BEST OF 2018

Hey there people how's it hanging? I know posting has been sparse since I brought this blog back but I write when I can and don't force myself to do it for the sake of doing it. With that said I've forced myself to toss up my best of 2018 list because well, people like lists. There was a metric fuck ton of new releases this year and while I'm sure there's a bunch that I missed out on (feel free to tell me so I can check them out) these were the releases that I found myself listening to the most in 2018.

TOP 10 SPLITS

1. Rampage 4 Way Split (Agonal Breathing/Gangrenectomy/Pit Of Toxic Slime/Traumatomy)

This is hands down my favorite split from last year. Each band served up a healthy slab of death metal brutality and I can't say anything remotely negative about it. The Full Of Hell/Intensive Care split probably would have been my #1 pick had it been longer but here we are. 

2. Full of Hell/Intensive Care Split

3. Water Torture/Stimulant
4. This Split Sucks (Phalloplasty/Slamophiliac)
5. Meth Leppard/Minimum Wage Assassins
6. Wvrm/Waft
7. Integrity/Kreig
8. Cheerleader Concubine/Dehumanizing Itatrain Worship
9. Iron Reagan/Gatecreeper
10. International Solidification Split (Gape/Existential Dissipation/Displeased Disfigurement)

TOP 10 EP's

1. Ancst - Abolitionist

Blackened crust done right. While adding black metal elements to hardcore or crust or whatever extreme metal genre seems to be the trendy thing Ancst have been doing it the right way for a long time. Their output this year has been pretty crazy too, having released 2 albums, a compilation, a split and this EP all of which are top notch. Don't sleep on this.









2.Rotten Sound - Abuse To Suffer
3.Vasculitis - A Monument To Violence
4. Buried In Pieces - Separated
5. Code Error - Code Error
6. Ramuh - Glowing Civilization
7. Meatshield - Gouge The Eyes
8. Brand Of Sacrifice - The Interstice
9. Six Of Swords - Regime Decay
10. Human Barbecue - Abhorrent Atonement

TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2018

1. Black Tongue - Nadir

To say that this was my favorite album from last year would be an understatement. I still listen to this album daily and honestly couldn't recommend an album more than this one from last year. While Black Tongue certainly started off as nothing more than a deathcore band that played at 30bpm they've created something on Nadir that is truely unique to them. Instead of the 5 minute breakdowns they had filling previous releases, Nadir is a mishmash of all the things I enjoyed about metal. It has death metal elements, full on doom metal riffs, black metal sections, and best of all atmosphere, bone crushing, life draining atmosphere.


2. Cult Leader - A Patient Man
3. Conan - Existential Void Guardian
4. Endless Swarm - Imprisoned In Skin
5. Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury
6. Debridement - Drowning In A Cesspool Of Malform And Malady
7. VHS - The New Batch
8. Xalveg - Gore 2,0
9. Mammoth Grinder - Cosmic Crypt
10. Fatuous Rump - Disposing Slobs Of Corporal Fatberg
11. Kraanium - Slamchosis
12. Ancst - Ghosts Of A Timeless Void
13. Skinless - Savagery
14. Homewrecker - Hell Is Here Now
15. KEN Mode - Loved
16. Bloodbath - The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn
17.City Hunter - Deep Blood
18. Birds In Row - We Already Lost The World
19. Gastrorrexis - Realm Savagery Decimation
20. Splatterpuss - Labyrinths Of Dark Energy


Well thats it,onto another year of heavy music and whatever else that brings. Writing on this site will start again in February and I promise to update it more often. Until then check out some of the stuff on this list or if you feel like supporting some of the bands I'm in I'll link them below. All of the bands I'm in are either currently writing or recording new releases.
Once again thanks for all the support on this site, it would be pretty pointless without the people who read it.

