Mastering the Disease is the band’s fourth album, and Stephen Reichelt once again joins in on bass guitar. We also get guest vocals from James Lee (Face of Oblivion/Pathology) on the song “Blood Prints” and Danny Lawson (Usurper) for “Pupils of Insularity”. The band was looking for a drummer who could capture Paul’s latest and greatest vision, and for this album, enter none other than Marco Pitruzzella (Six Feet Under, Anomalous, Sleep Terror, ex-Vile, ex-The Faceless, ex-Brain Drill). Marco had a good ‘ole rock n rolling fun time recording the newest Six Feet Under. Now was he able to let loose like his gravity blasting bad ass self-did with Brain Drill? No. Did Paul unleash the beast that is Marco, on this latest album? You bet your ass he did!

“Swelling Revulsion” starts things off with a little feedback, then with some maniacal start and stop drumming and Paul screaming his head off. All nice and fun until the 34-second moment. Gravity blasts, gravity blasts, gravity blasts. I will go on record as saying these are the fastest gravities I have ever heard. Faster than Brain Drill. Faster than Origin and faster than Rings of Saturn. Out of control. I was just mentioning to Paul recently that gravity blasts have gone away, and I was happy to hear them return. I just was not prepared for this onslaught. Towards the end of the song, it’s nice to hear some bass guitar strumming, which is heard throughout the release.

The title track is next. Beginning soft and quiet until the maniacal drumming returns. Fast, Faster, Fastest, than onto inhuman capabilities. More of the isolated drumming around the 1.15 mark, where it’s a fast double pounding method, is mixed in perfectly as the guitars take a back seat. Ferocious. The song slows down, and bass guitar plucking is ever-present, as the guitars take on a dissonance, not unlike that of Ulcerate. Paul has played around with dissonance before, with elements containing some later era Brutal Truth with discordant riffage and noises. The slow moments take on an almost drone-like, doomy sound. The speed returns with some weird-ass guitar soloing with terrific alternating vocals. The gravity blasting returns, and even I get tired from all the air drumming I am doing during the speedy parts.

“The Gnashing of False Teeth” has a damn good bass guitar intro and this moment resembles Godflesh. Yeah, Paul, I picked that out fast. Paul is a huge Godlfesh fan, like me. Think of Godflesh doing their doomy, depressive, discordant moments. That is what we have going on here. This is a good breather and you can feel Marco is like, Paul, come on bruh, let me loose again. The doomy drone effect erupts into a gravity blast around the 2.25 section and I swear they are even faster than the previous gravities and they go on for quite some time. Some ethereal, behind-the-scenes types of screaming than growls coming in. The abrupt speed of so slow to ungodly lightning speed, is so much fun!

“Depersonalized Realization” gets into some double pounding speed early on and varying degrees of vocalizations. The slow doomy dissonance is ever present and there are a lot of nods to Carbonized on this album. Just weird spastic blasting, weird noises, non-linear chords being strummed. This song is another example of the weirdness that is inside Gillis’ musical brain. The album, as a whole, is akin to watching the weird ass movie and one of my faves, Being John Malkovitch.

Mastering the Disease is an inhumanely creative and experimental journey into grind, doom, industrial, death metal and technical death metal. Morgue Supplier is not an easy band to just headbang to. It’s like thinking man’s metal. Paul pushes the boundaries and definitely getting Marco has been a huge advantage in this album. There are a few production, mastering issues. Songs will end with several seconds of silence before a song begins or a song will take several seconds to begin, when it’s just silence.

The production is good, however, there is no real bottom end, therefore this is very trebly sounding. The album cover is most excellent and goes wonderfully with this over-the-top sounding album. Because I listen to a lot of weird shit I really dig this album. I commend Paul for pushing the boundaries of extreme metal and also experimenting even more on his craft. This album will force you to consider, what is extreme? Utterly monstrous!!

Anyway, today has brought me a promo for an album I’ve been waiting for with bated breath; I’m talking about the new CrusHuman opus Imperial… what else would I be waiting for like that? The new Nicki fucking Minaj? I think absolutely fuck that. Nope, I’m talking about the aforementioned CrusHuman, and this is coming in hotter than a cougar on league night. Fourteen angry tracks of brutal Grindcore and this time they’ve brought some evolution with them.

If the songs from the stellar EP Besides were an indication of things to come (more slams, more groove, etc.) Then Imperial should be spinning like a possessed Nun in your musical apparatus. Now that I’ve built it up, how is it?

Well. Right off the bat, we get TOTD scribe; the immortal Frank Rini shredding his vocal cords with his penetrating roar on “Bell Ringer”. I swear his fucking uvula can lift 50lbs with no effort whatsoever. For a straight minute and fifty-one seconds, you’re beaten head and foot by the sheer weight of the song. Then, nineteen seconds later, “Lab Rat” has already cruised by like an assassin’s bullet.

Last year’s Besides fought it out with Kosuke Hashida for Best Grindcore album, and it’s sort of ironic that Kosuke Hashida has put out their Moment of Silence, and here I have a new CrusHuman, there’s something going on in the universe, probably imminent destruction and pain. Anyway.

“5 Dollar Lobotomy” has this ultra-infectious main riff that rings in your head hours after listening has ended. It’s a shredding Napalm Death-ish track that has a huge Diatribes/Words from the Exit Wound vibe to it, the closing riff is a fucking thing of beauty. “Synthetic Religion” digs deeper into society and its fascination with organized religion, while “Hive Mind” has a bit of a Lock Up meets Nasum itch to scratch with some killer shouted gang vocals over a striding beat.

One thing about Imperial is that they slam more on this release than on the two previous; this gives way to some interesting Internal Bleeding and Sanguisugabogg moments, particularly in “Die Young”. “Order of the Dragon” brings a bit of Terrorizer to the table, while “Discord” continues in the Napalm Death vein. “The List” seems to hint at the CrusHuman story arch but only a tiny bit; it doesn’t sound like that has been continued here, which is cool. These guys don’t need to be troubadours and bards.

“Trinity” is a fucking menacing track. Slow (kinda) and vicious riffing punching holes in the sky. “Wet Works” surges forward with victorious weapons in its arsenal and some more discordant guitars skronking away in the background.

The hits keep coming, literally. There are fourteen tracks on Imperial, the songs are longer than those on Besides and the first album collectively.

“Artificial Salvation”, “Last Drop”, and the craziest song on the whole album, “OTTO”, round out the final three; “OTTO” is a slamming masterpiece and the perfect ending for this ass kicker.

This is already shaping up to be another great year for Heavy Metal, and CrusHuman is leading the charge once again. With stellar production that ensures each instrument is mixed perfectly. If you love Napalm Death, Nasum, Brutal Truth and Lock Up, then you should already be familiar with CrusHuman and their brand of brutality. Go get this!

