MALPRACTICE INSURANCE/DISEKSA- "Hard Days Grind"

First release by new tape label Sacrificial Tapes from Scotland and what a cracking start!! Side "A" has six tracks from U.S. grind band Malpractice Insurance, this band have been going for a few years and comprise of Ivo on bass, guitar and vocals and Grubs on drums and vocals. Well this is pure dirty grind from these guys, nowt fancy but good honest stuff,it's really good. You get two vocal styles, low growly and screechy higher and both are great. The six tracks blast along at a great pace and I thoroughly enjoyed the lot, my faves are "Rrhoid Rage2 and "Coffee Stains" but they are all goodies with brilliant fast, thrashy guitars, what's not to like!!
8/10
Side "B" is from Malaysian grindcore demons Diseksa, a bit more metal sounding grindcore but hard as fuck stuff!! The band are Bitch on vocals, Scum on drums and Weed on guitar. A brutal band with every track being a pure aural blast!! "Nuclear Radiation is a Nightmare" kicks it off and it doesn't stop for the six tracks, slamming guitars and great drums! There is a cover of Hemorrhage "I'm a Pathologist" which is a cracking version, another great side of grind with "Disasterpiece" my fave track, well worth checking this band out.
8/10

All in all a great first release from this new label and Munky has his plans for the next few releases which is great news, I await eagerly!! Check out the bands on Myspace and Facebook and also check out Sacrificial Tapes on Facebook to get your hands on a copy. It is a limited release with Munky only having 50 copies himself the rest going to the two bands so better get your requests in quick, I can guarantee you won't be disappointed!!

UNHOLY DEATHCUNT- "Fuck You" demo

5 track tape by one man BM band Unholy Deathcunt, great name!!, from Scotland and a mighty fine release it is too! It cranks it out right from word go with first track "Bestial Devastation" a cracker of a tune, great guitar work, fast frenetic stuff with crashing drums and great raspy vocals. "Satanic Massacre" is more of the same with some howling vocals over a great guitar riff. "Army of Hell" is up next and starts with an intro from some old horror film before the guitar and drums kick in. A different kind of vocal here more clean but distorted by effects so it sounds suitably evil! "Dying in Fucking Agony" is the fourth track with a slower feel to it, starts with an out of tune guitar before it bursts into a fast thrashy blast,another goodie! Last track is "Funeral Fog" a Mayhem cover version and is another cracking track and a fitting way to end this demo.
All in all a really good tape that I thoroughly enjoyed. There seems to be a good wee BM scene coming together in Scotland at the moment, very D.I.Y oriented and all the better for it!! Check out the bands facebook page if you want a copy, that's if there are any left!!!
8/10

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

Madhatters,Inverness,Friday 14th October 2011

Well this was a total weird experience, I was looking forward to this gig and it wasn't a total disaster but it came close!! I had been waiting for this gig with bated breath only to find out a couple of days before that due to some totally understandable circumstances that Achren had to pull out, they are going to reschedule so all is not lost, the other two bands decided to play on so it looked like it was not going to be a total wash-out. All the posters etc. I had seen said 8 or 8.30 start so with that in mind I got the train up and happily a return ticket coming back at 11.30, with work in the morning this was to be a bonus. Arriving at the venue I saw people milling about outside, seeing someone I knew this wasn't too bad!! Donnie (Syndicate) then proceeded to tell me that the doors wouldn't be open until 9 and first band on at 10.30!! Unfucking real! talk about not organising a piss up in a brewery! This was not the worst news as the first band on were going to be Threshold Sicks from Perth and this was fine enough for me, I had been wanting to catch this band since a while so all was not lost,Zombie Militia were going to be on too late for me to catch my train but having caught them recently I was not overly disappointed as I will no doubt catch them again. Anyway for about an hour and a half we stood outside the venue and shot the shit as it were, stories abounded and many laughs were had with new Inverness gigs reviewer Mark Dubanowski dropping by to add to the crack and also the Threshold boys all dropped by on the way for food etc. so a damn fine time was had.  Before we knew it it was 9.45 and time to make a move into Madhatters for a watered down cider in a plastic glass! lovely stuff, i don't think!!
At about 10.20 Threshold Sicks hit the stage and at last we got what we came for ,some good music was to ensue. I don't know where they fit in exactly probably Death Metal although they can be thrashy too but one thing is they are fucking brutal!! A really tremendous set from the lads, I really enjoyed it 40-45 minutes of pure hard as fuck metal, made you want more that's for sure. The whole band have great presence and put on a great performance Phil  on vocals is a cracker of a front man,very menacing looking on stage and  really top notch, Paul and Greg on guitar and bass absolutely shred and Ivan on drums knocks fuck out of them! Great band well worth seeing, not a bad song in the whole set with "Regicide" being my personal fave. As I said well worth seeing and I will hopefully catch them soon.
So with the time at 11.10 like some sort of grizzled old Cinderella character I bade my farewells to the guys and fucked of for my train, as I said a weird night but a cracker for all that, the crack outside was top notch and the Thresholds were brilliant so all in all it was a recipe for disaster pulled back by some good mates and some cracking music.