Cruel Bloom - Death Culture EP (crust/sludge)
Ashed - Herbilogical Atrocities EP (brutal death metal/HM2core)
Alessa Gillespie - Lifeless (drum and bass powerviolence/grind)
Blumpkin Spice Latte - Promo 2019 (goregrind)
Son Of A Whore - Purge Single (brutal death metal/grind)

Rot - No Hope EP

Have you ever heard an album so depressingly misanthropic and nihilistic that you question your life? Hailing from Italy, Rot provide the soundtrack to the apocalypse sounding like the bastard son of Primitive Man and Black Tongue.
No Hope opens with a track called Disillusionment and throughout the tracks 5 minute time span it gives you a taste of what you'll hear for the next 29 minutes, giving off elements of doom metal and black metal all wrapped up in a downtempo hardcore package sounding extremely unique compared to all the other bands currently attempting to pull off this sound. A lot of what you'll hear on No Hope is slow, doom filled passages with absolutely haunting melodies but when it does go into blast beat territory like in the track Pitch Black it transitions so flawlessly that you're left sitting there feeling like you just had your head caved in with an anvil. The song writing on this EP is top notch with the vocals/lyrics providing another layer in the already depressing sounding music which in itself is absolutely crushing.
Production wise this EP sounds crisp without sounding over produced thanks to the great job done by the bands mastermind Simon Pietroforte at Divergent Studios. The guitars/bass cut through the mix perfectly, the drums sound thick and brutish and the vocals sit on top of it all perfectly without ending up to high/low in the mix. If you're looking for something truly nihilistic to listen to that is full of lush, haunting melodies then look no further than No Hope.

BANDCAMP
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Human Barbecue - Abhorrent Atonement

Alright so today we're looking at the new EP from Human Barbecue. Formed in 2015 by Jason Lambert from Putrified J, Human Barbecue play a brand of death metal that'll probably appeal to fans of the more brutal realm and to fans of bands like Kraanium and Acranius.
 Their most recent release Abhorrent Atonement released on October 14th by Lord Of The Sick recordings features a different lineup than the Cannibalistic Flesh Harvest LP that came out earlier this year but still retains the crushing sound that they've become known for.
Opening track Babies Pancetta, starts off with some unsettling ambience before bursting into a frenzy of mosh riffs and heavy slams. On The Prowl (the albums lead single) is a pretty straight forward track opening with a slam riff then going into a groovey pinch harmonic filled riff. Up next is Disgust which might be my favorite track from the EP. The track bludgeons you for the first 50 seconds before going into a start stop type riff full of blast beats for a bit then it descends back into a brutal slam section. Finally we have the closing track Hung Then Filleted. This one is pure caveman slam style bringing about a very classic brutal death metal sound while still sounding modern without all the deathcore influences that seem to be filling the current BDM/slam scene.
Vocally Lambert is on point more than ever with his signature guttural style and the guitar tones are thick and dirty without losing any clarity. The drums (while programmed) sound top notch and cut through the mix providing the backbone to these songs.
To say this will hit my year end list would be an understatement, Human Barbecue have released two albums this year that have both ended up on heavy rotation for me so I highly recommend giving this a spin.

BANDCAMP
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Rampage Split

Yesterday a review went up for what I believe to be one of the best full length records to come out this year. Today we're taking a look at without a doubt the best split record to be released this year.

Released on August 31st via Putrid Coffin Records, we have the Rampage split featuring Agonal Breathing, Gangrenectomy, Pit Of Toxic Slime, and Traumatomy.

Up first we have Agonal Breathing's portion. These guys are hands down my current favorite brutal death metal band in the scene right now. The Snare is pingy as fuck, the riffs slam and trudge along like a caveman and the vocals are some of the dirtiest gutturals I've heard in a long time. Opening the split we have the aptly titled Victims of The Rampage, first we get a sound clip of an air raid siren and whats probably the creature on the front of the cover gorging itself in gore.  The drums are heavy on the double bass for most of this song before slowing right the fuck down to an immovable pace where they just bludgeon you alongside the riffs. After that we get a cover of a Carnifex classic, Slit Wrist Savior. This is probably my favorite track here, not just because it's a killer rendition of the song but partly for the nostalgia factor that comes with it for me. After this we get two more slabs of undeniably heavy slam, "Through Rotted Human Debris" and "Partial Detruncation". These tracks show that Agonal Breathing have much more to offer than what was first shown on last years full length Pure Agony and that their here to stay.

