Cut to fit - The doors of deception (2013)

Cut to fit is a finnish grind band that is around since 2008. The doors of deception is their latest release (for the previous album, see my review HERE). the album is all about grind, the old school way, but faster, the typical (and so cool!) punk sound / vibe and the ridiculously fast parts. and by fast I mean not fast like a grind band, I mean fast for a grind band! so you know, really fast then.. and at the same time with a really loose and spontaneous feel, not the cold technical stuff.
if you're into grind you'll love it!

their Bandcamp

their website


their singer answered to my questions by mail, read it below :

-can you go back to the origin of the band and tell us how it happened? what was he project at the start and how have you evolved since the beginning of the band?

Everything great begins with something less great. I was struggling with my obligatory civilian service in 2008 and was denied all the welfare benefits my peers got (no one payed the rent, for example). I kept telling everyone I'd like to have grindcore band, and I wanted to include my brother, since everyone just kept mocking his skills as a guitarist. Yeah, he did suck, but this was sort of "our thing". I wanted to be careful with who we ask to join the band, but he went drinking with Vili and the next morning he just told me Vili would play the other guitar. Three of us had a shitty proto-band called Havoc Supreme with two other good friends of ours as kids, so it seemed fitting. We found our drummer Miro from the internet. We started "writing" songs in the first rehearsals, and in two or three weeks we had recorded the first demo.. The biggest changes came in 2010. First Vili quit the band. Then Miro got tired of playing gigs and quit. We had an upcoming Obscene Extreme show we did not want to cancel. Eetu went drinking with Vili again and told me the next morning that he'll be playing drums from now on. It  was one of the best things that ever happened.

-do you play or have played in other bands?

Yeah, we have played in shitloads of other bands too. At the moment Vili plays guitar in Inferia, a band older than himself! Eetu plays in a punk band called Zyprexa, has some sort of stoner project and whatever, I just do my own semi-acoustic voodoo-shit while I wait for them to have enough time to focus.

-what do you want to express through your lyrics?

Kinda big question.. We have 116 songs right now, if my memory serves me right. Mainly it's sharing my perception of this reality, but the focus seems to change on every album. I guess it all just paints a picture of our personal growth, my fears and frustrations and things like that. I find it quite hard to connect with most human beings, so there's quite a lot of some sort of feeling of social exclusion. But I am not misanthropic. I love people on the paper, but the reality of their social mind games usually just disappoints me. In one review we we're referred to as "beatnik grinders", I think it seemed quite fitting!

 -what about The doors of deception? In your opinion how is it different from your others records?

 Well, I think they're the best songs we ever had, but we kinda rushed it. I'm not going to tell you we won't do that mistake again, because I know we will. We're impulsive and impatient. It would have been way better if we would have recorded it live. Still, I think those songs just CRUSH! Of course we are still on our way to that "own" sound, I think the next album will be way better. But we prefer playing live, and albums are more like checkpoints in Crash Bandicoot, or something.

-The doors of perception features on the list of my favourite grind records in 2013, what would be your own list of favourite grind (or related) records released this year?

I always have trouble remembering which albums came which year, but I'm quite sure these were all last year:
Feastem - Avaritia Humanae
Nistikko - Kehä
Spawn From Deceit - Woven Promises, Unravelled Victims
Famine Year - Ja Kaiken Kruunaa Kuolema
And of course Magrudergrind's self-titled is the best grind album of any year!

-do you think grindcore (or grind related music) can be undestood as a reaction against the recuperation and commodification of punk?

I'm not sure about that. In many levels it has helped grindcore, too, to flourish. When the "marginal" things grow bigger, the smaller things in their marginal get more attention too. Personally I'm quite happy about the fact that people who listen to music seem to be more open to new things than few years back. I don't believe we'll ever get our living out of playing grindcore, to us it's more important to have some people who would still be eager to listen to this noise. I acknowledge that being independent lets you have certain creative freedoms..

-do you think that the DIY way of action could be a global alternative or do you see it more as a practical way of growing for an underground band?

Depends entirely on the scale of things. Aldous Huxley predicted in his Brave New World Revisited, that this world will eventually be so bureaucratic it will stumble on it's own impossibility. We are pretty damn close to that point, and it has already sprouted a sort of social microcosmos, where people actually get tired of bureacracy and start doing shit themselves. To me this is always a hope inspiring sight, but then again here in Finland things take much time since majority of people will let the state fuck them sideways for years before they'll decide they are sore enough to get mad. Globally there's kids who claim to have solutions for cleaning pollution from oceans, more efficient electric cars and greener technology, but the dinosaurs of economy keep them from getting funding in fear of change in the global status quo. But the generation of revolutionary ideas (and ideals) is there, waiting. We're not doomed yet. We're just waiting for the dinosaurs to die.

 -I like the fact that you have a real website for the band, with many informations, links, writings, etc,, some thought about it?

I think it's a great way to gather things together, instead of having just a boring chickenshitfacebookpage that won't even work, and reaches only those who are using the service. We use Facebook mostly to write something totally irrelevant and moronic or confusing on our wall.. And when it comes to writing, well, as you might have gathered I write quite a lot, so it is a way of digging deeper into some themes that are involved in our albums. Since you only have something like 8 or 10 verses, you really need to cut your thought to fit the songs, too.

-I read that you're interested in psychedelia (at least one of you!), do you relates it to playing grind? If so, how? Or do you just keep your “psychedelic side” for your other musical project(s)?

I think my interest in psychedelic, consciousness altering experience is pretty much related to grindcore too. Since I don't do any drugs (The rest of the band does whateverthefucktheywant!), our shows are my "drug". I black out instantly when Vili counts the first song in, and the next thing I usually actually realize is lying backstage, out of breath. Again, Huxley helped me understand this thing better. It's the lack of oxygen kicking in, combined with adrenaline rush and somewhat spiritual experience of the pure noise and resonance of the guitar amps and drums.  Also we think intuition is the key of writing music, most of our songs are played live in their early stages, when we usually fuck them up, and then we realize a minor mistake, that actually makes the song even better. Probably not the most conventional approach to writing music.

-which bands were more influential for you, either for the music or for other things?

For me personally Neurosis, Tom Waits and all the music Peter Dolving has done. I think we're all influenced at least by Magrudergrind, which we had the honor to play live with, Phil Anselmo's several projects, which we grew up with, and Sepultura, since they are just the best heavy metal band in the world.  We listen to all kinds of music, hip hop, punk, blues, jazz, whatever! And of course it always affects you somehow.

-which bands from your area would you recommend?
The forementioned Nistikko, Spawn From Deceit, Famine Year and Feastem, and some other great groups like Psykoanalyysi, Nothing More To Eat, Lurk, Midget Fetish, which is not a porngrind band, though the name would imply so..

-which evolution would you like to see for underground music in the future?

