Die Choking/Self Titled/The Compound/2014 EP Review

  Die  Choking  are  a  band  from  Pennsylvania  that  plays  a  mixture  of  punk,  grindcore  and  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  tiled  2014  ep  which  will b e  released  by  the  Compound.

  The  ep  starts  out  with  a  very  fast  grind/thrash  sound  along  with  blast  beats  and  aggressive  vocals  along  with  growls  and  screams  as w ell a s  a  mixture  of  slow  and  fast  parts  which  also  leads  up  to  more  technical  elements  being added  in.

  The  band  also  bring  this  approach  to  other  songs  as  well  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  noisy  distortion  being  added  into  the  music.

  With  this  ep  Die  Choking  bring  in  a  very  fast  and  melodic  sound  and  you  can  hear  traces  of  punk,  grindcore  and  thrash  throughout  the  recording  and  the  music  has  a  more  old  school  than  modern  feeling  to  it.

  Song  lyrics  cover  war  and  political themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Die  Choking  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  punk,  grindcore  and  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Low  Fidelity"  and  "Unistall".  8  out  of  10.

  

Nuclear Altar/Blessed Ruins/2013 EP Review

  Nuclear  Altar  are  a  band  from  Croatia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  crust,  d  beat  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  ep  "Blessed Ruins".

  The  ep  starts  out  with  a  slow,  dark  and  heavy  sound  and  a  minute  later  crust  style  growls  make  their  way  into  the  music  and  on  the  following  track  the  music  goes  into  a  more  fast  crustcore  direction.

  As  the  ep  progresses  the  band  start  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  slow  and  fast  parts  along  with  some  death  metal  influences  and  d  beats  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful   sound  to  them  and  on  one  of  the  tracks  they  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  guitar  leads.


  Nuclear  Alter  stick  to  more  of  an  old  school  mixture  of  crust,  d  beat  and  grind  throughout  this  recording  having  a  sound  that  is  closer  to  the  mid  80's  and  they  also  bring  in  Discharge  and  Anti  Cimex  covers.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  and  political  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark,  powerful,  heavy  and  old  school  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  ep.

  In  my  opinion  Nuclear  Altar  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  crust,  d  beat  and  grind  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dismal  Worship  Begins"  "Seeing  Demons  Everywhere"  "Gates  Forever  Closed"  and  "Blessed  Ruins".  8  out  of  10.

King Parrot/Bite Your Head Off/Candlelight Records/2014 CD Review

  King  Parrot  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  mixture  of thrash,  punk,  hardcore  and  grind  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Bite  Your  Head  Off"  which was  released  by  Candlelight  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  a  very  fast  and  heavy  thrash./grind  direction  along  with  blast  beats  and  aggressive  vocals  as  well  as  a  mixture  of  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  some  melodies.  

  When t he  album  goes  into  other  songs  slower  sections  are  mixed  in  with  the  faster  parts  along  with  some  growls  and  screams  as  well  as  more  hardcore  and  punk  and  influences  and  at  time s the  music  can  be  very  brutal  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording,  as  the  album  progresses  you  can  also  hear  traces  of  groove  in  certain  tracks.

  With  this  album  King  Parrot  take  the  speed  of  thrash,  punk  and  grindcore  and  mix  it  in  with  the  brutality  of  death  metal  and  the  slow  breakdown's  of  hardcore  and  groove  metal  to  create  an  album  that  is  very  diverse  and  heavy  sounding  all  at  the  same  time.

  Song  lyrics  cover  violent,  hateful,  humorous  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can h ear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  King  Parrot  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  thrash,  grind,  punk  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Bozo"  "Bite  Your  Head  Off"  "Epileptic  Butcher"  and  "The  Stench  of  hardcore  pub  Trash".  8  out  of  10.

  

Megascavenger/At The Plateaus Of Leng/Chaos Records/2013 CD Review

  Megascavenger  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  I  would  describe  as  being  old  school  d  beat  Swedish  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "At  The  Plateaus  Of  Leng"  which  was  released  by  Chaos  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  a  heavy  and  melodic  Swedish  death  metal  sound  which  leads  up  to  some  growls  and  after  awhile  the  music  mixes  slow  and  fast  parts  together  as  well  as  bringing  in  guitar  solos.

