Spiral - Our final days on Bellicus prime (2014)

Spiral is not an easy band to describe. their songwriting is definitely progressive, but don't really fit with he sound you would associate with progressive rock or progressive metal neither. maybe we could say they're somewhere between Pink floyd and Oranssi pazuzu. anyway they're great and their new album Our final days on Bellicus prime is brilliant and very addictive stuff. they had in mind to do a double concept album (they use to release concept albums) but instead they kept only the very best material they had gathered. and indeed everything in the album is very good, from the more quiet parts with keyboards and violin to the metal riffing with distorted screamed vocals parts. whatever they do it sounds good, and often comes as a surprise. highly inspired songwriting combined with a flawless execution (including some very nice guitar soloing, and good vocal lines even though it's mostly instrumental).

highly recommened! one of my favourite discovery in 2014.

their Bandcamp

Anaal Nathrakh - Desideratum (2014)

Desideratum is Anaal Nathrakh eight full lenght and it contains every elements that has at a time been included on their previous album and is another proof of their great ability at combining the ultra-violent sonic aggression of black metal / industrial (with a touch of grind  / punk) with the epicness of more traditionnal heavy metal (melodies and clean singing included). compared to their latest work they added some more industrial elements (noises and some nearly hardcore techno beats) which higher even more the crazy agressivity of their music and bring back to mind their Codex necro early album. but at the same time they kept the melodic / epic side of their more recent albums. they managed once again to find a good balance (although a quite chaotic one!) and the album is very enjoyable, at the same time catchy and brutal in it's very special Anaal Nathresque way! 

the Metalblade website for the album

Idiots parade - Idiotsgraphy 2005-2013 (2014)

Idiots parade was a female fronted grindcore band (old school punk hardcore related grind) from Slovakia. they are releasing a 47 songs discography with Bones brigade records (by the way it's good to see Bones brigade active again!). everything they released from 2005 to 2013. sadly this Idiotsgraphy will stay as Idiots parade last release. but at least they leave with a very good testimony of what they did. true grindcore in it's purest form, raging, fast, simple but straight to the point riffing. they were really mastering the grind formula and delivered it in a very enjoyable, powerfull and lively form. if you're into grindcore check it and you won't regret!

the BC page.

11Paranoias - Stealing fire from heaven (2014)

Stealing fire from heaven is 11Paranoias second full lenght release this year. I'd say I prefer the dirtier and wilder Spectral bestiaries (see my review HERE) but this one's really good as well and far from a useless release since they tried something slightly different. Stealing fire from heaven, sounds even more droney, dreamy and smokey than their previous records. The cover art from surrealist artist Max ernst and name of the songs "the great somnanbulist", "surrealise" and "retribution of dreams" are not there by chance, the album being infused with surrealistic influences (dreamy and bizarre associations, colourfull and highly psychedelic before it's time). And maybe this time the Bong influence sounds more present than the Ramesses one. There's also a bit of sax and keys subtly adding a nice touch.
A great year for 11Paranoias with the release of two albums, each one being different and great in it's own terms.

the Bandcamp page

Conjuring the nuclear interview (interview with Emesis of Conjuro Nuclear)

following my review (HERE) of the latest Conjuro Nuclear release (an excellent black metal / D-beat / post punk brew you really should listen to) now here is the interview I did via email with CN only member Emesis :


- Can you present Conjuro Nuclear, how did it start and evolved?

Hello Dennis. Thank you for your interest in our work. Conjuro Nuclear was unchained on 2012 by Ghamil (bass) hand by hand with me (Emesis, guitars and the rest), we aborted on 2013 "Luna llena y radiación" and recorded some unreleased demos and shit. During these days the duo splits up and Conjuro Nuclear becomes a solo project from then on. This year (2014) Conjuro Nuclear gives birth through spores to their self-titled work and it will simply destroy the world.

- You told me that the equation Discharge + Joy Division + Emperor that I used in my review to describe your music was a good explanation, was it your project at the start to mix these styles or did it just evolved that way? do you see significant other influences in your music?