All sorts of experiments are always welcome. Music evolves with people, and I think we are on the edge of something new and interesting.

-what is planned for Cut to fit in the coming months?

Hopefully we'll get abroad very soon, we're also working on new songs and hopefully get to play shitloads of shows.

-something to add?

If you want to have us play where-ever-you-happen-to-be, contact us at cuttofit@windowslive.com, we have no sense of self-worth and we're cheap.

Domovoyd - Oh, sensibility (2013)

Oh, sensibility, by the finnish quartet Domovoyd (released this year on Svart records) is an album in which I like to get lost into. it's a really trippy and addictive listening experience and that's why it made it into my best of heavy / psychedelic album for 2013. one of is strenght is also the originality of its take on the spacey psychedelic kind of doom. they play some occasionnal Sabbath inspired riffs butunlike many doom album it's not all about the riffs, the heavy trippy atmosphere it develops is more created by the thick layers of fuzzy and noisy guitars. the guitars bring some melodies but even more they bring an almost physical impression to the listener, somewhere between heaviness, noise and drone, but with some potent psychedelic effects. and the more you get into the album the more it progress from doom songs to trippy "noisescapes". and you get lost into it, in a smokey haze of guitar sound and hypnotic rythms.

try this sensorial experience on their Bandcamp.

a selection of excellent 2013 releases in various styles

here's a list of some albums I really enjoyed in 2013, which doesn't really fit in my list of best heavy / psychedelic stuff (that you can read HERE),  and won't fit either on the grind list and death / black / trash lists that will come later. I give it in no specific order. your comments are welcome.

-The Funeral and the Twilight - lust        review & interview

-Comadre - st                                         review

-Beastmilk - Climax                                review

-Lux interna - there is light in the body, there is blood in the sun

review

-Ascetic - self initiation                           review

-Coliseum - sister faith                            review & interview

-Ruined families - blank language            review & interview

-The black heart rebellion - har nevo        review

-Correction house - last city zero              review

-Circle of Ouroboros - The final egg         review

Ratbomb - Lowcost gangstas (2013)

Warning : play this album and you'll immediately get caught in a whirlwind of trashy grind crust and for the 20 next minutes you'll be seen headbanging with a stupid smile on your face.  
Lowcost gangstas is the second explosive album of the french grinder gang from Stasbourg called Ratbomb. and it's as cool as the first one (reviewed on Blasting days HERE). no big differences from the previous album but that's fine with me. you'll get the grindpunk drumming,  the crusty trash / crossover riffs grinding their way to your brain. the old school vocals are again very dynamic, adding some more energy to some already frenetic songs. it seems that they are not really well known in the grind / punk circles outside of France but I wonder why because their two albums are really excellent, at the same time punishing and fun.

discover it on their Bandcamp.

and, if you understand french, read the interview we did by mail :

-Est-ce que vous pouvez revenir rapidement sur la naissance de Ratbomb ? c'était quoi le projet à la base?

David : Ratbomb est constitué de 5 personnes : Gralex (chant), Ludo (batterie), Antoine (Basse & chant), Max (Guitare et chant) et moi-même (Guitare et chant). Le line-up actuel est issu de notre ancien groupe de Death Metal. Lassé de ce registre qui ne correspondait plus à ce que nous voulions faire, nous nous sommes lancés en novembre 2010 dans l’idée de faire du Grind teinté d’influences Crust, Hardcore, Sludge ou même rock’n’roll. Bref, un registre plus en adéquation avec nos goûts et aspirations en matière de musique.

Après avoir travaillés quelques mois sur des morceaux, sorti en février 2011 une petite démo en ligne intitulée «A few minutes of dirty rage », notre baptême du feu en concert a eu lieu en juillet de la même année, en ouverture de Misery Index. Depuis, nous avons fait notre bout de chemin, deux albums, des concerts en Allemagne, Suisse et République Tchèque et surtout des tas de rencontres.

-je dirais que votre dernier album Lowcost gangstas est dans la continuité du précédent, bien old school grind, avec un côté crustpunk bien présent, comment vous voyez ça?

L’avis que tu te fais de ta propre musique est toujours différent, ça me paraît tomber sous le sens. De mon point de vue, « LowCost gangstas » est plus mature, plus travaillé et plus violent que « Natural born grinders ». Je dirais néanmoins que ce dernier a l’avantage de la spontanéité, mais je le trouve plus imparfait, dans l’interprétation notamment, avec le recul. Et en toute honnêteté, il y a des morceaux sur cet album que je ne peux plus écouter haha.

-quelques mots sur la création de Lowcost gangstas justement ?

Il a été composé et travaillé plus « collectivement » que son prédécesseur, je pense que ça doit le rendre plus cohérent. De plus, nous avons eu le temps de jouer en concert tous les morceaux qui sont dessus, ce qui nous a permis de les travailler, les améliorer et mieux les maîtriser.

Par contre, concernant son enregistrement, nous avons dû travailler très vite. Nous nous étions vu proposer un concert à Strasbourg avec Blockheads et Chiens le 30 mars 2013. Impossible de louper cette bonne occasion de sortir l’album : un concert dans notre ville, avec deux groupes que nous adorons, notamment Blockheads qui a été une de grande source d’inspiration, et organisé par l’Eastern Blasting Crew, association d’amis à nous dont le fondateur, Sam le chti – la bise au passage -, s’occupait de la coproduction de l’album avec son label, EBC Prod.

L’enregistrement a donc débuté le 2 janvier, dans des délais plus que courts : mixage, mastering, pressage, livraison. Au final, les CDs sont arrivés dans la semaine avant le concert !

-De quoi parlent vos textes ?
Sur le premier album, c’était des textes enragés teintés d’idéalisme et d’indignation d’un côté, et une apologie de la fête et de l’alcool de l’autre. Sur le second, nous traitons de sujets « sérieux », globalement en rapport avec les comportements humains que nous voyons autour de nous, mais de façon très cynique. Le titre « LowCost Gangstas » est assez explicité en la matière. Il peut aussi bien parler de nous 5 que de beaucoup de « révoltés » dont la colère mène au ridicule.


-en concert Ratbomb ça donne quoi? Des choses intéressantes à raconter sur vos dernières dates?

En concert, on crie, on saute, on fait des blagues et parfois des bides. On a le sourire quand il y a du monde et que ça bouge dans tous les sens mais on l’a aussi quand il n’y a pas grand monde et que c’est plat. En juin prochain ça fera 5 ans que l’on joue tous les 5, ce qui fait un sacré bout de chemin ensemble pour des jeunes ayant entre 22 et 24 ans. Ayant fait des concerts merdiques (on appelle ça des plans gaufre) comme d’autres extraordinaires, on a appris à avoir le sourire et à être complices à chaque date.