The Market Bar, Inverness 09/09/11

Well it was off on the bus to one of my favourite venues up here,always a pleasure to go to the Market Bar,cracking atmosphere to be had. First things first after getting of the bus it was to have a pint at the wee downstairs bar which as always was full of all the real worthies/reprobates in Inverness, and I wasn't disappointed!! Upstairs to the gig I went where i met Nikki and Sheree from the Signal which was a good start to the night. First on were [ ] wall [ ], this is a two piece instrumental, for want of a better word, a drummer and a 5 string bass player,didn't know anything about them but they were excellent! Really good stuff, hard to describe as I have seen nothing like them before,pure power from the drums and a bass played like a lead guitar!! Thoroughly enjoyed their set and would definately like to see them again, I also scored a Cd-r from them too!! Great stuff!!
Next on were Bin Ladens Daughter,fresh from all the sound problems they had at the Phoenix I had hoped that I would see them without any problems tonight and indeed that's what we got. Really cracking set from the guys,playing all the faves including the great "Terry Wogans Cock" always a crowd pleaser. Super set tonight that showed what they are all about,great no nonsense punk rock band and Bry has added  a great new dimension to the band,a super front man!
Wheelchair x4 were on next, a band I have heard a wee bit off and I really looked forward to seeing this 2 man grind band from Glasgow, and again not a disappointment,supper stuff!! The Glasgow banter inbetween songs is good fun too!! They played the tracks of their Cd,which I bought and is well worth seeking out by the way, and were shit hot, a really good band who I would love to see again, I love my grindcore and they were really good to see.
Last band on tonight were You Dead from Elgin rock city, a band who Donnie from the Syndicate had said I would enjoy and he was right on the button! Great punk rock band with some topping patter too!! Dan played on tables and on top of his amp stack!! pure class! Really good set from the band and I will certainly be seeing them again, they remind me of a throw back to early punk the real 77 style stuff. I must also say big thanks to Dan for the merch too!! Scored some vinyl, some tapes and a shit load of stickers!! Great stuff!!
Well all in all a superb night of music at the Market Bar, 4 top notch outfits all very different but all really good and I cant think of a better endorsement to see i would love to see all 4 bands again.
Big shout out to Andy the guy I met who came over to talk as he spotted  had a Darkthrone t-shirt on as did he!! Great minds think alike my friend!!
So it was off home half-pished and pockets full off merch. another great night out, cheers guys!!!

DRAIN OF IMPURITY-"Sordid Acts of Torture"

Oldie from 2001, 7 track cd that I got recently so thought I would stick up a review of it! This band are a two man grind band from Austria, Basar Cetin does all the guitar work while his brother Batu is vocalist,bass player and drum programmer, although it does say on the cover that Cem from Cenotaph was the session drummer. Well what do we get here, a pretty brutal release is what we get with really deep vocals ranging from growls to gurgling, the guitar work is pretty decent although it does go of a bit "twiddly" at times,straying a bit from the main song theme but decent all the same. It's a pretty good release and I enjoyed it with my fave tracks being "Release the Soul of Flesh" and "Ending Human Existence". One minor gripe is the way that the songs end, very suddenly, cut of dead sort of before you expect them to finish. A cd worth checking out,it is available from various distros despite its age and worth getting if you are into grind, decent cover too!! 6/10

