GUEST REVIEW: P.O.O.R. - EXTINCTION OF TRUST

Continuing our series of metal reviews by non-metal fans, Mister Growl welcomes back guest reviewer Shane Frasier, Acquired Taste Booking owner and creator of the Behemoth Music Festival (a series of concerts in Upstate New York that recently reached down into Brooklyn). He has also been a member of roughly seven thousand bands, ranging from hardcore punk (Daytime Soiree) to electronic/dance music (Mr. Owl) to eccentric insanity (The Lanky Mofos and The Bumblebees). He was nice enough to accept our invitation and review the new release from P.O.O.R. (Point of Our Resistance), their album Exttinction of Trust. With the NSA ‘bating while listening to our calls and reading our e-mails and more toxins filling our food every day it’s a perfect time to listen to this album:

“I always thought the saying, 'It's the little things in life', was bullshit. Really? Are you really content with the little things in life? If a gentle breeze whiffed by your face for a few seconds on a brutally hot summer day would you really say to yourself, 'That made my day'? No, you wouldn't, and don't lie to me, because I know who you and know where you live and will make you tell the truth. But, for the first time ever, I found myself uttering this phrase while listening to P.O.O.R's album, Extinction Of Trust.

What I am trying to say here is that you don't need to be fancy in order to deliver good music, and P.O.O.R does it well. Fitting itself somewhere between thrash, grindcore and hardcore, Extinction Of Trust passes you by quickly (Not having a song longer than 2:26), but leaves a fun, lasting impression because of the obvious joy these guys clearly had making this music.

The album is comprised of 24 tracks, each one more mosh-pit inducing than the last.  “Bastard Complex,” “Flip The Scripture” and “Your Bullshit” remain my favorite tracks on the album, delivering quick hardcore punk ditties in an otherwise growly thrash album, which, I must admit, is a welcome addition if for any other reason than I am a huge hardcore punk fan. That's not to say I don't appreciate the other songs, on the contrary, they're all great, I just have to make my loyalties clear sometimes.

Songs like a “A Man Called Disease” often wake you up to the fact that you are listening to a grindcore album, but the fact that every song is different in a way really makes you love what these guys are doing. One second “Christian Science Fiction” makes you wonder if you're listening to a metal-influenced tough-guy hardcore band then, like clockwork, a song like “Cherrorizer” smacks you in the face waking you back up to the fact that the grindcore roots of the album are back into full swing. Also, putting one of the biggest smiles on my face is the cover of “Religious Vomit,” a Dead Kennedys song. Being a huge Dead Kennedys fan, I find myself embarrassed saying that I kind of prefer P.O.O.R's version more. I think my only problem with the album is that it ends, and I know that might come across as a cliched answer, but I could care less. It's how I feel. I didn't want this album to stop playing when it did.

Overall, P.O.O.R's Extinction Of Trust totally made my day. It's a wake up call, and a welcome one at that, knowing music like this is out there. Too often are we shoveled the same genre-sticking music day in and day out, knowing full well that, somewhere out there, a diamond in the rough awaits our discovery. If you have a soul, you'll love this album. If not, you'll be crying in your bedroom by yourself, slamming your head against the wall wishing you had a soul so you could like this album.”

- Shane Frasier

(Editor’s note: I also wanted to mention that Matt Harvey from Exhumed also appears for guest vocals and solos. I will be reviewing Exhumed’s Necrocracy sometime over the next week.)

Many thanks to Shane for covering this release, and YAY we finally landed a positive review from outside of the metal community. Sure, maybe I cheated a little, knowing he was a Dead Kennedys/Minor Threat fan and hearing a lot of that influence deep in the belly of this grinding punk album, but I digress.

Stream Extinction of Trust over here at Bandcamp and buy it for a totally modest $7 to support these Californians:  http://poorgrind.bandcamp.com/album/extinction-of-trust

And follow them on Facebook for touring news and info on future releases:  https://www.facebook.com/POORGRIND

REVIEW: CONFINE - SETTING FIRE TO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Take a breath before you listen to Setting Fire to the Western Hemisphere, because it’s the last time you’ll taste air for almost eight minutes. Depending on where you live, that could be a good thing. Here in Brooklyn the air tastes like old deli meat, diesel fumes, and sun-baked dog shit.