Sur nos derniers concerts, une belle anecdote date de juillet. Nous avons joué en 1ère partie de Brutal Truth à Nancy. C’est un groupe que j’adore et qui était à l’affiche de mon 1er concert de Grind, en 2008. Pendant notre concert, je voyais leur chanteur, Kévin Sharp, qui ne décrochait pas et semblait apprécier notre set depuis son stand de merch. En sortant de scène et en entrant dans les backstages, les 4 gars de Brutal Truth nous ont applaudis et félicités. Ca a eu le mérite de me faire plaisir.

Sinon en septembre nous avons joué à Paris, et Antoine et moi nous sommes perdus pendant plus de deux heures et demie en cherchant la salle à pied, après nous être trompés de métro. Du coup nous sommes arrivés moins d’une heure avant le concert. Le genre d’histoire qui ne fait rire qu’une fois terminée.


-vous avez commencé à composer des nouveaux morceaux? Il faut s'attendre à quoi?

En toute honnêteté, très peu, et ce pour une raison simple : nous sommes adeptes de la composition collective, et Antoine vient de passer 9 mois dans le sud de la France, ce qui a grandement compliqué la donne. Il vient de rentrer, ce qui va faciliter les choses, d’autant que nous sommes très motivés. Les nouveaux morceaux devraient être dans la veine Ratbomb, je ne sais pas quoi dire d’autre !

-Qu’est-ce que vous avez de prévu pour 2014 ?

Pour l’instant, un concert à Strasbourg le 22 février et un autre à Sault-lès-Rethel dans les Ardennes le 8 mars. Nous allons travailler sur de nouveaux morceaux dans l’idée de sortir un EP ou un split dans l’année. Rien de défini, on va travailler et agir comme cela viendra. Et en août 2015 nous avons prévu une tournée à Cuba, on a le temps d’ici là, mais on est déjà bien excités.

-Le grind ça représente quoi pour vous? Qu’est-ce qui vous a attiré dans le grind à la base ?

Le Grindcore est un style de musique, un univers musical et humain qui n’a pas de semblable. Le fait que ce style soit irrécupérable commercialement parlant lui permet de conserver son authenticité. C’est certain, le Grind n’est pas un style homogène et tous les groupes n’ont pas les mêmes influences et ne me plaisent d’ailleurs pas autant. Je préfère les groupes de Grind aux influences Crust et Punk plus que ceux aux influences Death Metal. Mais dans tous les cas, « tant qu’ça blaste », que ça ne tricote pas et que ça ne dure pas trop longtemps, j’y jette une oreille.

Ce qui m’a attiré, personnellement, au-delà de cette authenticité, c’est la violence qui se dégage de ce style de musique. Pas de la brutalité, vraiment de la violence. La musique en tant qu’exutoire, venant de personnes pacifiques mais en colère. Etant également comme ça, j’ai vite été touché par ce style de musique.


-C’est qui les groupes qui vous inspirent ou vous ont inspirés ? Vous avez l’impression de faire partie d’une « scène » ?

Il y en a beaucoup, alors je citerais pèle mêle ceux qui m’ont marqué dans le registre Grind, Crust et/ou Hardcore les dernières années, sans vouloir être exhaustif : Blockheads, Weekend Nachos, Coke Bust, Cursed, The Afternoon Gentlemen, Chiens, Magrudergrind.

 Quant à l’impression de faire partie d’une « scène », j’aurais tendance à dire oui tout en refusant de définir exactement ce qu’est une « scène ». En tout cas, sûrement pas une « attitude », une « morale » ou quelque-chose d’autre d’aussi codé et fermé. La musique Grind ne l’est pas, on ne va pas demander à ses acteurs de l’être. Ce qui m’intéresse, c’est la musique et ce qu’il y a de bons dans chaque personne que je rencontre, pas les polémiques et les jugements. Ce qui nous rassemble est plus fort que ce qui nous divise ;)

-Quelque chose à ajouter pour finir l'interview ?

Je te remercie de m’avoir accordé la parole Dennis, ainsi que pour ta chronique de notre dernier album. Je passe le bonjour à tous nos copains en France et ailleurs, j’ose espérer qu’ils se reconnaîtront. A bientôt sur scène ;)

Satan's Satyrs- Wild beyond beliefs (2013)

Let's imagine The Stooges recording some medleys with songs from Electric wizard and Discharge between two Raw power sessions for the soundtrack of a B movie about the adventures of a satanist outlaw biker gang in 1969. would have been cool isn't it? (of course Electric wizard and Discharge did not exist at the time but well..). I have the impression that on their first album, Wild beyond beliefs, Satan's satyrs (from Virginia) are trying to catch a sound and a vibe that could be close to this fantasy. anyway they did a good job with a very enjoyable result! it manages to evoques the birth of both punk and heavy metal in the psychedelic times but without sounding really like a retro band (this kind of heavy fuzzy noisy guitar sound did'nt exist before the nineties!). this album is released by Bad omen records a promising new record label from London that is specialising in dealing some fresh early heavy metal sound.

ride it on their BC page!

2013 : the heavy, sludgy and / or psychedelic moments

here's my selection of my favourite albums released in 2013 that belongs to the heavy / trippy family : heavy metal, doom, heavy rock, sludge, psychedelic rock and stuff related. 16 albums not really given in a specific order.
of course you're welcome to  say in the comments section which other album would, in your opinion, deserves to be in this kind of list.

-Oranssi pazuzu - Valonielu                           my review

-Windhand - Soma                                          my review

-Subrosa - More constant than the gods        my review

-Horse latitudes - black soil                           my review & interview

-The Body - Christs, redeemers                      my review

-Battilus - concrete sustain                             my review

-Nibiru - Caosgon                                           my review & interview

-Pyramidal - frozen galaxies                          my review

-Seven sisters of sleep - opium morals           my review

-Primitive man - scorn                                    my review

-Blaak heat Shujaa - The edge of an era        my review

-Zodiac - A place to hide                                 my review

-Hollow mirros - Hollow mirrors II                my review

-Valient Thorr - our own masters                   my review

-Naam - vow                                                   my review

-Domovoyd - Oh sensibility                             my review

Who's my saviour - Wall of sickness (2013)

Who's my saviour is a german band founded in 2001, they did just a full lenght record, Glasgow smile in 2007, after two splits. and now there is a vinyl 12'' called Wall of sickness released in september through the excellent 7degrees records. it's eight songs but it's more than enough to let the quality of their music shines. it has a strong metallic hardcore basis and they do it the way it should but what set them apart from the countless metal hardcore bands in activity is the smart additions of some others elements to it. the grind parts adds an extra dose of aggression and energy and more diversity in the tempos. but they bring also some more melodic elements to give the songs some more "colouration" and personnality. the overall result gives a listen that is full of speed and relentless beatings but with each songs bringing a renewed "catchiness" with the unpredictible apparition of some different elements (be it melodic, rythmic, the vocals, etc.). recommended!

their Bandcamp

their blog

Ascetic - Self initiation (2013)

Self initiation is the first album by Ascetic. I t comes from Australia but it is cold. and dark. and slow. and yes it does remind a lot Joy division. it's a new band doing some extremely well crafted post-punk / new wave. they don't really bring something new to the genre but they play it with really good taste. excellent songs good melancholic melodies, good vocals, a softly cold atmosphere growing around you as the album progress.
a new band that matters in the post punk scene.

check it on BC.