Sunday morning finds me jamming the new album from grind bastard Kosuke Hashida called Moment of Silence. If you’ve been paying attention, he released Justifiable Homicide in 2024, Outrage in 2025, and now here we are with album number three. How is it? Jesus fucking Christ, hold onto your boobies because it’s another exercise in brutality.

14 songs in 16:19 minutes. Outrage was 20:12, and Justifiable Homicide was 16:55. These guys are not in the business of making long albums. Which is perfectly fine when the music is this nasty and brutal.

“The Cultist” gets the pit moving with a relentless approach. Keeping in line with those last couple of albums, A Moment of Silence is a certified raging bastard of a record. Blasting through “Mind Dead”, “Secularization” and “Left in Pieces” sees the band flexing their Lock Up muscles and decimating the population with some killer riffing, even if it is like three chords (maybe).

What I love about Grindcore is that it doesn’t take a lot to make a fantastic offering. These songs are like death by a thousand cuts, and with all the songs under the two-minute length (except for “Scorched Earth” which kisses the two-minute but stays at 1:59). Cheeky, very cheeky. Anyway, these songs are like fourteen angry hornets, but they’re all murder hornets. BAHAHA!

Despite the title, there isn’t a Moment of Silence here… see what I did there? “Damnation”, “201”, “Scorched Earth”, “Reason to Kill” and “Religious Reality” come out swinging for the middle of the album. Each of these songs is extremely catchy as well as being the epitome of brutality. This is a true Grindcore fan’s Grindcore album. Short and unapologetically fierce.

“Bleed Out”, “Slaughtered Again”, “Retaliation”, “Blood Boost”, and finally “Tokyo Calling” put a lid on the album in the most violent whirlwind imaginable. If you feel like you’ve been pounded into dust by A Moment of Silence, then Kosuke Hashida has done his job. I’ve already got early as fuck predictions for AOTY and the year is still young. So go pick it up, get brutalized, and then just ram your head into a wall. For you Napalm Death, Nasu,m, and Lock Up fans.

This motherfucker is tight as a bullfrog’s ass! It’s exactly what I was looking for, it’s so fucking angry that I could feel the drums beating in my ears like a jackhammer. From the “Intro”, Organ Dealer shoves in your face what they intend to do.

This could possibly be the best Grindcore album this year, at least be a contender for it. The single “Kpc-0XA48″ is a neck-snapping beast of a track. Holy fucking shit, this thing rips and tears, this scratches my Nasum itch in so many killer ways. That slowdown at the 1:19 mark is particularly fun.

As far as debut full-length albums go, this was/is a cracker of a record. The artwork is fucking gory as befitting the brutality contained in the madness from these New Jersey lunatics.

The brutality continues with “No Answer” bringing some Lock Up grooves amongst the flurry of blasts, it’s a bone-breaking song. “Piss and Gasoline” and “The Pear of Anguish” (if you don’t know what that is Google it). The latter has one of the best breakdowns on Visceral Infection, and just adds to the sick ass moments.

They rip through “Festering Maze”, “Anencephaly”, and the shortest one on the album, the deadly “Consumed” forty seconds of animalistic savagery. This is why I love Grindcore, and it’s definitely what I was thinking about this morning.

The album is rounded out by the Napalm Death-ish “Black Dolphin” and “The Creeper”. I’m not talking about the Death Metal Napalm Death from Harmony Corruption either; I’m talking Scum and From Enslavement to Obliteration era.

That being said, if you love the Grindcore precision of Pig Destroyer, Nasum or Rotten Sound, and those bands are in addition to the bands I mentioned earlier on. Listen to this with your third cup of coffee on your way to work in shitty traffic… listen loud!

The original reissue contained a whopping 37 songs, all archived from their: Tracks 1-13 from Hemdale / Exhumed split CD. Tracks 14-19 from Hemdale / Exit 13 split CD. Tracks 20-23 from Hemdale / Disgust split 7″.Tracks 24-37 from Hemdale’s self-titled 14-song demo.

This expanded reissue, now released on vinyl for the first time, adds an additional 18 songs to make this a 55-song whopper, coming in at around 80 minutes. The extra songs, for the most part, are live and a few added bonus ditties. All these songs have been remastered, and this is the definitive Rad Jackson release for the fans. The meat and potatoes of their best material was released throughout the 90’s, and it appears the band reactivated back in 2013. That’s when some splits were released. Will we ever get an actual Hemdale full-length? Your guess is as good as mine.

I want to point out something about this style of extreme music. It’s easy to play fast and heavy, but it’s another animal to make it catchy. Hemdale, like Poland’s Squash Bowels, knows how to deliver goregrind with as much catchiness as it is ferocious.

“Delicious Gory Fun” is Holy Shit moments after Holy Shit moments throughout the song. Mike Lehmann – Guitars, Matthew J. Rositano-Vocals, Bass, Craig Rowe -Drums create a racket by opening with a monster whirlwind grind blast with varying gutturals and higher shrieks, when the song title is screeched. This is the first Holy Shit moment. Then that isolated guitar part at the 38-second part, is the second Holy Shit part, when the grind comes in, it’s even faster. At 1.11 this song has remained one of the best goregrind songs ever to be recorded, and my favorite from the band.

The band also had a penchant for macabre humor, as referenced on “Are You Pornophoric?” The intro will have you laughing your ass off. The music is ferocious and so damn heavy. The stop and start moments, then right into the swift grind, are tight. The cymbals crashing will slice and dice you until you are turned into bloody ribbons. This folks is chaos done right!!!

The band showed their love for some of their favorite bands by doing covers such as: “Curse the Gods” (Destruction cover), “Extremely Rotten Flesh” (Grave cover), and “Rise Above” (Napalm Death cover). The band stays true to the original songs’ pacing; however, it adds that signature distorted Hemdale grind heaviness. The songs are well played and, most of all, fun to listen to.

“Rotting Fumes”, from the 1994 demo, starts with a monstrously heavy riff, before this mid-paced heaviness erupts into faster pacing, right before one of my favorite Hemdale songs ever, which is “Vaginal Decay”. I have always loved the catchy blasting on this song, as well as when it gets into that fast gallop midway through. That monster blasting returns with all the gurgling vocal delights and high-pitched shrieks. This song rules plain and simple.

“Fallen Upon Butchery” is one of the songs, not on the original reissue, and this song is heavy and fast, but super short. It’s pretty cool and was from their split with Haemorrhage and Meat Spreader in 2018. The live songs, from a radio show, are excellent, and of course, “Delicious Gory Fun” is on here. You can hear how tight the band was, and killer recording.

This is the Rad Jackson version you want. My buddy Mike, from Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, has also officially licensed this from Relapse, so pay him a visit and buy from him. Brad Boatright has newly remastered all tracks at Audiosiege and with coordination from the original band members. The sound is immense. This crushes from beginning to end.