Written and recorded in a span of four days (that probably saw black clouds raining rusty nails and suicidal stock market traders onto the roof of their UK recording compound), Confine assault listeners with a relentless blast of grinding powerviolence that strips extreme music down to the bare essentials: Loud and heavy. I’ve never seen a picture of drummer Rich Speakman, but with his gatling gun fills I’m guessing his arms and legs have bionic components. The riffs may share DNA with the dirtiest strands of punk, but Confine are to punk what salamanders are to Komodo Dragons. If this music bit you the bacteria would kill you within the hour.

While most of the album feels like the blur of a hollow-tipped bullet racing towards its target, there’s also the drum’n’vox breakdown transitioning into murky hardcore of “Perception,” the filthy sludge intro of “Abstraction,” and the queasy roar of “Formation and Transformation,” my personal favorite track that feels like it’s high on white phosphorus. But the band excels at grind, and cuts the oxygen supply while Chris Reese siphons just enough air to peel the skin from inside his throat with possessed shrieks that bring to mind Todd Jones of Nails. The only song that didn’t work for me was “Legacy,” with its jarring stop-and-start rhythm. This is still a vicious release from Witch Hunter Records, and would be perfect for a grindcore picnic with a portable stereo, accompanied by Napalm Death and Full of Hell LPs in the picnic basket. It’s officially summer here in the states now, so I hope I’m not the only one having grindcore picnics.

Listen to Setting Fire to the Western Hemisphere over on Bandcamp here:  http://confine.bandcamp.com/

And follow Confine on Facebook for news and merch:  https://www.facebook.com/confinegrind

INTERVIEW: CHRISTIAN of TITTYFUCKER

Kung Fu Breakfast editor-in-chief Jay Kantor sent me exploring the darkest caverns of the internet for information on a San Diego, CA band subtly named TittyFucker. They were a grind trio who played totally in the buff (apart from ski masks, which looked way cooler on them than on the bikini clad human props in Spring Breakers). I use the past tense because as soon as I discovered them they had announced their final show. Fascinated with the concept, I reached out to Christian, drummer/composer/co-founder of the band. Read on for descriptions of explicit nudity, betrayal, and Christian’s account of the band’s rowdy/randy shows and their future prospects:

Mr. Growl: The wisdom of the internet tells me TittyFucker was formed in 2011. How did all of the members meet?

Christian: We did indeed form in 2011 and started off in the Chula Vista House Show scene.

As for our history, I grew up with the vocalist Charlene here in San Diego. In fact she is still my neighbor. As for Andrea, I actually met her at an Ecstasy party. That was a crazy evening/morning.

Mr. Growl: Who was the first to pitch the idea of "Bare Naked Grind Violence" and how did you all decide to move forward in that direction?

Christian: It was I, as me and Charlene always took nude photographs of us and our friends for her nudist collective "La Vita". I figured since we are so desensitized to being buck-ass nude in public - why not do it in a band for the sake of an aesthetic statement? That statement being that we "don't give a fuck."

Mr. Growl: Apart from that aesthetic statement, how would you describe the attitude of TittyFucker?

Christian: Well, I'll speak for myself; I do not fear the judgements nor the restrictions that people will hold against me.

As for the other members I can say that Andrea had agreed upon that before in another interview. As for my vocalist, after I left the band, she said - "We milked it for a couple months." That could mean anything.

Mr. Growl: Your Facebook page has an awesomely detailed list of musical influences for each member. Who were your inspirations from a performance aspect?

Christian: For me, GG Allin is somewhat a dead give away for rockin' out with my cock out and the message that you can do whatever you want. I will also include Maniac from Mayhem for the self-mutilation and fear instilling theatrics.

Mr. Growl: How would you describe general crowd reaction to your band?

Christian: Angry, aroused, impressed, disturbed, and inspired according to the conversations that I've had post-performances.

Mr. Growl: Were there any horror stories where the crowd was out of line during a show?

Christian: Never. At least things you wouldn't expect at grind-violence show in the buff - such as - objects being thrown at us; overly hyped crowds that knock over the equipment; perverted cat calls... Yeah. All standard for TITTYFUCKER.

Mr. Growl: It looks like after a while you started playing with ski masks. Was this purely an aesthetic choice or have you had trouble with law enforcement and protecting your identities?

Christian: It's a 50/50 blend of theatrics and practicality. You see, it was my idea due to Charlene complaining about all the photos people would post online. So I suggested we'd wear ski masks since photos are inevitable. Plus on both my and Andrea's part, we figured it'd be safe to keep our band life, and work life separated within hidden identities.

Mr. Growl: Could you describe your local scene and how your location influenced the band's sound and approach?