Beatriz Carnicero / Pudrëtë split (2013)

this cool split features two cool bands from from south america and playing fastcore / grindpunk.

on one side you have Beatriz Carnicero from Uruguay. I reviewed their previous releases and you can read it HERE and THERE (you'll find as well an interview in english and spanish that we did by mail last year).
their songs are really short (under one minute), fast and raging, with two vocalist singing in spanish. I really like how they strip the songs from all unecessary "fat" and goes straight to the point with a feel of urgency. they really do what I love in punk / hardcore / grind.

On the other side of the split you have Pudrëtë from Peru. what they do is in a similar vein but i'd say it's more crust, longer songs, more slower parts (but it's still fast overall) and with a sound that is less sharp but more raw and noisy.

both side of the split are really good and enjoyable if you're into this kind of music and I really recommend it.

you can stream / download it from free on Bandcamp

Malthusian - MMXIII (demo 2013)

Malthusian is a new death metal band from Ireland. their first release is called demo MMXIII but is released by Invictus productions and with good produciton value so we could say it's more like an EP (three song but around 23 min of music) than a demo (and its members are experienced, some have been in Altar of plagues and Mourning beloveth among others). it's a really solid and interesting release, a start already on a high note. it's rooted in old school death metal, with some elements reminding a bit Morbid angel in it's massive epicness and weird melodies. but it develops also more modern elements in its songwriting, evoking sometimes the darkest doom metal and even more some recent death metal bands like Mitochondrion or Portal, basing more its effects in the building of suffocating and ominous atmospheres than on brute force. we could say they choose with taste their recipes and cook it with all the needed savoir-faire to get their own tasty blend of death metal. if you're into death metal this release really deserves your attention.

its BC page

Wino & Conny Ochs - Heavy kingdom (2012)

I'm a bit late with this one (it's been released in 2012) but it's so good and I still listen to it on a very regular basis so I had to post about it.. Heavy kingdom is a collaboration between Wino (yes this Wino, the one of St Vitus) and a young german folk singer-songwriter called Conny Ochs. Except for some guitar solo it's entirely acoustic. But they prove that songs don't have to be amplified to sound heavy or have a doom vibe! Even if it's more about the melodies than heaviness it still sounds heavy and very... Wino. Because of Wino's great vocals and because of the riffs that are powerful enough to sound great without needing any amplification. I said it sounds very Wino but that doesn't mean that Conny Ochs is a dead weight for this album, far from that, I don't know exactly which part he played in the songwriting but what is sure is that he's a great singer and his vocals are a great complement to those of Wino, bringing an extra dimension to the songs. I'm sure this album will stand the test of time and I would be really pleased if they do another one together.

the Lastfm page

Power Trip - Manifest Decimation (2013)

I suspect the guys at Southern lord records to know a few things about metal. Anyway they did a really good job in releasing this Manifest Decimation, the first full length of Texas' Power Trip. I'd say it's easily one of the best recent records in the good ol' badass 80' metal style. Even if the guys in the band were not even born at that time, when listening to it, you have a taste of the urgency, the attitude and the genuine spontaneity of the good metal of these days. It's mostly thrash metal (think Slayer circa Hell Awaits and Reign in Blood. The riffs, the sound, and the drummer paying some cool tributes to Dave Lombardo)  but also death metal (think Bolt Thrower) and a touch of crossover hardcore (think Cro-Mags).  a really awesome and flawless record (flawless if you don't absolutely needs something really original). Just push play and soon it will grab you and make you headbang and air drum in your living room... You've been warned…

Power Trip on BC

Six brew bantha / Suffering mind (split 7''-2013)

Six brew bantha and Suffering mind are two of the best grind bands of recent years and also are among those very active on the split releases front. so this split bringing them together is not a surprise but is nonetheless really welcome. the Suffering mind side is maybe a bit more old school and with more mid tempo parts while the Six brew bantha side is maybe more all-out grind.

Here is what I already wrote about Suffering mind.

and HERE is what I wrote about Six brew bantha.

if you need your 10 minutes dose of grind assault  don't think twice and go for it!

The BC page for the Suffering mind side

The BC page for the Six brew bantha side.

Head records : the interview

Head records is a label based in Montpellier (south of France) It  releases different kind of underground music, it can be hardcore, stoner, math rock, noise rock, or something else, but whatever the style it's interesting music of good quality (you might have heard about Verdun, Mudweiser, Morse, Pneu, Microfilm, or Cafe flesh for exemple which are among the bands associated with Head records) .
living also in Montpellier I had the occasion to interview Abel, Head records founder, about his label.

Check Head records website

and Bandcamp

and if french is not unknown to you, read the interview below :

-Abel, pour commencer est ce que tu peut revenir sur ce qui t'a motivé et décidé à lancer Head records?

 Abel : à la base j'étais chanteur dans un groupe hardcore / noise qui s'appelait Spinning Heads, ce qui m'a amené à auto-produire des disques, d’où le nom du label Head records puisque sa vocation première était alors de sortir les disques du groupe. Avant la sortie du premier disque en 2006 (le premier 45 tours de Spinning Heads) Il y a eu en 2003 la création d'une association pour organiser des concerts. Au départ Head Records faisait plutôt du management de groupe, aider à trouver des labels, etc., puis a fait label directement. le déclic a été de sortir le disque du groupe Goodbye Diana, ce qui a montré que Head records pouvait fonctionner comme label. 

-Quelles sont tes activités en dehors de Head records? 

Je produits des disques pour des labels de jazz basés à Montpellier, et depuis juin 2013 je fais aussi la programmation du Black sheep. 

-quel était le projet artistique de Head Records au départ, est-ce que ça a évolué? 

Non pas de ligne artistique bien arrêtée au départ, je fais mes choix selon mes goûts personnels tout simplement, aujourd'hui c'est globalement noise, stoner, hardcore, math rock, mais ce qui compte pour me décider à le faire c'est que j'aime la musique du groupe, quel que soit son style. 

 -comment se passe le processus qui va jusqu'à la signature d'un groupe? 

Comme je disais, mon choix se fait selon l'affinité musicale. Parfois c'est le groupe qui m'a contacté au départ, parfois c'est moi. Je reçois plusieurs liens de groupe par jour, qui viennent de presque partout dans le monde, certains sont pour les concerts que j'organise. Pour donner un exemple, sortir le disque de Mudweiser m'a fait recevoir beaucoup de musique de groupes de stoner. 

