Check it out below!
That's all for now, folks! Keep on grinding in the free world.
-DG
Showing posts with label Crust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crust. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
OUT NOW: Grindhouse: Vol. 1!
FINALLY. It's here! It's here! After 6+ months of tracking down artists and getting artwork together, Needs More Noise Gate's first ever compilation album is out! I know most of you have been following along for a while, so for you fine folk, just scroll down and hit the play button. For those of you who aren't quite sure what Grindhouse is all about, it's a free digital compilation of the best hardcore, grindcore, powerviolence, and crust punk that I've run into over my time running this blog. It's only 22 songs long, and while it isn't the most expanive compilation album ever, I legitimately think every song on here is a winner.
Check it out below!
Check it out below!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Album Review: Degraded - "Generalized Oppression"
So, for whatever reason, one of the scenes I seem to receive the most music from is the French hardcore and grindcore scene. It all started with Yattai, and moved on out to Faxe, Grunt Grunt, Nolentia, Vengeance, and Haut&Court. The newest addition to the list of awesome French grind bands I have for you guys is Bordeaux's very own Degraded!
Degraded is a four-piece consisting of your usual member combination of guitarist, bassist, drummer, and vocalist. These guys play in a style that mixes the stylings of grindcore with those of crust punk and hardcore into one big, pissed off package. They're still really new to the scene, having been formed in late 2011. After a bunch of lineup changes, they managed to get a solid line-up together and release Generalized Opression earlier this month.
The band really drives home the crust punk sound with both the raspy, throaty screams similar to those of Dean Jones of Extreme Noise Terror. Vocalist Paul can dish out some solid deep growls and high, depraved shrieks here and there on the album, but I really wish he did them a bit more often than he does. Lyrics are written mostly by drummer Jérôme, and much like the many grind and crust bands to come before them, Degraded deal mostly in politically driven lyrics about oppression, greed, war, and the like. It's nothing we haven't heard before from countless other hardcore bands. While the lyrics aren't anything new or groundbreaking, they're written with a sort of directness that screams passion and honesty on the band's part.
The instrumentation has to be my favorite part of Degraded's sound. It's unabashedly grindcore with its ferocity and speed, but it's also got some damn good grooves in it, too. The galloping in "Sufferings in Laboratory" is pit worthy, and the brief disco beats in "Communihilist" definitely throw you through a loop. This album isn't just a big conglomeration of blast beats and fast riffs, it's well pieced together and a little more involved than your average grind record. Rhythms shift around. Riffs come in one direction and suddenly veer off somewhere else without losing momentum. The drums (handled by Jérôme) keep everything barreling forward like an out-of-control train, but keep everything together from becoming a big trainwreck.
Guitarist FX and bassist Matt dish out some pretty inventive riffs on Generalized Oppression, too. While there are a ton of speed picked riffs and slower slam riffs coming out the ass here, there are a couple moments of guitar and bass wonkiness that sticks in your head. The very first riff of the album, off of "Dimitris" and one of the riffs about halfway through "Security Lies" show some influence outside of traditional hardcore or grind. I'm not sure where they come from, but they sound damn good, that's for sure.
The production here is alright. If there's any weak point to the album, I'd have to pick the production. Everything is mixed nicely; you can hear every instrument all the time, but I find everything sounds really bright on Generalized Oppression. The guitars are pretty thick, but the bass is way to punchy and definitely needs to be beefed up. If Degraded went for more of a production style similar to that of Pig Destroyer or Nails, I think this LP would have sounded much better.
Bomb-Ass Tracks: Banksters Hegemony, Nazionist, Security Lies
On a Playlist With: Extreme Noise Terror, Yattai, Haut&Court
Overall Score: 4/5
Generalized Oppression is definitely a great first LP by Degraded. It grinds, it grooves, and it pounds your face in. Considering that the band is less than 2 years old and they've already managed to pump out an album this good, I'm really excited to hear what these guys have in store for us next.
You can check out Generalized Oppressionon Degraded's Bandcamp, and you can purchase a 12" vinyl version (mine was printed on clear vinyl!) off of their BigCartel page. Be sure to throw 'em a like on Facebook, too.
That's all for now, folks!
-Grave Dave
Degraded is a four-piece consisting of your usual member combination of guitarist, bassist, drummer, and vocalist. These guys play in a style that mixes the stylings of grindcore with those of crust punk and hardcore into one big, pissed off package. They're still really new to the scene, having been formed in late 2011. After a bunch of lineup changes, they managed to get a solid line-up together and release Generalized Opression earlier this month.