Digressing in progress because ByoNoiseGenerator is one of those bands that just grabs you by the booboo you know, this album makes me wish I had some good LSD because it would make for great trip music. According to the presser, this is their first album in seven years, so I don’t know why that is… What I do know is that Subnormal Dives is a deadly Jazzgrind album that needs your attention.

These crazy Russians take little pieces of Gorod, Decrepit Birth, and Obscura and put them in a blender with a badass, dedicated Saxophone player (Sh3la) and some off-the-wall drumming (NOx). Byonoisegenerator is phenomenal.

“Eb(D#)” is the first track, and right off the bat, you’re hit with the full force of their Death Star. Battering ram drums competing for dominance over the insane bass lines (M1t) that are being wrung from the instrument. The riffs (Hal°) are blood spatter from the relentless beating you’ll be receiving over the next 20:57 minutes.

The tracks sort of run into each other, so it’s not clear where one ends and the next begins, but I’m not bothered at all by that. Some may be, but I dig the hell out of this. There’s not a song that isn’t touched by that wonderful Saxophone, it’s everywhere on Subnormal Dives. “IQ69Exaltations” and “NULL.state = PERMANENT; return VOID;” battle for what track is going to be heavier, but at the same time, these lush as a tropical garden saxophone notes just glide along on some hypnotic highway.

I could be annoyed with the song titles, but I’m not bothered at all, surprisingly. I mean, when the music is this bat shit insane, it’s up to the live setting to make the song titles come alive, because they have to pronounce it all. More power to them.

“NoSuccessToday!” has these funky as hell sections scattered through it, while “UVB-76” is one of my favorite tracks because it not only references a creepy as fuck ‘Number Station’ (Google it) from the Cold War era, but it has so many pinch harmonies and skronkiness that it commands to be experienced.

Excellent production means that every snare hit (and those snare hits are NASTY.) Let me tell you a story, it’s punctuated by the whirlwind of aggressive and jazzy moments that seem to pop up like extreme gophers.

“LoveChargedDiveBombs”, “I’mNot20Anymore (21Ne)” and “4-HO-DMTNzambiKult” are my favorites on Subnormal Dives, it’s so much contained madness that it makes my head bob like one of those birds that “drinks” water. Jazzgrind is a thing, and I’m fucking here for it.

Final two tracks “deBroglieNeverExisted”  “5mgInspiredVibes” round it out, and there’s that saxophone break just wailing away to one of the coolest moments in Tech-Death. It’s just a brutal beating from Hell the saxophone being up front and furious, the slap bass… someone get me a towel!

Anyhoo, I think you’re getting the idea. These guys are off the fucking rails, I’m not talking bullshit here; if you like Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Sarmat, or Fractal Universe in addition to the aforementioned bands at the beginning, you’ll eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Then, upon pressing play, I hear a familiar voice that sounds just like Aborted’s Sven de Caluwe. So, like a professional, I finally researched the band fully, and lo and behold, I learned it is indeed Svencho doing vocals. He’s joined by a solid line-up of Dutch vets from bands like Leng T’che, Humanity Defiled, and When Plagues Collide.

And indeed, the end result is a very Aborted-sounding affair, and not only due to Sven’s vocals, but the delivery of the groovy, blasting death metal, although this has some slight elements of deathcore, grindcore and hardcore thrown in. But either way, when combined with the 80s action subject matter, complete with some appropriate samples- its pretty fucking awesome.

In fact, if you went into Big Trouble blindly and just started listening, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is indeed a new Aborted album, although that’s mainly due to Sven’s distinct vocals as well as the guitar tone, provided by Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, Shadow of Intent, Archspire), which seems to be going for that Aborted sound. However, whereas the last few Aborted albums have been a bit ‘samey, Coffin Feeder presents a slightly more….fun? ….and varied take on that burly, beefy sound.

After a sample from the Jean Claude Van Damme movie, Cyborg, the album starts with “Porkshop Express” (with Julien Truchan of Benighted– another style reference), and the ride does not let up. The album rips and grooves through 12 songs in a quick 35 minutes, and like many of the movies featured, it’s a big, brash, often silly affair, light on plot- but oh so enjoyable.

There aren’t really any standouts, as the album has a pretty steady consistency and pace, but certainly “The Destroyer” (with the famous ‘Conan, what is best in life?’ quote), the keyboard filled (yes, im serious) “Love at First Death” and “A Good Day to Die”, “If It Bleeds”, (with Ben Duerr of Shadow of Intent), “Plain Zero”,  groovy, “Get to the Party” and “Let Off some Steam” (yes, it has a Commando quote) hit the spot with meaty grooves and punishing blast beats.

Coffin Feeder is one of those rare side projects that is a good as, if not better than the main projects, in this case, Aborted. I’ll be interested in what movies and themes they tackle for the next album- here’s hoping for Aliens and Predator to make an appearance…

It’s a very fun intro and then “Frothed Vomit Slosh” starts with a very cool guitar opening and this is very riff driven and after the slow moments and James Murphy influenced guitar solo the song gets into a vintage 90’s gallop with Mark Wallace showcasing his dual vocal techniques, of old Carcass.  The highs and lows will have you thinking Carcass during their Symphonies of Sickness era.  The blast beat then erupts ,then back into the galloping.  Damn good stuff.

“Globs of Glimmering Gore” has more of the Carcass-lead blasting, and the drum production brings out Adam Houmam’s sound even more so.  Punishing drum sound and Teresa and Mike’s guitar sound is incredible, sounding a tad like Captain Cleanoff – if you like that Grindcore acts guitar tone, you will enjoy this, as well as older Carcass.  After the monstrous blast beats, the groove hits super hard and Kienan’s bass guitar tone is there, with that undercurrent of heaviness.  Definitely helps out, especially when the band rips into guitar solos.

That is one of the things you will notice – Cartilage is unafraid to throw in solos, then right into monstrous grind whirlwind blasting.  There are a lot of galloping moments, as well, then right into more grind blasts.  The tempo shifts are never one-dimensional, and the end of this song features a killer drum solo too.

“Pulled Inside Out” is a hysterical song title, which has a great opening with the dual vocals chiming in, as if we are hearing two separate singers.  This song has so many headbanging moments and the 1.30 gallop is quite a lot of fun.  Check out the pinch harmonics too, which the band uses at various moments to slice and dice our faces to smithereens.

“Tales from the Entrails: A Necrology” is a fun and short release.  Which is the point of EPs as this is shy of 12 minutes.  The production works well, and this is not over-the-top non-stop grindcore.  There is a fair amount of death metal, so that is why I lump them into the death grind territory.  There is plenty of melod,y and the band continues excelling as musicians.  Cartilage is a real fun band, who, while having tongue-and-cheek moments, with their lyrics and song titles, when it comes down to the music – they are here to slay!

Well anyway, that’s what Besides is. Eight tracks that lived on past the cutting room floor. For whatever reason, I mean there were like, seventeen songs already so maybe running time was an issue. It doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things because the songs on Besides rip out guts easily and leave your body bruised and beaten.