 -Il a bien marché donc ce disque de Mudweiser? (vous trouverez ICI la chronique Blasting days du disque en question, avec l'interview que j'ai faite avec Jay le bassiste du groupe) 

Oui leur disque a pas mal marché, avec Pneu et Microfilm c'est le groupe du label qui marche le mieux. 

 -tu peux nous présenter maintenant les sorties les plus récentes du label? 

Alors les dernières sorties sont : 

 -Morse : (voir la chronique et l'interview dans Blasting Days). 

les autres gars du groupe m'ont forcé à sortir le disque (lol) ! 

 -Les yeux de la tête : Trio instrumental basse, batterie et saxophone. C’est le deuxième disque que je sorts pour eux, le premier étant co-produit avec un label jazz (Rude Awakening) pour lequel je bosse par ailleurs. 

 -Jean Jean : Duo instrumental math rock, Je les suis depuis leur début et leur ai proposé, il y a quelques mois, de sortir un disque, ce qui est désormais fait. 

En tout cette année 5 sorties donc (ces trois là plus Mudweiser et Town in a Mess, trio rock noise hardcore avec un ancien Spinning Heads). 

-et les prochaines sorties ça sera quoi? 

Le CD de Stuntman (métal core de Montpellier) en 2014 avec Solar flare records et Lost Pilgrims records sur d’autres formats : respectivement vinyle et K7. Mais aussi un split entre Les Yeux De La Tête et un groupe batterie et saxophone de Rome : Mombu. Un autre split vinyle entre deux groupes stoner de Montpellier : ÖfÖ Am et Lahius (voir ici la chronique et l'interview concernant le dernier album d'ÖfÖ Am, The beast within). On travaille aussi sur un prochain album de Pneu, j’espère le sortir en 2014. 

-de façon plus générale, comment tu vois l'avenir du label? 

J’ai prévu d'acheter un camion pour aider les groupes à partir en tournée, d'abord ceux du label, puis d'autres groupes de la région éventuellement. Sinon poursuivre l'activité "normale" chercher à avoir des chroniques pour les disques, les faire connaître via les réseaux sociaux, organiser la distribution (disquaires et streaming / download) et développer la vente par correspondance des groupes et labels que je distribue. J’aimerais créer de l’emploi mais pour le moment ce n’est pas facile de générer suffisamment de rentrée d’argent régulière pour y penser sérieusement. 

-c'est quoi ton avis sur le téléchargement? 

Au début le téléchargement illégal m'embêtait, mais j'ai compris que maintenant les gens voulait être sur d'aimer avant d'acheter et pour ça il faut qu'ils aient l'opportunité d'écouter avant d'acheter…

Nibiru - Caosgon (2013)

This time the nightmarish sludge heaviness comes from Italy. they are called Nibiru and their stuff is like a different kind of drug, a different formula in downward slow heaviness. Caosgon released in the beginning of this year is their fisrt album and it's excellent. I said sludge but it's because of the dirty noisy guitar tone and the raw vocals, there's no punk element or uptempo, it's mid tempo or for the most part slow. what's the most striking is the ritualistic vibe of their music, with a somewhat "tribal" touch provided by some excellent and original drumming. it evokes some primitive lysergik  induced collective hallucinated gatherings. the effects and the vocals and the guitars helping to build these ominous and eerie trippy atmospheres. dark psychedelia in its most powerful musical powers.

their Bandcamp


the guys answered to my questions by mail, read the interview below! : 

-to start with, can you tell us how Nibiru was formed and evolved up to now?

Ardath: The project NIBIRU started at the end of summer 2012, a storm that cleanses the conscience from too many constraints, too many static reality without concrete follow.
I,  RI and SiatriS after the experience in Tronus abyss, safe educational experience for better or for worse, we felt a strong need to free ourselves from to many constraints and fetishes elevated as inconclusive bogus gurus, to leave our creativity flow without chains.
Since everything is born 'CAOSGON "after a few months, recorded live at AADYA TEMPLE, pure, clean, embarrassing, angry improvisation. Listen to "CAOSGON" with the realization that nothing is programmed, pure moment.

-in your interview with The sludgelord you explained the reasons behind the choice of the cover art picture for Caosgon and I thought it was really interesting and revealing about NIbiru, can you explain it also for the Blasting days readers?

Ardath: Watch the video SMASHANAM on you tube, watching those images do not need words to understand how the Aghoris coherently represent the tribal and instinctual universe, that Nibiru wants to bring with the music

Siatris: on the cover of CAOSGON you can see a man, or rather the vestiges of a man, who lives beyond good and evil, he lives for the moment, is pure instinct, pissing inside a skull used as a bowl for the alms, eating junk and cadavers... meditates for hours on the crematorium ground .. maybe he's crazy maybe he's realized, ​​in his mind everything is perfect, the design created by Shiva takes its course, then everything is ok.. perhaps too hard for us to understand…but I find him so fuckin' alive, he can kill with is eyes, the Aghori is the cancellation of the planned consciousness...

-looks like many bands with a very improvisationnal / live approach to their music have a kind of spiritual relation to their music, is it also your feeling?
Ardath: Undoubtedly the live improvisation requires a journey without a destination in the deep inner self, to be overwhelmed by the desperate cry of a man condemned to death, now dissociated from the world, he starts up the scaffold.
A journey into the dark regions of the unconscious ..... Spiritual? It may be, for me it's a never-ending sexual magic .....

Siatris: create an improvised track is like a ritual, you can immediately feel the vibrations if something positive is coming, personally I try to empty my mind, I do not think anything, I let the music flow because if I let my mind interfere, I do a mistake.

-what about Caosgon and the way your wrote / improvised the songs, recorded and produced it?

Ardath: there is a marked road and no indication in the moment, moment in which we have our instruments, each of us develops and shamelessly spews his anger, his love and hate,to exorcise the whole, true animal instinct without foolish and trivial calculation and without any desire for pleasure or meet someone. We exist, only us, it is essential the deep union that creates a single indissoluble bond .... Moreover there is not give a fuck. But if your approach to NIBIRU is this, you cannot go unscathed from listening to these sick notes.

Siatris: we get into our rehearsal room, turn on the instrument, play and record everything live, we understand immediately if a piece suit us or not ... at first listen we imagine immediately what to add in post-production: Virus, Moog, tibetan bell…. I made a premix of the tracks and then we rely on a professional studio to complete the work.

RI: it is much simpler than you might think ... we enter in AADYA TEMPLE without anything fixed, without purpose. Warm up the amps,few cigarettes, beer, wine, and then we start playing live recording. At the end of the evening we hear again if the session has "played" well then Siatris brings home recordings and works on premix. After a certain number of evenings we go into the studio to mix and master the product. And the disc is ready ...