Yes, d-beat, black metal and postpunk have influence on our music and you named some bands that are representative classics of this genres. Psychedelic music, darkwave and soundtracks are other sounds that have influence on my music. Conjuro Nuclear takes the darkness and howls of black metal, like the energy, dirty production and minimalist structures of punk, and the ethereal atmosphere of darkwave. Although at the start we're already listening to these genres of music, we don't have intention to record nothing but punk noise, like a raw blend of Bathory with Discharge (answering your question, the second option is the best). I don't know how exactly they influenced me but a lot of musical projects exist that directly or not inspired our work in some way. Some of them are Bathory, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, Darkthrone, Carpathian Forest, Joy Division, Amebix, Misfits, Discharge or Sopor Aeternus... but I'm digging too into other underground bands like Acid Witch, Cult of Fire, Ice Ages, Summoning, Nachtmystium, Hateful Abandon, Urfaust, Circle Of Ouroborus, Hail Spirit Noir, A Forest of Stars, A Black People, Lost Tribe, They Feed At Night...

- What about the making of yourself titled album, how was it written, recorded, etc..?

If I don't remember wrong the first songs for this work were written and recorded near December 2013 in Barcelona and finished at April 2014 while I was using as studio the infected basement of the ruined house where I was living for some months. The gears varies on each song but aren't nothing remarkable. The most representative equipment used on both albums consists of a shitty laptop with an external sound card and Washburn X-100 guitar, the bass model used was a Washburn T-50, and I don't remember the microphone model. For me it’s not important how to define this work (album, demo, tape, EP), what is the audio platform where it’s recorded or where it’s released, these are merely marketing connotations. Here there are just a bunch of songs breathing into the world.

- What about your lyrics?

This work is inspired by the chemical reactions in our heads... hate, depression, euphoria, extasis, madness... dressed on thematic scenarios about apocalypse, witchcraft, visionary plants, recurring nightmares, toxic visions...

- Have you tried to play your music live with other musicians or intend to try it, or will Conjuro Nuclear stay a recorded project only?

For now this will stay as a studio project. Sorry, but at the moment I can't provide much information about this.

- Do you play or have played in other musical project or bands?
No. I had never played in a band before and for now I don't belong to any other project.

- Which bands from your area would you recommend?
I'm listening now to Destino Final, Invasión, Human Bastard, Edenkaiser and Itnuveth.

- What is planned for Conjuro Nuclear in the coming months?

Nothing is planned for Conjuro Nuclear, this is an impulsive work in essence. For now I'm working on writing new music for the upcoming times.

- Which evolution would you like to see for underground music in the future?
I don't care. I assume that the digital era has an important role on the evolution of underground music, which has its advantages and its inconveniences regarding the quality of the stuff released and it also has an important impact into the discographic industry, but as I said before, I don't care. If the discographic industry goes to hell or everybody releases their stuff on myspace, I don't care while we continue having access to musical gems through any way or platform.

- If your music would be used as a movie soundratck, what kind of movie would you see fit for that? or what could be a good read while listening to Conjuro Nuclear?

I would like to see my music on a surrealist/psychedelic horror film with a bit of sci-fi/fantasy and dark humor. Creepy and grotesque. Some films that I like or I watched lately are The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky), Neco z Alenky (Jan Svankmajer), Rabbits (David Lynch), Donnie Darko, Pan's Labyrinth, Fear and loathing in Las Vegas, Fantastic Planet, "Wizards" by Ralph Bakshi (good film with post-apocalyptic/magic atmosphere), Fight Club, Mad Max, Twelve Monkeys... And for the books, The Doors of Perception and Hell and Heaven (Aldous Huxley), Plants of the Gods (Albert Hofmann), Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk), Les Fleurs du mal (Charles Baudelaire) and of course, Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse.

- Something to add?

Thank you for your interest in our music, Dennis.


and as a conclusion here is the link to CN new song, Demonios Danzantes on Bandcamp :
https://conjuronuclear.bandcamp.com/track/demonios-danzantes-4

Chiens / lycanthropy (split 2014)

Two really cool grindpunk bands sharing this split. You probably already know Lycanthropy from Czech republic (but on this one they're not female fronted), as usual they deliver some nicely old school crust related grind although it's a pity the poor production does not help the (otherwise good) songs to shine.  Chiens are a more recent band from Nancy (France), they deliver some faster, harder and really intense grind (and without any production problem). globally a really cool grind release (especially the Chiens side since Lycanthropy does not sound at their best on this one).