“Select Sacrifice” kicks it off in true form with some Napalm Death pizzazz. It’s one of those beefy songs that sticks a fork in you when it’s done. Cracking in at 23:59 this is a shorty of an album, and that’s perfectly fine.

This album is chocked full of samples and they punctuate the music to that other level. Take “Waiting for a Savior” with its vicious Fear Factory meets Nasum “DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, DON’T EVEN WASTE YOUR TIME!” “Day End Suffering” has that Fear Factory-ish intro that could’ve been on Demanufacture easily. The guitars and drums battle it out and there’s even a cool Hardcore neck-breaking riff in there.

The production is louder somehow than on the original album and that’s evident after listening to both in a row. “Appeasement to the Frauds” is a slow-burning pounder, while “Blue Static” continues in that vein, the two acting like one-two punches to the body.

“Choke Point” is another mid-paced steamroller and it shreds with some killer riffs. The tracks that make up Besides seem to be the slower songs that were made. There’s the Death Thrash of “Choose Violence” with some awesome samples.

“God Helmet” is another mid-paced crusher sporting this extraordinary riff it slices into “The Human Reptile Experiment.” It’s got this earth-shaking bit at the mid-track point and it rides that horse for the remainder of the song.

Listening to Besides I can understand why these weren’t included on the initial release. That album is a speed-ball wall of Grindcore that still is beating me senseless. However, these songs are slower for the most part. They really wouldn’t have added to the flow of the record.

For you grind heads that worship Napalm Death, Nasum, Pig Destroyer and Cattle Decapitation. Get this motherfucker now!

Last year’s Justifiable Homicide was one of my favorite releases. The merging of Grindcore, Thrash, and Death Metal makes Outrage a joy to experience. I’m not bullshitting either. Straight out of the gate is “Killed ‘em All” and it brings the lethality of Lock Up right into the forehead of you, constant reader. The drums blast like .50 cal machine guns going off, the riffs like bullets whizzing by.

Clocking in at 18:21, Outrage is not a long album, but then again neither was Justifiable Homicide and that’s perfectly fine because at the end of the day it proves that a song doesn’t need to be five, six minutes long to grab your attention and then beat you with it.

“Strangulation” and “Legitimate Murder” echo Slayer and the tone they had on South of Heaven, both are head-banging Thrash Metal workouts. Whenever I hear riffs this tasty I want to pick up my guitar (then I remember that I have carpal tunnel).

There’s something on Outrage for everyone, not mentioning Slayer again but there’s Napalm Death and Brutal Truth all over “The Commandments”, “Hopeless” and “The Atonement.”

The ‘band’ as it were, still seems to just be a one man operation, if this is so then Kosuke Hashida (the man) is one talented mofo; this is a beating from start to finish. Its unrelenting delivery is rousing, indeed.

Eleven songs in eighteen minutes… Scum is twenty-eight tracks in thirty-three minutes, it’s a Grindcore classic, and Outrage strikes with the same venom and hatred for the status quo.

“Seek & Kill”, “Corruption Of Faith” and “Hate Symbiosis” grab you by the throat, pokes your eyes out, and flays the skin from your bones; the Napalm Death influence sits comfortably next to some Nasum style grinding for the final two tracks “Knockoff” and “Hungry Again.”

This is a crushing album, it’s controlled chaos, body blows, and head-stomping Grindcore. If you like this sort of thing (which I know you do) then I urge you to get this album. For you fans of Brutal Truth, Lock Up, Slayer, and Napalm Death. Get it, got it, good!

However, Broken Hope reformed and released some more albums, but Earthburner was always sort of lurking around and Wagner kept writing music for the project since 2002.

Well, now that music has been released with Earthburner’s debut album, and Wagner brought along a few well-known friends to help out. On vocals, there is Devin Swank (Sanguisugabogg), on guitars, on bass is Tyler Affinito (Gloryhole Guillotine), and fittingly, Mitch Harris of Napalm Death fame helps out as an ‘honorary’ member, providing some feral screams.

The result, (including the album artwork) considering the members and timeline of the project’s formation is a pretty damn good example of late 90s/ early 2000s Deathgrind that reeks of Broken Hope, Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Lock Up, Divine Empire, and Hateplow.

The grindcore element is on full display with the album’s short 21-minute run time, and the 11 songs display blistering, grindcore-driven pacing and riffs, with an expected 90s death metal backbone from Wagner and Mizek.

The power chord-driven riffs and hefty occasional grooves are pure nostalgia but armed with powerful modern death metal production (note: there are two versions of the album with two different mastering efforts- an analog and a digital one). Swank and Harris deliver the classic grindcore dual vocals, and it all hits just perfectly.

From the opener “Necrodisiac” through “Broken Head”, “Facelift”, “Permanent Dawn”, “Perception For Profit”, “Slaves to the Screen” and closer “Positive Outlook”  it’s a simple, no-frills throwback to a simpler time and sound that satisfies the classic grindcore itch perfectly.

But then after 2016s You Will Never Be One of Us, when the band was peaking and signed to Nuclear Blast, there was some controversy surrounding Nails frontman founder and Todd Jones, a very public feud with Metalsucks.com, and then everyone but Jones left the band.

So eight years later and with a new lineup that includes drummer Carlos Cruz (Warbringer), bassist Andrew Solis (Despise You, Apparition), and guitarist Shelby Lermo (Ulthar), Jones is back with a new Nails album and hoping all is forgotten, with the antagonistically named Every Bridge Burned.

Even with the revamped lineup, and time away, Jones and Nails are back with a vengeance, containing the band’s vicious d beat/crust/grind that they played way back when they blew me away with Unsilent Death 14 years ago and perfected with 2013s Abandon All Hope and 2016s You Will Never Be One of Us. Now, there is still some Rotten Sound/Nasum pure grindcore but there is plenty of  fucking filthy grooves (“Lacking the Ability to Process Empathy”, “No More Rivers to Cross”), nasty gallops (“I Can’t Turn it Off”, “Give Me the Painkiller”), and skin peeling blasts (“Imposing Will”, “Trapped”, “Punishment Map”, “Dehumanized”).

Of course, everything sounds disgustingly filthy and fuzzed out with Kurt Ballou (Gatecreeper, Fuming Mouth, All Pigs Must Die, Vallenfyre) delivering his trademark heft and buzz, and like all prior releases, it’s a swift, short but violent assault (21 minutes).

That all said, I don’t think Nails is hardly  ‘reclaiming the genre throne’ or anything, as in the eight-year gap, bands like Gatecreeper, Fuming Mouth, and such have certainly kept the throne pretty warm in their stead.

In 2023 we got two singles from CrusHuman, “A Schizophrenic’s Nightmare” and “There was Blood Everywhere” a couple of quick lashes to the face, whetting the appetite for whatever was going to come.

