Su19b - Neutralize (2018)

This will be my second review of the week featuring a grind band from Japan. Unlike Friendship (who was the band I reviewed on Wednesday) Su19b revel in the slime and the muck, as their slow sewage like sludge riffs cake the tracks from their newest release "Neutralize". If anything needs to be neutralized it's the noxious stench fuming from this rotten and repulsive sounding release. It's disgusting, and I really dig it. I think what I really like is the fact that these dudes actually sound like they're playing grind riffs at sluggish time consuming pace. However it doesn't take long before these guys pick up the pace and we're treated to blast beats, d-beats, and OSDM-esque fast beats. Su19b is like the nasty result if Napalm Death an Corrupted had given birth to a demon spawn. This shit is heavy as fuck by the way.
The guitar/bass sound is just fat and bloated like a water logged corpse in a decrepit humid swamp. This is dinner music for maggots. It seems to work with both the slow and the fast stuff. While the blast parts seem to get a little lost in the mix, once they hit that d-beat, it's hard to resist banging your head along with their infectious grooves. The vocals on this release are quite sickening to say the least. This dude has has a death growl that is reduced to a gurgle and it sounds like this dude invoked an evil spirit that has taken over his body and is doing the talking for him from now on.
Overall, this band delivers when it comes to grimy and filthy sounding tunes. Their hideous and revolting dirges left me feeling pretty satisfied. Plus I mean look at their fucking album art! What do you expect this shit to sound like?I was pleased with this release, and I think you should give it a go if you like a little grind with your charred blackened sludge. I like it! Keep it gross! Cheers! -Samir
 

Doomstress - Supernatural Kvlt Sounds - The Second Rite (2017)

Beneath a black mantle Doomstress performs a dark ceremony dubbed "Supernatural Kvlt Sounds - The Second Rite". The original Supernatural Kvlt Sounds first saw release back in 2016, but now with an updated mix, new artwork, and a whole extra track The Second Rite unfolds and has YOU chained to the sacrificial altar! Filled with female-fronted heavy doom with traditional metal influences thrown in, this release comes stomping through the night with a good dose of mysticism. It drives forward with steady, hard rocking force as mysterious elements creep in to give tracks a hint of occult magic. In addition to three original songs there are also two covers on here that Doomstress drags into the shadows. I love Uriah Heep so hearing Rainbow Demon get doom-ified is amazing - I had no idea how well it would work. The way it gleams with dark majesty is more than I could have hoped for. On Wicked Woman the band trades in Coven's original late 60s twang for some heavy metal chug resulting in a unique take that drives the song to new depths. Good stuff here, so when you listen to it, turn your speakers up - this is the kind of music that needs to be played loud! -Brandon

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Friendship - Hatred (2017)

This is one of those releases I forgot to mention on my best of 2017 list, because I mostly focused on releases I had already reviewed. However, this release definitely deserved to be on there because it fucking rules! The sheer intensity and brutality of 'Hatred" is hard to beat. The band's name is cheeky when compared to the actual music. I would like to think of it as the opposite of Friendship, as it is much closer to the album's name "Hatred". When we hear the combination of the heavy blasts from the drums, and the feedback from the guitars, almost replicating the sound of machine gun fire, we know what we're getting into with this album, and it's a fucking war zone!
This fucking blast can be heard throughout, and it is crushing and relentless. I can contribute this to the way that the drums were mixed on this. The kick drum is unusually deep, and heavy as fuck. When it hits you, it's rapid, and it invokes a mood of hatred over the listener (in this case me), creating an atmosphere of pleasing agitation and aggression. Also let it be known that even when the drums aren't blasting it's listener into submission, and they are slowed down to match whatever the guitar riffs are playing, they still fucking crush. Speaking of guitars, the riffs are tasty as fuck, and dare I say catchy. I mean as catchy and memorable as riffs can be for power violence/grind. There's a bit of Dark Hardcore in there as well, but I mean who gives a fuck when it comes to labeling something like this? It's punishing and ruthless, and it's exactly the type of shit I want to be listening to. I would also like to add that the vocals and feedback add another layer of ferocity to the songs. I mention feedback, because it's often used as an instrument of its own, and really adds something special to different songs.
Overall, if you haven't heard this yet, do yourself a favor, stop what you're doing, and put this shit on right now! I've got a whole year of waiting to see if anything can live up to this, because it's that fucking good. Highly Recommended! Cheers! -Samir

Crushing Yellow Sun - Area 51 (2017)

Alright everyone, grab your sunscreen and lather up because you're about to be bombarded by the ultraviolet, cosmic rays of Crushing Yellow Sun! Based out of Richmond, Virginia, this is a one-man, mostly-instrumental, psychedelic-stoner workhorse. Since starting in 2016, Crushing Yellow Sun has put out more than a dozen releases under the name - in fact in the couple week time span between me I checking out "Area 51" and me sitting down to write about it, he released another EP and two compilations! Fuck, he literally just released another album AS I WROTE THIS. Even Area 51 itself kept seeing work after release - it was originally an EP, then bonus tracks were added a few days later, then a few more days pass with extra tracks, new artwork, and it had been re-classified as a full-length album! A little confusing, but the tunes are awesome so I'm not complaining. This is a non-stop series of fuzzy jams that will send you tripping through the galaxy on guitar leads filled with wah and some great basslines to back them up. On the first track "Snake Venom (Parts 1 and 2)" all the effects start to make the guitar sound like a supersonic harmonica blowing through the the universe, quickly at first and then more slowly as you drift beyond the known reaches of space. The hits roll from there with more wild spinning licks and riffs than your grandpappy can handle (probably - I mean, I guess I don't really know your grandpappy's limits). "Shipwrecked" stands out with more darkness than most tracks, starting out with some doomy bass before the wicked haze ripples through the rest of the song evoking devilish spirits. The whole album just throws down jam after jam of psychedelic stoner rock that you won't want to miss. I look forward to hearing a bunch of new Crushing Yellow Sun releases this year - plenty of back catalog to work through in the meantime! -Brandon