Lycanthrophy on FB

Chiens website

The Coffin Birth interview

If you've read the review of their new release called Necrotic liquefaction that i posted (HERE on Blasting days)  or if you read some other grind related blogs you know that Coffin Birth is a recent Australian band and that Necrotic Liquefaction is a killer grind release, one of the most exiting this year.
So I'm really pleased to post below their answers to the questions I sent them for an email interview (Thank you Josh, Isaac and Alex!) :

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

Josh- Isaac and I had known each other for a while before the band through local shows in Brisbane. Isaac knew I'd been wanting to get a grindcore band going and asked if I wanted to get something happening with his mate Alex on drums, who he said could handle the stuff we wanted to play. We jammed a bunch of songs, some of which were actually written for a previous band of mine that had just broken up and then recorded a demo. We hadn't come up with a name yet at this point, so we ended up tossing around a few ideas at a jam and went with Coffin Birth.
I'd say the only difference now is that there is more focus and a better idea of how to make the noise we hear in our heads real.

-do you play or have played in other bands?

Josh- I also currently play guitar for Sick People and have previously played in Nazi Dentist and Downpour.
Isaac- Deathkrvsh was a power violence band I sung for, the only proper band before Coffin Birth.

-sounds like you like to incorporate different elements in your music from old school grind to death metal, maybe a bit of crossover thrash, how would you describe your music and especially your new release, Necrotic Liquefaction?

Josh- I do love a lot of UK grind and crust and those bands would be the biggest influence for when I'm writing riffs, US death metal and Japanese hardcore definitely play a big part too. I'd just call us a grindcore band.

-what about the lyrics of the songs?

Isaac- The lyrics are generally depicted through the eyes of a sadistic character or an opinion of mine about the current economy, governments and in particularly the politicians that seem to be content with running our earth and those that inhabit it into a disparaging place to exist.

-how did you get into extreme music? What does grindcore mean to you?

Josh- I started really getting into metal when I was 13 back in '00, pretty obvious stuff like thrash and roadrunner bands, but around that time I was introduced to extreme metal by an Australian music TV programme called Rage. Rage would have late night specials on the weekends which would run from about midnight until the early hours of the morning. One weekend they had a metal special which I taped to VHS and I rewatched it over and over and over. The videos for Cannibal Corpse's Sentenced to Burn and Morbid Angel's Where the Slime Live really blew me away, I'd never seen or heard anything like it before and I was hooked. Grindcore as far as subgenres go has a fairly broad spectrum of sounds and fans, but as are what the stuff I like means to me, it's a big 'get fucked' to everything that I think sucks about music.

-Necrotic liquefaction is for the moment a self-digital-release, 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?

Josh- I just think digital music should be free, but we are stoked that people choose to donate money. A lot of bands outside punk and underground music in general could learn a few things from DIY.

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

Josh- Bands like Metallica and Slayer made me want to pick up a guitar in the first place and taught me the importance of a solid riff. Early 80's hardcore like Black Flag, Minor Threat and Negative Approach introduced me to DIY and punk aesthetics. Bands like Napalm Death, Insect Warfare, Rot, Repulsion, Terrorizer, Discharge, Deathside and Bastard have had more of a direct influence on the sound of Coffin Birth as for as my songwriting goes.

-which bands from your area would you recommend?

Isaac- Black Deity, Shitgrinder, Smoke, Sick People, Idylls, White King, Puke, Ripped Off, Vile Specimen, Shackles (even though those grubs are from NSW), Gruel, Last Chaos, Zodiac, Dreamtime, Hobo Magic and Frown, to name a couple.

-which evolution would you like to see happening in the underground scene?

Josh- I guess I would like to see more girls getting involved in bands, more tolerance and less people on the sidelines complaining about everything yet contributing nothing of their own.

-what is planned for Coffin birth in the coming months? Are you already preparing a next release?

Alex- We’re supporting Sete Star Sept and Full of Hell when they go on their respective tours in November, which will both be killer. Necrotic Liquefaction is going to be seeing a release on Dead Heroes and some songs we recorded over a year ago will finally be coming out as a split 7" with Blightworms  on Lacklustre. We’re always writing new tunes and have a couple other splits in the works.

-something to add?

Isaac- Greatly appreciate the time you've taken to do this, thank you.