Hatred Surge - Human Overdose (2013)

Hatred Surge from Texas (one guy played with Insect Warfare) is sometimes described as powerviolence, but to me their new album called Human overdose just sound like some good old school death / grind with crust / thrash elements. It has some fast grinding parts but also many mid tempo parts, good grooves and trashy and morbid riffing. Sounds a bit like Napalm death's Harmony corruption crossing Sepultura's Beneath the remains. Which is cool in my opinion. Nothing groundbreaking but nicely familiar and pleasing.

You can listen to it on their Iron lung's BC page.

Government flu / Poison planet - Government poison split EP (2013)

Government poison is a cool split Ep (8 songs, 4 each) from two good old school hardcore bands. short, fast and straight to the point songs for a record full of energy. Government flu has a touch of NYCHC style in their music, whereas Poison planet is more straight edge hardcore. if you're into old school pissed off hardcore I'm sure you'll like this split EP.

Government flu website (where you can listen to their side of the EP)

Poison planet BC page

Murder by death - Bitter drink, bitter moon (2012)

Murder by death (cool band name for a cool band!) are from Bloomington, Indiana and they play a kind of gothic / dark americana rock, somewhere between Nick Cave & the bad seeds, 16 horsepower and Bruce Springsteen.
Bitter drink, bitter moon is their 6th album, released last year by the excellent Bloodshot records. the electric cello adds a nice touch, the vocals are excellent but moreover the songs are great, sounding really heartfelt and vibrant. if you like this kind of music I highly recommend you this really good album as well as the rest of Murder by death discography.

Murder by death website


and here's the interview I did with them by mail :

-the band have a few years now, can you tell us how was it formed and its evolution up to now?

13 years now! We started as kids just out of high school, and it has evolved into our entire lives. If we aren't touring, we are recording, writing, and managing all the aspects of the band. Its been a great time though and we love what we do.

-what about your new record, Bitter drink, bitter moon?
well, its been out about nine months now, and people seem to like it. We spent almost a year writing it, rehearsing in my basement. It was very nice to be able to spend more time writing and working, as usually we were on the road much too often to get a chance to really dig in and work on some intricate details.

-seems to me that your music sits just between rock and more traditionnal popular music like folk/blues, how would you describe your music?
yeah, each song is different. We try to blend elements of different styles to make our own blend. It's a fun way to write, and it opens a lot of doors creatively.

-the electric cello is an important and distinctive part of your music, how did you get to use it in Murder by death?

Sarah has always been a member- when we started the group, we basically decided to treat it like a lead guitar. She has come such a long way in getting comfortable in a rock setting that she is now doing a lot more of the song writing, which is great to have help.

-this rock / folk mix and the kind of feeling and atmosphere that your music develops reminds me a bi of bands like Nick Cave and the Bad seeds or 16 Horsepower, is it bands that you listen to? what are your main influences?

cool- yeah those are both great bands. I had never heard either band when we started the group, but as we developed people started to compare us to them, and i think it is a compliment and a pretty good comparison. We usually try to do our own thing rather than copy other music, so that is why it tends to be eclectic music. Sometimes each band member will come at a song from a very different place- sometimes it doesn't work, but sometimes it makes a song very unique.

-how did you get in touch with Bloodshot records?

met them years ago and thought they were good folks. glad to be a part of their family.

-do you especially ike the lyrics of one song in Bitter drink, bitter moon, if so, which one and why?

hmm i really like the lyrics of "My Hill". I love story songs that bring the listener in.

-which bands from your area would you recommend?

A band from our town that isn't around any more is called "The Coke Dares". Hilarous short songs, just pure garagy rock pop. A new band from nearby is called "We Are Hex". so amazing. like a female iggy pop.

-I saw you play in Barcelona, do you like touring Europe? are the shows a bit different than in the US?

I do like touring europe- i wish we were a little more popular, it would make things easier. We can't do everything we do in the usa over there, but we still get to enjoy the travel, the food, and the folks we meet. Spain has always been really fun for us.

