Mental Waste - "Meltdown" (self-released)

Genre: Raw hardcore/Fastcore

Country: Salinas, USA

Band website: bandcamp

Label: -

Mental Waste is the type of band that brings a wonderful combination of the extreme and the catchy; and I don't only mean that as far as the music goes, but also in relation to the artwork and the overall feel they give off as a band. Even though they play some pretty mean fastcore with grindcore passages, they manage to come off as listenable, straightforward and rather punky overall.

Usually when we use the terms grind and/or fastcore in this zine we are talking of crusty bands who usually flirt - even a little - with metal. This is not the case with Mental Waste, who deliver their short hardcore blasts without even giving a nod to the metal format. What we have here are simple but effective riffs backed by machine gun drumming and an pissed of vocalist. All of the 10 songs in this recording (except the last number) are below the one-minute mark, but they are so potent and so much stuff happens, that you think they have lasted for more.

As I mentioned above, the vocals sound pretty fucking angry but while the vocalist screams and shouts, he doesn't exactly growl. This is another fact about Mental Waste being closer to punky thrash and of course another clue as to whether this is your type of stuff. Fans of he Maximum RNR-school, who call fasctore "thrash" will definitely dig this record and will play it loud on their mp3s, while biking down the road going to the DIY show. But rest assured, there are many interesting ideas, especially in those slow, mini mosh parts which last only for a few seconds before the insanity starts again!

Essentially, this is pissed off hardcore for pissed of HC kids who have escaped the chugga-chugga (which I love, personally) sound and are looking for something rawer and unprocessed. The good thing about Mental Waste is that they don't copy any of the famous bands of the genre, but actually do their own thing while paying respect to the roots (Heresy, Siege, Ripcord, Dropdead etc), and of course with a newer, fatter sound! Eat this up, vegan thraskids with bikes!

- Fotis.TYS