teeth taker

New 7" from Melbourne's Internal Rot on grey wax thanks to 625 Thrash and Crucificados Records. This is a couple of the guys from Agents Of Abhorrence playing in a slightly more extreme kind of grindcore group.
Not dissimilar to alot of good American grind bands, these guys (to me anyway) more or less fill the void that Insect Warfare left when they decided to split. To be honest I wasn't sure if I'd really like this, but I guess I made a lucky choice, because this is great.
Max, the drummer for AOA is on vocals, and for such a short guy he sounds pretty intense. The similarities I draw to IW, for the most part, come from the similarities between Max and Rahi, the singer for that band. The production values run along the same lines as most of the IW catalogue too.
Easily the best true grind band to come out of Australia in the last few years, by a bunch of guys that know what they're on about. Not to be passed up.

six day siege

Couple tapes, both of which come thanks to Suburban Mayhem Records. Both of which I have distro stock for Brisbane locals if you guys want any. First up is the Hexis demo tape. Churning, bleak, heavy hardcore from Denmark. Songs built around, for the majority, a rolling tremolo riff and severe double bass drum. It's most reminiscent of alot of the better Scando black metal, but don't let that put you off, this is by no means comparable to any of the current crop of trendy American black metal associated with labels like Youth Attack and the like. The production lends alot more to a heavier vibe. It's almost a doom mix infact. Shitty hardcore styled shrieks layered over the top, there's alot going on here. I'm almost reminded of some mid era ("Whisper Supremacy") Cryptopsy aswell with some of the riffage and structures.

Simple layout, just a simple copied, black, folded sleeve with a blank green cassette.

And the Prison Chapel "Total Fucking War" demo. These guys come from Ireland and play scuzzy, noisy hardcore punk. The recording is horrendous in all the right ways, blame Jamie Grimes for that.
Again, simple insert, just a red printed sleeve with a J fold. Green cassette again, but this time it's screened as you can see.

riddle of the skies

Apologies for the lack of posts, I'm in England. Here's the Iron Age "The Saga Demo's" double flexi 7".
Pressed by a company called BSVIV Books, I've never heard of them before this record was announced. I get the impression most of their work has been with limited zine and book publishing thus far. They've done a nice job here.

You get the two flexi's, and a small square zine with various notes, lyrics and photos.

So yeah, like I said, I'm not around, so posts will be scarce over the next 3 weeks or so. I will try and post a few times while I'm away though.

sore

Quick post before bed, this time tomorrow I'll be on the other side of the world. Here's the demo tape from Byron Bay's Shackles. Gruff, distorted powerviolence is what you get here. Self released by the band.
This demo has existed in one way or another for at least 18 months now, maybe more. I've owned a CD-R version since the first time Cruel Hand toured here and Shackles supported them at the Byron youth hall thing. They played well then, but I was turned off when they covered Ceremony. Not to say thatI don't like that band, but I dunno, you don't cover a band like that. I saw them for the first time since then a few weeks ago at the Mixed Bill show that we launched the Sick People demo at. They played great so I grabbed this tape version. Upon giving these guys more of a listen and some proper attention, I have to say that I'm pretty into this tape. It's got it's flaws, namely the shoddy mix, and the loud drums but Mark's got a cool, gruff vocal tone and the songs are well written. If they write some more music, I'll be first in line to give it a go.

Hand painted cassette.

Numbered, of only 5(?). I'm kind of hoping they did more, but I guess this is it. Need more.

Certainly a cool tape. I hope they do more. So many bands like this tend to pump out a demo and then disappear.

cream queen

This is the new demo from Chicago's Cyborg. Essentially this is just the guys from Weekend Nachos playing a more basic, messier version of what that band originally set out to do. Powerviolence. A nice, tidy arrangement by Yakuzzi Tapes.
This demo is not totally dissimilar from the early WN stuff, though it doesn't possess that low end that their material has always utilised. The singers crazy vocals from those early WN days are prevalent here, alot more noticeable than current WN stuff anyway, though not as full on as the "Torture" 7" for example. There's also a dual vocal approach with this band. The job isn't totally handled by just the regular WN guy.