WINDS OF GENOCIDE-"The Arrival of Apokalyptic Armageddon"m

This is the 6 track e.p. release from the Death/Crust Kommandos from Durham in the U.K.  All 6 tracks deal with apocalypse style scenarios and each track is an absolute belter!! Kat delivers the vocal with the deepest growls you will ever hear, more than ably backed by Glynn on guitar,Linus on drums and Dan on bass. The band come from the more metal end of crust than the punk one but crust it is and bloody class stuff indeed!!!
The band are tight as fuck and Glynns guitar work is really top notch,he gets a really good sound out of it. My fave tracks are "Doomsday Soldiers" and "Storms of Hooded Horsemen" but all six tracks are really top notch. The only problem I had with this release it was over way too quickly, more please!!!! Great release from a great band, one I like a lot and really hope to hear a load more from. I think this is still availble from the band if not check out the distros for a copy, can't really recommend this highly enough, get it!!!!    9/10

The Phoenix, Inverness 27/08/11

Well I set of on the bus looking forward to this one, 5 bands for a fiver and some top notch bands at that!!!  I like Flames at The Phoenix as a venue its got a right homely feel about it and just seems to work for me,not the best laid out place but it's just a good wee placed to go and see bands and meet some mates.

£3.10 for a pint of cider was a good start so with one in hand it was of to see first band up Elgin punk rock heroes Bin Ladens Daughter! Chronic p.a. problems blighted what was a great set by the lads,this was the third time I had seen the band and the first with new front man Bri, he is a bundle of energy and no mistake, bouncing of the walls and the drum kit!! Great new addition to an already great band, you know what you get from BLD a great no nonsense punk rock set and tonight was no exception. Although plagued by sound problems they were still an entertaining watch and I look forward to seeing them at the Market bat on the 9th of September!! Any band that does a song about Terry Wogans cock has to be worth a watch!!

Next band were Inverness Death Metallers Seed of Sorrow, who I had seen a couple of weeks earlier at the Ironworks and they had impressed me then,tonight was no different and I again enjoyed this young metal bunch. In Lewis they have a great frontman ably backed by a tight as fuck band.  They are one to watch up here and I hope they get far in the world of metal,they are of to Glasgow soon so hopefully will get more admirers.

Sufferinfuck were next on, a band I knew very little about until recently, i have seen the youtube vids posted from the  Crammond picnic and the ones from the Chernobyl benefit,this could not have prepared me for seeing them live!! What a fucking awesome band pure Crust and pure power, really class stuff and a band I would love to see again soon. If they are in your area I cant recommend them enough, really super stuff.

Local heroes The Signal were on next,back from losing a couple of members and relaunching recently with a new line-up. Lewis from Seed of Sorrow takes over on bass duties and Sheree taking over guitar. I love The Signal, seem them a load of times and they are always a great watch, tonight with the new line-up was no different and once again they were tremendous. Hopefully this line-up will last for a bit and then there will be more great nights to come!!!

Last but not least were the mighty Filthpact, reformed this year, a band I had never seen before and I was looking forward to it immensely, and fuck me they didn't let me down!! A pure blast of Crust, heavy as fuck and really good to watch. The whole band are as tight as fuck and it was great to see. They put on a top show and a band I would love to see again,the power was awesome!!

So what can you say about the whole show, easy, it was a fucking superb night out all the bands were fucking amazing and it was great fun meeting old friends and new. I had a total ball and enjoyed the whole experience. Roll on the next gig!!!!

