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

Sand Coffin - Shinobi-violence

Powerviolence/grind from Bakersfield, California. I can't find any information on this band (but maybe I'm not looking hard enough) but holy hell is this one a ripper. 5 songs in under 5 minutes, the way I like my powerviolence. It's also a more lo-fi recording which I enjoy, no smoke and mirrors bullshit like alot of modern grind/powerviolence bands do. Check it.

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Fluoride - Fluoride

New Jersey grindcore, not much needs to be said other than that. 8 tracks of heavy fast grind in roughly 15 minutes. Check it out.

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they also have some shows coming up, check out one of these dates if you're close

April 1st - Silent Barn - Brooklyn, NY
April 12th - Meatlocker - Montclair, NJ
April 22nd - The Pharmacy - Philadelphia, PA

Alessa Gillespie

Ontario based Noisecore project featuring members of Cruel Bloom and 1 9 8 6 . In December of 2016 they released 4 separate EP's, two of which we're noise based, and 2 of which we're grindcore. Witch Hunt is definatly the one worth checking out the most but each release is solid. Check it out.

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Holy Grinder - Eradicate All Scum

This was one of my favorite releases from Ontario last year. Featuring members of Goth Girl, Madtrapper, War Balm, and The Blind Surgeons Operation, Toronto's Holy Grinder come out swinging with their debut album "Eradicate All Scum". This release calls to mind early Full Of Hell releases or material similar to their collaboration with the Body. There's swells of noise and suedo ambience inbetween blastbeats and some of the thickest bass you can imagine. Highly recommended, don't fuck up, check it out.

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Kataplexis - Suffer EP

Calgary's finest grindlords, Kataplexis are back with a new EP which serves as a follow up to 2014's Downpour LP. On Suffer, they serve up 3 tracks (one which consists of 2 Napalm Death covers) of hard hitting, ultra fast grindcore which will have fans of bands like Nasum and Brutal Truth eating it up like a diabetic at a chinese buffet.

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The Apex - Self Titled

Hailing from Windsor, Ontario, The Apex play a fusion of mathcore and grindcore similar to Ion Dissonance and early records from The Dillinger Escape Plan. Their debut self titled album features 10 tracks of unrelenting mathcore and dizzying riffs that are sure to have you seizuring in no time.

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Theriac - Self Titled

Blackened sludge, grind, crust from Toronto. Theriac are comparable to bands like Full Of Hell, Harm Done, and maybe early YAITW. Their self titled debut is 7 tracks of chaotic crust punk that hammer's you in until the final notes of Confortable Decay. Don't miss out on this.

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Mad Trapper - Know Fear Single

Yesterday Toronto's own metallic hardcore giants Mad Trapper released a new song. Recorded as part of the Converse Rubber Tracks program by Alex Bonenfant and Trevor Anderson at Noble Street Studio's in Toronto, Know Fear is one of their best offerings as a band and shows the growth they continue to make as a band.

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April 3rd Music Round Up

So once in awhile rather than write up specific articles for bands, I'll do a big music round up. Not only does it save me time in writing it but it keeps things short and concise like a great powerviolence album.

Please Drown - Vultures To Feel (Single)

Please Drown are a sludge/doom band from Toronto and feature members of Mad Trapper. This is their debut single "Vultures To Feed" and hits pretty hard. Their EP comes out this friday so be sure to check it out.

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Unfun - Waterboarding

Up next is Vancouver's Unfun. These guys play a brand of gloomy pop punk, with a darker indie vibe going on. Waterboarding came out in December and although it's not what I usually listen to, I find myself coming back to this record more often than I was expecting. Despite name, they're a seriously fun band. Check them out.

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Waterboarding Stream Via Dead Broke Rekerds

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Six Brew Bantha - Live At KFJC 87.9

The most recent release from one of Vanouver's best grind/powerviolence bands. This live release contains 8 songs and shows how well they pull off the aggression in a live setting. I also recommend checking out their previous releases especially the Intravenously Commodified LP from 2014.

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VHS - Screaming Mad Gore

VHS are a death/thrash/grind band hailing from Thunder Bay, Ontario. 

With a heavy/pounding rhythm section, tight riffs that are sharp enough to replace your chainsaw, and vocals that sound like they were conjured from hell itself, these guys don't fuck around, and on top of all that the lyrics pay homage to alot of old 80's horror films. Don't miss out on these guys.

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Cold Feet

Cold Feet are a 4 piece from St. Catherines who play a brand of hardcore that sounds like they got soaked up in grind and beaten to death with powerviolence. Their most recent release "Reject The Weak" came out last October and consists of 6 songs clocking in around 9 minutes of nonstop hard hitting riffs, the fast parts will blastbeat you into oblivion and the slow heavy breakdown like sections will pick you up long enough to murder everyone around you.


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Cold Feet - Reject The Weak

And while you're at it check out this sweet live video

RX