 When  the  album  goes  into  other  songs  psych  and  prog  elements  are  added  into  the  music  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  also  sticking  to  mostly  a  death  metal  sound  and  small  amounts  of  screams,  spoken  words  and  clean  singing  find  their  way  into  the  recording  and  you  can  also  hear  traces  in  traditional  metal  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  on  the  last  song  there  is  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  before  returning  to  a  heavier  direction.

  With  this  album  Megascavenger  rely  less  on  d  beats  and  the  music  goes  for  a  more  straight forward  melodic  Swedish  death  metal  sound  and  every  song  has  a  different  sound  and  different  vocalist  with  some of them coming from the  bands  Bolt  Thrower,  Massacre,  Asphyx,  Sinister,  Avulsed,  Crematory,  National  Napalm  Syndicate  and  Crypticus  and  this  is  a  very  diverse  old  school  death  metal  record.

  Song  lyrics  cover  darkness,  horror  and  Lovecraft  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  old  school  sound  along  with  the  bass  guitars  being  mixed  down  low  in  the  mix.  

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Megascavenger  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic,  old  school  Swedish  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "At  The  Plateaus  Of  Leng"  "The  Mucus  Man"  "When  Death  Kills  the  Silent"  and  "Back  To  The  Ancient".  8  out  of  10.    

Left in Ruins Interview

• Can you give us an introduction to the band for those that will be hearing of you for the first time?
• 
  

LIR is a four-piece punk band born in 2010 in Trento, Italy. Since then we changed some bass players and drummers and toured a lot in Europe. Right now LIR are Piff (guitar), Dani (bass), Lorenz (drums) and me, Olly (vocals).
We play fast and angry music, but maybe when Piff will be back from India (he is on a travel in India at the moment), we will start to play some ethnic music. Let's see.

2.Recently you released a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction it has taken, and also how does it differ from your previous album?

Yeah a few months ago we released “Ghost”, our longest record till now: 10-tracks in 13.40 minutes.

Differences between this record and the old ones?...probably is a bit slower, but still too fast for “normal” people. Anyway we just write and play music we like.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your new release and also how would you describe your progress as a songwriter over the years?

The lyrics in “Ghost” are mainly about growing up in a society where you can't find your own dimension, a place to call home.
Some songs are more political and some are more personal-and-introspective. I'm not a songwriter, I just write about how I feel living in this fucked up world.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Left In Ruins'?

Look around you. There's no love and respect for anything, for the planet, for human-and-not-human beings, for ourselves. We, the humans, destroy and leave it in ruins.
(Anyway we started the band as “Shitsucker” that was way better).

5.What are some of the best show that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Oh, in the past three years we played a lot of shows and a lot of unforgettable ones. I think everyone in the band (actually none of us played all the shows, but this is a long story) has a different opinion on which ones were the best. Personally I think when we played on Fluff Fest in 2012 was incredible: you know I've been there every year since 2008 and finally having the chance to play on the tent stage was like a dream coming true; I was trembling, I had an injured feet, but the show was really cool, there were some people singing our songs, a few stage divings and some moshers. Probably was not the best show for the crowd, but for me had a sentimental value, I'm a romantic. (Anyway we didn't play during the weekend days but at the pre-fest in the tent stage).

Other amazing shows were the last 4 times we played in Berlin (much love to the guys in Sleaze Shows), when we played the first time with Vitamin X in Vicenza (Italy) back in 2012, a show we played in Venezia (Italy) at the end of 2012, the 2 gigs we played in Oporto in 2013 (we love Portugal so much!!) and a crazy gig we played in Istanbul in Summer 2012.
Our set: short, fast and loud (and hopefully enjoyable for the people attending to it).

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?

We toured for about 20 days last November/December. We played some really good shows and we had a lot of fun.
As I wrote before, Piff is travelling in India and I'm living in Barcelona at the moment so no shows 'till May/June. Can't wait to start practicing again and go on tour in Summer.
We will play some shows in Italy and some festivals in Europe and we will go on tour at the end of June.