Dateline July 2024: I received the promo for the self-titled album and the threat is real. They’re coming, in August as a matter of fact, to wreak havoc on the eardrums of an unsuspecting world; in what is becoming a scorching summer.

“The Prophet” tells us that we should’ve listened to him the whole time… which yeah; hindsight. But whatever, if you didn’t hear Gabriel by Mike Bossier’s other band Snipers of Babel. You need to, like do that now, I’ll wait.

It’s all connected man! It’s all fucking connected!

CrusHuman features one of the best voices in Death Metal: Frank Rini (ex-Internal Bleeding and fellow scribe) whose roars are peppered throughout, particularly on opening track “Galvanized”, the biggest Slamming Death Metal track this side of Slamming Death Metal tracks.

CrusHuman has 17 tracks and yet it doesn’t feel like an oppressive listen. It’s enjoyable as fuck, there’s so much going on within the notes of the songs that each one breaths with it’s own fire.

“Code Grey”, “Champions of Ruin”, and “Jill the Ripper” are powerful Fear Factory injected, annihilating bangers, you literally get a Drum and Bass solo, furious blasts and each riff is like scalpels just hacking and slashing and drawing blood each time. It’s brutally delivered and clear that CrusHuman is here to break the bones in your body and your friends too.

“Syko”, “Slock” and “Assassins Special” form the nihilistic center of the album Hardcore, Punk, and merciless Grindcore spar like ugly warriors for dominance. There are some huge Napalm Death influences going on in there, Diatribes and Fear, Emptiness, Despair; mostly, but there’s also some Terrorizer peppered in the mix for good measure.

Also included are the singles from last year “There was Blood Everywhere” and “A Schizophrenic’s Nightmare” locked squarely after “Lose Face” and “Death Is Watching” which are both ragers in their own rights. Current single “Cradle of Judas” is a blistering Death Metal monster, venomous vocals and scathing riffs that all coalesce into those final tracks, the last body blows, if you will, “Hatchet Team”, “Genesis Theory”, “Crossed Out” and “Deep End”.

By the end of the record you will be suffering from the neck-snapping head-banging you’ve been doing for the whole fucking album. This is a brutal album well deserving of your attention, constant reader. Awesome production makes sure you get the full crushing power of what CrusHuman is all about.

Check out Snipers of Babel to get the full first part of the story of the Gabriel Project, and find out what the CrusHumans in the album are bent on. Total destruction.

This three-piece, and a side of mashed potatoes, have been together through all their releases and each member goes by a long number.  Let’s get right into this 9-song 40-minute album with the opener “Cryogenian”, shall we?  After a brief little intro, the song blasts away in the band’s signature vortex-spinning, off-kilter approach.  Vocals are exceptional – quite guttural – and the beginning is relentless.  Whirlwind drum rolls may take your head clean off and play some hoops with it, if you’re not careful.  If you’re looking for similar bands to align Fractal Generator with, I would say Wormed, Gigan, Cryptopsy with maybe some Origin as well.  The band gets into some high-velocity blasting.

This opener is beyond brutal and no rest for the wicked with the title track up next.  Blasts right out of the starting gates equipped with some sounds  – sound effects/synths, whatever have you, very interesting.  Check out that blasting at 1.28 section – it is ferocious and most of all very heavy.  Some gravity like blasting comes our way, which as previous efforts have shown, pushes this into grind territory.  There are several tempo shifts on this track and the distorted guitars have a great and filthy swagger!

Another bonus on this album is that all the songs are in the four-minute territory, which is the perfect timeframe for this experimental type of death grind.   “Obelisk” has an atmospheric opening, which moves into a mid-paced grinding monolith of heaviness.  This is one of the very best songs the band has crafted.  Check out that guitar picking and riffage around the one-minute mark.  Memorable, crunchy, and truly heavy.  I mean-crappola, this is heavy.  Soon thereafter, around the two-minute mark, the high velocity rampage blasts dislodge your limbs from one another.  The double-pounding drums afterward are vicious and you really cannot catch your breath, until the 2.40 mid-paced crunch returns.  That friggin’ riffing-so awesome.  The song blasts away, reminding me of something Spain’s Wormed will do on a occasion.  I call it technical space ethereal blasting.  Dreamlike in some ways-hypnotic!!

“Encephalon” is the longest song at 4.51 and ends the album.  Starting slower, then mid-paced then blasts encompass this album closer. Midway in, hey what the hell – pianos??  Yes, some disjointed keys, and atmospherics all surround this heavy behemoth of a song.  Some of the chaos at the 3.30 mark, with the guitar soloing, will make you test your listening limits, and those pinch harmonics slice and dice across that pitiful face of yours.  No fancy atmospheric outro either, this song goes for the jugular all the way until the end.

Convergence is yet another fascinating and scorching album from Fractal Generator.  At times the cavernous sound gets a bit muddy in the production, however, for the most part, this is well-produced.  This is not an easy band to produce, I do not think.  Same with a band, such as Ulcerate, where there are swirling tempo and rhythm shifts in non-linear patterns.  This band continues to impress me  –  killer album!!

Morgue took a break in the early oos, after The Process to Define the Shape of Self-Loathing, but has been active since 2016, releasing 2 albums, which I have not heard. But honestly, I doubt there is much in their discography that could top the complete and utter pummeling of The Process to….. At the time it was literally one of the most punishing grindcore/death metal albums I had heard, and to this day remains up there with Anaal Nathrakh‘s The Codex Necro or Nasum’s early work as one of the most vitriolic albums I have ever heard,  22 years later. The only thing that has come close was Hate Manifesto‘s ΑΠΟΣΤΑΤΗΣ  back in 2023.

So when the promo for Close to Complete Darkness dropped, I wanted to see if the band was still capable of such a racket all these years later and the answer is .. yes.

Though age has tempered many of us and slowed us down, the same can’t be said for Morgue (again, I can’t compare this album to the last 2, just the debut). For most of the album’s 33-minute run time, they do deliver close to the same levels of savagery, but they also have learned some control and pacing amid the vortex of savagery as the 33 minutes that comprise the album have more slower, reigned-in, churning moments than I recalled with The Process to……

Early on, there is some sheer, face-ripping stuff that recalls The Process….such as the openers “Upon the Altar” (complete with orchestral intro),  “Doorways in Crimson Red” and “Blemish”. Then there are tracks like”Sacrificial Blood” and “Disobedience”, “Towards Complete Darkness” and closer “Speculative Fall of the Human Race” which add just a little more moody menace to the fucking blistering salvo.

Much like any release in this unrelenting style, this isn’t a pick-a-song-and-repeat type affair. You sit down, strap in, and take the fucking beating like a fucking man, spit out your teeth, wipe your mouth and move on.

However, his third release is a completely different beast altogether. and you should probably brace for it a little bit. Isn’t that what reviews are for? Good. I feel validated now.

