It's been a loooong fucking year, but a pretty sweet one for music! I think this year was the closest I've paid attention to new releases in my entire fucking life. So here you go, witness the byproduct of my mental retardation...
90's Canadian grinders infamous for their run of Hawaiian-themed surfgrind CD's (between 2005 and 2012) are this time back with a prison-themed album of ultra-heavy ultra-retarded grind. As soon as I heard the two advance tracks I knew this would be at the top of the pile. I didn't expect it to blow the new Autopsy away though! Not only is this ripping grindcore (with some cybergrind drumming that makes Mortician sound weak), it also dips into hardcore punk and noisecore areas, especially emphasized by a gigantic list of guest appearances from guys in Captain 3 Leg, Anal Cunt etc. As funny as it is heavy.
With Greg Wilkinson replacing Joe Allen on bass I was slightly hesitant to hear the new Autopsy, but then Greg and Reifert dropped a Static Abyss album and crushed any doubts I had! This is fucking feral and full of riffs that sound a lot like a crossover between Severed Survival and Mental Funeral which is surprisingly refreshing after decades of bands trying to emulate that era. A visceral reminder that when it cums to doomed-out demented death metal Autopsy are still the masters. Some tracks aren't as good as others but it peaks so high that it doesn't really matter. Reifert sounds particularly unhinged.
Basically the continuation of legendary sardonic punks Sockeye, just under a different name (there's even a reworking of "Sockeye Tour Tune" on here). I've obviously never visited Cleveland but the place seems to produce a lot of bands like this. DEVO, The Electric Eels, The Pagans, Spike in Vain / Outerwear etc. Unserious nonsensical cynical asshole music that seems to only exist to piss people off.
Outerwear were from Ohio; a Spike in Vain side project so if you're familiar, you know to expect some scratchy snotty noise rock/post-punk type shit. This was recorded in 1984 but I guess shelved on tape until 2022. I really love the cynical, smarmy sarcastic style, with the distorted angular riffing and fed-up vocals. Very dissonant in that great 80's way.
Might seem like overkill having this band and Autopsy back-to-back but this album was crushing my brain almost half a year straight before the new Autopsy dropped, so it earned its spot. Not to mention because it's a collaboration between Reifert and Greg Wilkinson of Brainoil, it's a lot punkier and sludgier than Morbidity Triumphant and in a lot of ways reminds me more of Tormented and Through the Cracks of Death by Abscess. Even borrows some punk energy from Violation Wound in places, and reaches into realms of black blood psychedelia with twisted doomy drugfucked breakdowns and solos! Greg is a sick fuckin' guitarist.
My good Swedish mate's passion project he's being plugging away at for almost 15 years at this point. Fond memories of getting his demo cassettes in the mail back in the day. A lot of dark psychedelia going on here with some truly tortured riffs. I've heard this album a shitload of times, from early pre-mixed demos to alternative remixes to the finalised product, so it's had a lot of time to worm its way into my brain and set up home there. Say what you want about the obvious Autopsy worship, but this motherfucker plays all the instruments himself. No programming whatsoever. Gonna be a trip to finally hold an officially released LP in my hands soon.
For some, predictability is a bad quality but I appreciate that I can always rely on Deathhammer to smash my head into pieces whenever they drop a new record!!! Razor sharp barely held together riffage and mentally deranged vocals is the name of the game here. There are also 3 tracks over 7 minutes long which was a nice twist. Basically everything I want in speed/thrash. The album closer fucking rules so much!
8. Morbo - Possessed with Amorous Intent
Grumpy cynical old fuck music that throws a bunch of shit like grind, heavy metal, punk rock and thrash together with no real care for aesthetic or marketability. The drumming is particularly enjoyable. The song taking the piss out of Candlemass (the Messiah line!) always gives me a chuckle. "Making love in a mausoleum? Fuck, dude gimme a break. Some dumpy dude who can't really sing is probably not really closin' ass."
9. Darkthrone - Astral Fortress
Huge riffs reaching into space. Fenriz and Nocturno Culto continue their descent (ascent?) into the nursing home of underground metal. But this nursing home has illegal tape trading networks, black market sew-on patches and midnight hiking trips when the overground orderlies aren't watching. Darkthrone have completely stopped caring. In their black metal days they were edgelords, then they recreated themselves in 2006 as 'we don't give a fuck' posturers, but now like old men in their rocking chairs wearing shit sweaters & screaming at youths, they truly no longer care and that album cover is proof. Also the synths on this album RULE (and more proof that they no longer care).
10. Gronibard - Regarde les hommes sucer
Late 90's French goregrind but in sound only, because they mostly sing about very gay things. Pretty sure the album translates to "watch men suck" or something like that. Loved these guys pretty much since I first got into grind and I was pleasantly surprised when they dropped an album, and it sounds as retarded as ever! Some of the most mongoloid vocal performances to grace the 2020's. There's a track on here where the chorus is a guy shouting "FINGER IN ANUS" like a spastic. The funniest part though is if you stripped the album of the vocals it'd be a pretty dark and heavy grind album in its own right. Gotta respect that level of commitment. It's fun to sit down and translate the French lyrics.
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Thanx for (not) reading this shit! Click the links to support! Cheers to: Andy at Mortville Noise for making 2022 a great year to buy CD's, Joachim (Funereality forever) for recording some of your best musical noise yet this year, Vomit Angel for releasing the best demo of the year, and anybody who introdouched me to good music. Fuck off to: all the lame death metal released this year, and especially to the new D666 album which was a pissweak pile of unaustralian shite.
~ Cistern Rumbler
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