And this is the 7" version of the demo, pressed by Deep 6 Records on black vinyl.

Somewhat of a boring layout, but it's just a demo 7", so I can deal.

None of this is groundbreaking whatsoever. The band would attest to that I suppose as well. I've never been a massive fan of Weekend Nachos either, so I'm not getting overly excited about this demo, though it is listenable, and entertaining enough for the eight minutes it goes for. It even warrants a few repeat listens, but nothing more really. With the popularity that WN seem to be achieving at the moment, it's hard to say wether Cyborg will see any regular attention, but I'd be interested to hear some more stuff.

i can't see

New stuff from Melbourne's heavy PV group Rort, in the form of their debut s/t 7". Black vinyl, Cucificados Records. Artwork by Rohan Harrison.
Alot of people have been comparing these guys to Mind Eraser, and to an extent I guess I can see the similarities. Heavy guitar tone, simple structures built around a mosh bit, blast beats etc etc. It's got a clear production not dissimilar to "Glacial Reign" but I'm not sure if the band themselves would agree with the pigeon holing. I think normally I'd be pretty into this, like if it were some American band, but I don't know, I just don't find it that interesting at all. Chris Cory has a knack for writing really catchy riffs and breaks, and all of his Mind Eraser structures are relatively simple, but extremely effective. These guys don't really possess such a talent. I think I need to give it some more time though, I hope it grows on me.

genetic death

'Another fucking tape' you ask? Apologies. It just seems that I've amassed quite a few over the last few weeks. There's still about five or six to talk about too, along with a small handful of records. I'll get there eventually. I'm heading to the UK for three weeks this tuesday and I don't know if I'll have many opportunities to post very often while there, so I'm trying to bang out most of the current lot before I leave. This is the new demo from Florida's God Harvest. Self released by the band, there are 100 of these getting around, all on a red cassettes. At this point, this one stands as my favourite demo of 2011 and I doubt that fact will change.
What you get here is at it's most basic; loud grindcore with a somewhat clean sounding recording. I've heard them compared to Magrudergrind and Insect Warfare of all bands, but I can't think of a comparison that's further off the mark. Intentional or not, this has a much more Euro sound akin to bands like later era Rotten Sound and Nasum, pinpointed specifically by said cleanish recording and the guitar tone. There's a stark metal sound in the music here that's juxtaposed by a relatively 'hardcore' sounding vocalist. That description sounds a little cheesy, but trust me, what they're doing here really works.
Really tidy package for a self released demo too. Pro dubbed and screened tape coupled with a firm j-card insert and a clean fold out note sleeve/insert.
Apparently this is actually their second demo, following a recording they made a couple years back that never saw the light of day before they went on some sort of hiatus. They're back writing music now obviously. I'd like to hear this first demo.
I can't imagine these guys not getting pretty popular if they keep doing shit like this. This here release ticks virtually all boxes for me in terms of what I'm looking for in a demo. It could be a little rougher, but regardless, I can't get enough of it the way it is. I have a small handful of these for distro, Brisbane dudes, I strongly advise that you pick this up. Not be fucked with. Hopefully I'll have a chance to interview them for my zine in the coming months.

nothing can stop us

Here's the tape version of the Eye Gouge "Feel The Rage" EP that I posted about a few days ago. 50 copies of this exist thanks to the bands singer Thomo and his label Rain On The Parade. This is the guy that put out an Australian edition of the Tremors demo. He'll also be handling the next Sick People material.
Thomo states that this was produced as a back up, just in case the flexi's weren't ready for the release show a few weeks back. Very tidy work.
And the new Iron Mind cassingle, "Guilt". 100 copies of this are floating around with two alternate covers. This serves as the precursor to the bands upcoming LP on Dead Souls Records. DS is also responsible for this tape.
Very very neat little package in terms of layout etc. The music isn't too bad either. Reasonably run of the mill NYHC, the type that alot of Aussie bands seem to be aping at the moment. Hard edged stuff that I can enjoy but I don't think I'd be able to handle an entire LP from end to end.