I knew this was going to be different when 5 and a half minute opener “Swarm of Idiots” kickstarted the album with orchestral/choral elements over the less Swedish, cleaner guitars, and then a Vallendusk-like atmospheric/melodic black metal chord progression shortly after.  Yep- Henry Kane is a different monster now.

To say Circle of Pain is a full-on atmospheric black metal release isn’t quite accurate, but boy, does it have a lot of riffs and tremolo-picked, melodic riffs. But even with some d-beat/crust power chords, boy it’s really fucking close. But for someone like me- that makes it a killer fucking release that really surprised me.

The epic keyboards again upon the second track “Fear is Rising”, (clocking in at nearly 7 minutes) and again more tremolo-picked searing melodies, that would be at home on a Downfall of Gaia album.

Witha curt title and at 3:50, I fully expected “Numb” to be a return to the grind/crust sound, and it sort of is riff-wise, but imagine if Nasum had epic black metal synths. And yes it does kick all sorts of ass.  The same with the title track, with a pummeling power chord gallop and, yes- even more orchestral elements, it’s the most old-style Henry Kane song on the album but still hits differently.

If the title track is the most ‘older’ Henry Kane-styled song on the album, “Wealth of Obscenity” (along with the penultimate number, “Weird Fiction Founded”) is the least- the riffs could be a Deafheaven song, except for Petterson’s gruff growls and shouts, complete with some female choirs (which show again in the finale “En önskan i mörkret”). Not even kidding.

Circle of Pain was a really pleasant surprise. When I first started listening to the promo I had to make sure it was still the Henry Kane promo, it’s that different at times and I applaud Petterson for making such a bold style shift. For me, it’s definitely for the better.

Trocar, who had a fantastic split with Fluids and Lipoma a while back called Dissertations, are releasing their full-length Extremities upon the unsuspecting world. Seventeen tracks in 28:06 minutes, and let me assure you that they use every second like a rusty razor to flay and mutilate.

It’s a horrific crime scene that begins with the unsettling “Mr. Picker”, a pungent stew of disturbing sounds before the final sentence “not alone… Mr. Picker followed me home…” It’s fucking unsettling and creepy and that’s what I would want from these sick fuckers.

The title track “Extremities” gets nasty quickly with brain-drilling drums and bestiary-screamed vocals. I’ve spent a lot of time with this album, not that I don’t anyway; it’s just that Extremities is a speedball of Agorophobic Nosebleed cut with some pure Berzerker and what happens when you piss off a drum machine. Like a crazed monkey on crack Trocar barrels through “Orphaned Organs” featuring some bile gargling squeals, ”Foreign Body Insult” which has an almost Black Metal section with these creepy keyboard harmonies that permeate through the rest of the track.

Trocar creates these spastic bursts of manic energy that are relentless body blows,  “Deinstitutionalize” is followed by the Cattle Decapitation-esque “Skin Like Sky” one of my favorite tracks and then they follow it with “Psalter of Manias” a knuckle-dragging primate of a track, where they sneak in some dub step shit right at the end and it’s fucking perfect. The vocals sounded like Schuler Benson – (lyrics and vocals,) gargled with battery acid.

The vocal delivery on Extremities is deadly. Jesus fucking Christ, there are pig squeals galore, harsh, slightly Hardcore (especially “Deinstitutionalize”) the vocal delivery is growling yet understandable. It’s nice to be able to understand what is being said. Guest vocalists are all over the place, these are compliments of: Frank Albanese (Hath), Greg Nottis (Hath), Jamie Stewart (The Absence, Hot Graves), and filmmaker Ryan Twyford-Rigley.

I notice different things in the songs that I didn’t notice the first time around and that’s a good thing. The Industrial tinged mayhem of  “The Willing” as it grinds, going perfectly into “Tithing Offal”, and then slamming headfirst into “A Lesson” another quick favorite, with some pure sickening gargled vocals.

The songs are positioned in such a way as to maximize the brutality, “Hangnail” is an electronic masterpiece with “Brazen Head,” “Weapons Prosper” and “Field Dressed (to Egress).” These are the seeds planted to my absolute favorite track, “Golem” a fucking massive creature crafted from clay, the riff, the way it’s tempo just crushes; the pacing is like earth-moving Death and Roll. I replay it whenever I listen to Extremities, which has recently been pretty much every day.

If you like the madness that I’ve hopefully been semi-successful in describing and you worship at the altar of Agorophobic Nosebleed, Cattle Decapitation, of course Mortician and Fluids (duh!) Check this fucker out and grind your fucking mind!

Right out of the gate, the title track smacks your bitch up proper, and it’s a Lock Up style rumbler, the clean snare acting like a metronome whip cracking blasts left and right. The guitars have a nice, raw yet beefy bite to them which brings an old school feeling with them. “Massive Hemorrhage” brings more Lock Up style delivery, with the midsection providing pummeling blast beats before songs end. The songs are short in the best Grindcore way, “Suicide Again” has a killer Terrorizer feeling to it, as the drums blast over the staccato riffing.

“Think Twice “ is the longest track, clocking in at 2:21 so there’s a bit more going on in it, while “Psychotic Depression” opens with a sick as fuck bass intro, this being the second longest track at 2:16 and the bass makes another appearance near tracks end.

This is such a brutal album, unrelenting in delivery. The shortest track at :48 seconds “the Last Word” literally unleashes Hell in it’s short life span. The final two tracks “Dehumanized” and the Napalm Death style of “Nakano Grind City” bring it all to an epic finish in this 14:55 minute magnum Grindcore opus. I had this album on repeat for the better part of a day, which means I listened to it for many hours on end, soaking in every note and time change.

At the end of the day, Justifiable Homicide is a hefty slab of raging Grindcore. I wish I knew more about the band, but I’ve learned to accept it these days. It is what it is, and for you fans of all things Grindcore; Brutal Truth, Lock Up, Nasum, and the mighty Napalm Death. This album will be an excellent addition to your collection. I guarantee it.

10 songs in 21 minutes, so the grind label applies, but only generally as there’s more going on here. On the first track, which is barely over one minute, they show their riffs, the harsh vocals, some gruff cleans, and some pit worthy breakdowns. It’s over fast, though.

If you’re looking for something longer, that sounds personal and I’d recommend checking Craigslist, but as far as tracks here, none qualify. “Human Offense” crosses the 2-minute mark with its punk rhythms and ever-present bass. The riffs are straight grind, though. Just past 2 minutes, it all comes to a chaotic close.

“Rope Drag” is the very next one and it smokes. With a death snarl/spit to start, frontwoman Liz Selfish dominates while also giving the instruments time to breathe. It’s heavy as, you know, something weighty. Elephant Seal?

As is tradition, the two last tracks are the longest. “Sugar Bastard” is second to last.  Powerviolence? Punk? Grind? If you ask the band, according to what I’ve seen, they call themselves “Bimbocore.” I just knew there was a breakdown coming a minute in, but it’s not really the case. No slight, it’s just not what I expected. The track is still groovy as hell.

