Neural Indent - Thalassaeglean Unguents (2026)

Neural indent is one of the Matt Stephens one man noisegrind / free band (they can be checked on his Putrefactive Recordings bandcamp), Thalassaeglean Unguents is its new album, like in previous Neural Indent ones he combines digital goregrind with keys/piano with free jazz song structures. But this time the songs are longer and the keys (often dissonant) plays a bigger role. Challenging but rewarding for the curious and adventurous minds. If you like it I advise you check as well Gorenette Coleman, which is basically same concept but with sax instead of keys. Good stuff!

 

The BC page 

 

 

Trauma Bond - Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone (2025)

This new Trauma Bond release is less powerviolence/noisegrind and more hardcore/noise. Pace is overall slower, but quality isn't lower. Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone have a different mood, but it's still excellent stuff, and still with the diversity and unpredictability that makes them more interesting than most extreme bands. 

 

The BC page. 

 

Shock Narcotic - My Flesh Is Afraid But I Am Not (2025)

When I reviewed Shock Narcotic first album (I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn't Work in 2019) I said the album was excellent but wouldn't gain originality points because it really evoked Napalm Death. Well, that wasn't very inspired and relevant. They did indeed evoke ND, but the Napalm Death that their mid-tempo noisegrind / noisecore is evoking is the experimenting and hard to label one (especially, but not limited to, the albums from second half of the nineties). The same could be said about My Flesh Is Afraid But I Am Not, and it's also an excellent album. And they actually developed more a personal hybrid/mutant style than most bands...

 The BC page. 

 

Test - Disco Normal (2023)

Grindcore, like most musical genres, is often quite standardised. Test, the grind duo from Brazil is definitely not. We could call their music "noise stoner latin grind" or maybe just free grind. Probably John Zorn would totally approve. I enjoyed their four albums (Disco Normal being the latest) and splits, but seeing them play live the other day (supported by Apoptose a new and very promising mince/gore grind duo from Besançon, with drummer and guitarist from Proudhon) exceeded my expectations, a truly unique experience! Both guys are inspired and very talented musicians, the drumming especially is a masterclass from another world. Absolutely recommended! and if you have the occasion to see go to one of their gig, don't miss it! 

The BC page

 

Full of Hell & Andrew Nolan - Scraping The Divine (2024)

Full of Hell is one of the best blackened hardcore bands and released several excellent collaborative albums in the past, Andrew Nolan never failed to make his music, whether more hardcore/metal or industrial, interesting at least, most of the time brilliant. Saying I had big expectations for this Scraping The Divine collaborative album would be an understatement. Does it live up to it? No, it EXCEEDS it! Yes, sir! Ranging from ferocious noisegrind to more atmospheric industrial metal (the track with JK BRoderick isn't the only moment of the album evoking Godflesh), it is a truly awesome album. Warmly recommended!

The BC page.

 

Holy Grinder - 10 Desecrations (2024)

I discovered this one, 10 Desecrations by Holy Grinder, thanks to Cephalochromoscope (one of the best blog about grindcore around).  Excellent album of bass/drum noisegrind, noise refering to the raw and sludgy bass sound but also to the use of power electronics / harsh noise elements. Could have been monotonous and boring, but it's diverse and exciting (at least if you're brave enough to stand a noisegrind assault). things like a good instrumental track with sax, reminding a bit Brainbombs helps making the album interesting and standing out. Good stuff.

The BC page.

 

Shitstorm - Only in Dade (2023)

Miami grinders Shitstorm are back and sound hungry enough to eat a few dinosaurs on the spot. The heaviness and impact of their new album Only in Dade remind what you felt when listening to Nasum's Human 2.0. They also add a bit of noisegrind for good measure. Definitely a strong candidate for grind album of the year. Can't recommend it too much.

The BC page.

Sete Star Sept - The Judgment by Reaper (2023)

Japanese noisegrind duo (drums and bass/vocals) Sete Star Sept keeps on recording and releasing a lot, and that's good : sometimes there's a less memorable release, but at least each year there's an excellent one! The Judgment by Reaper is among one of those. Short and fast songs, heavy and catchy basslines, over the top drumming as usual. It's a good one to discover Sete Star Sept, and one you don't want to miss if you already like them. Enjoy the madness!

The BC page.

 

Blastro - From the Beginning to the End (2013)

Relentless blast beats over a wall of noise : doesn't it sounds like the perfect recipe for sonic happiness? To me it does, and that's exactly what you'll get from Blastro, a Japanese trio with an ex C.C.C.C and an ex G.I.S.M. From the Beginning to the End has been recorded live and released ten years ago. 

And you need it. 