-what is planned for Murder by death in the coming months?

we have a big USA/CANADA tour coming up this fall and we are hoping to get back to europe early next year.

-a final "full of wisdom sentence" to end the interview?

hmm. enjoy what you do!

Valient Thorr - Our own master (2013)

The music of Valient thorr sounds as much eighties old school metal than its cover art, the difference between the two is that the music is good. it's good mix of what was cool in good ol' metal, a bit of heavy metal, a bit of hard rock, a bit of trash and a touch of hardcore. sharp rythmic guitars, frenzied solos, some melody and some rawness, Our own master sounds a bit like a mix of early Iron maiden, Turbonegro and the Rollins band. if you need your dose of old school foot stomping headbanging no bullshit coolness look no further.

you can stream the full album on their Website.

Famine year - Demo MMXI (2011)

Famine year are a finnish new band playing some really good crust / grind. They released their Demo MMXI two years ago and since they released a split 7' with Hautaus and another 7'.
what I especially like is the rock'nroll vibe that goes through their songs, making it more living, wild and crazy that most crust grind band. this, with the singing in finnish reminds a bit the more rocknroll crust moments of Impaled nazarene. the demo is four cool song plus a cover of Freedumb by NOFX which dosn't sound at all like NOFX, which is ok for me!
I hope they'll soon released a full lenght record as cool as their demo.

check it on their BC page.

Altar of plagues - Teethed glory and injury (2013)

Altar of plagues were an atmospheric black metal that had something special. now with Teethed glory and injury they went a step further from black metal and are even more special. this new gem in the Profound lore catalog see the band adding more "alien" sounds in their black metal with slight industrial / electronic elements, while the progressive / post nature of the songwriting gets even more developped. the album really gains from this diversity and the more agressive parts (there is still blast beats and black metal vocals in their music) and more ambient ones enhance each other while they embarks you in their constant dialogue.

you can listen to one of the song in the Profound lore page for the band.

Pyramidal - Frozen galaxies (2013)

Pyramidal comes from Alicante (Spain) and they are the best kept secret of psychedelic rock. I just absolutely can't understand why they are not well known yet because they really deserves to. I listened many times to their first album called Dawn in space (see HERE my review of the record and read the interview with the band) and I'm really pleased to hear that the new one, Frozen galaxies is also awesome. so clearly Dawn in space was not a one shot marvel and Frozen galaxies place Pyramidal among the best recent psychedelic / prog / space rock bands. that being said, what about the music? as they had announced, the progressive side of the songs is more developped in Frozen galaxies, and they kept a really good balance between the proggy side (think early Yes or King crimson and not Dream theater) and their old school heavy rock side. what is more prog in the album? the song structure, especially the more than twenty minutes lasting Frozen galaxies, but also the use of saxophone on the first two songs (it works really fine), and of sitar in the last one (Frozen galaxies). so what do we have? heavy sabbathian / 70' heavy rock riffing, progressive rock elements, blissfull psychedelic and spacey atmospheres, excellent musicianship of all the musicians (it's mainly instrumental, but the vocals in Sons of light are also ok, adding something a bit different in the album), four excellent songs each one different from the others, all that making a very enjoyable and addictive album.

more than recommended!

you can listen to it on their Bandcamp.

Mumakil - Flies will starve (2013)

Mumakil from Switzerland are one of the main players in the modern grind / death scene. by modern I mean that their sound is quite clean and powerfull, but it's closer to recent Napalm death stuff than to Nasum. the vocals and sometimes the rythm changes and riffs can also remind Dying fetus (but is less tehcnical). their new album Flies will starve released by Relapse, is a new testimony of their ability to beat your head relentlessly, striking with a surgical precision. personnally I prefer my grind with more dirt and craziness, something maybe less polished and straightforward but if you're into this kind of grind / death Flies will starve will do the job perfectly.

Mumakil on BC.