Harm's Way- Rust LP review

Harm’s Way- Rust LP review

Imagine a cinematic sequence of a movie version of Streets of Rage:  Four guys surround you; one has a machete, one has a pipe, a third has a knife, and one more is unarmed.  The guy with the pipe swings at you, but you dodge it and hook him, knocking his featherweight ass out; he drops it and you pick it up.  You swing it up at the guy with the machete, who is coming at you, blade raised in the air.  You knock him back, stunning him briefly as he drops his weapon and the knife wielder lunges at you, the blade drawn and pointed right at your midsection.  You lean far backward, your assailant just missing his strike as you drop the pipe in your left hand.  With that same hand, you force your fingers into his throat and rip out his Adam’s apple, pitching up his knife as the two remaining assailants close in once again.  You swing the knife in the direction of the unarmed assassin, causing him to take a step back, while the Jason Voorhees wannabe gears up to slice you.  As he brings his blade down, you do a 180° spin with your right arm at shoulder level, with your own blade traveling in the direction of this armed assailant, who just misses you as the blade passes only three inches away from your back.  The knife swiftly enters into his neck; he almost instantly drops his weapon, clutching at his neck as you let go of your stolen knife.  Seeing that your one remaining adversary is right behind you and moving in, you let out a spinkick and do an about-face to confront your final enemy.  You pick up the machete from the ground and glare at your only remaining adversary, staring almost all the way through him as the urge to scream in anger rips through your body.  Your final assailant turns around and runs away in fear as your mouth open to bellow out all the rage that’s festered inside you all these years; finally, you unleash it…

You realize you’re the singer of Harm’s Way, an extremely heavy metallic hardcore band from Chicago, Illinois, and your assailants were members of Weekend Nachos, the last surviving member (the one who turned tail and ran, the turncoat bastard) being Snyder.  You realize that you have to finish vocals for your new record, and you get back to the studio to lay down the last few tracks.  Heavily influenced sound-wise by death and industrial metal, you lay down a similar albeit different style of vocal more akin to a hoarse version of Mike IX Williams from Eyehategod.  The records comes off as sounding as heavy, pissed, and full as ever, though the lyrics indicate you are a man of few words.  Just as it should be.  Truly a progression just as much as it no doubt a Harm’s Way album.

-Aunty Social

Detest- demo 2015 review

Detest- Demo 2015 review

This is pure death metal hardcore- equal parts Bolt Thrower and Disembodied, downtuned all the way through.  Vocals bark and grunt along with the crushing mid-tempo riffs and the crashing drums.  This goes back and forth between being a hardcore band with death metal riffs and a death metal band with hardcore breakdowns- ultimately, it doesn’t matter much, because it’s good either way.  Headbang or spinkick, this is for you.

-Aunty Social

Humanerror/Snakes split tape review

Humanerror/Snakes split tape review

Two bands with their respective brand of heavy, dark hardcore manage to complement one another here, almost a necessity for a split.

Humanerror is a chug-friendly band that also uses powerviolence-y drum beats while sludging away on the guitar and bass, not terribly far off from Eyehategod.  The two tracks they offer are no doubt the better two here, though it’s admittedly difficult to best the band from Texas who has been around for six years.  Still, the two tracks Snakes have are no slouches- they’re dirty and grindy but still possess some clarity.  The Nails-worship HM2 sound is absolutely present, but it doesn’t sound like leftovers, it is a sound unto itself that mixes hardcore and metal in the dirtiest of ways, the way it was meant to be, the way Cleveland bands from the late 80s and New York bands from the early 90s intended it to be.  Homage-paying and still an independent force.  A good blend.

-Aunty Social

Snakes- Waking Up and Decomposing 7” review

Snakes- Waking Up and Decomposing 7” review

This either hits a mile a minute or like a tank at ten miles an hour- it’s always heavy, but it alternates between punishing powerviolence and slow, sludgy doom/death metal- the comparisons to Entombed and Nails not far off, this EP start both the A and B-sides with a fast, furious, filthy, fucking track, and ends them with a slow and concentrated track that is more metal than punk.  It’s not metalcore, but it certainly is some sort of fusion between metal and hardcore, and not a bad one if taken with a dosage of weed or a restricted dosage of dark, sludgy punk music.  It’s good, but it’s a unique monster that doesn’t go well with the demons of its kind; I find it best mixed with dark and thrashy metal bands or mid-paced, light punk bands.  The lyrics are the anti-life, human condition, Nietzschean-esque style known to come from loners.  The vocals blend the death metal snarls and the hardcore grunts specific to their respective genres.  Though the design style is somewhat mysterious and indirect, it is definitive to its style and is, at least to those with a dissonant view on the world, eye-catching.  Well-produced and appropriate for what it is (i.e. not a full-length LP/CD- that’s just too much for this style of music- and EP or split LP is just right).  Keeping an ear out for these Grand Rapids grunts is in your best interests, true believers of metal and hardcore.

