PowerXChuck/Always Never Fun/Here And Now Records/2015 7 Inch Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Australia's  PowerXChuck  and  Italy's  Always  Never  Fun  which  was  released in  2015  by  Here  And  Now  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  PowerXChuck  a  band  that  plays  power violence.

  There  side  of  the  split  starts out  with  drum  beats  and  bass  guitars  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  and  after the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  crust/grind  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats,  high  pitched  screams  and  hardcore style  shouts  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  guitar  leads  and  all  of  the  songs  are  very  short  in  length and  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  PowerXChuck  are  a  very  great  sounding  power  violence  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Shit  Mate"  and  "A  Nation  Sleeps".

  Next  up  is  Always  Never  Fun  another  band  that  plays  power  violence.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  distorted intro  and  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars and  drums  which  leads  up  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  fast  criust/grind  direction  along  with  some blast  beats,  angry  screaming  vocals  and  hardcore  style gang  shouts  and  all  of  their  songs  are  short  in  length  and  also  mix  in  the  energy  of  punk  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Always  Never  Fun  are  a  very  great  sounding  power  violence  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  music.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS INCLUDE  "last  Minute  Judge"  and  "Bloody  Gigs".

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

Corporation Of Consumption/CxOxSx//Here And Now Records/2015 Split 12 Inch Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Italy's  Corporation Of Consumption  and  CxOxSx  which  was  released  in  2015  by  Here  And  Now  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Corporation Of Consumption  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  crust  and  grindcore.

  There  side of  the  split  starts  off  with  a  heavy  guitar  sound  along  with  some  melodies  before adding  in  elements  of  thrash  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  it  goes  into  more  of  a  grindcore  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  a  great  mixture  of  both  growls  and screams  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  their  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  with  the  longest  one  being  under  3  minutes,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Corporation Of Consumption  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  crust  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS INCLUDE  "Out  Of  Control"  and  "Along  +  Tv  Whore".

  Next  up  is  CxOxSx  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  power  violence  and  ultracore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  bird  noises  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  fast  grindcore  direction  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount of  blast  beats  along  with  a  great  mixture  of  both  growls  and  screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  all  of  their  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  with  the  longest  one  being  under  2   minutes  and  the  growls  also  get  guttural  at  times  and  the  songs  stick  mostly  a  mid  paced  or  fast  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  angry  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  CxOxSx  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  ultracore  and  power  violence  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "California  Fodder's  Leader"  and  "Power'  Ass  Kickin  Violence".

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

Grunt/Codex Bizare/Bizarre Leprous Productions/2015 CD Review

 Grunt  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  mixture  of  noise,  goregrind  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Codex  Bizare"  which  was  released  by  Bizarre  Leprous  Productions.

 Dark  electronic  music  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  atmospheric  elements  which  also  leads  up  to  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  and  a  few  seconds  later  death  metla  growls  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  along  with  some  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful.

  Spoken  word  samples  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  it  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  add  more  of  an  early  90's  death  metal  feeling  to  the  recording  along  with  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  also  mix  in  keyboards  at  times  and  as  the  album  progresses the  vocals start  getting  more  guttural  and  some  songs  also  mix  in  industrial  and  gabber.

  Grunt  plays a  musical  style  that  takes  noisecore,  grind  and  death  metal  and  mixes  them  with  atmospheric  and  electronic music  to  create  a  very  original  sounding  music  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  porn,  sexual  depravity,  bondage,  BDSM  and  fetish  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Grunt  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  noise,  grindcore,  death  metal  and  electronic  music  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Teratoid  Latex  Feudalist"  "Teased  And  Tormented"  "Supreme  Rubbercore"  and  "Sadopsychodrama" .  8  out  of  10.

 

Tanned Christ/Antipodean Sickness/Grindhead Records/2015 CD Review

  Tanned  Christ  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  noise/grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Antipodean  Sickness"  which  was  released  by  Grindhead  Records.

  A  very  fast  and  brutal  power  violence  grindcore  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast beats  and  a  good  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  and  you  can  also  hear  melody  in  the  music  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  riffs  getting  technical  at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  the  songs  are  very  short  in  length  with  the  longest  one  being  over  3  minutes  and  some  songs  also  incorporate  a  small  amount  of  solos  and  leads and  they  also  bring  in  noisy  reverb's  at  times  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing.

  Tanned  Christ  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  power  violence,  noisecore  and  grind  together  with  more  technical  elements  to  add  something  new  to  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion Tanned  Christ  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  power  violence,  noisecore  and  grind  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Insolvent  Self"  "Antipodean  Sickness"  "The  Call  Of  the  Meat"  and  "Mooncalf".  8  out  of  10. 

A Dream of Poe/An Infinity Emerged/Solitude Productions/2015 CD Review

  A  Dream  of  Poe  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and plays  a  gothic  form  of  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "An  Infinity  Emerged"  which  was  released  by  Solitude  Productions.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  and  melodic  singing  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  that  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  depressive  melodies  and  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic in  length.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  melodic  style  of  doom  metal  and  the  whole  album  sticks  to  very  slow  musical  direction  bringing  in  some  of  the  heaviness  of  early  90's  doom/death  metal  without  ever  mixing  in  growls  and  screams.  

  A  Dream  Of  Poe  continue  the  gothic  doom  metal  sound  of  previous  recordings  bringing in  a  more  melodic  approach  to  this  genre  and  proving  you  can  still  be  heavy  with  normal  vocals,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  writings  of  E.A  Poe  and  poetic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  A  Dream  Of  Poe  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  gothic/doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Lethargus"  and "Macula".  8  out  of  10.