Bringing up the end is the title track, “Social Grace,” if you couldn’t already infer. The breakdown is almost immediately. There’s another, though with about a minute left. It ends the track and therefore the album, fading out to officially close it.

Just like the album, this review might be short. However, with music in this genre, that’s the game. It works when the album is so good that you want to listen again immediately. With Social Grace, I want that. I was skeptical because I’ve seen them a couple times now, and some of the most entertaining spots are between songs when they use pop hits, mostly from my era when I was a young elitist and hated it, but now appreciate it for what it was. It doesn’t matter and they’re not missed. High marks indeed, and I’ll continue to proudly wear my pink Brat Mean Girls shirt. Well done and highly recommended!

According to the press release, Anthology was a one-off recording session and their first actual album, This Insidious Horror was released in 2021. Kind of confusing; maybe because I’m stoned, but what fucking ever, Anthology is a fucking raging tsunami of riffs and blast beats galore. I’m here today, constant readers, to tell you why you need this in your life.

An amalgamation of influences is the best way to describe what you get from Anthology. There’s Black Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore, Hardcore/Punk, and galloping Thrashers all wrapped up in eight tracks of pure mayhem. The first track out of the gate is “Slaughtercraft” with a Destruction-esque riff reminiscent of “Curse the Gods”; a few blast beats and a crushing solo and it’s over. According to the press release, the album tells two stories; the first is a Serial Killer trying to stop the ‘ghost lights’ of his victims from haunting him and the second tells the story of a vengeful teenager. “Haunted” is up next injecting some Black Dahlia Murder feelings to the mix, “I Will Make You Dig Your Grave” is a Punked Up thrasher with some killer shout-back vocals. “Under the Scenery” has a ripping, vicious Hardcore style interspersed with earth-shattering blast beats and a glorious breakdown around the 1:04 mark that would make Integrity blush.

“Helpless Anger” is just a tight example of Blackened Thrash done in one minute and eleven seconds. “I Fed the Book My Blood” is a heavy-duty Doom crusher with a sickly infectious riff that just wraps around your eardrums like those fucking little creatures in Star Trek 2. While “Don’t Put the Cart Before the Hearse” is this Black Metal Punked motherfucker and closing track “Eternal Servitude” sports a sick as back-breaking fuck breakdown before a blasting exit. Then you hit play again. I need to delve into This Insidious Horror and get more of this Southwestern brutality. Although according to Metal-archives.com that album came out in 2021 so I hope that they release a new album soon.

To sum it up in a nut, Albuquerque has a voracious and hungry metal scene and it’s bands like Feed the Corpses to the Pigs, that keep the brutality connoisseurs satisfied out here. Check them out with a side of Hatch green chile, you won’t be disappointed.

Speaking of “hot as fuck,” the band’s new death metal EP, titled Ddeeaatthhmmeettaall, an all death metal collection, is coming in scorching. I’ve seen some of these songs live, and to say they’re great is an understatement, fitting in perfectly with the rest of their set. “Ball and Chain” will have been heard by anyone interested well before this is published. It’s nearly 4 minutes, which is about double the length of the longest tracks on Memory Theater if my memory theater correctly serves. The heavy riff, pinch harmonics, and deep vocals could be on the latest Sanguisugabogg and few would notice. That nearly “pinging” drum sound cements it. It’s far bouncier than that band’s material, however. There’s a killer, but short breakdown at the end, too. So far, Escuela Grind does death metal just as well as grindcore. It’s natural.

That continues onto the next track, “Punishment Ritual.” Kat’s vocals are slightly reminiscent of Barney Greenway (Napalm Death), which may be confusing later. Of note also is the drum performance by Jesse Fuentes, switching tempos on a dime, and bringing his all to each hit. This one’s still not far from the 4-minute mark, bringing their signature, unmatched energy every moment.

The next track, “Abyssal Plane,” is my favorite. Luckily, the others are tied for second. Its main riff is bouncy and downright danceable. I see twerking, perhaps on the horizon. I particularly enjoy the section with around 40 seconds left, which may be one of Krissy Morash’s best riffs. That’s a high compliment since all of them are excellent.

Finally, the shortest song is last, which is “Meat Magnet,” featuring Barney Greenway. The first section of note is the breakdown around a minute in. The short bridge section into another windmill-inducing riff with nearly a minute left, makes way for the repetition of the song title. Here’s the confession, which is a compliment of the highest order to Katerina; I can’t differentiate between she and Barney. I think I know in which phrases he appears, but I am not 100% sure.

With that, 4 songs and 14 minutes makes up the total EP. Escuela Grind has released EPs of their other influences, but this one is my favorite, considering my love for death metal. It’s available digitally and on vinyl soon, but unless I can get signatures from the band on the vinyl, I’ll stick to digital. I believe this is only a mere appetizer at the buffet of grind the Escuela has for us this year, and I’m first in line to see them obliterate 2024.

Want a 14-song, 29-minute gut punch of HM2-tuned Nasum and Rotten Sound-styled grindcore? Just fucking get this.

From start to finish, Der Ertraeger und das Fleisch (“The Yielder and the Flesh”?) is a face-ripping, power cord, blast beat, groove-filled slab of utter chaos that arguably matches or even outdoes the last couple of Rotten Sound efforts, notably this year’s Apocalypse.

The album has a massive HM2 guitar tone, and feral screams and mostly delivers fucking blistering, buzzing, largely sub two and three- minute salvos such as “Narrenkappe”, “Fleischlawine Eisentod”, “Aequivalent Scheisse”,  “Faschrist”, “Sysiphos” or “Sieben”. And these tracks are just fucking paint-peeling salvos of bad intentions that will rattle your fillings.

But as their peers often masterfully did/do, they slow things down a little here and there with a few songs that have a grooving, brooding, pace like the almost 6-minute “Das Leid und sein Gift”, “Theresa”, or closer “Das kalte Beil”.

Killer stuff from FDA records, and arguably one of the most intense, savage albums the label has released.

Good for Gravesend, most of all. They’re classified on Metal Archives as “black metal/grindcore,” and it’s not the first time they’ve been wrong. I would call them death/grind, but we’re likely just splitting hairs. However, maybe the only thing “blackened” here are the blast beats, which are also in death metal. I digress.

On that note, my first track to highlight is “Even A Worm Will Turn.” It’s longer, relatively speaking, than expected at 2 ½ minutes. The vocals are reverb-drenched and menacing. The music is frenetic, but a minute or so in brings the important groove section of almost any grindcore song I enjoy. It lasts for the remainder.