7.The new album came out on Per Kono, Ruins and Epidemic Records, do you feel these record labels have done a lot when it comes to getting your music heard out there?

Fuck yeah, they put a lot of energies and money in releasing our record, I think that is already enough.

All of them are helping us spreading our music by sending records to fanzines and webzines.

Pedro and Mario of Ruins Records helped us with our new music video for “I'm Bored”.

Much love to Markus, Gab and Pedro (and all the other dudes in Ruins Records).

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of crust, punk and hardcore?

Mmmmm...in Europe is quite good.
We had some positive feedbacks from the US and South America. Hope to flight for a tour over there soon or later.

9.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

No idea. Since Lorenz and Dani arrived in the band we never wrote any new music, so it will be something new to us.

It will be really funny and inspiring.

Everyone in the band has different musical backgrounds and I'm sure we will do something good mixing all our influences.

10.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

NIRVANA.

Personally, I'm always listening to music and I always try to listen to something new (even if it's old) for me. But yeah lately I'm listening to a lot of Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Neon Pearl, Tame Impala, Goats, Comadre, Cult Ritual, Ravi Shankar, Das Oath, Rvivr, Reagan Youth, The Velvet Underground, Rites Of Spring, Fugazi, Husker Du and tons of other bands/artists.
As you can see I like a lot of different music.

11.Do you have any non musical interests?

Yeah. I do screen printing and I love it. With my girlfriend I'm starting a project called “La Follia”, we will print t-shirts, posters, hopefully start a zine and maybe release a few records. I love art in general. I take every chance I have to travel and meet people. I like cooking (strictly vegan).

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Thank you for your interest in LIR,is really appreciated. Sorry for the delay in answering the questions, but I've been quite busy lately.
See you on the road!

Dropdead/Systematic Death/Fighting For Life/Armageddon Label/2014 Split EP Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Rhode  Island's  Dropdead  and  Japan's  Systematic  Death  called  "Fighting  For  Life"  which  was  released  by  Armageddon  Label  in  2014  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Drop  Dead  who  continues  their  mixture  of  punk,  crust  and  grind.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  a  heavy  bass  line  before  going  into  a  more  fast  and  heavy  direction  along  with  blast  beats  and  aggressive  style  vocal s and  they  remain  in  a  fast  direction  during  both  of  their  songs.

  Song  lyrics  cover  political  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Dropdead  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Final  Chapter.

  Next  up  is  Systematic  Death  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  hardcore  and  crust.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with    a  very  heavy  old  school  hardcore  sound  before  speeding  up  and  going  into  a  more  crust/punk  direction  along  with  some  aggressive  vocals  and  they  stick  to  this  direction  for  both  of  their  songs  as  well  as  bringing  in  some  blast  beats.

  Song  lyrics  cover  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.    

  In  my  opinion  Systematic  Death  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  hardcore  punk  and  crust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Dashing".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  hardcore  punk  and  crust,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  8  out  of  10.

Dropdead/Ruidosa Inmundicia/Armageddon Label/2014 Split EP Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Rhode  Island's  Dropdead  and  Astria's  Ruidosa  Inmundicia  which  was  released  by  Armageddon  Label  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Dropdead  a  band  that  plays  a  brutal  mixture  of  hardcore,  punk,  crust  and  grind.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  a  very  heavy  and  fast  punk/grind  sound  along  with  brutal  blast  beats  and  aggressive  crust/hardcore  style  vocals  and  there  are  only  2  songs  and  they  are  very  short.

  Song  lyrics  cover  social  and  political  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  heavy  and  raw  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding recording  from  Dropdead  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "A  Fall  Of  Empires".

  Next  up  is  Ruidosa  Inmundicia  a  band  that  plays  a  heavy  and  aggressive  form  of  punk,  crust,  grind  and  power  violence.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  a  very  fast,  aggressive  and  heavy  crust/grind  sound  along  with  a  mixture  of  male  and  female  style  shouts  which  also  leads  to  bass  and  guitar  solos  and  they  have  the  same  approach  to  all  3  of  their  songs.

  Song   lyrics  are  written  in  German  and  cover  political  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Ruidosa  Inmundicia  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of   punk,  crust,  grind  and  power  violence  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Asco".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  punk,  crust  and  grind.  8  out  of  10.  

