HOTWIRED- "Fucktastic"

Got this 6 track e.p. from the band a few weeks ago and glad I did!  You get 6 tracks clocking in at just over 17mins and a wee belter it is indeed!!  The band consist of Emma-vocals, Si-bass, Sir Paul-guitar, Steve Contempt- guitar and Salty on drums. The first track is called "Fuck the Government" and is really melodic blast of punk that has sooooo many fucks in it it's unreal! It gets the e.p of to a great start and it just doesn't stop, up next is a harder track "Friday Night" which has some superb guitar work on it and great lyrics about the perils of getting pissed on a Friday night. The band are as tight as fuck with some superb guitar on every track and Emma has a really good voice which gives the whole thing a more melodic less harsh feel about it.
They mix it up with some slightly slower parts on this too like on the track "Make it Count" where it rattles along and then dips into a really nice slower part before taking off again, great stuff!
All in all this is a great release from a band I really want to hear more from, some great lyrics and some excellent playing makes it a must buy folks! Track them down on facebook for your own copy, it will be worth your while!
8/10

CHEMICAL THREAT- "System Error

I got sent this through the post the other day,which I am very grateful by the way!!  Chemical Threat are a four piece band from Southampton,  I have another couple of releases from this band,both of which I enjoyed very much indeed, so I was looking forward to blasting this one out as well!
What do you get? well 6 tracks that clock in at just over 10 minutes so its an all out assault straight from the first seconds. Chemical Threat are a mix of 82 style punk and hardcore and it works very well, the first track is an anti right wing scum journalism "Hate Mail" and kicks the e.p. of very nicely indeed,good lyrics on a good subject! It rattles on a  great pace and the third track "No Choice" shows their U.S. hardcore influences, reminds me a lot of the great old hardcore that I loved. Showing their U.K. punk influences is in my opinion best summed up in track 5 "Celebrity Scum" which takes a good swipe at the cult of celebrity or "nonentity" as I prefer to think of these arseholes!
Anyway 6 short blasts of anger that is over way too quickly,makes me want more! Well worth checking out, contact them on myspace or facebook for details on how to get their material, as you get good punk played well.
7/10

3 Way Split- "Trifarious Assault"

Matt of Dog Snot asked me would I review this release from Torn Flesh Records net label and with it being 3 grind/noise style bands who was I to refuse!!

Well what do you get, first 8 tracks are from one man band What-Makes-A-Time-Bomb-Tic, this is Patrick from Plasticbag Facemask side project and very decent it is too!! His contribution to this split comes from the more noise end of grindcore, loud and thrashy stuff with BM sort of vocals and loads of stuff going on in the background, really neat stuff. fave track would have to be the absolutely brilliantly titled "Nobody Puts Baby in the Coroner" a great small slice of noise!! The "Edison Project" is another decent slice of grind too!

Next up with 7 tracks is Cumbrian grind band Dog Snot who are Stacey and Matt, a bit more traditional grindcore and very good too!! They have some great titles including "URHH URHH URHHH AHHH" and "Boo Hoo You're Not Getting Laid" a band who don't take themselves too seriously but still bash out some mighty hard grind. Their tracks are shortish most coming in or around the minute mark and there is going to be a 25 minute album out soon, one I will be keeping my eyes peeled for, great stuff!!

Third band on are Skull Incision another one man band from California, again probably more from the noise end of grind with some real screamy vocals and a hint of industrial in the mix too!! "Spaced" and "Gold One" being my fave tracks from this outfit, another decent band in what is a really decent release.

Well you get 3 grind bands from slightly different ends of the genre and a very good release, you can find the download details on any of the bands facebook pages and its well worth doing. good release!!

8/10

LEGION of CROWS- "Stab Me"

I have never came across this band before but it was one of the ones I was asked to review for Funeral Rain Records so here we go!
Legion of Crows is a one man Black/Doom band from the U.K. that man being Atilla, i have lumped him in this black/doom genre as I really don't know if that is what he is, there is certainly touches of BM there and it is very Doom laden in its riffing but also a bit of Industrial there too, a good mix of stuff that actually works very well indeed!! Not my usual listening and I didn't really know what to expect but I must admit I was very pleasantly surprised indeed!
It all kicks off with "Provident Hymn" which has a good instrumental start before developing into a proper church style hymn, then it gets more like it with a some real doomy guitar work and very distorted style vocals, then reverts back to the hymn style and a bit of preaching to round it off!! A really strange track that works out really well and has some great sentiments in it too!! What then follows is more straight forward Doom/BM  with some really heavy/doomy riffing and screechy BM vocals, "Fellating the Lamb" and "Defecate" both fit in to this style. Track 4 "Carrion Pond Drove" is a different thing altogether,it's sort of like a story told over a very doomy background,it does all add to the scene being set on this album. As I said it mixes genres a little but it works well, makes for a real interesting album.
"Legion of Crows" is an epic track coming out at 8 mins and 30 secs. and is a cracker of a track, great doom laden riff.  The album ends with another church organ piece at the start of "Coventry Carol", which features a guest vocal from Paul Di'Anno. It is another real doomy track with a right churchy feel to it all be a black mass kind of churchy feel!! Di'Anno sings clean vocals over this track and it is a great ending to a very good album indeed.
Well this was a trip away from the norm for me but a very enjoyable one none the less. Well worth tacking down to get your own copy of it.

8/10

RITUAL-" The Resurrection"

I love review stuff, it's a great job people send me stuff for fuck all and I review it, love it!! Well onwards with this one, I was sent a couple of mp3s from Funeral Rain records asking would I be interested in giving them a review, and indeed i did!!
This one is from one man Black Metal band Ritual from L.A. not a band I was familiar with but with me liking one man BM bands this was right up my street! The album kicks of with a good instrumental "A Funeral for my Heart" that sets the scene very nicely indeed, it gives us a nice atmospheric start. Ian the man behind Ritual can play guitar by the way,churns out great riffs throughout this release but also does the fancier stuff really well too. His vocals are good too, real raspy vocals like BM should be! but you can still make out the lyrics to his songs easily enough. Track 2 "The Resurrection" is a cracker of a track. great riff throughout and some neat fancy stuff too!
The album rattles on at a good pace and all the tracks on it are of a really good quality. It's  good solid BM with a hint of folk metal in there too, the track "A Perfect Moonlit Night" being a prime example of this, cracking track! The last track "March of the Damned" is a great instrumental track with almost military drumming on it and some real atmospheric synth work and then some great riffing comes in to it, class!!
All in all I liked this album a lot, really good release well worth getting your mitts on!!

9/10