-Caosgon is on my list of favourite heavy records of 2013, and I saw it's also in other similar lists, did you expect the attention you get in the underground circles?

Ardath: yes,I expected it, CAOSGON is outside the box, now the audience listens mostly banality or projects extremely rhetorical, always the same,but this does not mean that those who like a certain genre of music does not notice and feel the wave and the uncontrolled energy of a musical approach disturbing but at the same time hypnotic that makes the world around superfluous.

Siatris: not really ... the problem is that nowadays comes out so much material that it becomes difficult to find something that will really amaze you, and this happens in all genres of music. I felt we did something special, and I was satisfied, but read so many positive reviews made ​​me realize that we have gone a step further..

RI: If you produce a disc even if it is not recorded very well to those who must arrive, arrives... I enjoy it…. satisfies my Ego and gives me reason that Caosgon is "arrived" ..

-you already posted on your bandcamp a songs that would be on your next album, are some other new songs already written? what can you already say about Netrayoni?

Ardath: "NETRAYONI" is ready, it will be a double CD available from the middle of January 2014, nothing has changed with regard to the mode of composition and recording, so much alcohol, a lot of smoke, a lot of anger and a lot of psychedelia.
it was a memorable trip for us, we trust that the listener can grasp the revelation breathing sweat and blood with satisfaction.

Siatris: I am very excited for Netrayoni, unfortunately I have vague memories of evenings spent record the songs, I remember Ardath,totally drunk that falls and breaks through the table of the mixer, I remember that I've played drums naked with a cowboy hat,  and RI, which is "possessed" by the spirit of a famous deceased italian actor , Vittorio Gassman and recites a monologue about life pulling punches against the amplifiers and the walls ... evenings were crazy, came out a lot of great materials and we could not discard it , so we choose for a double cd...there is a raw but powerful sound, better than caosgon, the songs are very dynamic, forget the verse-chorus structure, each song is a cosmic journey.

-what are you listening to at the moment? and which italian bands would you recommend?

Ardath: At this time the projects that have impressed me most are Altar of Plagues, CELESTE, BLACK PYRAMID, very interesting VISTA CHINO and ARCTIC MONKEYS, always present in my listening ROZZ WILLIAMS, NICK CAVE, Fields of the Nephilim.
I do not particularly like the Italian music scene as I don't love the country where I live, in any case, there are some interesting reality, shame that our musical context prefers the banality and commercial ..... Well shit.
The first MARLENE KUNTZ…. I always listen to them with pleasure.

Siatris:Now I listen black metal bands like Tenebre in perpetuum, Fenria, Black blood and sometimes electronic or dark ambient music like the last work of Juno reactor or Troum and Jen Pox... a very interesting italian band for the doom scene is Malasangre,another great italian band is Stoner Kebab and there's also a sludge band from Switzerland called Intercostal, they are fuckin' awesome..

RI: I'm monotonous but I still listen to Black Sabbath, as 30 years ago. Then go back to listening to today SLEEP, YOB, SUNN O))), EARTH, NADJA, DARK BUDDHA RISING, NEUROSIS, ISIS and everything a Post Sludge in its various forms. Currently in Italian I recommend GOBLIN in the 1975's formation.

-which evolution would you like to see for underground music in the future?

Ardath: The mass who listens mostly banality without depth,should suddenly light up and approach those who make music with heart and soul with the desire to release the energy of which we are made without calculation and preconceptions. Pure utopia, now it's all a sad, sad calculation

Siatris: It's a very hard question…I'd love to see a massive return of physical media such as CDs and vinyl, I'm not a lover of the download, I do not like things that can not be touched ... starting from the women! but I imagine that the situation will evolve exactly the opposite ... I'd like to see the collapse of  the multinationals of fake music and watch the small independent labels, those who work with passion, have the deserved success

RI: I honestly cares little, I just know that Nibiru will pull right for his road, for the rest ...

-what is planned for Nibiru in 2014?

Ardath: The new CD will open the year, we would like to introduce ourselves as soon as possible in front of an audience, I am sure that it will be truly perceived the primal force of NIBIRU

-some final words to close the interview?

Ardath: cleared the temple if you will not be affected, unless you want to throw up in pain, is not at all permissible to approach this dwelling.
A few days, and NETRAYONI will exorcises your limits.

Siatris: Many thanks to all the people who, with infinite patience lead with passion blogs and create what is the true underground music scene, Kaly is on your side.

Prepare for the mindscan- Prepare for the mindscan (EP 2013)

Prepare for the mindscan is a band from Buffallo (US), they released this year their first release, a self titled EP, around 15 minutes of hardcore / grind. it's a solid and promising first record, not bringing anything new but showing a very good mastery in their style of straightforward and focused hardcore / grind aggression. the intro is too long but then it really hits the nail and it hits hard. it's really worth some listen and i sure will check their next releases.

you can stream / download it on Bandcamp

and here's their blog.

Correction house - Last city zero (2013)

Correction house is Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod), Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Bruce Lamont (Yakuza) and Sanford Parker (Minsk), so their first album Last city zero raised many questioning and expectations. Does it live up to it? I'd say yes, it's a really good and interesting album. With a lot of diversity but managing to stay cohesive thanks to the overall atmosphere it develops through the record. So what do we have? Mostly industrial beats and bleak acoustic folk but also saxophone (Bruce Lamont), spoken words (Mike IX Williams) and noisy post-rock guitars. It can evoke at times Neurosis, Scott Kelly acoustic solo works, The swans or Einsturzende neubauten. Its global sound is related to industrial, post-punk / post-rock, or neofolk  but in a way that is personal and innovative. While you listen to it it's always evolving and surprising while staying in the same moods and colours. Well, it escapes easy description so you'll have to try it, it's really worth it anyway.

Correction house on Neurot records

Glorior belli - Gators rumbles, chaos unfurls (2013)

witht heir fifth album aptly titled Gators rumbles, chaos unfurls, french black metallers Glorior belli is further devbeloping its blending of black metal and southern groove. they now really sound like a black metal version of Down, the BM elements left are the vocals even if they're not completely black metal either, and a few blast beats, but very few, it's mostly mid tempo heavy metal songs, but with a darker twist. it could also reminds the most "rocking" moments of Goatwhore. this "southern black metal" concept is really cool and Glorior belli are doing a good job at breathing life into it. maybe Gators rumbles, chaos unfurls is lacking really strong epic song of the caliber we could find in the preious records, but on the other hand it's more homogenous and it's really good overall, with a really good atmosphere, ominous but in a warm almost bluesy way, black metal but in the bayou..


www.gloriorbelli.com

Morse - Beliefs destroyer (2013)

Morse is a band from Montpellier (France) that are releasing (with Head records) their first album called Beliefs destroyer, after a demo in 2010.
what they play is a vicious kind of hardcore with some heavy mid tempo sludge riffing and pounding but also a nice touch of noise rock with tricky song structures and rythms. the songs are well crafted and displays a good balance beetween subtility and heaviness, aggression and groove. there's no filler on the album, which is good, but let's hope the next one last longer than 18 minutes!

you can stream it on bandcamp.