-Aunty Social

No Class Assassins- The No Class EP review

No Class Assassins- The No Class EP review

Death and thrash metal and some lesser senses of heavy metallic hardcore make up the blend that is No Class Assassins.  The first three tracks are faster songs, and strangely enough, I did not enjoy them nearly as much as I did the slower, sludgier tracks, the last two.  There are two vocal styles used here:  Gargling cat, and deepthroating chain smoker.  I prefer the former, as I can actually understand some of what’s being sung, and the lyrics make such a thing important, as they interest me in this circumstance.  The simplistic, clean, but not too clean production is something to be appreciated here.  Moreso for the metalhead than the hardcore kid, but it makes the head bang a little in either case.

-Aunty Social

Nails- Unsilent Death 12" review

Nails- Unsilent Death 12” review

I’m a little late to the party on this one, but this record required a review.  This is quite possibly the angriest band I’ve ever heard- powerviolence, grindcore, death metal, punk, hardcore, all rolled into one ball of dough to create one absolutely delicious cookie, baked with chips of anger and hate, the dough crafted from pummeling energy and a short list of other ingredients for a recipe to make “fucking angry”.  Though they are what one could call a ‘hyped’ band, this is one of the rare bands deserving it.  The only appropriate way to listen to this album is after a month off medication, a week alone, and a baseball bat all to one’s self.  This is vandalizing music- property should be destroyed to this record- alternatively, if one can locate a known rapist, child molester, or Nazi skinhead, this also makes for fine music to have at a boot party.  This is what happens when heavy, angry, pissed-off hardcore bands get good production and still sound just as angry, if not moreso, than their lower-echelon contemporaries.  This group deserves whatever praise they can get, even if a douchebag football player you hated in high school discovers these guys and starts rocking their hoodies.  Instinctual music for both simple and complicated people- this record won’t ever let you down.

-Aunty Social

F.O.A.D.- Filthiest of Apocalyptic Detroit compilation LP review

F.O.A.D.- Filthiest of Apocalyptic Detroit compilation LP review

As a package, this is a great example of how to do a compilation on vinyl- four bands, two songs each, lyrics and band shots included, and layout ever so crisp, complete with a painting by Tim “Shagrat” Jenkins, who also appears in two bands on this compilation.  So, by appearance, I see a great level of potential.  Would the music live up to it (and the level of local popularity all the featured bands have)?

First song on the record is Reaper’s “Satanic Leather”, a tale of being metal dogs in Detroit, and detailing a series of unfortunate events that happened with the band, yet it never deterred them from continuing to make music.  The riffs are good, and the leads rip, but the vocals have a bit too much reverb, and they’re hard to hear.  A good song in its own right, though.  I’ll be the audiophile who likes the song, but not the mixing job.  “Satan Approves” is a title that, for some reason, reminds me of the Jesus figure in Dogma, but of a dark red, winged figure giving a cheery thumbs up instead.  Music-wise, I like the vocals better on this song, and the music is blitzing thrash metal in its lo-fi glory.  Very gnarly.  Next is Perversion, a more blackened thrash metal band who has been around for a few years, only recently playing bigger gigs and getting out of town more.  “Morbid Aggressor” has some tight playing and some leads that shred, but I couldn’t get into it- maybe it wasn’t fast enough, or the vocals were a bit rough for me, but I wasn’t banging my head much.  “Storm of Evil” picks up the pace and carries in some better riffs and vocals, ringing heavily of “Hell Awaits” and “Chemical Warfare”-era Slayer.  The song carries on for a bit too long, but otherwise is a solid metal jam.

Shitfucker kicks off the other side of the wax with “Bestial Ice”.  The lyrics leave me with more questions than answers- I’ll leave it at that.  The music is decent- the drums are tight, maybe mixed a bit too high, the bass and guitar are bit hard to hear and possibly mixed too low, but they can be heard distinctly if one listens closely enough.  The vocals are truly unique- extremely weird, but unique.  “Araknophobia” is an evenly mixed metal-punk song that seems to have an organ in the background- very cool, actually.  Same style of vocals here; the guitars and bass are both a little more audible, and it really helps them sound better.  I could circle pit to this song.  Lastly is Anguish, who have gone from a more straightforward crust punk sound to a rock and roll-leaning Motorhead style of music.  The vocals are nowhere near Lemmy’s trademark growl-y shout, and instead are clear and not too far off from Ian Gillan’s Deep Purple-era voice, and (dare I say it) is also comparable to Axe Ripper’s melodic-styled vocals, though it is distinctly different.  “The Onslaught Continues” is alright, but as a song, I’m not a big fan.  I was never that into mid-paced 70s-era heavy metal beyond the classics, and even those only somewhat so- in other words, not my style of music, to a large extent.  The bass sound is fucking sweet, though.  “A Blade in the Dark” has better riffs and better song formation- despite being a bit too long, it still rocks.  It may be the mix of the funky, cool bass sound with the speed metal guitar sound, but I dig this a bit.  Deserves a jam every so often.

Weirdly enough, the bands’ second song is better with all four bands, in my opinion.  Not a must have, but absolutely worth borrowing from a friend.

-Aunty Social