  

Spewtilator Interview

Doom to Grind Interview - Spewtilator

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new ep?

Ryan: We recorded all the tracks for the Goathrower EP about two years ago so we’ve all been real busy between then and now. We did a tour with Death of Kings going along with a split cassette we put out with them, Boris Records put out the Inhale Awaits EP which was recorded at the same time as the tracks for the Goathrower EP, and Headsplit Rekords did a split cassette for us with our buds in Coffin Dust for their east coast tour with Organ Donor last year. Aside from all that… Rafay and Amos both put in time with their other bands, Mangled and Death of Kings respectively, and have both put out records within the last couple years on Boris Records. I do logos and artwork for bands under the moniker Ryanimator which I’ve been focusing on lately… and writing more riffs!

2.You have a new ep coming out early this year, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction it has taken and also how does it differ from your previous recordings?

Ryan: It still sounds like Spewtilator and fits in with all the other stuff we’ve done but we’ve worked some new influences in too. There’s a couple black metal parts in there, some d beat stuff, grindcore, and still a bunch of thrashing death metal… but it’s all done pretty tastefully, everything flows really well and I think even though there’s some pretty stark contrasts stylistically in the songs it doesn’t miss a beat as a full cohesive EP. It’s not like “oh here’s a black/death metal song and here’s a d beat song, and here’s a grindcore song and here’s a thrash song and then a punk cover” we just blaze through everything headlong like we always have. We spent a lot more time mixing these songs and Rafay spent a lot more time on his guitar tone which I think really shows in the final product. Josh Freemon at Dead Sound Studio is the dude of dudes and spent a TON of time with us on all of it and probably gave more of a shit about the final product than we did haha but he did a great job and I couldn’t be happier. Jack Control at Enormous Door did a great job on the mastering too. Our best sounding shit without a doubt!

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects the new release explores?

Ryan: Well, all the songs are still about smoking weed haha… but aside from the typical Spewtilator themes we explore a post-apocalyptic wasteland where technology is waging war against mankind and reanimating corpses in a legion of cyborg death squads programmed to wipe out what’s left of the irradiated resistance. A Native American curse that plunges the victim into terrifying psychedelic visions culminating in self-disembowelment upon a cryptic swamp altar. Poser immolation and ceremonial conjuring of denizens from the lower planes through sorcerous vitriolic castings… and Tony Iommi.

4.The band was broken up for awhile, what was the cause of the split and also the decision to reform?

Ryan: Haha we’ve had like… six ‘last shows’ over the years. Mostly they were just us fucking with everyone or not really knowing if we’d play another show… like when Chris got busy working on big tours and we eventually had Jake start playing with us… it was just like “Fuck it, last show” and just wait and see what happened later. The first time was for real, though. I was in a bit of trouble with the law and thought I was going to have to move out of state for a while. Things ended up working themselves out and I stayed so we just kinda picked up where we left off.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Spewtilator'?

Ryan: I came up with the name after we’d already written some songs so it was kinda indicative of what I thought we sounded like… but the inspiration was from partying with one of my best friends years before. He got obliterated at this house party we were at, in the fashion that only Bigmatt could. Someone had already spilled shit all over the couch cushions so they were leaning outside in a corner of the carport and Bigmatt comes stumbling out there and just leans up on the wall and barfs all over them. I’ve never ever seen anyone puke that much since, it was nuts, like, inhuman amounts of barf, and Bigmatt was a big motherfucker so this shit is just coming out in fucking ocean waves… he just absolutely destroyed those cushions with vomit. It was amazing. Bigmatt is the spewtilator.
RIP brother.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Ryan:  Our first ‘last show’ was pretty wild. We hadn’t been around all that long and had kinda started catching on around town so everyone came out of the woodwork for that one. I have a vhs tape of it somewhere that I need to do something with one of these days. Bigmatt’s memorial show is probably my personal favorite. He was seriously the best dude ever… probably the most genuine person I’ve ever met and one of my best friends. So we played a memorial show for him when he passed with a bunch of other bands and we played last and man, it was tough. Matt was the reason Spewtilator even came to be. I’d always wanted to do a band with him and so we had this idea to do something called Heavy Metal Vomit Party and so when I started writing riffs it was with the intent of him fronting the band. I can’t even imagine how awesome that would have been. Matt traveled a lot, hopped trains n shit, so him actually being in the band just kinda didn’t happen but he was always at the shows, heckling me from the crowd, running the pit, and just being the most enthusiastic and wild motherfucker in the room. It was infectious. So the memorial set was appropriately bonkers, constant stage-dives, wild pit, shit being thrown at us, whiskey bottles being passed around like water, people everywhere… a fitting tribute to the raddest dude ever.

