Gendo Ikari - Unit 1 (2016)

2016 was a good year for new grind bands and Gendo Ikari, from Scotland are another proof with their first release called Unit 1. Ten minutes (7 songs) of excellent grind, with a balance of chaos and groove that reminds me a bit Brutal Truth. Each track is really good, and with enough diversity in rhythms so that it grabs your attention from the start and never let you go. They seemed to have escaped many radars but that should be corrected and probably will be, because they are not only promising but already very strong. Highly recommended!

Their BC page.

Endon - Through the Mirror (2017)

You can trust the Japanese for being more radical, for exploring and pushing further the boundaries of the extremes. Endon evolves in the uneasy place between mathcore and noisegrind, a bit like a Dillinger Escape Plan becoming more extreme instead of more melodic. If you liked their shattering 2014 debut Mama, be assured that with their new album, Through the Mirror, they still are as wild as can be. The mood is maybe a bit lighter, slightly less horrific, while staying very intense and dark. Strong stuff!

The Bandcamp page.

The Bug - Concrete Desert (2017)

Concrete Desert is a collaboration between Kevin Martin (The Bug, Techno Animal, etc.) and Dylan Carlson (Earth) is released under the name The Bug and by the techno label Ninja Tune but actually it is closer to the most minimalistic Eath albums (like Hex), it sounds more like Dylan Carlson guitar drone / americana / ambient soundscape fearturing Kevin Martin adding some noise aelements and a few discreet beats. I would have liked more of the heavier dub / industrial elements from the Kev Martin musical world but anyway it is still a really good ambient album. I enjoy it like it is for now... but hope in the future another collaborative album, maybe this time with a different dosage.

The Bandcamp page.

Christian Mistress - To your Death (2015)

I should have reviewed this one earlier, but better late than never. This is the third album, called To your Death, from Christian Mistress, released in 2015 by Relapse, and it is indeed a flawless old school heavy metal album. It's style is somewhere between Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest, with great riffing, great songwriting and excellent female vocals. If you're into traditional heavy metal or even into hard rocking / heavy music in general there's just absolutely no reason you wouldn't enjoy listening to it many times.

The Bandcamp page.

Henry Kane - Den Förstörda Människans Rike (2017)

Henry Kane is the solo project of Jonny Pettersson (also in Wombbath amongst other bands). Den Förstörda Människans Rike is his first album as Henry Kane, and it's an excellent mix of Swedish old school death metal and grind. The typical sound, melodies and atmosphere of Swedish OSDM and the relentless speed, rhythms and intensity of grind. Of course it reminds Rotten Sound who are also doing this mix but Henry Kane is maybe less straightforward, with more diversity and melodic element. This is really cool stuff.

The Bandcamp page.

Resonance Cascade / Järnbörd - Hyperakusi (split album 2017)

Hyperakusi is a good split album released by Wooaaargh, Downfall Records and Everydayhate featuring two Swedish bands, Järnbörd and Resonance Cascade. 

Järnbörd plays some excellent D-Beat / neocrust, nothing really new, but they are especially good at doing it and they avoid being too repetitive with a more subtle than usual songwriting. 

Resonance Cascade are harder and darker with their blackened hardcore / grind. I feel they often sound too generic, but it's also good stuff anyway.

If you're into the most aggressive side of hardcore or the punkier side of grind you'll probably like this split.

The BC page.

Violent Magic Orchestra - Catastrophic Anonymous (2016)

Violent Magic Orchestra is a very weird beast, don't get fooled by the fact their album Catastrophic Anonymous was released (in december 2016) by Throatruiner Records, it's completely different stuff. it's a band composed by the impredictable Japanese collective Vampilia, the French techno producer Paul Régimbeau (Mondkopf), and noise musician Pete Swanson (ex-Yellow Swans), with also vocal contributions by Chip King (The Body) and Attila Csihar (Mayhem, Sunno)))). The result could be loosely described as some kind of industrial black metal, with somewhat baroque melodic orchestration (coming from Vampilia I suppose). Most tracks are both really good and surprising  and it's a very interesting and enjoyable album. An exemple of a successfull collaboration and an excellently mastered first album (first together, not a first for each of them of course, all are experienced musicians). I hope they'll make some music together again. Recommended stuff!

The Bandcamp page.

Carved Cross - St (2017)

Carved Cross is a black metal Australian trio, they released this year their second, self titled, full lenght album. This is really good stuff, somewhere between old Burzum  and Darkthrone and more melodic stuff with synths bringing an eerie melancholic feel like Circle of Ouroborus or Lunar Aurora (I'm not really a black metal specialist so this is just to give you a general idea of how it sounds... ). Not in your face black metal at all, it's always slow paced, with no blast beats, but completely in an atmospheric mesmerizing vein. This and the very lo-fi production makes the listening experience as close to listening to noise music than to black metal, which is not a problem at all as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, these two long tracks are excellent.

Looking for an Answer - Dios Carne (2017)

Dios Varne is the fourth album from Spanish grinders Looking for an Answer. Don't get fooled by their band name, this is not metalcore or emo whatever, this is old school death / grind in a Repulsion vein! This is really no bullshit stuff (well, the 8 minutes doom may be trendy, but in my opinion it's the useless track on the album, not really bad but absolutely not needed). In that simple and raw death / grind style they are really doing well, and if you're into that kind of stuff you'll enjoy this album. I do!

The Bandcamp page.

Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition (2016)

I don't listen to a lot of hip-hop and review it even more rarely. But when it's as good and special as this latest album from Danny Brown, called Atrocity Exhibition, I'm please to do it. It has modern touches, a few beats, some aspects of the MCing, but it reminds me a lot the 90'. Not so much traditionnal boom-bap, although the beats are most of the time slower and heavier than it is usually in modern hip-hop, and there's a bit of turntable scratching, which is always nice and is now nearly a rarity. But the 90' flavour is more reminiscent of trip-hop, especially the dark and eclectic productions from Tricky, but also maybe sometimes a bit of Horrorcore, a bit like Gravediggaz'. The Mcing is ok but the prods are the main strenght of Danny Brown, with a lot of inventivity and diversity while the quality stays on a high and the overall result is still cohesive. Also a track with B-Real is always welcome. This is an excellent album and even if you're not that much into hip-hop you should give it a try.


Danny Brown website.