The band really drives home the crust punk sound with both the raspy, throaty screams similar to those of Dean Jones of Extreme Noise Terror. Vocalist Paul can dish out some solid deep growls and high, depraved shrieks here and there on the album, but I really wish he did them a bit more often than he does. Lyrics are written mostly by drummer Jérôme, and much like the many grind and crust bands to come before them, Degraded deal mostly in politically driven lyrics about oppression, greed, war, and the like. It's nothing we haven't heard before from countless other hardcore bands. While the lyrics aren't anything new or groundbreaking, they're written with a sort of directness that screams passion and honesty on the band's part.
The instrumentation has to be my favorite part of Degraded's sound. It's unabashedly grindcore with its ferocity and speed, but it's also got some damn good grooves in it, too. The galloping in "Sufferings in Laboratory" is pit worthy, and the brief disco beats in "Communihilist" definitely throw you through a loop. This album isn't just a big conglomeration of blast beats and fast riffs, it's well pieced together and a little more involved than your average grind record. Rhythms shift around. Riffs come in one direction and suddenly veer off somewhere else without losing momentum. The drums (handled by Jérôme) keep everything barreling forward like an out-of-control train, but keep everything together from becoming a big trainwreck.
Guitarist FX and bassist Matt dish out some pretty inventive riffs on Generalized Oppression, too. While there are a ton of speed picked riffs and slower slam riffs coming out the ass here, there are a couple moments of guitar and bass wonkiness that sticks in your head. The very first riff of the album, off of "Dimitris" and one of the riffs about halfway through "Security Lies" show some influence outside of traditional hardcore or grind. I'm not sure where they come from, but they sound damn good, that's for sure.
The production here is alright. If there's any weak point to the album, I'd have to pick the production. Everything is mixed nicely; you can hear every instrument all the time, but I find everything sounds really bright on Generalized Oppression. The guitars are pretty thick, but the bass is way to punchy and definitely needs to be beefed up. If Degraded went for more of a production style similar to that of Pig Destroyer or Nails, I think this LP would have sounded much better.
Bomb-Ass Tracks: Banksters Hegemony, Nazionist, Security Lies
On a Playlist With: Extreme Noise Terror, Yattai, Haut&Court
Overall Score: 4/5
Generalized Oppression is definitely a great first LP by Degraded. It grinds, it grooves, and it pounds your face in. Considering that the band is less than 2 years old and they've already managed to pump out an album this good, I'm really excited to hear what these guys have in store for us next.
You can check out Generalized Oppressionon Degraded's Bandcamp, and you can purchase a 12" vinyl version (mine was printed on clear vinyl!) off of their BigCartel page. Be sure to throw 'em a like on Facebook, too.
That's all for now, folks!
-Grave Dave
Friday, January 18, 2013
EP Review: Haut&Court - "La Vie"
Alright! That's enough of the soft stuff; let's get back to good old face-rippingly heavy shit! I'm gonna cut right to the chase here: I have some wicked crust punk for you guys today. Haut&Court.
Haut&Court (here on in referred to as H&C) are a young crust band from Strasbourg, France. By "young" I mean young. They're only a matter of months old, having formed sometime in June of 2012. Even then, they've been together for around only around six months, and they've already got an EP under their belts.
H&C are a bit more involved than your standard crust/ hardcore band. They fuse in mathcore-esque odd time signatures and dissonace into their music like nobody's business, all without making things too inaccessible or unlistenable. Instead of that, the math elements add a nice, fresh character to the bands traditional crust punk sound.
Musically, things are as crushing and brutal, as is expected. Thick, heavily distorted guitars blare out with riffs whose notes collide and bleed into each other as well as quick technical passages that really catch you by surprise. The riffs are generally simple but memorable; the classic "caveman" style of playing popularized by S.O.D.'s Scott Ian. There is actually no bassist in H&C, which is absolutely mindblowing, because their guitarist, Bernard has dialed in an absolutely killer tone. It's thick and rich enough that it covers up all the sonic space that most guitarists leave open for their bassists to fill, without making the guitar sound like a bunch of wet farts. I have no idea what amps and pedals that he uses, but holy shit is he using them right.
The drumming is something I find a lot of enjoyment out of on La Vie. Drummer Ravind keeps things chugging along between mid paced madness and high octane fury. He can turn on a dime, starting and stopping for those couple jerky riffs that pop up here and there. He can shred with the best of them too, cranking out breakneck blasts and wicked double bass across the album, as well as the ever popular D-beat, a drum beat guilty of causing worldwide moshalepsy.