The stage performance has always been 100% high energy balls to the wall. If it’s been in our control we’ve always played in almost total darkness with just a couple green flood lights pointed at our cabs. I hate when bands just stand there and don’t thrash or anything, that sucks to watch. I think if the band is going ape shit it just encourages the crowd to do the same which in turn gets the band even more stoked… that’s when shit gets out of control and magic starts to happen.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Ryan: Not currently, Rafay and Amos stay pretty busy with their other projects who both play shows frequently and have touring plans this year. Mangled is heading out to Kentucky in February for Blood of the Wolf Fest along with a bunch of other sick bands and I think Death of Kings is doing the east coast in March. Spew did the whole ‘play twice a month, every month’ thing for years and it’s just not what I’m into these days. I think we may try and pull things together for something in the summer but we’ll see how that shakes out.

8.On the new ep you have a Zeke cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?

Ryan: Zeke rules! Rafay and I are huge fans so we thought including a cover song of theirs would be appropriate. Plus, they’re criminally unknown, totally fucking rip, and the subject matter of the song is pretty appropriate so it was a no-brainer. We actually did a Zeke/Slayer cover set a couple years ago for Halloween so we know almost a full set of their songs anyway haha. One of my favorite bands ever. They don’t get nearly enough credit for how radical they are and how long they’ve been cranking out top notch hi-octane rock and roll madness. We got to open for them a while back and decided that there would be no point in continuing the band after that since all our hopes and dreams would be coming true so that one was another of our “last” shows.

9.A year ago you put out a split with Coffin Dust, what are your thoughts on the other band that participated on the album?

Ryan: They are total dickheads and we hate them intensely for both how good they are at their instruments and for how radical they are at being really radically radical dudes. I did a house show for Matt and John’s old band when they were touring through, which was coincidentally Spewtilator’s first show, and we’ve been in touch ever since. Matt does art under the moniker Slime and has done a bunch of stuff for us over the years and we’ve tried to play as many shows together as bands 800 miles apart can muster. Totally killer and criminally unknown band… but the latter should be changing as Unholy Anarchy Records is putting out their full length in February and it fuckin’ SMOKES!

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of underground metal?

Ryan: Good? I dunno man, haha. Some dude in England did a video review of our first cassette that’s pretty funny. I don’t think he liked it haha or maybe he just thought all the “bungs” and weed stuff was stupid? I don’t remember now, it’s on youtube I think. Aside from him I think all the reviews I’ve seen have been pretty positive.

11.According to the Metal Archives page, a couple of the band members also participate in other musical projects, can you tell us a little bit more about them?

Ryan: Yeah, Rafay and Amos both do time in other projects.

Amos plays in a thrashy traditional heavy metal band called Death of Kings. Boris Records just put out a record for them last year which is a total ripper and Sam actually has the last few copies of the Spewtilator / Death of Kings tour split too so check them shits out. Totally awesome and triumphant jams. They’re gonna be hitting the road in March for a short tour if I remember correctly.

Rafay plays in a sewer stomping death metal band called Mangled. Boris Records put an EP out for them in 2012 and will be putting out another record for them this year, if I’m not mistaken. Dudes worship at the altar of Exhumed etc. and play rad thrashing death metal about being sewer dwelling maniacs. It rules. They’re heading out to Blood of the Wolf fest in Lexington, Kentucky this month to play with some of the sickest death metal bands on the east coast so if you’re in the area then shirk your poserly ways and go to that shit.