Christian: It's generally White Boy Reggae bands all day everyday. As for the punk/metal/indie scene, it's young and will forever be in the maggot stage since this town is constantly in and out with tourists. The DIY spaces are mediocre, and vain with the exception of a great place called The Steinhaus. It's hard to book underground touring bands here for a reason - it's just a scene/market. It's not a way of life as music should be.

Mr. Growl: You recently announced that the band will be breaking up after your show on June 7th. What factors resulted in this decision?

Christian: Terrible band etiquette that fans and friends would complain about is one factor (horrible punctuality and snootiness for example), and the fact that Charlene was embezzling the band funds behind my back. Let alone lying about its whereabouts, I just can't be in a band with someone that I can't trust nor rely upon. After the fact that I wrote all the music, and lyrics; designed the art for our shirts and vinyl, did equipment tech (they couldn't tune a guitar to save their lives) I couldn't bear such an amount of greedy disrespect like that. The integrity was not there.

Mr. Growl: What do you each have planned after Titty Fucker's last show, short and long-term?

Christian: I know the girls are doing what they call "Folk-Metal.” I quote-end-quoted that because it's not the majestic Folk-Metal we all know, it's more like that angsty Folk-Punk stuff mixed with Metalcore according to my assumption. I think they recruiting members and will continue to play naked.

As for myself, I have my band CELL. To give you an idea, we sound as if Dystopia, Darkthrone, and Converge spliced their DNA, and developed the final product in the womb of SUNN O))). We're chiseling the tracks to our debut EP which will be released on vinyl and tapes within 2013.

Editor: How bad ass does this dude’s new band sound? Will definitely follow up with more information on CELL as I receive it. Many thanks to Christian for taking the time to answer our questions. I also have to say that the name of the picture above the interview (Christian TittyFucker) is my favorite JPEG name ever.

Check out a track over at Bandcamp to see what you missed:  http://tittyfucker.bandcamp.com/

REVIEW: GRASSROLL - GORILLA SIZED SOCIAL PROBLEMS

When searching to confirm the definition for “grassroll” I encountered a few different possibilities: 1) A scroll-like piece of turf that unrolls like a carpet, usually to replace grass in stadiums. 2) The unsportsmanlike act of faking an injury on the soccer/football field to waste time late in a game. 3) A doobie. With the strung-out NOLA sound prevalent on this album I figured it would be the latter, but a quick trip to Grassroll’s Facebook page shows “football” as one of their three listed interests. Maybe it’s a combination, like a catastrophically stoned footballer writhing on the unrolled turf. Just so you all know, I don’t put this much effort into considering a band’s name if I don’t dig their music, and Grassroll fucking rip.

Formed in Greece in 2009, they would fit perfectly in the New Orleans scene with their bluesy groove and sludgy undercurrent of thick bass. Their EP, Gorilla Sized Social Problems, is supercharged with addicting enthusiasm and rages with a unique sense of fun, despite the brutal influences that show up in their songs. The band that mostly comes to mind is Soilent Green, whose dusty, down-tuned grinding death has been criminally under-appreciated by most metal fans. But not Grassroll. They have likely listened to Sewn Mouth Secrets & A String Of Lies a thousand times and built upon that foundation of death metal and classic rock boogie with hooks that result in supremely catchy calls for revolution. “Aileen” stampedes through Carcass’ Swansong territory with concise, hook-driven death’n’roll before including elements of djent-leaning metalcore and stoner metal. I also want to mention that Annie’s vocals are as menacing as hell is hot. I couldn’t find a last name for her, but she spends a lot of this album sounding like a Candarian demon unleashed by the Necronomicon.

Grassroll cave skulls on “Fuck Your Best,” pulling off devastating tempo shifts that halt crusty grind mid-gallop with towering riffs that compare favorably with Acid Bath’s best work. “Under Destruction” starts with a V For Vendetta quote and feels like a call-to-arms totally prepared to hand out the baseball bats and pitchforks. The only bummer is that this EP is already short at 13 minutes, and 3 of that is music-box ambience lingering after the final guitar fizzle. Still, the old adage “leave ‘em wanting more” is definitely effective here, ‘cause I am absolutely craving more tunes from these maniacs.

