For ten years, Head Cleaner stewed in the grindcore pot, leaving fans wondering what was in store next. The product of that decade of inactivity is an eleven-track, sub-twenty-five-minute onslaught that eloquently calls back to the origins of grindcore and the pioneers who paved the way for such an extreme sub-genre.
Allow me to go out on a limb here: the bathroom floor of a frat house on a Saturday night/Sunday morning has less bacteria and filth than Thorn’s newest record. But don’t be fooled into thinking Evergloom (Transcending Obscurity Records) is solely reliant on gag-inducing landscapes. The collective is armed with an innate ability to devise structured songs that possess personality and conjure truly frightening thoughts.
There was either a miscommunication with the final product, or Rock Band From Hell made a head-scratchingly curious production decision as Music For Late Night Activities (Universal/Central Line) sounds like half of it was recorded on Windows Media Player with those calculators that stand themselves up hydraulically.
The story of Dying Fetus is one for the storybooks, indeed. Formed in 1991 (and spawning Misery Index in the process), guitarist/vocalist John Gallagher chose the name in jest with the sole purpose of raising ire and eyebrows.
Exmortus did nothing halfway when orchestrating their epic, hourlong, quasi-conceptual new record, Necrophony (Nuclear Blast Records).
Pure Noise Records is well-known for the label’s pop-punk proclivity and delectable array of alternative rock signees, It’s an avenue to both discover up-and-coming acts and to rekindle interest with longstanding mainstays.
When anger calls, it’s important to strike the iron while it’s still hot.
And that has never been a problem for Australia-based behemoths Werewolves. Their brand of death metal has always been as straightforward as their name. And barely a year after the ferocious From The Cave To The Grave the equally ferocious and downright vitriolic My Enemies Look And Sound Like Me (Prosthetic Records) is here and more vengeful than ever.
Recovery of any kind – both physically and mentally – is a massive process that should be seen for the courageous and brave act that it is. Whether from addiction or injury, the road to that recovery has to start with the person who has to undergo said recovery. And that’s no small feat. More importantly, recovery looks different for every single person, even with the same affliction. Most important of all, however, is that recovery isn’t always the destination, but rather the journey to something at least better.
It’s inevitable: the world will one day cease to exist, and mankind will be relegated to the pages of history like everything that’s come and gone beforehand. How or when that happens is anyone’s guess. But Humanity’s Last Breath gives us quite a glimpse of what the apocalypse might sound like.
If Crypta failed to make it onto your radar after their 2021 debut, they’ve returned to ensure that doesn’t happen again.