12.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Ryan: Faster, weirder, more influences, who knows?! Rafay had a new song that had some weird futuristic thrashing vibes and heavy Turbonegro influence and I’ve got one that kinda bridges the styles of the newer thrash stuff like Burn in Hell with the stuff on the Get Conjured cassette where we had a really heavy death metal influence… so it’s gonna be weird, that’s for sure. I really liked kinda branching the sound out a little bit on the last batch of stuff we recorded and I thought we were able to expand on what Spewtilator “sounds like” pretty effectively without moving away from the sound we’ve established.

13.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Ryan: Well… obviously we like Slayer. We’ve ripped off their song titles, album titles, album art, and logo! As far as other direct influences; lots of old thrash metal, death metal, punk, and grindcore… it’d get ridiculous to try and list everything out. We never really set out to be a specific type of band or play a certain genre, it was just a mash up of all the fast shit we love. If you look at the four songs on the first cassette you’ve got an homage to Slayer, early Death / Possessed worship, death metal, and thrashy grindcore with a black metal-ish/death n roll outro… all in under 8 minutes. Likewise the new EP runs the gamut of death metal, thrash, grindcore, black metal, d beat and punk… but I think we’ve always done a good job of incorporating elements that we like from our influences and still always sounding like Spewtilator.

I’ve been listening to Blood Money’s “Red, Raw, and Bleeding” a bunch lately. Totally killer 80’s speed metal from the UK. Yet another band that deserves way more attention than they get. Mob Rules has been in heavy rotation as well. I used to be partial to the Ozzy albums, and Sabotage is still my favorite Sabbath album, but the albums with Dio are just so fucking good and I love all the up tempo stuff, you just can’t fuck with Turn Up the Night and the bass work on those albums is top notch. As for newer stuff… I’ve been jamming a bunch of noisy goregrind stuff like Couple Skate, Hyperemesis, and Meatal Ulcer. Gowl put out two ripper EP’s last year that I’ve been jamming non-stop. That new Ranger album is rad as is the new Iron Dogs record from last year. Disfigurement’s latest EP “Soul Rot” that Brois Records put it is totally crushing. I could go on and on forever…

14.Do you have any non musical interests?

Ryan: I do logos and artwork for bands under the moniker Ryanimator in my free time which is a lot of fun. Rafay and I both nerd out really hard on the Legend of Drizz’t series by R.A. Salvatore. I hadn’t read any fantasy / D&D type stuff in years and he got me hooked back in. That series is like 20 books long at this point, and was almost literally the only thing I read for like 2 years. Some of the best books I’ve ever read… and the newest one might be the best of the whole fucking series which is just nuts because the quality of every book in the series up to this point has been superb.

15.Before we wrap up this interview do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks for the interview! For anyone who wants to abuse their ears with our horrible racket and keep up with our general stupidity they can do so here http://facebook.com/spewtilator and here http://spewtilator.bandcamp.com  Check out Boris Records here http://boris-records.com and here http://borisrecords.bandcamp.com and pick up all the awesome shit Sam has put out! Goathrower drops on Feb 14th! Listen to radical heavy metal and grindcore every day!

Bombs Of Hades/Through The Dark Past/Pulverised Records/2014 CD COmpilation Review

  Bombs  of  Hades  are  a  band  from  Sweden  which  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  that  plays  a  Swedish  form  of  death  metal  with  elements  of  punk  and  crust  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  compilation  album  "Through  the  Dark  past"  which  was  released  by  Pulverised  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  a  dark  sounding  synth  before  adding  in  a  heavy  and  melodic  sound  along  with  deep  growls  and  screams  and  after  awhile  leads  are  brought  into  the  music  which  add  to  the  aggression  this  record  produces..

  As  the  album  continues  it  sticks  to  a  fast  and  old  school  form  of  death  while  also b ringing  in  the  raw  aggression  of  punk  and  crust  which  also  leads  to  a  mixture  of  d  beats  and  blast  beats  while  also  keeping  around  a  good  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  mixing  in  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  together  and  after  awhile  they  bring  in  a  very  evil  sounding  prolugue  before  returning  to  their  dark  old  school  death  metal  sound  and  on  a  couple  of  the  songs  they  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  synths  which  bring  a  horror  music  feeling  to  the  recording.