Pour les francophones voilà l'interview que j'ai faites à Montpelleir (au Black sheep) avec Abel et Jean-Marc, respectivement bassiste et chanteur de Morse :

-Vous pouvez me faire une présentation générale du groupe et dire un mot sur sa formation?

Jean-Marc : On est 4, moi au chant, Kevin à la batterie, Matthieu à la guitare et Abel à la basse.
Morse existe depuis 2008. on a sorti une démo en 2010 et l'album, Beliefs destroyer tout récemment.
au départ ils étaient trois avec un projet plutôt post-rock, puis après l'arrêt de mon groupe précédent (Breathe your dirt) ils m'ont proposé de les rejoindre au chant et les compos ont changées de direction et se sont durcies. puis le bassiste originel, Sylvain a dû arrêter et avec Abel qui a pris la place on a le line-up actuel depuis 2009.

-certains d'entre vous jouent/ ont joués dans d'autres groupes?

Jean-marc a chanté dans Breathe your dirt, et chante dans Reinfield avec Jay de Mudweiser et Geraud de Verdun,et Antho.
Abel a chanté dans Spinning heads et dans Morgue, et a joué aussi de la basse dans un duo basse / batterie.

-qu'y a-t-il à dire à propos de l'écriture et du "making of" de Beliefs destroyer?

On compose essentiellement en répèt'.
On a enregistré/mixé chez un ami (Michael) qui a un studio et avec qui on a déjà fait la démo. et on a envoyé les morceau à Scott Hull pour le mastering, on voulait un son très dense et connaissant son travail avec Pig destroyer on sait qu'il est familier de ce genre de chose. on s'est mis d'accord pour qu'il bosse dessus jusqu'à ce que le résultat satisfasse tout le monde et après quelques aller retours des fichiers, c'était bon. au final on est bien satisfait de nos choix pour toutes les étapes de l'album.

-comment l'album se distingue par rapport à la démo?

l'album reprend trois morceau qui était sur la démo, qui sont toujours dans notre set Live et qu'on voulait proposer avec un meilleur son. l'étape démo a permis à certains dans le groupe de se familiariser avec l'enregistrement en studio avant d'enregistrer l'album.

-est ce que ça serait pertinent de décrire votre son comme un mélange de hardcore un peu chaotique / saccadé et de la noise, quelque chose entre Converge et Unsane avec une touche de sludge?

oui il y a bien de tout ça. le côté sludge est assez caractéristique du jeu de notre guitariste.

-je dirais que la touche noise rock est ce qui vous distingue le plus de tout ces groupes hardcore metal avec du sludge, qu'est ce que vous en pensez? vous essayez de faire un truc différent ou vous jouez juste ce qui vous fait plaisir de jouer?

peut-être. oui il y a un côté noise rock dans ce qu'on fait, on est peut être plus rock de façon général par rapport aux groupes hardcore métal. mais on fait ça à l'instinct, parce que cette musique nous plaît, on cherche avant tout l'énergie quand on compose.

-quoi dire des paroles?

Jean-marc : c'est moi qui écrit les paroles. on compose la musique, on enregistre ça, et ensuite j’écris et place mes textes sur la musique. les paroles ont globalement une thématique guerrière. j'ai une fascination pour le penchant destructeur de l'homme. les textes ne sont pas politique mais plutôt métaphysiques. sur l'album seul Last resort raconte vraiment une histoire de façon directe. c'est à propos de quelqu'un que je connaissais qui s'est tué en prison en voulant obtenir un transfert avec une tentative de suicide.

-quelle est votre approche de la scène?

Abel : la scène c'est ce qu'on préfère, comme la plupart des groupes.
J-M : sur scène je fais un peu abstraction de ce qui m'entoure et me mets à fond dans ce que je chante, je suis en quelque sorte habité par les thèmes des chansons, c'est parfois un peu violent, mais quand même toujours respectueux du public.
Abel : j'adhère, ça reste toujours quand même "bon enfant".

-vous avez déjà des nouveaux titres d'écrits?
pas vraiment, on a recommencé à composer juste le mois dernier.
J-M : je pense que les prochains morceaux se rapprocheront plus des morceau de l'album Made by monsters, Last resort et Kandhar, avec des parties rapides mais une prédominance de parties mid tempo tout en lourdeur, massif. on cherche un contraste entre hardcore et lourdeur.

-comment vous voudriez voir évoluer la scène underground dans les années à venir?

J-M : j'y trouve mon compte dans la scène actuelle.
Abel : ce qui serait bien ça serait plus de lieux ou les groupes puissent jouer, il faudrait que l'on arrête de faire fermer les bars et lieux de concerts, de coller des procès aux asso qui organisent, etc. il faudrait trouver des alternatives si un lieu ne convient pas, et pas juste le faire fermer..

-quoi de prévus pour Morse dans les mois à venir?

des concerts, une tournée avec Verdun de mars à mai, et on espère un autre disque en 2015.

Beastmilk - Climax (2013)

Beastmilk, a new post-punk band from Helsinki, get noticed and created expectations with their excellent 7'' Use your deluge released last year. they are now back, once again with Svart records, witht their first album called Climax.  their sound reminds bands like Joy division or Fields of the Nephilim but is more punk and heavy and could be related also to The Misfits (including the vocals that are a bit Danzigesque). the album develops a good atmosphere, cold and intimate, it's filled with good melodies, and it also have enough energy to be a real "rocking" album (I'd say Climax is faster and less new-wave than was Use your deluge). it's crafted with a lot of taste and is highly addictive. each songs is a post-punk / gothic rock "hit". Use your deluge was already so good that it was a challenge to top it. but yes with Climax they did it again!  

here's their website.

