Clash Of The Titans (Review: Converge / Napalm Death Split, 2012)

This has got to be one of the year’s most highly anticipated split releases (if I need to introduce either of these two heavyweights to you, then you’re reading the wrong site), especially after Converge’s stunning split with fastcore champions Dropdead last year and Napalm’s triumphant return to form (aside from one or two slightly clumsy moments) with ‘Utilitarian’. These two bands may be firing on all cylinders at the moment, but does this release live up to the hype?

Converge waste no time at all in obliterating the listener’s senses with the furious ‘No Light Escapes’, a song that will be familiar to anyone who’s caught them live recently. It’s a powerful blast of the kind of chaotic hardcore that only Converge can really pull off, with a fist pumping middle section and a finish that swaggers like Keith Richards hopped up on speedballs and bath salts, all in the space of 50 seconds. In short, it’s totally fucking awesome! Before you’ve had a chance to catch your breath, the band race on, into their star-studded and much-hyped rendition of 'Wolverine Blues'. Given the amount of contemporary hardcore bands taking inspiration from the mighty Entombed at the moment, the fact that Converge have assembled Thomas Lindberg (At The Gates), Aaron Turner (Isis), Kevin Baker (All Pigs Must Die) and Brian Izzi (Trap Them) to cover the Swedish legends seems like a fitting and wholly appropriate tribute. It’s a pretty faithful cover, but Converge nevertheless manage to put their own stamp on this classic song, riding its meaty grooves with confidence and style. If you’re able to resist the urge to bang your head until your brain cells cry out for mercy, you can also have some fun playing ‘Spot The Vocalist’, with each guest musician taking turns to spit out the lyrics. There’s a real nice atmosphere here, like that time you invited all your mates round to cover a bunch of death metal classics in your garage. Fun vibes, and top riffs – always a recipe for success!

Any thoughts that Napalm Death may struggle to compete with this fine display are quickly annihilated, as the band fire into action with ‘Will By Mouth’, one of the most grinding tunes they’ve belted out in years. The song speeds ahead with a breakneck intensity and a genuine sense of righteous indignation, before concluding with a grotty punk-infused ending that would have Extreme Noise Terror fuming with jealousy. ‘No Impediment To Triumph (Bhopal)’ finds the band playing around with those industrial sounding, Godflesh-esque chord progressions they’ve been using sporadically for the last couple of years, but skewering them with bleak, angular twitches of aggression. The song twists and turns through quite a few turbulent different sections, and is probably one of the more successful of their recent melodic experiments, combining their well-documented Swans obsession with the same unbridled fury that initially made their name. Napalm’s contribution is nothing radically different from the material on their last few albums, but only the most hardened cynic would dismiss this as ‘Napalm-by-numbers’ – the band sound fresh, energised and gleefully destructive, with Barney’s vocals especially standing out as sounding particularly vicious, almost straining with sheer venom in places. My only slight gripe is that Shane’s thunderous bass doesn’t ring through quite as clearly as it has done on previous outings, but you’ll probably be grinding along too hard to notice.

So, to answer my initial question – yes, this absolutely does live up the hype. It may be short, but this is a textbook example of the phrase “all killer, no filler”, with both bands stepping up their game and delivering the goods in abundance. If you’re a fan of either of these bands, you’re probably already cranking this right now, but if not, then you certainly don’t want to miss out on this, a potent reminder of just how good both these acts really are.

Deathwish Records

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Between The Hammer And The Anvil (Review: Hammers, 'Vardøgr', 2012)

When Manchester’s Hammers originally called it a day a few years ago, it was hard to shake the feeling that the UK hardcore scene had lost one of its most innovative and interesting bands, so to say that the news of the band's return was warmly welcomed is an understatement. And If their recent European tour wasn’t cause enough for celebration, they’ve also just released what may be their most aggressive and intricate recording to date.

An ominous layer of feedback greets the listener upon pressing play, before ‘Casting Spells’ kicks in with a feral, wide-eyed intensity. ‘Trepanning Infinity’ strikes with the deadly hyperactive d-beat/blast combo that’ll be familiar to any fans of the band, but with a more streamlined approach this time round, aiming straight for the jugular and successfully tearing it to shreds. While some bands of this ilk run the risk of falling flat on their face with aimless displays of angst, Hammers manage to sound genuinely unhinged whilst retaining an impressive amount of focus and clarity, and keep things varied and interesting enough to keep the listener gripped; you’ll probably find yourself alternating between stages of furious fist pumping and slack jawed awe whilst spinning this.