  When  we  get  more  into  the  album  the  band  get  more  dark,  heavy  and  raw  as  well  as  bringing  in  grindcore  influences  which  they  mix  in  with  their  death  metal  melodies  and  this  compilation  has  a  lot  more  aggression  than  most  of  the  death  metal  bands  that  come  from  their  home  country  and  on  couple  of  the  songs  they  go  into  an  old  school  punk  direction  while still  keeping  around  the  death  metal  influences.

  With  this  compilation  Bombs  Of  Hades  bring  out  all  of  the  greatest  song  over  the  years  and  you  can  hear  their  current  d  beat  Swedish  death  metal  sound  along  with  their  older  more  crust  influenced  material  and  this  is  a  very  raw  and  heavy  compilation  which  shows  that  the  old  school  death  metal  sound  still  kicks  ass  in  the  modern  day.

  Song  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  occultism,  Anti  Christian,  Violence  and  Gore  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  raw  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  compilation  from  Bombs  Of  Hades  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  death  metal  with  elements  of  punk  and  crust,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Necronomiconus  Kanth  (The  HOunds  Of  Hell)"  "Into  The  Eternal  pit  of  Fire"  "Crossturner"  and  "Evil  Dead".  8  out  of  10.  

    

Department Of Correction Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Hi you, thanks for reading. And thanks for that interview. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION is a Grindcore band from Paris France. We are 3 in the band, and play since 2008.

2014 will be a busy year for us... like 2013, 2012 and 2011 were... We have a split with AGATHOCLES that is about to be released by Dooweet Records and Give Praise records (CD and LP), a split with TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION + 4 French bands released soon by Kaotoxin Records and Give Praise records (CD and LP), a split with SENDER/RECEIVER our brothers from Detroit and a split with PROLETAR from Indonesia coming later in 2014.

We are also on the go for 2 more splits, that will be recorded in may.

We will tour Europe with the friends MOTHER BRAIN (Grind/USA) in March, and tour the whole USA for 3 weeks in August with the friends of BUDD DWYER.

As you can see, it's pretty busy.

2.How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and also how does it differ from previous releases?

The split DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION/STRONG INTENTION is very powerfull, violent and booty shaking at the same time. For our part of the split, we worked with Francis Caste as ingeneer. He made a very brutal and sensitive sound. Very "in your face".

The previous releases were done 100% DIY in cheap studios. The compositions have evolved, of course. And the sound is just not the same. Every record we do, we are proud of it. It sounds like a time of our lives. 

On each record, we have different kind of songs, some are more punk, some are more metal, some are more black, some are more melodic... but we chain all that influences with a Grindcore basis. We play an open Grindcore, that is interesting to dig deeply, as much as having just some Grindcore shot wih one or two songs like before going to work or before going to a party.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

I'm sorry, there is no lyricks hahaha ! The subjects of DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION is music. Fun. Energy. Kick out anger. As persons, we dont deal with hate, religion, sexism, food considerations etc....

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Department Of Correction'?

We choose that name, because it was kind of fun. It sounds like "spank brigade", or "house of butt kicking", or something... It's also the name os prisons for violent teenager, as far as we know, in USA. So we thought that this name fits perfectly.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Best shows, well lots of our shows were good, it depends on what your attempting for. Some were amazing with big sound, big crowd, like in Obscene Extreme, SWR Barroselas Metal Fest... Some were in small basement with small audience but big energy... 

We had some bad shows... like, no audience, shit sound, bad welcoming from organiser, but it has happen maybe 3 or 4 times on 200 shows...

So, 98% of our shows are good time, with tones of speed blasts, amounts of growls and screams, earthquake of guitar chords, it breaks necks and nerves, and in the end everybody has been spanked, including us ! 

So after a show, it's allways time to have fun with the fans, share some beers, talk and laugh.... good time !

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

As mentionned, we tour Europe and USA this year, plus some shows around. We'll do 6 weeks or more touring in 2014. We don't know for 2015, but we would like to explore South Africa, Cuba, maybe Russia again... or Indonesia ? Let's do 2014 first haha !

7.Recently you have put out a split album with Strong Intention, what are your thoughts on the other band that participated on the album?

