Overviolence/Self Titled/2013 EP Review

  Overviolence  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  crust,  grind,  power  violence  and  d  beat  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  and  self  released  2013  ep.

  The  ep  starts  out  with  distorted  noises  before  going  into  a  fast  crust/grind  direction  along  with  blast  beats,  high  pitched  screams  and  deep  growls  and  the  band  continue  this  assault  from  beginning  to  end  with  all  of  the  songs  being  under  a  minute  but  do  slow  down  for  a  few  seconds  before  speeding  up  again.

    With  this  ep  Overviolence  play  a  very  fast  and  brutal  form  of  crust  and  grindcore  and  the  blast  beats  dominate  the  recording  and  there  is  never  a  soft  moment  present  on  this  recording  and  the  sound  goes  back  to  the  early  90's.

  Song  lyrics  cover  violent  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  raw,  brutal,  heavy  and  powerful  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Overviolence  are  a  very  great  sounding  heavy  and  brutal  mixture  of  crust  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Born  Of  Scum"  and  "Blind  Eyes  See  No  Evil".  8  out  of  10.

  

Tellusian Interview

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

The band got together in 2010 after the demise of Crowpath where me (Erik) and Henrik had been making noise since -97. I had been jamming with this guy, John, just for fun for a while and when Crowpath was no more we decided to turn the Project into a proper band and got Henrik in on vicals and Another guy, Robert, to play the bass. We just decided to play whatever we felt like playing, no guidelines, and after a while we found our sound, so well stick with that till it bores us to death. Tellusian is kind of melodic, a big chunk of metal sprinkled with progrock and som faster parts.

2.Recently you have put out 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 previous releases?

Well, prior to the fullength, Collision, wich will be out soon we have only released a 7" and a split 7" with The Swan King. Id say that the Foundations are the same, of course we have refined our sound a little, tried some new things and all that but its not very diffrent from the other stuff. Since its ten songs on the album we have a few songs that differ a little from the rest, we had to throw something in there to make the 25 minutes enjoyable, some small surprises maybe.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics the band covers with the Music?

Henrik is the main lyricist in the band and i know that he enjoys turning the lyrics into mininovels. The are basically about strange, abnormal things in our surroundings or things we read about. We had a friend who is a writer, Andreas Karlsson, to write some lyrics for the new album as well. He wrote the lyrics for the song Rivalry, wich is about his neverending rivalry with his twin brother. Of course exaggerated and fictional, but there is always some amount of substance in the fiction. 

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tellusian? 

Its not really a word, is it? We had some ideas for band names but they were either silly or just boring so we had to come up with something. So we stuck with Tellusian, the inhabitants of this planet, all living things on Earth.

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?

Ha, we have only played two shows so far, and i have to say that the last one was the best so we are moving on up. Hopfully there will be some more shows later on but we all got familys, jobs, other things that take a lot of our time so well have to see what happens. If we get an offer to play and everybody got the time to do it we will, but we are not really looking for shows to play, there will not be any extensive touring or anything like that.

DO you have any touring or show plans for 2014?

No, maybe we can do some weekends here and there but i dont think touring is realistic in our situation.

7.A couple of your backs you did a split with The Swan King, what are your thoughts on the other band that participated?

Yeah, we did a split 7" with them for the Hell Comes Home split 7" series. I havnt really heard anything other from them than the song on that 7" and i liked that tune. Kind of stonerrockish i think and well executed, seems like a band that a lot of people would like, kind of catchy i think. As i said i have to check them out further, but i think that tune they provided was great.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your Music?

Ha, well. The world has been silent. No, not really, but Mike, The guy at Pillowscars who releases our stuff, just started sending out copies for review and those i have read has been good, some really unexpected positive. Seems like we are doing something right at least.

9.Are any of the band members involved with any other musical project besides this band?

Yes, I got this Grindcore band along with Henrik called Overviolence ,overviolence.bandcamp.com, and i got my long time running punkband The Kuksugers. Henrik is also in a hardcore band called Ormarr ,ormarr.bandcamp.com. John is a sound engineer so he records some bands from time to time and Robert is a semi professional musician and plays with some jazzbands, he´s the only one making some money from it.

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

Wow, no clue. Anything might happen, we got some new material that we are working on and its quite in the same shape as the earlier stuff, maybe a bit more grindcoreish. Thats exciting when you write new stuff, you never know what the result might be. It might suck, or it might be brilliant.

