The Kill - Make 'em Suffer

If you're looking for music to accompany your holiday past time of binging on meth and bulldozing your neighbor's gaudy lawn decorations then look no further than Australia's reigning grinders The Kill.

The band's a whirlwind of jagged metallic guitars (pristine in the grindiest way), furious blast beats and raspy shouts becomes staggeringly overwhelming at it's 20 minutes of nonstop abuse on their first full length Make 'em Suffer. Rarely does the band find time to slow down which works well as the guitar lacks that low-end punch to even think about palm muting or getting it's mosh on and they're one of those bands that works you into a dizzying fervor (not into some change picking up karate master). Like many staples of the genre The Kill happily etche their name into the wheel of grindcore instead of trying to remake it. While they might be another name on this proverbial wheel, their scrawl's quite large as few bands make an impact like these Aussies do.




To add a special something to the album, they've done an amazingly faithful, yet fluid and blistering rendition of one of my favorite Slayer songs; "Necrophobic" complete with the echoing squeals and awesome snare rolls to match. CD out through Blastafuk and LP to come soon from To Live A Lie.

Sex Prisoner - Sex Prisoner

The name Sex Prisoner inspires a slew of images; none of which being the nice kind. Thankfully, like their abrasive name, Sex Prisoner sound anything but nice. At just about 12 minutes, Sex Prisoner compile a mosh anthology of pissed off power violence that relies on trudging sections to frenzied blasts with extremely vehement and strained vocals barking phrases like "I will break you" (the only other describable words through out the ep being "fuck" or "fucking").

Released through To Live A Lie,  the self titled ep sports an incredibly even and grimy production where the lashing guitars and gurgling bass do well sitting atop the drums, yet below the powerful vocals. Ramped up and anti-social  without any second thoughts, Sex Prisoner smash.

For fans of Infest, Despise You, Hatred Surge, Lack of Interest

Bandcampers: "This One Time at Bandcamp ... I Paid for a Download"

When my allowance was bounced up to $15 a week the only logical destination for my cash was the local record shop. There, I was guided through classics like Fresh Fruit For the Rotting Vegetables, Damaged, and Among the Living. When I looked for things on my own I was left with few options or waiting on the owner to order it. Scouring the web for obscure French black metal or long out of print British crust left few options as my parents wouldn't offer a credit card and money orders/mailing cash seemed a bit too much for me at 13. Enter Napster.

I cuaght the tail-end of Napster, but fully embraced (and later suffered) Kazaa and flimsily grasped torrents. Thankfully alternatives filled Napster's gap and Myspace/Youtube became the new purveyor for previewing a band. Still, the problem was unsolved for cds/records that were out of print and without alternative means some music simply became impossible to listen to. This is why, more than Myspace, which was never great at all, Bandcamp and similar sites have filled important roles.

Bandcamp to me is so crucial because it's so simple. No friends to add, or pictures and ads to get lost in, just the music I came here for. For those of you unfamiliar with Bandcamp, it is a site tailored to each artist/label that provides the ability to sell music as well as stream full releases. Downloads typically are "pay what you'd like to" and are available in almost every format/quality (many times free downloads are an option). Mathias Huxley, half of Australia's thedowngoing, points out that "...the direct connection between artist and fan is a great way for independent artists to keep their fans up to date on their music and releases." This connection is something lacking in entities like Amazon and iTunes.

Will Butler, sole dude behind To Live a Lie Records has been on a mission to upload as much of his label's discography as possible to bandcamp, and all for free. Proudly posted on TLAL's facebook Mr. Butler claims "zero dollars made on Bandcamp and counting!" While many bands and labels stress the option to download the music for free or whatever you wish, the streaming ability has proven to be another great asset. Fellow label runner, Adam Bartlett of Gilead Media, feels that...

"Bandcamp changed the way I operate the label. They've given me an amazing outlet for streaming and downloadable audio that directly benefits the bands and the label. They filled an enormous void where many other sites tried and failed."