Agents of abhorrence - Relief (2013)

Aussie grind's Agents of abhorrence previous records were excellent, really grind but in an personnal way, sticking to grind basics and it's over the top intensity but avoiding streotypical song structures or sound. their new album, Relief, is also excellent, maybe their best release to date, and one of the grind record that impressed me the most this year. compared to their previous work, the guitar sound is thicker and the vocals lower (they have a new vocalist who is as good as the previous one, in a different style), overall they have some extra density to their sound. Relief is really in your face brutal, but it's never exhausting and never too much because the songs are really finely crafted, yes it's really songs, grind songs. pure agression but it's also "catchy", in a grind way, and even gets epic at moments. their ability to create such density and intensity in songs and bringing different shapes in grind (for exemple a somewhat "rocking" vibe in the riffing at times, and a drumming that is excellent for the blastbeats but also for slower parts) could place them at the side of bands like Nasum, Brutal truth or Pig destroyer. Grind at it's finest, uncompromising intensity and creativity.

two songs of Relief can be streamed on Soundcloud

Windhand - Soma (2013)

With their new album Soma (and debut full length with Relapse) Windhand is clearly becoming a new doom metal heavyweight. They have the heaviness, they have the melodies, they have the atmosphere (dark and smoke filled) but above all they have the ability to write good songs. Five excellent doomy heavy metal songs somewhere between recent Electric wizard and Black sabbath, plus one good acoustic song sounding no less doom than the rest. They could have edited the last part of the last song, but except that it's a flawless record. I also advise you to check the really good split they did with Cough as well as their first eponymous album.

Windhand on Bandcamp.

Coke bust - confined (12') (2013)

Coke bust is one of my favourite hardcore bands, their fastcore / accelerated straight edge is really hitting hard and fast. they recently released a 12'' (nine sort songs) called Confined and it's another perfect exercise in the style. no bullshit, straight to the point and stripped of any uneccessary fat. really tight and focused. if you like this kind of music don't hesitate, just go for it.

cokebust.com

cokebust.bandcamp.com

Church of the dead - vol 2 terror tales EP (2013)

this is the second Ep by Church of the dead (from Finland), it's called vol2 Terror tales and is the following of Stay out of my graves (which I reviewed HERE, with an interview of the band). I'm pleased to say that this second Ep is as good as the first one and maybe even better. it's really catchy old school death metal, not catchy because it's especially melodic (it's good crazy twisted death metal riffing all the way!), but because the songs are well crafted and going staight to the point, digging on the more trashier and punkier side of death metal for a perfect efficaciency in making you headbang and stamp your foot. good point also for the cool vocals, sounding different than most other deah metal bands, maybe it's a a bit higher, but sill really old school death. my only complain is that it's just three songs.
it's time to release an album guys!


http://www.churchofthedead.net/

Chiens - Vultures are our future (2013)

Chiens from Nancy is a good exemple of the growth of the grind scene in France. their new release Vultures are our future (10'') shows that they really master their fastcore / grind and each of the short 13 songs are sharp and very dynamic so the intensity is at a high all record long. I especially like the vocals and drumming that are typically grind. they found a good balance with the production which is clear enough and raw enough. they don't bring something new but their grind is really well crafted and executed so it makes a really enjoyable listen. their LP released in 2010 and their split with The afternoon gentlman are also really worthy of your attention.


enjoy it on their BC page.

The blood of heroes - The waking nightmare (2012)

if you like dark industrial/ electro beats The blood of heroes (with Justin Broadrick, Enduser and Submerged, with the ragga/jungle vocals of Dr Israel) will be an excellent choice. their second album The waking nightmare sees Bill Laswell replaced by a guy from Pere Ubu on the bass but otherwise continues on the exiting direction of the first album.  frenetic jungle / drum&bass beats or dark industrial soundscape meets cold and heavy guitars and creates ominous atmospheres somewhere between dub  / bass music and metal with diversity and surprises showing regularly without breaking the unity of the album.

zee Bandcamp.

Antigama / The kill / Noisear split (2013)

yep, Antigama, The kill and Noisear on the same split record, exiting isn't it? thanks to the excellent Selfmadegod records for releasing it. eleven tracks of the best grind by three among the best grind bands. each one having a special and personnal take on the style so there's diversity on this split which is always welcome. Antigama plays some modern, technical "sci-fi cyber grind" (justa  way of describing its atmosphere). The kill is more old school straightforward trashy grind, with really cool and efficient riffing and very fast drumming. and Noisear is modern and technical grind with the very special and original riffing of Dorian Rainwater and the drumming of Brian Fajardo. there could be a lot to be said about each of these bands, but hey, Antigama, The kill and Noisear sharing a split? enough said..just go for it!

the bandcamp page for the split.

Caged grave - demo (2013)

I discovered this cool demo thanks to this review on Operation Grindcore, and it's a good discovery. Caged grave is an australian band and they play some fascore with Entombed like riffing and sound or is it some old school death with a frenetic punk delivery? anyway it's fast and agressive in a really pleasant way, this death / hardcore mix (or "blackened hardcore" as people say) is done by many bands these days but it rarely sound so spontaneous and genuine (I was going to say "fresh" but of course "dirty" would be more exact, but well you see what i mean!). it's just eight songs in something like eight minute but it's really worth listening to it. a promising new band to follow.

their bandcamp.

Oranssi pazuzu - Valonielu (2013)

The new Oranssi pazuzu arrive to take us to a new mind blowing musical trip! it's called Valonielu, released by Svart records (20 buck spin for the US) and it was one of my most anticipated album because I was completely won by their previous works (find HERE my review of their previous album, coming with an interview). expectations were high but I'm not disapointed! what's great is that they manage another time to do something different while maintaining the quality and keeping their special touch. this time the atmosphere is less dissonantly nightmarish and the vocals are the only black metal element remaining, the melodies are in brighter colours and the vibe and rhythms are more krautrock, with also more keys part in a sci-fi spacey mood. I'd say Valonielu would be more Can meeting Arcturus whereas Kosmonument was more Mayhem meeting King crimson. what remains the same, is the ability of the band to produce surprising music taking you far away in a surrealistic like trip.

http://www.oranssipazuzu.com/

Chaos echoes - Tone of things to come (2012)

Tone of things to come was one of the most interesting death metal album released last year, opening new possibilities of developement for the style. what Chaos echoes plays is firmly rooted in old school death metal, but with the addition of some dissonant riffing, of doom / drone elements, and, and that's the point, elements of free improvised music.  that special mix results in some truly creepy atmospheres. they dared to follow this path even further with the recording, as a duo (the Uibo brothers) of some entirely improvised track (it's called Duo experience / spectral affinities). i'd say Tone of things to come is a more solid release, but i'm convinced that following the improvised way they can produce some great music. a band to follow. anyway you have to check Tone of things to come.

 their bandcamp.

Inhumate - expulsed (2013)

Inhumate is a french band (based in Strasbourg), with guys playing since 1990 and since 1994 under the name Inhumate.  and the experience shows because on their new album Expulsed (their sixth full lenght) each song is a death grind hit! of course it has the aggression and the speed, all he blast beats needed, but also the groove, monstrous grooves! with some low vocals growled in a very rythmic way, and the simple but very efficient riffs, played with a modern clean and fat guitar tone, helps the song stick to your head. listening to it is a somewhat primitive pleasure, but trust me it's really enjoyable, and i'd even say fun!
the best summary is given when one scream at the start of one of the song "faut que ça chie!" (which could be translated as "it must blast"). et ça chie indeed!

their BC page.