FACERIPPER

Debut EP "Kill Dick Control" from Brisbane's own Last Chaos on clear vinyl. Pressed by Hardcore Victim Records, Nuclear Blood Records and Flower Of Carnage Records. Raging d-beat punk from the gutter. As I'm sure most would know, members of other notables (namely Tear Gas). Better than the demo, mainly because of the better recording. My d-beat repertoire is somewhat limited, so I won't get too in depth about this. I do like this a lot though.

FEAST OF FLIES

Debut LP "Blood Cult" from Irish crust rippers Putrefaction. Considering my obvious affection for the vast bulk of current Irish bands of the aggressive orientation, I was kind of surprised that I had never heard of these guys until very recently when an Irish friend made mention of this new album of theirs. Black vinyl thanks to Distro-y Records, Underground Movement, Phobia Records and Ratbone Records. This follows a demo tape "Destroyers" (where they dare attempt a classic Sepultura cover, and manage to pull it off quite well) from something like four or five years ago. Without too much research I gather they kind of just went a bit quiet for a while so maybe that explains why I had never heard of them until now. Most of the descriptions flying around for these guys at the moment seem to kind of pigeon hole them as some kind of crust/death metal splice and I can certainly see that to an extent. With that logic though you could label just about any current popular crust band as a death/crust combination, as I would argue that there's nothing that can be found on this slab- apart from the odd tremolo pick here and there, as inherently or obviously death metal. It's just aggressive crust with the odd melodic tendency. It's good though. The B side is certainly the shiner. Comes with a glossy fold out poster as well as a six page booklet. Most of the artwork can be attributed to the bands singer and axeman Eric.

HOUSE ANXIETY

Further to my post a few months ago about the issuing of the first Iron Monkey album on vinyl thanks to Earcahe Records, here's the somewhat delayed vinyl version of the bands mammoth second and final output, "Our Problem". I missed out on the more limited colourway of skol super brown (as in the beer) of 100 copies, but this variation of weed green of 200 copies is still available according to the Earache Euro webstore. Double LP with a gatefold sleeve. I'd have to say that this is my favourite 'Monkey output just for the ridiculously catchy, rolling riffs. The band took an arguably denser, more southern styled riff orientated approach with this album and it's all the better for it. The hook in the track "Supagorgonizer" is mesmerising.

ELITE CREW

Took me a little longer than normal to get into the Peacebreakers demo, but I got there eventually. Really boxy recording and all, three new tracks of simple hardcore for hardcore jams. Not to be missed. Can't wait for new music from these deviants.

COMING OUT STRONG

Debut demo tape from new(ish) Irish band, Strong Boys. Rough outsider kind of queercore that certainly draws some kind of lineage to a heap of the early 80's west coast hardcore scene, in particular later Black Flag. Certainly a bit of a mid-west vibe going on here too. Members of other various known Irish acts, past and present, namely a band that rave on about endlessly here. Doubt I need to actually name them though.

IN THE DEAD WE DWELL

After a bit of a build up, Hooded Menace have finally unleashed their third full length album via Relapse Records. A double 12" gatefold affair on 'diehard (ie most limited)' orange vinyl, "Effigies Of Evil" certainly showcases a band with new gained access to a larger recording budget, most evident in the massively professional guitar sound, but I wouldn't say that the larger chunk of cash is necessarily a positive thing. Don't let me dissuade you, this is a fantastic record and easily their best stuff since "Fulfil The Curse", but unlike that first album and it's massive guitar crunch made possible in part to the jagged, rougher recording, the total wall of noise I hoped for and even expected with this album is lacking a little. I think the general positioning of the guitars in the mix have a lot to do with what I am talking about. They're way down in there compared to previous efforts, not nearly loud enough. Perhaps engineer Mikko Saastamoinen had an idea to really highlight Lasse's massive vocals with this one instead. Speaking of which, if anyone doubted the lead man's ownership of the best death metal vocals in 15 years, surely said lack of confidence will be quashed here. World class. Fans of previous material shouldn't have any issue enjoying this, there are heaps of really catchy riffs and massive doom bits, but I do suspect that the same fans will notice what I am talking about.

