86 Gemini is probably, in my opinion, one of if not the best band from Chicago. Super fast, utterly relentless D-Beat with a touch of Spirituality thrown into the lyrical content. I saw them last summer on tour with The Noids and their vocalist was on all fours with a microphone in their mouth punching the floor. That's fucking punk
Acrylics - Despair 7"
Acrylics are a better band than most of your bands. That is a fact and I will fight you about it. That aside, 7" GOES. I mean it fucking goes. It takes the weird, demented style Acrylics made a name for themselves with and cranks it. The dirge at the end of Reassurance is hard as hell.
The Brain - First Steps 7"
If there is any complaint that I could have with this, it would be that it is too short. First Steps is musical perfection from one of the best musical groups of people. It's this beautiful blend of Prog Rock, Psych and Punk in a way that no other band in our musical sphere is doing. Alican showed me this at 3 am last year when he was in Denton and I've been hooked on it ever since.
Carved Cross - Carved Cross LP
Carved Cross is a band that took me some time to get into, mostly because of how raw their sound is. This band is literal caveman Black Metal and they do it the best. This LP is probably my favorite thing I've heard from these Tasmanian degenerates so far. It's not as raw as previous releases but it is still nothing close to being clean or produced
Druj - War Hymns CS
Probably my favorite of the new crop of OKC bands, Druj slaps and hard. You can hear a mix of Burning Spirits HC and a hint of Black Metal in the vocal performance. This band is hard and knows much about Arby's Beef
Dry Insides - Cement CS
Dry Insides seems to shift and change with every cassette they release. This tape builds on their previously release, Doorway, with the stripped down Blackened Punk and takes it a bit further. The vocal performance this time around is far different than previous Dry Insides releases with the vocals sounding something along the lines of Inquisition. It's nasti
Eye Jammy is apart of the newer wave of Hattiesburg, Mississippi punk bands churning over from this little scene. While having members of every other band from the scene this one sounds very different from the rest of the scene. It's very easy to tell that when the songs were being written for this band Big Boys were on top of their minds. They have a vision to link and build, do you follow?
Fuath Vough - Howls From The Void CS
While this came out at the same time as its corresponding tape Howls From The Lowlands, I've listened to this tape a bit more. This is the sixth tape of true outsider music from one of the most dementedly creative people that I know. It's more spaced out and more on the DS end of things than other FV releases but it retains the same fucked up, evil atmosphere that this band has crafted so well over the last few years
Grinning Death's Head - Blood War LP
For some reason or another I could never quite get into the demos this band put out, but I may've not given them the proper chance. This LP was brewing for years and finally came out last spring, and it's Evil. JW is no longer running this whole show and now has Mark McCoy and Ian Jacyszyn backing him up and you can tell. This LP has riffs, I mean RIFFS and has been one of my go-tos for driving music since I got it.
Haram - What Do You See? 7"
I remember hearing about this band when they came out, and with a lot of bands I unfortunately sleep on them. But when I heard this 7" I remember thinking "FUCK". Haram was one half of the reason I even went to This Is Austin, Not That Great last winter and worth the trip. In my opinion one of the best bands from the new crop of New York bands. Mike is also one of my favorite people, communicating to me almost solely in LPC quotes.
You fuck with the vision? Hell yeah dude. Jockstrap was one of the best sets I saw at It's Cold Outside in May. The band's and Yogurt's influences worn proudly on their sleeves, they take the noisy, Mysterious Guy style and do it better than most.
Another of the new Hattiesburg bands, taking up the snotty, playful style the Hub City has become known for. This band is fun and they want you to get your tush moving. I saw this band cover Floorpunch and it was hilariously great
Probably in the top 5 sets I saw at Everything Is Not Ok. This band is a continuation of Deformity and from the mad guitar genius from Ivy/JJ Doll. There is nothing like this band out there right now and it is an absolute treat to see live. I remember during their EINOK set seeing their bassist drop his tool during the set and stagedive, landing squarely in Lumpy's arms before scurrying back onstage.
