Icarus Line - All Things Under Heaven (2015)

I really should have reviewed All Things Under Heaven back in 2015 because it's awesome. This latest The Icarus Line album carries on the wake of The Stooges (the rocking parts but also the most trippy noisy parts with saxophones), and reminds also a bit Destruction Unit and even Brainbombs. A beautifull psychedelic and noisy garage rock masterpiece. Possibly their best one after Penance Soirée.

Their website.

Napalm Ted - Mouthfull (2018)

Napalm Ted is a Finnish grind trio and Mouthfull is their new cassette (9 songs for a bit more than 20 minutes). This is grindcore with some death/gore elements. Everything is well executed and they're quite good at writing dynamic and catchy songs. cool stuff!

The BC page

Uniform - The Long Walk (2018)

Last year the first Uniform album made it to my favourite albums of the year list. The Long Walk, their second one, is just following the same way. It just take you to the guts and doesn't let you go, I listen to it every day and each time I like it more. How does it sounds? perfect indus/noise metal, with an immersive sound, but also catchy riffing and impressive vocals. Everything is excellent. What's new since the first album? Unlike the first album all the drumming is not programmed, just some parts, Greg fox (drummer for Liturgy, Ex Eye, etc.) has been added to the band and so there's a more live feel and dynamism to the songs. I had no problem about their digital only drumming, but I think it's now indeed even better. I very highly recommend this album. Awesome stuff!

The BC page.