The staggering, sea-sick lurch of ‘Endoteric’ bursts into the ferocious ‘The Sun’s Journey Through The Night’, complete with riffs that sound like an anxious and sleep deprived Trap Them coming off a week long amphetamine binge. Rather than allowing them time to mellow, it seems taking a break has renewed the band’s vigour, and much of previous album ‘Orogeny’s subtle hints of melancholy have been replaced with sheer, balls-out fury (just wrap your ears around the utterly psychotic rampage of ‘The Spectacle’), making ‘Vardøgr’ an incredibly angry sounding record, doused with liberal splashes of piss and vinegar. That’s not to say that Hammers’ aural battery has become emotionally one-dimensional however (the turbulent chugging of ‘A Coffin In The Shape Of A Chapel’, for example, contains that same unrestrained sense of despair that made ‘Year One’ such a gripping listen), it’s just that whilst previously the band seemed to find themselves abandoned and confused in a stark, hostile world, now they’ve struck back with vicious intent, determined to destroy all in their path (as evidenced by the absolutely raging ’22:22’).

There’s no doubt about it – Hammers are back, and twice as angry and pissed off than ever before. If you dig the kind of bleak hardcore currently being supplied by bands from across the pond like Trap Them, Nails and Dead In The Dirt, then you’ll be pleased to hear that Hammers are a European band that can easily match the aforementioned acts in terms of ferocity, passion and sheer pulse racing awesomeness. In ‘Vardøgr’, the band has created a powerful and engaging record that will remain with you long after its all too brief 20 minute running time has expired.

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This One's for Fun. It's Called "Never Surrender!"

  I have posted about Negative Approach before, quickly reviewing their 10 song 7".  It really is a nearly flawless piece of music history tightly rolled up in a tiny package to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting. Negative Approach then put out some tracks on a couple of comps and finally an LP called "Tied Down". On this sweet ass DVD entitled "Reproach DVD Vol. 1" you see the band evolve from a very early show(their first?) with only songs from demos to a full on wrecking force destroying venues full of young hipsters and punks. There are three full sets present, including a bonus song I talk about below, each showing off the bands growing strength and expanding repertoire of songs including favourites of mine such as "Can't Tell No One", "Pressure", "Live Your Life", "Whatever I Do", "Lead Song" and "Lost Cause".

 

 Here's a link to them doing a fucking amazing cover of "Never Surrender" by Blitz. They do this three different times on the DVD, and to be honest I NEVER get tired of it. I have a deep seeded love of covers, and this one fucking rules. I have this link starting at the cover because the rest of the video is a mostly poor rip of the DVD. When I watch my copy it's not nearly as bright and the sound is much better. You need to see this either way.

 Never say why, never say die, it's always worth another try"!

 

Also the very last song on here is ANOTHER cover. This time it's the Misfits playing a show in MI and having John Brannon(with hair!?!) helping them vocals for a rendition of "Can't Tell No One". Brannon's voice overpowers everything else that has mics attached to it, although you can hear Danzig in the backround during vocal pauses yelling "Go!" in true Danzig fashion.

Incarnated Solvent Abuse (Review: Huffin' Paint, Demo, 2012)

There’s been no shortage of musicians praising the effects of various intoxicants and altered states of mind on their creative process throughout musical history, but this Northern foursome could well be the first to publicly declare their love for the simple joys of paint based solvent abuse. Whilst heading down to IKEA to plunge your nose into a bucket of their finest emulsion may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s hard to argue with the band’s extra-curricular activities when the result is this good; 5 minutes of blistering, tongue-in-cheek fastcore guaranteed to please any self-respecting Hellnation fan.

The vocals possess the same kind of snotty, obnoxious yelp as the late, great Charles Bronson (the band, that is, not their gun toting, moustachioed namesake), and lyrically, the demo touches on drunken Brits abroad, Ray Winstone’s floating head, the seedy underbelly of the Lake District, and, of course, huffin’ paint – and all of this whilst being bombarded by numerous blink-and-you’ll-miss-‘em blasts of spazzy hardcore fury! The demo has a fair amount of variation during its short running time however, with the fist pumping, early 80’s hardcore style intro to ‘LADS!!!!!’ and the slightly slower, more melodic crunch of ‘Vice Punx’ providing a brief bit of respite before launching back into the speed laden chaos. As is normally the case with Nottingham’s ever reliable Stuck On A Name Studios, this is spot on sound-wise, with every instrument clearly audible and the suitably abrasive guitar tone helping to heighten the feeling of being slapped about the face whilst hurling up your dinner into the nearest paint bucket.

At a lean 5 minutes, the demo does its job in acquainting you with the band but still leaves you wanting more by the time closer ‘The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year’ (an ode to getting rat-arsed at Christmas) comes to a fittingly abrupt end. On the basis of this demo, this seems like a promising band indeed, and this is well worth checking out for any fastcore fanatics out there. Just make sure you have your paint cans within arm’s reach…

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