DIEMENTIA-"Tears of Blood"

This album is from Glasgow thrashers Diementia and was made with their old line-up,not that it matters as this is well worth a listen!!! 11 tracks clocking in at around 56 minutes which is value for money!!! It kicks off in great style with a good slab off  good old thrash metal "Corruption" is the track in question and is a really good song and one of my faves of the whole album. It sets the scene for the rest of the album, and it gallops along at a fair old pace, keeps the interest no problem! Apart from the opener my other fave track is "Bad Blood" but in all honesty their isn't a bad track on here. Good album by a good band,if you want to check it out it's available on free download,just check out their facebook page,where you will also find links to their new material on reverbnation. Good to see more Scottish metal bands out there a great scene well worth supporting. 8/10

DESECRATOR-"Links Retribution"

 This is a release from Laceration drummer Mark Dubonwski, its a concept album based on the Legend of Zelda!!!!! Unreal or what! Mark plays everything on this release which just shows what a talent he is. Concept albums always make me think of dreary boring prog rock type shite but you don't get that here, what you do get is 8 tracks of heavy as fuck playing, no prog rock at all!! The tracks are all linked by a bit of narration to keep the story going,when the songs kick in they all have clean,growly vocals so you can follow the tale of Link easily. The playing is top notch and some really great guitar work on this album which kicks in at around 23 and a half minutes. There is no favourite track here as the whole thing is a story so differs from other albums, I really enjoyed this,it was something totally different from the usual stuff I listen too. Well recommended but I don't know how easy it is to get your mitts on,try contacting Mark on facebook. 8/10

LACERATION-Demo

This is a 3 track demo from Scottish Brutal Death Metal band Laceration and it is exactly that!! Brutal from the opening chords! Great opening track which goes really gets the proceeding going well, the other two tracks are just of the same quality. They are a very tight band and it shows on this demo, all tracks have slower doomy bits that lead up to a crushing explosion of pure heaviness! I don't have a favourite track as I really enjoyed all the 3 of them equally. It's a belter of a demo and has left me wanting to hear more from this band, who are-Hamish MacGuire-guitar and vocals, Ryan Simpson-bass and Mark Dubanowski-drums.  Got to love a band that has a track called Human Tikka Masala as well!! The demo is free to download and future releases are in the pipeline,can't wait!!!  8/10

Ironworks 04/08/11 Zombie Militia, Seed of Sorrow, Toby Michaels

Well I took myself off on the bus to a wet and dreary Inverness for a bit of local metal, you don't get much of a chance to see over much metal up here so I wasn't missing this for anything!! It was done on what was described as the small stage for local showcases and it attracted a fairly decent crowd 100-120 at a guess,and as it was a 14 and over show it was good to see some of the younger metalheads in attendance.
First up was Toby Michaels former front man of Stolen Order. Now I don't know if Toby is a rock'n'roll genius or a total madman!! An impressive entrance was hampered by guitar problems but he took them in his stride with some impressive banter that got the crowd laughing. His set was an acoustic one and it was of manic proportions!! I have had "Tribute" from Tenacious D stuck in my head for two fucking days now!!! As I have said he's either a genius or a total maddy but one things for sure he is an entertainer and was good value and warmed the crowd up nicely,he's a man worth keeping an eye on!!
Seed of Sorrow were on next, I had heard good things about this young band and had wanted to see them and I can tell you I wasn't disappointed they were as heavy as fuck!!! Really top notch guitar work from both guitarists and a great engine room of bass and drums,finish with a totally manic front man and you have just what you want form a metal band!!! I thought they were impressive and played a really tight set and I am now really looking forward to seeing them play with the Signal and Filthpact on the 27th of August, The Phoenix bar is going to get fucking shredded!! Well recommended and a band that I am happy to be seeing again real soon.
Last but definately not least were the main act tonight, the mighty Zombie Militia, I saw them a couple of years ago at a poorly attended gig in Invergordon where they supported Soundshok and I was very impressed then, they were a really good act and I enjoyed them then. Since this happened they have gone onto bigger and better things and now play all over Scotland and have won the Scottish heats to play at Bloodstock and now I can see why!!!! They were immense,a totally brutal crushing display of pure hard and heavy metal,really tight as fuck,an awesome display of power. Two new songs were showcased tonight as well which was pretty good too!! They have come a long way in a short period of time and I can only see good things for the Militia, I think the next stage for the band for the band has to be some sort of physical release, something I am hoping comes sooner rather than later!!
All in all a really good nights entertainment and for £3 you couldn't really go wrong,it was the first time I have been to the Ironworks this year and I really wish they put more alternative style music on instead of the indie,folky,tribute shite that seems to be the norm there. It bodes well for the local scene that Inverness can boast two really good metal bands,hopefully we will see a few more metal gigs take place soon!!