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

Well, i started out with Bon Jovi in the late 80s but i abandoned that as soon as i heard Maiden. Then it was the natural evolution of a metalhead, moving on to Slayer, Sepultura, Entombed and then further on into obscurity where i have been ever since. Bands like Deadguy and Today is the day was and is a big influence, early Cryptopsy, Breach, and all the cool band we have toured with through out the years like Cephalic carnage, Gadget, Sayyadina, Abandon. When you watch some great music live night after night it really sinks deep into your mind, and i´m sure all those expirences has influenced me,  These days i mostly listen to grindcore and some death metal. That new P.L.F. record has been spinning a lot, and the new Gorguts album is also a great piece of noise.

12.outside of music what are some of your interests?

Since i got kids there isnt much spare time. I like to hang out with my family, I enjoy fishing in the summer, its a nice way to pass some time and i enjoy to drive my old crappy moped. Other than that music consumes quite some time.

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

Thanks for your support! Check out www.pillowscars.com for more details about or upcoming album.

Shin To Shin/Self Titled/A389 Recordings/2014 CD Review

  Shin  To  Shin  are  a  band  from  Cleveland,  Ohio  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  metal,  thrash  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2014  album  which  was  released  by  A389  Recordings.

  The album  starts  out   with  an  intro  which  has  a  very  heavy  and  dark  sound  to  it  along  with  solos  and  when  it  goes  into  the  first song  it  keeps  around  a  heavy  sound  while  also  adding  in  elements  of  hardcore  along  with  death  metal  influenced  vocals.

  As  the  album  moves  on  the  music  gets  more  up  beat  while  also  adding  in  melody  as  well  as  some  thrash  metal  influenced  guitar  solos  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  punk  elements  and  d  beats  and  on  one  of  the  songs  there  is  a  brief  use  of  melodic  vocals  and  the  last  song  is  an  acoustic  instrumental.

  On  this  album  Shin  To  Shin  combine   early  90's  death  metal  and  hardcore  with  80s  thrash  to  create  an  album  that  is  very  powerful  and  heavy  sounding  while  also  having  an  old  school  sound  to  them.

Song  lyrics  cover  hateful  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  along  with  the  bass  guitars  being  mixed  down  low  in  the  mix.

  In  my  opinion  Shin  To  Shin  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  metal,  thrash  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Extinction"  "Costumes  And  Masks"  and  "Stand  Up  And  Shout".  8  out  of  10. 

Spewtilator/Goatthrower/Boris Records/2014 EP Review

  Spewtilator  are  a  band  from  Atlanta,  Georgia  that  plays  death/thrash  metal  with  elements  of  grindcore  and  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "Goatthrower"  which  will  be  released  by Boris  Records.

  The  ep  starts  out  with  raw  and  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  drums  before  going  into  a  faster  direction  and  adding  in  d  and  blast  beats  and  melody  which  leads  up  to  death  metal  and  thrash  style  vocals  and  after  awhile  old  school  metal  solos  are  added  into  the  music.

  As  the  ep  continues  the  band  continue  there  raw  and  old  school  metal  sound  as  well  as  adding  in  punk  style  shouting  with  the  growls  and  you  can  also  hear  King  Diamond  influenced  vocals  being  utilized  briefly  and  after  awhile  the  bass  guitars  get  more  powerful  and  you  can  hear  elements  of  crustcore  being  utilized.

  On  this  ep  Spewtilator  play  a  very  raw  and  old  school  form  of  death/thrash  and  they  update  the  sound  and  make  it  a  lot  heavier  with  influences  from  grind,  punk  and  grindcore  and  the  last  song  is  a  Zeke  cover.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  and  hateful  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  heavy  and r aw  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Spewtilator  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death,  thrash  metal,  grind  and  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cherokee  Curse"  and  "Let's  Get  Drugs".  9  out  of  10.          

Loath/Total Peace/Inverse Records/2014 CD Review

  Loath  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  crust,  grind  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Total  Peace"  which  was  released  by  Inverse  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  sound  effects  and  distortion  which  also  leads  to  heavy  and  dark  sounding  guitar  riffs  along  with  drums  and  a  few  seconds  later  bass  and  growls  start  to  kick  in  along  with  spoken  word  samples.

  When  the  album  goes  into  the  second  song  the  music  gets  a  bit  more  faster  along  with  crust  and grind  influences  while  also  keeping  around  the  slow  and  dark  parts  as  well  as  adding  in  screams  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  drums  start  bringing  in  d  beats  and  you  can  hear  melodies  coming  out  of  the  guitars  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos.

