Stimulant - Sub-Normal (2025)

Five years after their previous release, the guitar / drums duo Stimulant (formed by ex-Water Torture) is back with a new album called Sub-Normal. And it was worth the wait, once again they deliver some high quality and high impact powerviolence / noise. Good stuff! 

 

The BC page. 

 

Dephosphorus - Planetoktonos (2025)

It's great to be able to listen to a new Dephosphorus album, five years after the previous one. As you can guess, Planetoktonos continues the cosmic theme of the band, but also explore it further with some sc-fi atmospheric moments (is it guitar effects, analog synths, samples? all of that?). But don't expect some super long progressive tracks, as they always do, Dephosphorus manage to integrate this atmospheric element into short and raging songs blending black, death metal and grind. Good stuff, as expected.

 

The BC page. 

 

 

LWSTNDRDS - Songs of Atrocity (2024)

I had noticed and enjoyed their previous releases, so when this excellent album from Polish band LWSTNDRDS has been released by Nerve Altar (if you read me regularly you know this is the best dealer of grind related music we have since a few years) it wasn't a surprise but a confirmation. Songs of Atrocity is a fine piece of powerviolence/grind/blackened hardcore/sludge (yes, following the recent trend of mixing the different styles of hardcore /metal, and why not? Here it is definitely producing a great result) blending nicely bursts of violence and twisted grooves. Good stuff!

 

The BC page. 

 

Sick/Tired - Whip Hand Paranoia (2024)

Powerviolence/grind band Sick/Tired took their time to come back, but that was definitely worth the wait! Whip Hand Paranoia is a ferocious album filled with short super condensed blast of PV/grind fury. And to make things more interesting and add a bit of diversity they also bring some somewhat noise/indus guitar work, at times reminding a bit of Napalm Death experiments. Appropriately, it's released by Nerve Altar, currently the best grind label. Strong contender for best grind album of the year ! 

The BC page.

 

LWSTNDRS - Songs of Atrocity (2024)

Intended to review LWSTNDRS previous release for a long time (been released in 2019...), but now that have a new one released by Nerve Altar, so here we go. The new album Songs of Atrocity feels a bit more polished, more in a blackened hardcore vein, even if the grind noise elements are still in the background. Good stuff.

The BC page.

 

 

Sea of Shit - Sea of Shit (2023)

Awesome come back from Sea of Shit. On this self-titled album, released with Nerve Altar, they mix powerviolence with sludge and noise in the best possible way. Grabbing you by the guts and not letting go. And you will ask for more.

The BC page.

 

 

Skullshitter - Goat Claw (2022)

The mighty Skullshitter from Brooklyn are back with a new album, called Goat Claw, and again with Nerve Altar Records. They deliver another gem of Autopsy inspired death/grind (traces of Terrorizer can be found as well). Very raw and brutal, but with also an especially strong songwriting, with enough creativity to bring "freshness" and breathe new "life" into a rotten old style. Best grind album in 2022 so far (and can also totally appeal to anyone into old school death metal). I love it, could listen to it all day long.

The BC page.

 

Sachtu / Syntax - split EP (2022)

Nerve Altar, teamed this time with 7 degrees and Grindfathers Records, are always good to find new exciting grind bands, and this time we get two of them in a split EP. Sachtu from Madrid deliver some good ol' grindpunk while Syntax from LA are more in a tech/math grind vein, reminding bands like Discordance Axis or Antigama. We get two really different kinds of grind by two bands excellent at what they do. Nice!

The BC page.

Emphysematous Excretion of Gangrenous Debridement / Empyaema - Landslide of Organs (split 2020)

I usually don't listen to goregrind  (I love grindcore but I'm more into grindpunk, death/grind, or nosiegrind) but this split with Emphysematous Excretion of Gangrenous Debridement and Empyaema, nicely called Landslide of Organs has been released by the excellent label Nerve Altar, so I gave it a try. And definitely don't regret it since it has what I can like in goregrind aplenty : the manic snare drum beating and the savage groove. Also, its rooted in old school death with real riffing and the vocals are fittingly grotesque but not too artificially so. It's more on the Carcass/Regurgitate side of goregrind than on the more modern slam side. ExExGxDx side of the split is the one with more old school death in it, while the Empyaema is more pure gore, but both are excellent at what they do, and I enjoy both of them. Cool stuff! (If I dare say...).

The BC page.

 

Stimulant - Sensory Deprivation (2020)

Sensory Deprivation is the second album (again on Nerve Altar) from the ex-Water Torture bass and drum duo Stimulant. Which means another caustic dose of powerviolence/grind goodness. Expectedly this is noisy and punishing, but that's just what we like, right?

The BC page.

Dephosphorus - Sublimation (2020)

Dephosphorus is a band that, at every time of its evolution, had an extra something, a great attention to details and mastery over what they do (the thundering and especially good drums parts in Sublimation is a great example of that. Riffs are very good as well, and you can recognize instantly Panos vocals), and also offering something different. While still firmly rooted in the most lethal black/death Sublimation is maybe also where they expand the most their "cosmic" atmospheres that could remind a bit Neurosis but in short songs filled with blast beats, even if sometimes the pace slows down. Every tracks bring something different, new subtleties. Sublimation is another excellent album from Dephosphorus deepening and polishing further their unique style. I also recommend their new live cassette (recorded during the Impossible Orbits tour), quality stuff.