We toured with STRONG INTENTION in USA and Europe in 2013. There music is very direct HxC with a touch of grind and power violence. We like there sound.

Yohann and Florian played Drums and Bass in STRONG INTENTION on the European tour, as the original members where not abble to move for some good reasons.

It's a good band, that started in 1994, back in the days. It has the taste of Old-School with a pinch of modernity. Very good band and nice guys.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of grindcore?

It seems that we are appreciated. We sell a lot of records at the shows, we have no problem for booking shows... We have plenty of radio air plays... Lots of very positive reviews of records... Probably, fans of Grindcore likes what we do ! 

9.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Actually, we play what comes in our inspiration. There is no plan. The only plan is to do quality things. We have no borders with our influences. If something new comes, then we explore it. If it sounds good in the end, we keep it. If it's shitty... sometimes we keep it too hahaha. If it's really bad tasting, we let down and go to something else. 

The band members come from the HxC and Metal scene of the 90's and 2000's, and from Classical and Jazz... so there is a lot of possibility. 

10.What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

In fact, we don't know. The only band we talked about was when we formed the band. We all discovered the first demo of MUMAKIL, and it was a blast ! We wanted to do something like that. Very brutal and fun sounding, rock n roll fast grind ! In the end, we never composed songs like them, but their first record was what make us decide to play Grindcore. 

We listened to Grindcore for years and years, personally i started around 1992, when i was 12. So, you know, influences.... 

11.Do you have any non musical interests?

Yes of course ! 

Greg (singer) likes simple life, he likes fishing, cut trees, climb mountains... 

Florian (guitarist) is physiotherapist and coach for musicians, at La Clinique du Musicien (Paris/FRANCE), it's all about biomechanics applied to musicians that want to increase there technics, abilities and feelings...

Yohann is a house builder, and he likes the culture of the 80's... and cooking !

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Yeah we want to thank you that is reading, thank you John again for that interview. Let's meet on tour and share some good time guys. This is the most important in life ;)

Department Of Correction/Strong Interntion/2013 Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  France's  Department  Of  Correction  and  Maryland's  Strong  intention  which  was  self  released  in  2013  and  we  will  start  off  the   review  with  Department  Of  Correction  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  thrash,  hardcore  and  grind.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  fast  and  noisy  sound  along  with  blast  beats  and  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  which  also  have  a  slight  black  metal  feeling  to  them  but  the  music  is  more  closer  to  hardcore  and  grind  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  As  their  side  of  the  split  continues  the  band  also  start  mixing  mid  paced  sections  with  the  more  fast  and  noisy  stuff  as  well  as  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  at  time s you  can  also  hear  hardcore  style  shouts.

  With  their  side  of  the  ep  Department  Of  Correction  display  a  lot  of  brutality,  heaviness,  speed  and  aggression  with  their  music  and  they  create  some  of  the most  brutal  grindcore  I  have  heard  in  years.

  Song  lyrics  cover  violent,  hateful  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  brutal  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Department  Of  Correction  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  mixture  of  hardcore,  thrash  and  grind  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Space  Intruder"  and  "Lord  Of  The  Black  Ring".

  Next  up  is  Strong  Intention  another  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  thrash,  hardcore  and  grind.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  fast,  heavy  and  brutal  sound  along  with  blast  beats  and  hardcore  style  shouts  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  growls  and  at  times  they  slow  down  before  returning  to  a  faster  sound  along  with  a  great  amount  of  thrash  influences.

  As  their  side  of  the  split  continues  the  music  gets  more  fast  and  brutal  sounding  but  more  hardcore  orientated  than  the  previous  band  and  there  are  also  some  growls  being  utilized  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  along  with  a  small  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  guitar  leads.

  With  their  side  of  the  album  Strong  Intention  stick  to  mostly  an  old  school  thrash,  crust  and  hardcore  direction  but  they  do  bring  in  the  speed  of  heaviness and  grindcore  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own.

  Song  lyrics  cover  violent,  hateful  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on their  side  of  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Strong  Intention  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  thrash,  hardcore,  and  grind  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Carnivore"  and  "Monuments  Of  Shit".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  hardcore  and  grind.  8  out  of  10.