Lt. DAN/SLAUGHTERGRAVE-Split

This release comes from Human Discount Records and clocks in at 18.44 mins,consists of 12 tracks from Lt.Dan and 9 from Slaughtergrave. First up are Lt. Dan from the U.S.A. a 3 piece band who specialise in short brief blasts of grind/noisecore, some of it is very short but all are extremely brutal. My fave tracks are "Fake Dealer" and "Grinding the Crusty" I would think Lt.Dan would be an intense,brutal experience live!! 7/10 for there part of this split.
Slaughtergrave the ace mincecore band from Greece are then on with their 9 tracks. I have a  fair bit of Slaughtergrave stuff as I trade with Spiros of the band,he is indeed a real D.I.Y. king!!! You are going to see a good few reviews of them here as they are a top notch outfit, heavy as fuck!! The best tracks on here are "Clinical State" and "Napalm Up Your Ass" and a good cover of Napalm Deaths "You Suffer" All in all a good release 7/10 for their part. Good c.d.I like it a lot.

STENCH OF VIRGINITY-"Filled With My Sickness"

4 track Cd-r release from Sewer Records clocking in at 13.18 mins from a right brutal bunch of Greeks!! The band are a 3 piece grind/death outfit and pretty shit ht they are too!! First up is "Above This Grave" and it kicks the proceedings off very nicely,real deep growly vocals and a good riff keeps the song going nicely,good start!! Next track is "My Brutality Rises" this is a lot slower with a real doomy feel to it,for about the first minute then it explodes!! with a real all out thrash,then back to the doomy style. Another really good track and i like the way its structured. The third track is the attractively titled "Gut Her,Split Her" and has a mental intro taken from the movie "New York Ripper" then it beasts into the track,another brutal beast it is too! Again it has slowish doomy bits and faster thrashy stuff,real deep vocals. The last track on this release is "Filled With My Sickness" and again is another slab  of pure brutality,good guitar work as throughout this release. This is a nice wee demo,I am pretty sure it can still be bought although it is from 2006, I got mine in a trade so it should still be out there,worth tracking down. 7/10

HRAFNBLOD-"The Quintessence of Man"

4 track release from 1 man black metal band ,running at 19.20 mins,  this is limited to 50 copies that he gave away free to get a bit of interest going in his project and I;m glad I managed to get a copy!! 1st track is "Concubine" and it gets the disc of to a flyer,good raspy vocals and great guitar work,good start!! Next up is "I Met the Dragon" great guitar work again,based on a really good riff.raspy vocals again but some parts have a deeper vocal,another great track. The next track is "Freya Beckoning" and starts with an acoustic guitar playing a very mournful tune for just over a minute and that is that!! very ambient and very good,I liked it! Track 4 is "Across the Pagan Vastelands" and starts with the sound of waves breaking the shore before the intro kicks in, deep vocals kick in about 2 minutes in and the track builds really nicely. This is the only track that Gareth doesn't write the lyrics on,its an epic track and my favourite of the release. It ebbs and flows and shows a really good standard of musicianship,really great guitar work and it shows the many facets to his playing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this release and its going to be a bugger for you to track down unless you were one of the lucky ones that got your mitts on one! Look forward to hearing more from this talented guy,you can contact him on facebook just bung the band name into your browser. 8/10

Underdog Morsels Volumes 1-4

Dave Fungalpunk madman or genius? He is releasing 100 volumes of 4 track Cd's to give bands a

 bit of coverage and support the d.i.y. scene. I will answer my question at the end of the reviews,he does a great website for reviews,interviews etc check it out here http://www.fungalpunknature.co.uk Right here we go with volume 1 with 11.26 minutes of pure mayhem!!

First up is AFS-"The Protest Song" Good punky stuff with a nice growly vocal and great backing vocals. Great sentiments too,to many people haven't a clue what they are on about half the time!

The Despondents-Got Nothing to Lose" another cracking track,this band sounds really like 70's U.S. punk before hardcore came into it,good sound!