Tracks 6 and 7 make for one hell of a one-two punch. The title track is the former, which is nasty and groovy from the start. Pick slides are used effectively as well. It’s obvious why it’s the title track as it’s one of the best on offer. The latter, “Streets of Destitution,” travels along that same path. The opening, however, makes me think of death metal along the lines of Cannibal Corpse. That certainly doesn’t last, though. It’s safe to say Gravesend hits their stride at this point.

Only a couple of tracks later is “Crown of Tar,” which has a spoken word, occasionally strummed bass and ambient intro. It’s the longest track on the album, and that bass presence stays throughout peeking its way through the mix. There are some nearly Abbath style croaks in the vocals, but like the best tracks on the album, this one has a significant amount of slower groove.

The second longest track is the next one I’ll mention. “Vermin Victory,” sits near the end, and it’s fast-as-fuck, but with a sneaky background guitar melody. That’s about as close to a chorus as you’re getting. However, it’s not all speed as it slows for the final minute, which segues into the ambient closer.

I’m on the fence regarding purchasing the album. I purchased the first one during one of my favorite local record store’s annual sales. However, that’s 7 months away. There’s plenty to like here, but perhaps it’s my hangup that grind rarely sticks with me. It’s one of those genres that is hit-and-miss. Luckily, I have been diving further into it lately and keeping my options open, so this could end up being a grower. Just like the best of us.

The whole schtick was Brujeria were members of the Mexican drug cartel etc…. the rest is history and the array of members through the years, both past and present range from bands such as: Napalm Death, Pentagram (Chile), Carcass, Cradle of Filth, Faith No More and Fear Factory. Through their 30+ years, they have released countless ep’s, singles, comps and Esto es Brujeria is their 5^th proper full-length.  Their last album, from 2016 Pocho Aztlán, was a great comeback album as the band had not released an album in 16 years and this time around the hiatus was only 7 years….however, Esto es Brujeria shows no signs of Brujeria slowing down and this is yet another excellent album, which is stronger than the previous album if you can believe that.

16 songs in 53 minutes.  The last 3 songs are retreads, meaning “COVID-666”, “Lord Nazi Ruso” and “Cocaína” previously appearing on singles over the last few years.  The songs are all very good and you must check out the video they did for “COVID-666”.  Very tongue-in-cheek and a lot of fun.  I always love how Brujeria always wrote songs that were related to the sign of the times, whether world or nationwide-very clever band.

The title track opens the album with a nice nifty spoken word and the album and song title roughly translates to “This is Witchcraft”.  While the spoken word continues the blasting gets louder and louder and the lead vocalist, since the band’s duration- Juan Brujo comes in angrier than ever.  This is one of the best opening songs the band has ever done as it’s full of blasts, scorching guitars, and a ton of aggression.  The Holy Shit moment for me is at the 2.10 part.  Isolated excerpt and then a trumpet sounds with a famous Hispanic jingle and Pinche Peach’s vocals coming in with the laugh and BOOM, Shaka Laka, BOOM, right into the scorching blast beat with the trumpet playing the jingle over the blast.  It sounds like a bullfight whirlwind blast beat chest-thumping anthem and luckily this trumpeting blast beat returns later in the song.  Nice mega distorted bass guitar comes in a bit isolated later on when the song slows down a bit.  Devil Almighty!- this may be my favorite song for 2023.  I am not joking-I have listened to this song like 35x already, repeat, repeat.

“El patrón del reventón” is up next and the massive blast with the snappy guitars and the double bass is chest collapsing.  I love this blast beat with the slow crunch riff pattern several times, before the guitar riffs come at a fast pace.  Seriously if you thought you were going to catch a break, from the opening song, fugghetabout it!!!..well around the 1.26 mark, the song slows down and is so frickin’ heavy-vintage Brujeria-this song will blow your head off and send it into outer space.

“Mexorcista” is a slow grinding riff-haven of a tune.  The song gets to a more mid-paced speed, but then gets back into that slow, almost doomy section again and these parts go back and forth and are quite good.  Picking up at a vintage 90’s death metal gallop at the 90-second mark makes for a classic moment and then the various vocalists, all over this song, really make this a dynamic song.

“Mochado” has some punishing rhythmic patterns with creative drumming and plenty of drum rolls and monster blast beats.  Juan Brujo continues berating us throughout this song as if he has walked right through the microphone and is grabbing you by your trusty suspenders and picking you up and pile driving you again and again and again and again….and Again!!!  A few poly-rhythmic almost djent-sounding moments come in..brief…and then right into more blast beats….

Esto es Brujeria is aggressive AF with plenty of mid-paced slow grinders with incredibly catchy and memorable riffs and song structures.  Brujeria also know how to keep things fun, like the opening song, with the trumpet and this is definitely one of my favorite albums for 2023.  Like a fine wine, Brujeria continues to age well through the decades.  Buy or Die!!!

Let’s start with the good. An early standout is the cover of “Prelude to Agony” by a German band called Task Force Beer. It starts slowly, as a Type O cover should, and faithfully to the original. Following a lot of the original instrumentals works in the band’s favor. The deeper bellows, gang vocals, and highs provide enough variety to keep it interesting. The heavy-hitting drum performance also brings a sense of immediacy. This track is killer and gets me excited for what’s to come.

The next highlight for me is the “All Hallows Eve” cover by Herida Profunda from Poland. The uneasy, creepy atmosphere is maintained until it kicks into furious blasting around a minute in. The low growls continue through the track, which honestly might be THE approach to cover Pete. Perhaps it’s because of my love for the original, considering it appeared on World Coming Down, my intro, and favorite Type O Negative album, that I enjoy this so much.

Not long after that is another track from World Coming Down, the cover of “Creepy Green Light” by Plague Bearer from Poland. When the frontman says “green light” and it kicks into heavy blasting territory, while still maintaining the original melody, it’s a different and excellent way of hearing it. The way they turn the guitar tone into what I would consider “crunchy” territory works quite well. While it’s quite short compared to the original (expectedly), it’s an excellent re-imagining.

It’s at this point where I must mention something negative. That’s the cover of the band’s most iconic song, which has drenched many a goth girl’s panties. The melody is kept, but that’s about it, as the lyrics have been completely changed. My friends, I hate it.

Moving on to the final track I’ll mention, which is the cover of my favorite track by the band, “Unsuccessful Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity” by a band called Skitzo from good ol’ ‘Merica. It’s nearly 8 minutes, which of course is nowhere near the original, but most of the great parts have been kept, including a faster version of Kenny Hickey’s solo, and “Hey, check this out!” The bass-heavy, almost jaunty “Slut, whore, cunt,” “I know you’re fucking someone else” section is so brilliantly done, it brings a smile and I bet the boys would be proud.

This is 19 songs at around an hour. There are certainly some cuts of which I am not a fan, but for the most part, this is a fun listen to which I will keep going back. With all of the albums covered, there’s something here for all Type O Negative fans. It’s a welcome surprise for me, well worth the price, and if you are a grizzled, old curmudgeon like me, I’m 100% certain you should give this at least a listen.