The vocals are really something interesting for me. While most bands that play hardcore or some offshoot/ subgenre of hardcore usually change up the music but keep the traditional hardcore vocals, Arnaud sounds like he's got a hybrid voice between Jacob Bannon of Converge's lowest growls and a late '80s death metal vocalist. It's a really punishing combo that makes for some absolutely awesome vocals.
Production is as expected on an album this crusty. Everything is warm, thick, and rough around the edges. The guitars and drums sound massive, as do the vocals, which is really impressive on Arnaud's part, because I can't hear any layering or multi-tracking to his vocal lines.
Bomb-Ass Tracks: Let it Burst, Colision, Wasted Time for Wasted Minds
On a Playlist With: Gaza, Barlow, Converge's heaviest material
Overall Score
4.0
In Haut&Court's incredibly small time together, they've managed to make a brutal, skull-crushing EP. La Vie beats the shit out of your ears with it's filthy crust punk attitude and keeps you on your toes with it's little bouts of mathcore chaos.
Visit Haut&Court on Bandcamp, Facebook, and Twitter.
That's all for now, folks!
-DG
Haut&Court (here on in referred to as H&C) are a young crust band from Strasbourg, France. By "young" I mean young. They're only a matter of months old, having formed sometime in June of 2012. Even then, they've been together for around only around six months, and they've already got an EP under their belts.
H&C are a bit more involved than your standard crust/ hardcore band. They fuse in mathcore-esque odd time signatures and dissonace into their music like nobody's business, all without making things too inaccessible or unlistenable. Instead of that, the math elements add a nice, fresh character to the bands traditional crust punk sound.
Musically, things are as crushing and brutal, as is expected. Thick, heavily distorted guitars blare out with riffs whose notes collide and bleed into each other as well as quick technical passages that really catch you by surprise. The riffs are generally simple but memorable; the classic "caveman" style of playing popularized by S.O.D.'s Scott Ian. There is actually no bassist in H&C, which is absolutely mindblowing, because their guitarist, Bernard has dialed in an absolutely killer tone. It's thick and rich enough that it covers up all the sonic space that most guitarists leave open for their bassists to fill, without making the guitar sound like a bunch of wet farts. I have no idea what amps and pedals that he uses, but holy shit is he using them right.
The drumming is something I find a lot of enjoyment out of on La Vie. Drummer Ravind keeps things chugging along between mid paced madness and high octane fury. He can turn on a dime, starting and stopping for those couple jerky riffs that pop up here and there. He can shred with the best of them too, cranking out breakneck blasts and wicked double bass across the album, as well as the ever popular D-beat, a drum beat guilty of causing worldwide moshalepsy.
The vocals are really something interesting for me. While most bands that play hardcore or some offshoot/ subgenre of hardcore usually change up the music but keep the traditional hardcore vocals, Arnaud sounds like he's got a hybrid voice between Jacob Bannon of Converge's lowest growls and a late '80s death metal vocalist. It's a really punishing combo that makes for some absolutely awesome vocals.
Production is as expected on an album this crusty. Everything is warm, thick, and rough around the edges. The guitars and drums sound massive, as do the vocals, which is really impressive on Arnaud's part, because I can't hear any layering or multi-tracking to his vocal lines.
Bomb-Ass Tracks: Let it Burst, Colision, Wasted Time for Wasted Minds
On a Playlist With: Gaza, Barlow, Converge's heaviest material
Overall Score
4.0
In Haut&Court's incredibly small time together, they've managed to make a brutal, skull-crushing EP. La Vie beats the shit out of your ears with it's filthy crust punk attitude and keeps you on your toes with it's little bouts of mathcore chaos.
Visit Haut&Court on Bandcamp, Facebook, and Twitter.
That's all for now, folks!
-DG
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Rad Alert: Napalm Raid
Rad Alert is where I share something that I think is pretty rad with all y'all. For those who remember my That's Pretty Rad, Bro column that never got past its first couple posts, it's pretty much the same thing with a shorter title. Yay!
This time on Rad Alert: A wicked Halifax crust punk band called Napalm Raid!
Yeah. You're welcome, everyone.
Napalm Raid have a Blogspot, Facebook, and you can pick up their full length LP Mindless Nation on Rust and Machine.
That's all for now, folks!
-DG
This time on Rad Alert: A wicked Halifax crust punk band called Napalm Raid!
Yeah. You're welcome, everyone.
Napalm Raid have a Blogspot, Facebook, and you can pick up their full length LP Mindless Nation on Rust and Machine.
That's all for now, folks!
-DG
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