Citizen Keyne-"Punk not Fashion" Pure punk not anything else here but great stuff for it! This is a really nice put down on the posers and the "take the money and run" bands that pollute our scene. I heartily agree with all the sentiments in it!

Harold Shitman-False Hardcore Creates Rapists" Great title and a mighty fine blast of thrashy hardcore.

All in all a great start to the series 7/10

Right its onwards to volume 2- 12.53 minutes of punk rock heaven!

First up is the mighty Mongrel with "Bound to Crash" a nice bit of metal punk from a really strong band,good track not there heaviest but a goody all the same.

Thracia-"Sea of Tediocrity"  A nice slab of thrashy punk from a band I really must check out more.

Septic Psychos-"Buy Some Shit" Nice bit of good old punk rock,really good singalong chorus too.

The Red Eyes-"This is My Life" This is a nice bit of poppy punk really well crafted and a topping song,loved this one.

Another cracking release with a nice diverse mix of bands 8/10

Here we go with 8.38 minutes of volume 3

Obnoxious UK-"Cadava Doll" a good track to start this release with,a mix of poppy/punky well done with great backing vocals.

St.Tantrums-"Call the Nightmare" Another mid tempo song that mixes genres a bit with a touch of metal a bit of punk and a wee bit of glam!! Good song!!

Animal Train-"Meltdown" Pure punk this one,nice slowish tempo to it kind of reminds me of anarcho style punk,good grinding based riff to it.

Colin Farrell-"Lollo is on Cortisone" Fast,catchy punk with an accent!!! I know sweet f.a. about this band but this is a good track.

Another wee treat from fungalpunk a bit poppier than the first two. 7/10

Volume 4 with 15.15 minutes of pure punk.

Asezawallas-"Needle" I hope this is the bands name as the font on the cover was a bit difficult to read! Good catchy song with a nice noisy guitar/drum combo.

Kybosh-"Sunday Afternoon Drinking" Great title,a pastime I don't indulge in much anymore and i kinda miss it!! Feel healthier without the demon drink tho!! This is a neat punky ode to the great Sunday tradition of roast dinners, footy on the telly and drinking on a Sunday!!!!

Skudpuppetz-"Political Dystopia" A band I have heard of but have never heard,my loss as they are a cracking band!! A great infusion of punk,ska and a wee bit reggae,cracking track with great vocals and a really catchy chorus,shit hot track!!

East Town Pirates-"Ship Ahoy" Good riffy stuff and its pirate based punk!! whats not to like? really good metally/punk and a great chorus.

Another winner here 8/10

Well at the start I asked the question Dave Fungalpunk madman or genius? I think the answer is probably a bit of both!! One things for sure though his heart is in the right place and he is one of the good guys in our scene and one I listen to when I read his reviews. The series has started really well and I am looking forward to the rest of them,it has done what its meant to as I have started looking for material by bands I didn't know anything about,this has to be good news! Best bands for me V1-Citizen Keyne, V2-The Red Eyes, V3-Animal Train, V4-Skudpuppetz. Kudos to you Dave and more power to you,this is a great idea of yours and you are a stalwart of the D.I.Y. scene and all round good guy.