Up next we have Gangrenectomy. Honestly I've seen the name pop up so many times but haven't really given them enough attention prior to this release, I mean, I've given their 2015 full length a few playthroughs but never gave them much thought until their promo track from this came out on Slam Worldwide. For their portion of the split they provide a healthy slab of slam. the production on these tracks are absolutely sick. The guitar tone is nasty, the bass is clanky and audible, the drums are powerful, and the vocals are thick a fuck. When you first hear Bonebreaking Torture Hammerage, you get a taste of that guitar and bass tone and pretty much know what you're getting yourself into. Raped and Dismembered By A Wookie is definatly the standout track from these guys for me though. It opens with some filthy blasts that lead into a ridiculous slam that just builds and builds and builds until it drops briefly only to descend back into blast beat madness.

I'm familiar with Pit of Toxic Slime from their split with Fermented Masturbation and their 2017 full length and can without a doubt say I'm a fan. Hailing from Italy, Pix Of Toxic Slime play a brand of brutal death metal all their own. I'm sure some dickhead will chime in and say "all these bands sound the same" but Pit of Toxic Slime have a riffing style that reminds me of OG death metal bands and a bit of New York hardcore bands. Liar has some riffs that remind me of old school Obituary and Suffocation but still with the modern brutal death sound and Hate For The Masses has some sections that bring to mind the spastic sounds of early Cannibal Corpse. Infamous Pt. 2 has to be my favorite track here from them though, just based on the riff that comes in at 1:34, fucking unreal.

Finally we have the legendary Traumatomy who you are probably familiar with if you're a fan of the brutal death scene. This is the second release from them since the lineup change and the first with current drummer Alexey Belov and is a great addition to their discography. For me I'd say these could very well be my favorite Traumatomy tracks produced yet. Hysteric Decapitation is frantic and all over the place switching between dank slams and relentless blasts building up into one of the meatiest riffs at the very end of the song. My favorite part though is in Realms of Inhumanity at 2:37 where the guitars break away and speed up albeit briefly

Overall you'd be hard pressed to find a split as heavy as this one, and for me this has been my favorite split all year outside of the Full of Hell/Intensive Care split that came out earlier this year. Each band hits hard on the four tracks each of them serve up, the production is crisp and tight without sounding over produced much like most of today's death metal scene.

A huge shoutout goes to Putrid Coffin Records for releasing this aswell. For a relatively new, independent label to release something thats been as highly anticipated and well received as this split is a huge achievement for small labels, make sure you keep an eye on them aswell because they've talked about releases from Scourgery and Defleshed and Gutted coming out later this year aswell.

Physical & Digital Copies of The Rampage Split Available Here
Putrid Coffin Records Website
Putrid Coffin Records on Facebook
Agonal Breathing on Facebook
Gangrenectomy on Facebook
Traumatomy on Facebook
Pit Of Toxic Slime on Facebook

Endless Swarm - Imprisoned In Skin

Remember when bands like Charles Bronson, Despise You, and Extortion came out and crushed any preconceived notion of what a hardcore band could do? Me neither, unfortunatly I wasn't lucky enough to be around when powerviolence bands first started popping up. I am however lucky enough to have seen bands like Spine, Weekend Nachos, and Endless Swarm release records that have continued to push the boundaries of what people think metal and hardcore are about.

Imprisoned In Skin, the debut full length from Scotland's Endless Swarm is a fresh take on an old sound. Rather than building on the foundations their previous releases have showcased, they've pushed the boundaries of not only their own sound but of the genre itself creating one of the freshest sounding grind/powerviolence albums to be released in the last ten years and production wise this is a huge step forward not only for Endless Swarm but for powerviolence itself.

Right off the bat you're met with furious blasts and intense riffing this side of a Crossed Out record. Blasting continues to carry on straight through until track four (Interpolate) where we get a brief moment where the bass shines through and trudges along. One of my favorite parts of this album was how prominent the bass was especially on Corrosive Matter where it switches off twenty seconds into the song and drops a nasty bass line.