The BC page.

 

Cognizant - Cognizant (2020)

Eight year and a half after its beginning, this is the 1 001th post on this blog. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy doing it.

Ok, le'ts go back to reviewing...

Another innovative release from Nerve Altar. Cognizant is a technical death/grind (or maybe "math grind") band with Bryan Fajardo on the drums. Their first, self-titled album is more about crafting a weird, dissonant and futuristic atmosphere than about relentless blast beatings. The result is interesting and really well done. Quality stuff.

The BC page.

Chepang - Chatta (2020)

Chatta is Chepang's third album, still with Nerve Altar, and they managed again to evolve while keeping the very high quality level. Chatta is a very dynamic album, with catchy and straight to the point songs, but also because of the diversity introduced by sax playing and some guitar soloing on some tracks, and generally by a songwriting that doesn't care about following some fixed formulas. The last track reminds Painkiller, with some Nepalese percussions, and then, surprise, comes a few remixes, drum & bass and breakcore style. I prefer the "normal" grind part of the album, but this remixed part is ok. Why not?

The BC page.

ESP Mayhem - Bloodsportswear (2020)

Was starting to despair about finding a 2020 release that I'd like to review, so far none had made a big impression on me... until I found this one! Exciting stuff! Coming from my favourite grind dealers Nerve Altar records ESP Mayhem is a new band composed of experienced musicians from the Australian extreme scene (Internal Rot, Incinerated, Headless Death, etc.). On Bloodsportswear what they play is grind with synth instead of guitars, one vocalist, one drummer, and three synth players!
You could expect something "cheesy" but it's not at all, it sounds different but still definitely grind, maybe it could evoke something like "sci-fi grind". Anyway it's really well done, with some excellent tracks, ferocious and catchy in their weird ways. After the 10 minutes of those 8 tracks you'll just be clicking "play" again before you realize it. I highly recommend you try it!

The BC page.

Beasters - Alienated by Solidarity (2019)

With their brutally chaotic technical grindcore Beasters are one of those bands that are bringing something different to grindcore. Their third album Alienated by Solidarity (this time released by Nerve Altar) is maybe even better than their previous one. I highly recommend it, really intense and crazy stuff.

The BC page.

Jardim de Flores - Défloraison (2019)

Jardim de Flores is a new Corean grind trio led by drummer Hoonee Jo (Mortalized, Takafumi Matsubara, Banran), they just released a 7'' called Défloraison (some tracks also have French names but it's not sung in french) with Nerve Altar. It's an awesome super fast and relentless grind assault. Anyone into grind should love it (and soon be waiting for an album). I do.

The BC page.

Skullshitter / Bleeding Out - Split (2019)

This split album between Skullshitter (from NY) and Bleeding Out (from Toronto, this is their first release, but it's composed of experienced musicians, ex-Endless Blockade, Column of Heaven, Abyss, Fuck the Facts) is a feverish dream for death/grind freaks. No wonder it's released by the mighty Nerve Altar Records. Both bands are on the old-school Repulsion school of death/grind, with Skullshitter more on the Repulsion/Autopsy old school death-metal side (and is maybe more wild and unpredictable) while Bleeding out is punkier and would remind more Repulsion and Extreme Noise Terror, and also focus more on the groove I'd say. Anyway, both are awesome at what they do and this is a must-have split album. I love it. This is worthy of Skullshitter excellent previous releases and Bleeding Out are making a perfect start.

The BC page.

Intensive Care - Incinerated - Split EP (2019)

Another awesome release from Nerve Altar Records. It's a split between Intensive Care (from Toronto, with an ex-Column of Heaven) and Incinerated (from Melbourne). Great track from Intensive Care, somewhere between Godflesh and Obituary, with a massive groove (close to a hip-hop feel at times!), the four tracks from Incinerated (I discover them with this release and sure will check their discography) are excellent death/grind, also with a lot of groove.
Overall it makes a really interesting and enjoyable release, I dare you to resist playing it again when it ends !

The BC page.

Fluoride - Disentanglement (2019)

Fluoride is a trio from Philadelphia and they play some powerviolence/grind with a bit of sludge and do it very well. Disentanglement is their second release (after a cassette in 2017) and, like everything from Nerve Altar Records, it is really good stuff.

The BC page.

GALL + Tooth Decay - Collaboration EP (2019)

This Collaboration EP is a new excellent release from Nerve Altar records, definitely the place to go for grind (and related extreme music) nowadays. It's also a confirmation of the power of GALL (after its really good EP in 2017), here they are associated (for the second time, first time was for completely noise/ambient music, and was good as well) with Tooth Decay also from Germany, Tooth Decay is one guy and his modular synth for additional noise and weirdness over GALL noisegrind. I'm discovering him with this collaboration, but after quickly checking his own releases I'd say it sounds quite good, will take the time to dig more.
The result of their collaboration is an absolutely awesome EP, both the more grind and the noise parts are really well done, I love it.
Heavily recommended!

The Nerve Altar BC page for this EP

GALL BC page

Tooth Decay BC page