Mass Grave Circle Jerk 6 Way cd

Well what have we here? A 34 track 6 way split cd that covers the mighty genre of goregrind. There are 6 different labels involved in this project so here we go,I will score each band individually instead of an overall score.
First band up are a two man band from France and they do just one track but its an epic one in this genre must be about 5 minutes long!! It is split into an intro and then the song which stops and starts into various bits,really mental drumming on it too! The song is called "Cum Gurgling Regurgitasound" and pretty good it is too 6/10
Next up are MDK a three piece band from Brazil,they have a more traditional feel to them, the vocals are mental and it sounds like all three guys contribute to a variety of pig squeals,grunts and growls! My fave tracks are "Brutal Assassinatos" and "Parafilia" 7/10
Diseased Maggotectomy are the next on this disc and are from the U.K. and have 10 tracks on here. All the band have aliases for  names and there are three guitarists,a bass player and drummer!!! The tracks are a mental mix of pure thrashy,noisy madness!! And with 3 guitars you know that the guitar work is going to be totally crazy! They are my fave band on this and one I hope to check out some more,best tracks for me were "Rectal Cannibal" and "Anal Armageddon" but they are all pretty decent to be honest. 8/10
PUS are the next band and are from Holland and Spain and are a 3 piece.They contribute 4 tracks to this disc and again are a more traditional gore/grind band. Really heavy guitar and pig squeal vocals make their tracks pretty damn decent!! They are quite doomy in bits not all out thrashy stuff,my fave tracks are "Mucosas Salpicados De Sangre" and "Escreto Maligno" snappy titles eh? 7/10
The next band to come on is a one man outfit from Brazil with the great name of Hemorrhoidal Anal Suffering. He has 10 tracks on this disc and he does produce some class goregrind,he is pretty decent on the guitar and my fave tracks are "Biohazard Inferno" and "Abiogenesis" he produces some interesting stuff and I would like to hear more from him. 8/10
Last band on are Cativeiro from Bolivia and they are a 3 piece band who contribute 5 tracks to this project. The guitars are quite low in parts and the drums tend to slightly drown them out at times but that doesn't detract from them. The vocals are a mix of real growly to shrieks!! Best tracks for me are "Blood and Guts of Dead Gore" and "Poisoned Deep Inside With Fucked Up Cocaine!! great titles. They are a decent outfit. 7/10
All in all a mighty fine Goregrind cd,I liked it a lot and all the bands are off a decent quality. I don't know how easy it is to track this release down as i got it in a trade, cheers Nick! If this is your bag I would definitely try to get my mitts on a copy but one things for sure you ain't getting mine!!!

WINDS OF GENOCIDE-"Apokalyptic Death Crust"

This review is of a band I love!! Winds of Genocide are a crust/metal leviathan of a band and this release is a cassette release of a rehearsal/demo limited to 200 copies and released by Witch Hammer Productions from Thailand. I got my copy from Kat the lead vocalist and it only cost a couple of quid so was an absolute bargain!!
What do you get here then? Its a 6 track release that's as rough as fuck but absolutely class stuff. Its easy to see that the band have been around since 2006 as they are as tight as a gnats chuff and sound as heavy as fuck! The line-up is Kat on vokills, Glynn on guitar,Linus on drums and Dan H on bass. The sound is a mix of crust and Death Metal and thrash but this doesn't do them justice as they have their own sound. I don't have a favourite track as they are all shit hot and its as close you will get to a live gig without being there!! A word on the artwork for this release too,its top notch as well!! Worth tracking down for fans and for new converts alike to get an idea of how good this band is,look out for a review of the e.p coming here soon! Songs tend to deal with the apocalypse,doomsday etc, cheery stuff !! catch the band here- www.myspace.com/windsofgenocide
8/10

SORCERY-"Master of the Chains"

This review is of Swedish Death Metal band Sorcery,it is a 3 track cassette released by Nocturnal Blood Records and limited to 300. This band have been around since the 80's but recently reformed in 2009 and glad we are that they did!! The band is-Ola Malmstom on vocals, Paul Johansson on bass, Jocke Olofson on drums and Henrik Lindenmo on guitar. The trouble with it being 3 tracks is it over way too soon and you are just getting into it and its over!! The tracks are 1-"Master of Chains", 2-" Heaven Lies Dead", 3- The Rites of Sacrifice 09" and I have no favourite track as they are all goodies1
They sound really well honed on this release and play a slightly doomy DM with a nice touch of thrash,perhaps harking back to their older days when they were a more out and out thrash band, its a good mix of fast and slower tempo stuff that works well for me! The vocals are good and growly and the guitar playing is top notch with really ripping stuff on here! The back line of bass and drums hold their own and all adds up to a really good band that hopefully I will get to hear more off!
Catch them on their own website www.sorcery.com
7/10

WAN-"Wolves of the North"