Hoax playing Scandinavian style Death Metal, yeah
I bought this in the Youth Attack update almost solely based upon the first line of its description, "For freaks who are obsessed with Brainbombs and Ildjarn". It takes the choppy Black Metal Punk riffs of Ildjarn and has these screwy spoken word vocals mumbling about sexual acts over it. This is not music for everyone, this is the real freak shit from the same man who brought us Witch In Her Tomb
This tape is barely 3 minutes long of some of the noisiest, most caustic Black Metal I've heard. This project takes some cues from Mark McCoy style BM, particularly Ancestors. This much like The Brain 7" leaves me wanting so much more but what is has is incredible.
Slow, lurching DS/Black Metal from Canada coming from one of the most demented minds I know. I missed my chance at gettting this when it came out and I'm kicking myself about it because its some real nasty shit. Piss music for piss people
This is the best band from North Texas right now and I feel privileged to see them as often as I do. I reviewed their original demo when it had came out on here, it'd taken a long time for this band to construct a line-up to play live and once they had they've become a freight train of truly fucked up hardcore. They're on tour right now, go see them
One of the two best bands from Austin, Texas right now (more on the other shortly). This band is fast, no frills, no bullshit HARDCORE. They get at it and go directly for the throat and an entirely worthy successor to the legendary Recide.
I'd seen this band back in early 2016, they were good but it didn't feel complete. But then this came out in the wee hours of 2017, it took me a second to sit down and listen to it but I was hooked. The band had slowed down and put more emphasis into atmosphere and created some hateful and caustic freak music.
Q has been a band since 2014 and still doesn't have more than 20 minutes of music. What they lack in that department they make up for in the sheer stupidity of their riffs and sound. This is what bands like Gag and their clones wish they could sound like.
SA is the drummer from Bib's solo Blackened Noise project and the sound is a wall of disgusting meat. Thick drums blasting away with walls of noise and sound with Billy growling atop of it.
I'd downloaded and jammed this demo last year, and I'd really liked it. Then I saw Siyahkal in Toronto in May and was floored. Ever since I've been hung up on listening to this tape. The outro Iranian Scream is one of the hardest songs I've heard in a long time.
This is the other band from Austin I'd mentioned earlier. Skeleton had started as a punk band, and has been twisting and gestating slowly into something far greater. Last year when I'd seen them they were on the cusp of finding what they wanted to be. With this flexi and with the last time I saw them they'd found it. Taking cues from current Hardcore, 80's Thrash Metal and Raw Black Metal they've become a disgusting force to be reckoned with.
This shit is hard and you're moshing
Swine Flu started as a pair of young gun punks who really like the golden age of Youth Attack writing a few songs in that style and then throwing out the "Okay, who wants to play in this band?". The self proclaimed "Gayest Band In Denton" and a true assbeater HC band. The only downside of this CS is that it is with their their old drummer as opposed to the powerhouse behind the kit they have now
I was looking forward to this record so hard before it'd came out. When the Beat Sessions tape came out with the teaser tracks, I was hooked. And oh pappa it was worth the wait. The Club has tightened things up which keeping their signature witty, dry humor and kack for songwriting. The first time I'd listened to it I'd hated the third song "The Lottery" but couldn't get it out of my head. But top to bottom they slayed with this
Wadj CS
When I'd first listened to this tape, I texted Liam and told him, "Thanks, now I have the plague". Medieval themed bedroom Black Metal with a drum machine that sounds like someone dropped a brick into a washing machine and put it on spin cycle. Is it BM or is it Techno? No it's Piss Music made for horny freaks
Warm Bodies has had me absolutely hooked since I first saw them at the second ENIOK. Slowly becoming one of my favorite current bands, they came through town on their way to This Is Austin and burned down the whole town. Jordan passed this tape onto me and OH PAPPA. Songwriting wise this is them at their best and the NYHC diss track is too good.
I waited a long fucking time for this, a long long time. Enter.