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Your End - Le Sombre Triomphe + Deathcamp (2017)

2017 saw two releases from Your End (one in long form, and the other shorter), a Blackened Grind/Sludge Doom band hailing from both MI/NC. This shit straight up sounds disgusting and I love it. Although theses dudes reek of Black Metal filth, especially where the vocals and blasts are concerned, there is nothing cold about this band's sound or tone. I personally am a fan of the HM-2 pedal sound, that was made popular by Swedish Death Metal bands like Entombed and Dismember. It has been rediscovered countless times. and while some may think it's an overplayed gimmick, I Think there are some bands out there that are putting it to good use, and Your End is one of them. Their sound is fat and full, like a bloated corpse hosting a banquet for a families of maggots and flies. Not to mention these dudes are fucking detuned, and with that bass coming through in the mix, it really hits you fucking hard. They will bludgeon you like a beast with their slow and sludgy guitar riffs, and then pulverize you with their frenzied blasts. "Le Sombre Triomphe" has all the right elements, in all the right places. Like a demon taking possession of your body during an ancient ritual, once it grabs hold of your soul, it's grip is clenched tight, and it's hard to let go. This is what this music does for me.

The second release "Deathcamp" should be noted for its more Doom Metal anthems, while still retaining their penchant for blazing blast beat aggression. You will probably realize on this follow up they seem to not be using the HM-2 pedal, but the sound is very similar, and yet still very heavy. While there are subtle differences between the two releases, I see "Deathcamp" as being just a continuation of the previous release, hoping that this indicates the band might be releasing more in 2018. I'm actually not sure why this was split up like this, as this could have been release as one full album without even being that long. I don't have a favorite between the two, as they are both good, and I would just recommend listening to them back to back on heavy rotation. This shit is really good. Highly Recommended! Cheers! -Samir

Humanity Is A Curse - Raging For A Lighthouse (2018)

Germany has their answer to His Hero Is Gone, and it's Humanity Is A Curse. Their brand of Blackened Crust/Sludge is the type of dark shit I need right now to get me in the right mindset, to experience the inevitable shit show of world events that will likely unfold in 2018.  These dudes d-beat their way through 8 tracks with a fervent wrath, and deliver a walloping blow like a fist with brass knuckles pounding on an already bloodied and bruised faced. With raw animosity, and grimy sounding riffs, HIAC have crafted a metallic rage filled release that will definitely have you banging your head in a euphoric fury to their miserable gaze.
The songs are definitely catchy and memorable, without seeming too repetitive. Each song has its main hook, that makes it distinct from the others, which also adds to the reasons at least for me, why this album is worth remembering. These riffs are pretty fucking sick. The mix on this is pretty solid, as all instruments come through clear. The guitars have a nasty tone, and the bass is super distorted which is par for the course. The sludge aspect really kicks in when these dudes slow down, but it can also be heard during the flurries of black metal-esque blasts that are speckled here and there throughout this release. I'm really digging the vocals. It has the right amount of gravel and anguish, that pushes the intensity on this. Everyone is doing a great job sounding pissed as fuck while playing their instruments.
So while these dudes worship at the alter of you know who, don't hold it against them. These guys are definitely well suited to carry the torch, and they do so burning everything in their way. Highly recommended for sure! Check it out! Cheers! -Samir

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Afgrund - The Dystopian (2018)

Opening up with Robert Oppenheimer saying "..Vishnu takes on his multi-armed form and says now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds", Afgrund begins to devastate your ears with an onslaught of blasts, buzz saw guitars, and harsh guttural screams that threaten to lay waste to everything in its path. The aptly titled "The Dystopian", the new release from the band, is definitely appropriate listening material for the end times, as the four horsemen of the apocalypse come riding in. When societies collapse, and disease and famine take their stranglehold choking their life out of the remainders of the human race, expect Afgrund's "The Dystopian" to be the soundtrack to that. These dudes have a nice fat sound, that is both grimy and full. Most of which comes from the detuned string section. The guitar player sure loves his HM-2 pedal as that's where they're getting that nasty classic tone from. Fortunately enough this doesn't drown out the distorted bass, which is deep fills void that is likely to pound you into the earth until you're nothing but a plume of dust raining dirt down. The vocals are spot on, especially for this sort of grind/crust sound. It's the right balance and harshness of growls, shrieks, and shouts. Then it's finally rounded out by the drums, who's sheer brutality alone will summon any sort of beast for war. The blasts are fucking blistering, and the tunes themselves can shred away your face like a belt sander would, but when these dudes settle into a slow to mid paced groove, that shit is sweet too. What a way to start out the new year with a release like this. Nothing says welcome to 2018 like a grind release as pissed and heavy as this. Afgrund has set the bar high for whatever I review next. They're definitely going to be a hard act to follow. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up on my end of the year list, as this is a serious contender that can't be fucked with. Highly recommended. Cheers! -Samir

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