Here is a review of Swedish black metal band WAN,this release is a 13 track cassette released by Nocturnal Blood Records and limited to 100 copies. This Swedish cassette only label is a personal favourite of mine and they do release some top notch stuff.
Well what have we got on this cassette,a 13 track Black Metal album that's a bit different from the usual BM releases in the fact that 13 tracks is unusually many for such a genre. The band comprise of Tsjud on vocals,Aganaroth on guitar and Isongrim on bass. The sound is proper BM bit punky in parts and a wee bit thrashy in bits too but not overly, I assume its a drum machine that's used as no drummer is mentioned, but it doesn't detract from the sound. The vocals are raw,raspy growls and the guitar and bass are both done very well.
The tracks are a sung  in a mixture of English and Swedish and the words can be heard quite easily,topics seem to be the usual fare,not that that's a bad thing!, all things Satanic,anti-religion and misanthropy. I enjoyed the whole album but my fave tracks are probably "13 Sons£of the Dead","Kingdom of Wan", "Ulvhall" a song dedicated to Quorthorn, "War of the Unholy" and "Wolves of the North" but in all honesty there is no bad tracks on this cracking wee tape. They sound a very tight band who produce good BM and I will certainly be checking them out for future releases. Check them out on www.myspace.com/theunholywan
8/10

ULRIKES DREAM- A short review!!!

This is a short review on just a couple of tracks the Belgian MetalPunk band Ulrikes Dream have up on their myspace page,its only to let people know what a shit hot band they are and that they have a new c.d. out now!!  So what about the songs? first up is "Burn the State" clocking in at 1.27, they have a female vocalist which is always nice, nice fast thrashy track with slower bit in the middle before thrashy finish again. Good no frills song. Next up is "You Walk the Line" at 2.09, More metalish this one with a right metalcore feel to it,some clean vocals before it descends into a metal thrash, a decent effort too! Just whets my appetite for the full length cd!!  I don't know too much about the metal/punk scene in Belgium but on this evidence I will be checking it out. 7/10 find the band on myspace and check them out.well worth supporting!!

Damnum Animus- "Sanity The Lies Of The Father" e.p.

Well when i started this project I knew I had a tonne of stuff in my own collection to review but I thought I would throw it out to get some new bands I didn't really know about interested in me reviewing their stuff.  I got a couple of grindcore bands of Myspace and an anarcho punk band of facebook all of which will be reviewed. I put it out on Metal Archives to almost total indifference but did get a reply from this one man DSBM band. Now of all the metal genres and sub genres Ambient Depressive BM is one I know virtually fuck all about but the guy was good enough to send me the links for his e.p so I will return the favour by reviewing it. As it turns out I'm glad he sent it to me as its opened my eyes to a new sub genre I never took much notice off before!

Well what do you get from this e.p.? 3 tracks at just over 16 minutes in total
1. The Last of My Kind 5.39
2. The Lies of a Father   5.39
3. Thoughts of a Dying Father 5.34
All 3 tracks are very atmospheric,doomy sounding with harsh guttural vocals, the topics he deals with are religious struggles,living without purpose and heartache,very heavy stuff!!  They all have a very mournful feel to them and at places sound a bit folky with some real classical sounding bits to them too. My favourite track is probably the second one as it has a very classical style opening and a mournful violin sound to it too! The drums are decent on all 3 tracks as well,so decent I'm not sure if he used a drum machine or the real thing!! The keyboards/synth are the main instruments and swoop and soar on all  3tracks, Not easy listening by any means but certainly well worth tracking down, I know I will be checking out any new releases from this guy, well recommended to all!!  7/10
You can find this release here-http://www.mediafire.com/?g59q3rg6i414ll0

What is this all about??????

I have toyed with the idea of doing this for a wee while now and today I thought what the fuck lets go for it!!!
I hope to review music of any description really,well any description that falls into what I like! I like Punk, Crust,Hardcore,Grindcore and all the Extreme Metal genres,so this is what I will be covering,anything else can FOAD!!!
I intend to be as honest as I can if I dont like it I wont pussyfoot about and say I do,whats the point of that!!!
I will also probably do zines, books etc as well,why not??
Keep on checking this out as I hope its going to be as good as I feel it will,feel free to drop me a line with any comments you feel, and remember I am a big boy so I can take it!!!
Cheers and Beers
Donnie