Having recovered from an infection that ended his last band Gridlink (and almost his career as well), guitarist Takafumi Matsubara sounds like he has something to prove with Retortion Terror. There's no filler to be found on the eponymous debut, which fires off six no-nonsense cuts of sandblasting fury. Keeping the grind unkind. [$4.44]
Philadelphia's CRACK HOUSE are all about two kinds of rock. Through four manic, lip-blistering tracks, Smoke Crack In Hell sounds like Brutal Truth hitting the pipe with Poison Idea, throwing power violence's usual tough guy schtick out the window to just rock. If stoner metal is an accepted genre, why isn't crack metal? [$4.44]
NO/MÁS know the power of a good hook. Even though comparisons can be made to the D.C. area's other grindcore heroes Pig Destroyer (and though PD's Blake Harrison shows up to raise the noise quota), the crusty simplicity, infectious grooves and occasional black metal riffing on Raíz Del Mal have more in common with the dearly missed Nasum. Mieszko Talarczyk has not been forgotten. [$6.66]
Following up their split with Agathocles, DoC friends Pychoneurosis return with 20 new songs of grinding mayhem. Just looking at the album artwork, it's safe to say The Fall Of Humanity draws heavily from Napalm Death and Terrorizer, firing off short, catchy blasts of metallic grind with the occasional mosh part. From derangement to pit activation. [$8]