  On  this  album  Loath  bring  in  a  very  heavy,  dark  and  modern  sound  which  combines  crust,  grindcore  and  death  metal  and  unlike  a  lot  of  bands  doing  that  mixture  these  days,  this  band  seems  to  a  very  original  approach  to  the  genre.

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

  In  my  opinion  Loath  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  crust,  grind  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Humanity"  "Psychic  Leech"  "The  Common  God"  and  "Live  Through  Me".  8  out  of  10.    

Yautja Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album? Since we finished tracking the record we've done 2 tours of the midwest/east coast and gone through the treacherous post-tracking process of putting out an album: mixing, mastering for digital/vinyl, and other logistical shit with artwork, release dates, etc.

2.You recently 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 past recordings?  As of this interview, isn't technically out yet but it will be very soon.  The new record is definitely the best quality recording we've done; everything else has been home-recorded by our guitarist Shibby, which doesn't sound bad but just not fucking PRO like Mikey Allred at Dark Arts Audio.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with the new album?  The subject/lyrical content of the songs on the new album ranges from personal themes like our relationships with our friends/family and community to socio-political themes that affect all of us.  A theme that seems to resonate throughout the record is the observance of the basic human fear of change.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Yautja'? The name Yautja comes from the Predator (the movie) universe, but it’s really just a name to us.

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? Over the past few years we've played some awesome shows with some awesome bands; lately Florida (Miami, Tallahassee, Orlando) has been really good to us with other recent highlights being Richmond, Boston, and Baltimore.  As far as stage performance: we like to play our songs and Tyler and Kayhan sweat a lot.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release and 2014?  We're doing a two week tour at the beginning of February and then touring out to Austin for SXSW with some shows on either side of that.  We will be touring sporadically throughout this year to support the new record.

7.The new album came out on Forcefield Records, do you feel that they have done a lot to get your music heard out there? Forcefield is a great label and we're really glad to have Tim as our new stepdad.  We're very stoked to be a part of the Forcefield family.

8.On a worldwide level, how has the feedback been to the newer music by fans of grindcore?  Not many people have actually heard the new record yet but we hope people from all over are in to it.

9.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that the band members are involved with? We're all fairly active with other projects besides Yautja: Tyler plays drums in Gnarwhal and Alraune, who are both releasing new music and touring this year.  Kayhan plays in Coliseum, Choking on Ash, and Legion who all release music and tour when time permits.  Shibby plays in Nameless Cults and Quietly and is constantly recording/engineering Nashville bands.

10.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases? Weirder, Faster, Heavier, Slower, Harder, Softer.  More fog at future shows.

11.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer material and also what are you listening to nowadays?  Currently listening to: PJ Harvey, Pile, Inter Arma, Ulcerate, R. Kelly, Ex-Breathers, Pissed Jeans, Castevet, Portal, Grass is Green, Glasser, Mammoth Grinder, The Austerity Program.

12.Do you have any non musical interests?  We love to go movie.

13.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview? Thanks for the questions, keep your eye on the Nashville diy/punk/heavy music scene in 2014 - lots of good bands/people doing awesome stuff this year.  See you in your hometown.

Cripple Bastards/Nero In Metastasi/Relapse Records/2014 CD Review

  Cripple  Bastards  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  a  very  long  history  with  a  musical  style  I  would  describe  as  being  fast  and  brutal  noise/grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Nero  In  Metastasi"  which  will  be  released  by  Relapse  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  heavy  guitar  and  bass  riffs  along  with  some  drums  and  melody  and  a  minute  later  the  music  goes  into  a  faster  direction  and  adds  in  crust  influences,  blast  beats,  growls  and  screams  and  at  times  the  music  slows  down  to  add  in  more  heaviness.

  As  the  album  progresses  the  band  continues  to  their  approach  to  fast  and  heavy  grindcore  as  well  as  getting  more  brutal  and  adding  in  technical  elements  along  with  some  thrash  influences  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  spoken  word  samples  being  utilized  on  this  record  along  with  some  crustcore  style  shouting  and  after  awhile  guitar  solos  are  added  into  the  mix  and  on  one  song  they  also  start  getting  more  experimental..

  With  this  recording  Cripple  Bastards  show  that  even  after  25 years  they  can  still  create  some  heavy  and  brutal  grindcore  and  unlike  the  newer  bands  which  mix  in  more  melodic  elements  this  band  still  remains  true  to  their  signature  sound.

  Song  lyrics  are  written  in  Italian  and  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  brutal  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  along  with  one  of  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Cripple  Bastards  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Malato  Terminale"  "Lapide  Rimossa"  "Passi  Falsi"  and  "Splendore  E  Tenbra".  8  out  of  10.