My favourite grind releases in 2022

Been doing it for more than ten years now, and have no intention to stop any soon : here's a list of my favourite grind releases from 2022. Many "usual suspects", but also new bands.

Alphabetical order. Click to read my review.

 

 

Antigama - Whiteout 

Beaten to death - Laat maar, ik verhuis naar het bos

Bifid Corpse - REAL RAW DEATH

 

Blame God - Blame God

 

Bowelfuck - Appetite Comes With Killing

 

Gets Worse - Teen Wolf

 

Incinerated - Portraits of Serial Killers

 

Kill Division - Peace Through Tyranny

 

Sachtu/Syntax -  split EP

 

Shock withdrawal - Shock Withdrawal EP

 

Skullshitter - Goat Claw

 

Trauma Bond - Winter's Light

 

Triac - Pure Joy - Numb Grief​-​stricken Animals

 

Vermin Womb - Retaliation

 

Whoresnation - Dearth

 

Wormrot - Hiss 

 

Blame God - Blame God (2022)

Been waiting for a first Blame God album since I discovered them witht heir second release Strategically Confined in 2017. And here it is, in all its glory, the album, self titled. And no disapointement, it's as good as their previous releases. Old-school grind with also a noisegrind touch, and often reminding good ol' Napalm Death, but with enough own personnality. This time again they'll fit perfectly among the best grind releases of the year.

The BC page.

 

Trauma Bond - Winter's Light (2022)

Trauma Bond is a Londonian duo composed of Eloise Chong-Gargette  doing the vocals & lyrics and Tom Mitchell doing the music. Winter's Light is their second release (after an already excellent The Violence of Spring last year), it delivers twenty minutes of high quality noisegrind/powerviolence. Recommended! 

 

The BC page. 

 

 

Dead Neanderthals - Rat Licker (2021)

Dead Neanderthals is a Dutch noise/free jazz duo that like experimenting with various collaborations and various changes of instruments and styles, they recently did a death/doom album and a drone album with synths, and their latest one Rat Licker see them back at their most basic formations (Rene on drums and Otto on sax) and is a grind/jazz album, reminding the most grind moments of Naked City or Painkiller. The result is as good as you could expect from them. Recommended!

 The BC page.

Sete Star Sept - Bird (2021)

Bird is the new release from Sete Star Sept, 14 songs in around ten minutes of free/noise grind from the bass/drums Japanese duo Kiyasu and Kae. As intense, wild, relentless and fast( but precise) as SSS use to do. Recommended!

The BC page.

 

WRØNG - Snapping the Bones to Make the Limbs Bend (2021)

I'm discovering WRØNG with this album Snapping the Bones to Make the Limbs Bend, but they released plenty of music since 2014, and I regret being late to the party. I listened to their discography all day long yesterday, and I like each and every of their releases. WRØNG is a noisegrind/powerviolence bass/drum duo (with vocals by both musicians) from Australia, even with these limited elements they manage to write a large variety of different songs thanks to their songwriting skills and inventiveness. And as could be expected from a noisegrind drum/bass duo (sometimes venturing into sludge territory) it has the heaviness and groove, the speed and the impact, the noise and the fury. Highly recommended!

 

The BC page. 

 

Drumcorps - Better Days (2021)

Better Days is in my opinion the best release from Drumcorps, having the radicality and impact of "Grist" (the frst album from 2006) but less samples-based and with a more condensed and better songwriting, while the melodic/shoegazy element that appeared on "Falling Forward" is feature in the Better Days song, with a good result. And if you don't know yet Drumcorps it is an Aron Spectre project mixing breakcore and metal, jungle loops and beats and hm-2 guitars and blast beats. Aaron Spectre is also doing the vocals for the first time (it's not sampled vocals any more). Cyber grind? junglecore? Grindbreak? Drum & grind? Has been tried before but rarely so successfully. Recommended!

The BC page.

 

Best grindcore in 2020

 Like I did every year since 2012 I'm giving you my list of favourite grindcore (including grindpunk, deathgrind, noisegrind, etc.) released in the passing year. Alphabetical order. Click to go to my review.

 

- Anthropic - Architects of Aggression

 

- Bain de sang - Sacrificed for A Load of Filth and Lies (EP)

 

- Caustic Wound - Death Posture

 

- Chepang - Chatta

 

- Cognizant - Cognizant

 

- ESP Mayhem - Bloodsportswear

  

- Feastem - Graveyard Earth

 

- Feed Them Death - Panopticism : Belong / Lost

 

- GALL - 17 : 21 MIN

 

- Internal Rot  - Grieving Birth

 

- Napalm Death - Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism

 

- Triage - Triage