Throughout the short duration of this album, a mere twenty minutes, you'll find buzzsaw like guitar riffs, mosh inciting breakdowns, the thickest bass tone provided by any powerviolence band I've ever heard, vocals that opt between Full Of Hell styled death grunts and a beefy hardcore shout, and blastbeats that would make Dave Witte proud. Imprisoned In Skin isn't a super complicated album but I really don't think it was meant to be, I feel like this album was just years of anger and frustration with the world manifesting itself in an aural assault.

Imprisoned In Skin releases on October 1st preorder it HERE
Follow the band HERE and try to catch them at a show

Debridement - Drowning In A Cesspool Of Malform And Malady

Here's one for all the goregrind/brutal death metal sicko's out there. I absolutely love bands like this, everything from the ridiculously over the top heavy music to the gross artwork/imagery used to represent the band, I fucking love it.
I guess that brings us to today's post which is the newest release from Northern Ireland's own Debridement.
Formed in 2016 by Connor Brown, Debridement play a brand of brutal death metal all their own (all his own?). I've been following this band since Vomiting Forth From The Earth was released last February and have been waiting patiently for the first full length release pretty much since the moment Vomiting was released.

Here we have Drowning In A Cesspool of Malform And Malady (which from here on out I'll just refer to as DIACOMAM because it's too much work for a lazy prick like me to type that every time) which is 10 tracks of absolute filth. The first track Adrenochrome sets the pace for the album, opening up with a sample before bringing in one of the beefiest riffs I've heard in a long time. Adrenochrome slams hard before shifting into a groove riff then descends into absolute blastbeat chaos. Track 2 (Dank Mank Stankin Skank) carries on with the beef, opening with another sample (which are found all over the album) and then opts to switch off between dank slams and unrelenting blast beats.
The change in tempos keep the album sounding varied and fresh sounding all while maintaining the unrelenting brutality brought by the meaty riffs which are equally as spastic, but are intricate and tight enough to keep you going "holy fuck". The drums here are very heavy on the double bass and while programmed (I think? I could be wrong) they manage to tie everything together flawlessly and the bass itself is thick and cuts through the mix when needed. Vocally... well I mean, look at the cover art, you know you're getting some of the thickest gutturals in the game, the guest spots from Lukas and Pumpa (Stillbirth) on Reefer Addict and Marc (Colpoclesis) on Sputum are also well placed and add to the heaviness factor.

All in all this is easily one of my favorite death metal releases this year and without a doubt Debridements best release to date. The production is crisp without sounding overproduced, the songs are well crafted and keep you hooked and the artwork provides the perfect visual representation of the music. Sick, Heavy, and Depraved.

DEBRIDEMENT ON FACEBOOK
PHYSICAL COPIES AVAILABLE VIA THE BAND
DIGITAL COPY AVAILABLE THROUGH ROTTEN ROLL REX

Meatshield - Gouge The Eyes EP

Few words need to be said about Hamilton, Ontario's Meatshield. It's heavy, it unrelenting, and it's one of the best local releases to be pumped out of Ontario this year.

My band has crossed paths with these guys a couple times this past year and between playing a ton with them in Hamilton and having them out to the yearly festival my band organizes in our hometown (where I actually filled in on bass for them) I can without a doubt say that I've listened to this EP more than probably any other release from a local band.

 Gouge The Eyes opens with the title track (a rerecording from last years demo) and it rips though in just under a minute with blistering speed. The first time I listened to this EP I actually didn't realize that it was over and thought that track 2 was still the first one. Bastard in a Basket carries on the unrelenting speed and heaviness brought in by Gouge The Eyes although there's some slower groovy sections that help break up the chaos. Tracks 3 and 4 (She Must Be Sick and Eat Your Friends) carry on with the fast/slow sections that came out in Bastard In A Basket  but that's not to say it's all the same. Eat Your Friends has a sludgey breakdown section towards the end of the song that I get excited for everytime the song come on. Finally we have the last track Winds Of Shit. This is probably my favorite track, there's some rediculously heavy dissonant parts and sections that sound heavily influenced by The Dillinger Escape Plan, especially in the drumming.

Overall this is a solid outing and I'm truly excited for whatever they do next.
FFO: Maranatha, Cursed, Homewrecker

Gouge The Eyes on Bandcamp
FOLLOW MEATSHIELD ON FACEBOOK