Weeping Silence/Opus IV Oblivion/Massacre Records/2015 CD Review

  Weeping  Silence  are  a  band  from  Malta  that  plays  a  mixture  of  gothic,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Opus  IV  Oblivion"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  operatic  female  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  which  leads  up  to  a  more  heavier  and  symphonic  doom  metal  direction  which  has  solos  and  leads  bringing  in  more  melodies  along  with  some  violins  and  orchestration  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

  Classical  guitars  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  being  long  and  epic  in  length  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  at  times  along  with  the  music  bringing  in  more  elements  of  gothic  metal  and  one  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  while  the  music  is  mostly  in  a  slow to  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Weeping  Silence  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  an  operatic  style  of  gothic  metal  and  they  mix  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  and  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  depression  and  nature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Weeping  Silence  are  a  very  great  sounding  gothic/doom  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ivy  Thorns  Above  The  Barrow"  "In  Exile"  and  "Gothic  Epitaph".  8  out  of  10. 

Ape Unit Interview

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

After the recording of "Turd", which was held in February, we've been quite busy: we have continued with our live activity around Italy but at the same time we had to deal with all the red tape linked to production of the release.
After the well-deserved summer vacation, we have taken over the programming of the dates to support the upcoming EP .

2.Recently you have released a new ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Pretty tough question ... even though our roots are definitely those of grindcore, we've never placed real limits regarding our style! Compared to the previous one ( Unforgivable Holidays, out in 2012), this new album is definitely a big step forward, the structures of the songs are more complex and fast, but I think our style always remains at the forefront!
All five members of Ape Unit have a  quite different musical background, and this helps a lot in well-mixing different music styles in the songs. Indeed, in the new EP you can find pretty much everything, from punk to post-hardcore, from black metal riffs to the Caribbean chords, believe it or not.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

As you've probably  understood, we don't like to take ourselves too seriously, and our lyrics are representative of this thought!
We mainly focus on the choice of the song title, which is usually inspired by the tide of jokes and bullshit that we exchange and  say every day and then Marius, our singer, deals with the actual content of the lyrics. He's kinda good in creating great surreal and hilarious stories!


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Ape Unit'?
Ape Unit was an invented band that some of the founder member use to talk about when they heard ugly songs playing. For example at the bar "What's this shitty music on the radio?" "It's Ape Unit.". It was a joke. After some time when we met to play some grindcore tunes together we chose that name to make it real.



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?

When we attend an extreme-music gig as fans we hope to see an energetic show that turns people wild and leave them with no energy left, so that's exactly what we try to give to our audience when we are above the stage! That's kinda hard doing it playing our instruments properly! Anyway we can not tell how our own live performances are, you should ask someone who's not in the band ahahaha!
We've made many great show during the past years, so It's hard to say...we remember the gig in Trutnov ( Czech Republic) the day before Obscene Extreme in 2013 : the venue was quite small but It was packed with crazy people that literally destroyed the place.
That was really stunning, It was the first gig outside Italy with the actual line up, and we were stoked to get such a feeling from the people.
By the way, Obscene Extreme Fest, the day after, and Go!Fest in Rome last year were both incredible gigs, we all have great memories of them! There was also a secret illegal show we played in the nature with trees by our side in 2008 or 2009! That was magic!

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

Currently we have some concerts planned around Italy , including the GOTR Fest in Rimini and a gig supporting Whoresnation. Unfortunately for now it won't be easy for us to play outside our borders , but we are trying to book a minitour in December!
We have already been contacted by several people who have asked us to play in their country , and would be great for us to present TURD outside Italy ! We'll see!


7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the record labels you worked with on the new release?

The release has been co-produced  by many different labels! Uterus Productions, Here And Now Records, Zas Autoproduzioni, Distrozione, Don Carlos Productions, Tadca Records and Vollmer Industries : except for Uterus Prod, which is based in Germany, the others are all independent DIY labels from Italy, great supporters of our music and our project!
WE suggest everyone to check them all out, because they're  producing tons of good material from awesome bands around the world, and they absolutely deserve to be supported at 100%.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to the newer music by fans of power violence and grindcore?

Based on the two preview we have released so far , and considering that TURD has been release a few days ago we can say that we are extremely impressed by how the audience reacted ! We received many positive feedback not only from Italian fans but also  from people all over Europe and even from America!
Now that the album is out, we’re really looking forward to know what people think about it!

9.When can we expect another full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We are currently writing new material for a split with an awesome British band which should come out in 2016. I can not yet reveal details about it but I can assure you that it will be a real blast!
Other than that , we hope to have enough material to make a new album as soon as possible, but it is difficult to predict when this will happen !

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

We are deeply influenced by grindcore and post hardcore, but as I've said before, everyone of us like to put his main influences into the songs : that's why you can find lot of dissonant riffs as well as death metal and hardcore parts!
There are too many bands which have influenced our style...above all I can say Napalm Death, Brutal Truth, Charles Bronson, Converge, The Jesus Lizard...the list is waaaaay too long!!


11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Girlfriends, gigs, booze, reading, movies. We're normal people.


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

Thanks a lot to  DoomtoGrind Webzine for giving us the chance to make this interview!
If you want to be updated on what we're doing, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noisefromthejungle
we want to play live for you so write us!!! Cheers!