Review: BURN EVERYTHING "Hollow Victory" 7"

Genre: Metal-Hardcore/Mathcore

Location: NJ, USA

Band Website: Bandcamp

Label: Dullest Records

Do you happen to know a band called Burn Everything? If not, I believe it’s about time to discover them. Cause their two previous releases might have prepared the ground and warned us about what’s coming but their new release leaves no room for doubt. It is extremely positive when you see a band evolve and improve things whilst keeping all the good elements that has previously created. The 4-track 7" titled Hollow Victory that has just came out it’s simply the natural continuation of last year's EP and the beginning of a sound avalanche that has started to 

grow dangerously and nothing seems to be able to stop it.

So complicated music and style yet so simple. Burn Everything don’t step on their technical abilities in order to create a sound effect without order and structure. They don’t overwhelm with complex riffing and numerous changes. Cause through the complexity and the “out of tune” tempos, diffuses directness and simplicity. The distance that you have to cover is full of twists and turns but you‘ll have a pleasant trip and you will never lose your way. Everything is placed in the right spot, energy and passion is present at every second and when necessary they bombard you with death-ish tunes that shake your head miles away.

Okay, I can’t neglect the fact that the “math” sign, as also the huge similarity with Burnt By The Sun, is stuck on them but their music is enriched with all the elements needed to make a difference and to make this band special. Most important is that apart from the excellent bonding between guitar riffs, tempos and changes, each moment has a story to tell and has a reason to be there, at any point of this release. Thumbs up also for the improved production and sound compared always to their previous releases. The sound has the clarity needed to reflect the complex riffing and the heaviness and volume required to make Hollow Victory a bomb ready to explode at any time.

Burn Everything no longer bear the title “promising band”. They are far beyond that. Listening to Hollow Victory you will acknowledge that this band has a great potential. My only concern is whether they‘ll manage to break free from their influences (mainly Burnt By The Sun and Human Remains) and make their sound and music even more unique. Four tracks were perfect as a starter. I look forward for the main course!

- Nikos – nikostolis@gmail.com

Record Review: Dephosphorus/Wake Split 7" (7 Degrees Records)

Genre: Crust/Black Metal/Post-Grind

Location: Greece (Deph.) / Canada (Wake)

Band Websites: Dephosphorus, Wake

Label: 7 Degrees Records

This 7" split between Depshosphorus and Wake, released by post-grind label 7 Degress Records (Keitzer, Gadget, Zodiac a.o.), is an abrupt display of excessive sonic violence. This assault lats just below 11 minutes total, and it is an equally chaotic and tight grind punch to the gut. Simply put, this music is mayhem put on wax.

To take first things first, Dephosphorus blast off with their brand of psycho crust grindcore meets black metal. I swear I can't decide if this is furious blasting BM, or if it's sped-up crustcore with gind elements. In either case, this shit is good! All of the songs are around the 1:30 minute mark, providing just enough time for the chaos to be splattered before it's all over. The whole sound is tied onto a dirty, underground production with an uholy black metal tone. The crusty black vocals remind you that this is pure underground evil, but they don't forget to include some HC spoken parts! This is what we need, people. As a cherry on the cake, there is some intelligent riffing too, adding a nice touch of modernistic post grind notion. It is really a nice example of the oldschool meets the new!

Canada's Wake have a wholly different sound and approach. Their three songs are closer to modern Euro grindcore, but with an emphasis on the "grind" part of the definition. They interfere a lot with the change of tempos, splitting things evenly between the slow & groovy, the pure grind blast and of course the beloved crusty d beat! These guys go even further with the intelligent parts, to the point that they could even be considered tech-grind. They have a nice bass-heavy production and an overall sick sound which makes you imagine cold, dark hospital rooms filled with zombies. The vocals on this side of the split are more loyal to the grind tradition but also have a guttutal HC style that is better than the gore/brutal death vocals that are more common on this type of grind splits.

Summing up, we've all heard many grind 7"s and what unfortunately happens in many cases is that the two sides begin and end with the sole emphasis on ferocity without sunstance, that leaves you with nothing much. This, however, is NOT the case with this split. Both bands have paid a lot of attention to their sound and have worked a lot on the tracks, and have maintained that very much needed level of grind catchiness. Fair enough, grindcore is an extreme form of music, but that doesn't mean it should be incomprehensible! So if you want to learn how it's done, check out this 7"!!!

Record Review: I Want You Dead: "ΑΩ" 7" Review (7 Inch Distro / W.A.K. Records)

Genre: Dark/Brutal Hardcore

Country: Greece

Band Website: bandcamp

Label Website:7 Inch Distro / W.A.K.

Hell fucking yes! What we have here is a very unique concoction of dark hardcore/metal for people who don't like their hardcore termed as 'posi'. Fans who are not afraid to step into lesser trodden paths of bleak musical landscapes, better gather round to witness what this brutal band from Greece is doing. Right now, it is unforgettably carving its name  on the bleak musical territory we call dark hardcore.

We have actually had the chance of following I Want You Dead since the beginning (check here and here), but this 7" ep exceeds all expectations created before; the band has truly reached its highest so far peak, with a totally crushing, thick and surprisingly catchy sound. Elements and influences are drawn from all over the fucking place, primarily black metal (the true BM sound, not today's hipster shit), crust and old school hardcore. All this is encoffinated within the overall Holy Terror badge that many want to obtain but just can't. At times slow and sludgy, at times fast as fuck, IWYD deliver four blasts of negative hardcore energy that definitely won't go unnoticed in today's timid hardcore scene. These four tracks land on your head mercilessly, reminding the new jacks how hardcore rightfully blends with metal to create some of the most heavy, provoking, negative music ever made.

The production is really heavy and well-layered, with the guitars creating an interesting and unholy web of nastiness, while the distorted bass is ever present throughout the whole ep. Every painful drum hit can be heard clearly -- even the noisy cymbal action which accompanies a lot of the slow, moshy parts. Finally, the vocals fill everything with their one dimensional but also very thick and scorching effect. What you hear is four dudes giving it their all, creating passionate and aggressive music that grabs the listener and doesn't let go until the record is over.

I can't imagine what's next for IWYD. Probably a well-deserved record contract with one of more established hardcore labels out there, as well as more touring around Europe and elsewhere. This noise unit shall produce a lot more bleak music, artwork and words! Good fucking stuff.

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