Early folk who were willing to pony up some extra cash were also gifted with this extra 7", "Necrotic Monuments", containing two bonus tracks. Two covers here, originals of which can be credited to Eternal Darkness and Witchfinder General, from what I can tell these songs come from the same sessions as the new full length, though the recording duties have been solely credited to Lasse. And I don't think I am imagining it, but the problem I observed with the album isn't as evident on this slab. Same colour as the LP's and limited to 500 (I think?) copies.

HARD WAY

More fucking demo tapes. This time, the new demo from Virginia's Violent Outburst thanks to Tension Head Records. From what I've read, this comes from various members from other known acts including Wasted Time and Double Negative. Raw, fast, burly East Coast hardcore. Someone said online recently that there's elements of a Discharge kind of style going on here too, and I can certainly hear that in the recording approach. Fans of other bands that utilise the 'Violent' label in their names will likely enjoy this.

CHICOS MUERTOS

Newish demo here from Spain's Altercado Espiritual. Pure Boston '83 here that carries a cool Spanish vibe (mostly because of the lyrics in Spanish). Relatively good recording for a demo of such nature and some rather creative artwork. New EP due soon that I should be able to post about it in the coming weeks. From what I've been told, parties responsible here are also handling a Spanish edition of the Sick People demo,  one of the tapes that I was responsible for last year.

FAKE SCUM

Here's a new demo tape that's managed to drum up a reasonable amount of talk recently. Stoic Violence from California play a relatively noisy brand of outsider punk akin to a handful of Cali bands of old. There's also a stark east coast flavour going on here too. By no means amazing, this rough little three song presentation does a good enough job at presenting this new band and their style.
 

HALF PAST DEATH

Another recent acquisition and another tape, the debut demo tape from Boston's MFP. Grabbed this a few weeks ago on the recent Static Shock Records distro order. Ripping hardcore from the States. New EP due on Painkiller soon.
   

RIGHT NOW

Second EP "The Void" from Cali's Zero Progress. Clear vinyl, Piledriver Records. Ironically, with this new music they have progressed somewhat with their sound. Where their last EP utilised a pretty rounded, bouncy style akin to the Lockin' Out vibe, this material adds a pretty heavy dose of a more straight up, no frills, less gimmicky hardcore. It still maintains that east coast vibe that they've used from the start, but here they're certainly going for a more serious approach.  It's better than their old stuff too.

BAD CULTURE

Try and count all of the genuine USHC styled bands coming out of the UK at the moment and I dare say you'd struggle to use all 10 fingers on both hands. Of that number though, just about every single one of them is pulling off a pretty on point, accurate approach. Case in point today; The Flex from Leeds with their demo tape. Now these guys are picking up a bit of attention at the moment with American tape label, Bleeding Edges having just produced a new edition of this demo, but this tape to my knowledge has been out for a few months at least now. This version here is from the band produced dub from earlier in the year. Boston is the flavour here and it's rich at to say the least. Mid to fast paced jams with a gruff vocalist out front groaning about the various societal and social quandaries that he obviously feels at odds with. The recording is what helps this thing along really. Just a good, simple, genuine sounding production sans any silly bells and whistles. A solid sound that makes the stomp bits good! I suspect this band will cop a good amount of hype over the next 12 months.

HATING LIFE

Swedish death metal elite Grave always sounded to me like they should have come from Finland. Sure they utilised that classic Sunlight sound but unlike brethren Entombed, Dismember and Carnage they never really succumbed to those melodic tendencies that really epitmoised that typical Swedish sound of the time. Maybe it had something to with the fact that they didn't originate from Stockholm like the majority of that scene spawned. Maybe it also had something to do with the fact that the vocal style of the bands main man Ola Lindgren always maintained it's own unique low end, unlike those of fellows like LG Petrov and Matti Kärki that always seemed to flirt with more tuneful tendencies. Whatever way you look at it, Grave were/are a great fucking band and probably the second best death metal band that the country ever produced. This is a 2011 reissue of their 1991 LP "Into The Grave" pressed by the mighty Century Media. Mine's on black vinyl, from what I can tell, this new press also consisted of a green variety.