While Mr. Bartlett and I's backgrounds might be different, I completely agree that Bandcamp has only been an improvement for fans, labels, and the bands themselves (and hopefully is the death knell for buggy, awful quality Myspace). I spend a lot of time going through records, whether it be in a real store, or online, so having the ability to listen beforehand has been humongous.

Many labels are using Bandcamp to showcase their catalog, Grindcore Karaokee however is an unusual presence in that it is a label strictly operating through Bandcamp. Run by Agoraphobic Nosebleed vocalist Jay Randall, Grindcore Karaokee has a vast catalog of bands covering every possible spectrum of grindcore and all available for streaming or free downloads. This offers a unique and easy to access platform for many smaller acts and those who lack the means for larger physical distribution.

I'll admit my perspective might be narrow in regards to the world of trends and the music biz, being that I grew up with cassettes and saw their demise and was really a child of CDs, but in an age were people are less inclined to pay for digital files, Bandcamp has been a pleasant surprise and an effective halfway point between blog-whoring download links and artists/labels getting their names out. As Mr. Butler points out...

"The Internet is a great place, and I'm scared the SOPA thing, ISP monitoring downloading, and the whole download blog crackdown is going to affect free underground music heavily... so these are my wants to keep my releases available for free (Bandcamp) and cheap but making the money count (digital distribution via my aggregator)."

If we are entering an era of a Phillip K. Dick-like crackdowns on internet freedoms, then Bandcamp might be a strong contender for maintaining our collective wants as enthusiasts and supporters of independent bands and labels.

Bacdafuckup

As much as I wish this was actually just about Onyx, I'm gonna talk about Philly's Backslider and their latest  release instead. While it's hard for me to admit to liking anything from Philadelphia - us New Yorkers are petty when it comes to sports - this band is so up my ally I have a sneaking suspicion I've been incepted. Anyway, Backslider's music is built around rhythm and aggression paired with playful and energetic drums and vocals that might beat you up for showing too much enthusiasm.

Each song's a strip of stop n'go power violence that throws itself against the momentum it's already created in a musical sort of homage to Isaac Newton and his third law of motion. There's a sick and disgusting guitar that evens out the lack of a bassist and throaty pissed vocals to match. They're not breaking new ground with their riffs, but it's really just about the energy and the vocal delivery that'll put you on your ass.

  "Your problems are your own and it's time to fucking deal, I don't give a shit and I can't change how I feel."

"Failed Attempts at Empathy"

 It's not often you find a power violence band that 1. can rhyme without sounding retarded and 2. actually have something to say besides "fuck __"(insert whichever antagonist you'd like). Backslider find their strength in crazed attack from every side and a Sheer Terror level of anger. No more excuses for sleeping on this band.


To Live a Lie
2011

Mind as Prison - Maryland Grindcore

Amidst the sea of great DIY acts in Maryland, Mind as Prison claim Maryland for themselves with their recent EP titled Maryland Grindcore. Old school and unadulterated, Mind as Prison blast through muddy and dismally dark grindcore with a dénouement  in the shape of a Sick of it All cover (fully fledged with its intro that the bands points out to be wrongfully cut from the track).

At times the putrid bass, hazy guitar, thundering drums and guttural grunts all run askew into a forceful tidal wave that's on one hand awesomely violent, and on another just plain muddy. The production is what it is, but it doesn't hamper the band's sheer aggression and delivery. It's a style of recording that's an honest excuse to lure you into a live show as I can only assume that's where the band truly exceeds. Songs are well thought out plans of attack in terms of structure and rhythm. There's tons of momentum behind every second of the band and when things do slow down it's just the rise before the fall.

Genuine grindcore for those of you sick of overproduce garbage like Rotten Sound and the like; Mind as Prison are fresh faces sticking to an old and true doctrine.

To Live a Lie Records
2011