Check out Gorilla Sized Social Problems over at Bandcamp: http://grassroll.bandcamp.com/album/gorilla-sized-social-problems

And follow them on Facebook, where I learned they recorded 5 songs for this EP. Note to Grassroll: YOU MUST RELEASE THE OTHER TWO. MY EARS NEED IT: https://www.facebook.com/grassroll

REVIEW: MUMAKIL - FLIES WILL STARVE

So I learned a lot this morning by deciding to review Mumakil’s upcoming album Flies Will Starve today. First, they’re named after a fictional Tolkien beast, those six-tusked two-hundred feet tall elephant creatures who royally fuck shit up in Return of the King. I found a poem written about one by Samwise the Hobbit and he has a totally amateur grasp of poetic forms and rhyme schemes, incapable of capturing their enormous fury the way this band has. I then researched the life cycle of flies and discovered that most don’t live for more than a month, and can starve after just a few days. This confirmed my disdain for these pesky little jerks for buzzing around my eyeballs during the summer, as if they have nothing better to do with their thirty days on this planet.

The members of Mumakil use their time alive with a higher purpose: Blistering their fingers and snapping your neck with ferocious grind that will pry your ear canal open and funnel in anthrax. From the confident first blast of “Death From Below” you can tell this ain’t Mumakil’s first ride at the rodeo. They’ve been assaulting the world from their Swiss lair in Geneva since 2004, releasing several split albums and three full-lengths, including Flies Will Starve, their second with Relapse Records. They have used every moment of the past nine years conceiving ways to injure you with the sound screaming from their amplifiers and off their percussive devices. With 24 tracks it would require a manifesto of Tolkien proportions to accurately describe all of the lethal techniques used on this monster, but some highlights of their multi-faceted attack include: The stop’n’start trauma of “War Therapist,” the thrashing groove of “Waste By Definition,” and the technical death wizardry of “Fucktards Parade.” There’s definitely more than a pinch of tech-death here, as the riffs often have as much in common with Nile or Decapitated as they do label-mates Brutal Truth or Rotten Sound. But Mumakil really is its own (six-tusked) animal.

This is the catchiest blast of 200+ BPM sonic anger I’ve heard in an elephant’s age. Elephants live a long time, right? About a billion times longer than flies? My lazy internet searches and lazier math confirm this is true. It’s just exciting to hear a band building grind on riffs rather than blastbeats (but if it’s blastbeats you want, good lord, does Kevin Foley not disappoint you) and actually forming these crazy things called songs. Somewhere along the way, a group of near-sighted people obsessed with guidelines and mind-numbing consistency decided there were rules for grindcore, and those rules are only allowed to be broken if you increase the average song speed by X amount. By its nature, grindcore is a genre that should be forever evolving, restlessly searching for new weapons. Thankfully, all of the bands worth a damn took that rule book, said “No thanks” as impolitely as possible, and set it ablaze with a mouth full of bathtub bourbon and a lit Molotov. They may not challenge perceptions of grindcore (and reality) as defiantly as someone like Pig Destroyer, but Mumakil is absolutely one of those bands.

This album releases in late June, right around my birthday. This will definitely be spinning while I blow out my cake candles, lit from the same burning grindcore rulebook.

Check out more information on Mumakil over at their profile on Relapse Records, including how t pre-order this beast:  http://www.relapse.com/label/artist/mumakil.html

And follow them on Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/Mumakil

REVIEW: COMPLETE FAILURE - THE ART GOSPEL OF AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

I have no idea if the guys in Complete Failure are Steelers fans but this brutal Pittsburgh band hits harder than James Harrison, the (recently released) defensive star who has been fined around a quarter of a million dollars in his career due to brutal tackles and excessive force. He’s one of the most feared players of the past decade, a role that Complete Failure understands quite well. There is no worrying about your well-being here, just the determination to break every bone in your body if you get in the way.

Complete Failure absolutely highlight the “core” in grindcore with their latest album, The Art Gospel of Aggravated Assault. While the album grinds as viciously as anyone in the genre, their hardcore sensibilities surface often, separating their sound from the legions of faster-than-thou bands who buzzsaw into one ear and out the other. From the opening taunts of Mark Bogacki’s bass and Joe Mack’s charismatic bark in “Mind Compf,” the album blasts forward with speed and precision. The first four tracks pummel with great passion, with Mike Rosswog’s amazing drumming keeping the runaway train wobbling on the tracks around every sharp turn instead of crashing off a cliff. The album’s namesake and “Head Hanger To Be” are more catchy than music this abrasive has any right to be. They hammer the listener with blast-beats, breakdowns, and an official shit-ton of groove that feels like sludge on hyper-effective basement-brewed stimulants.

When The Art Gospel of Aggravated Assault deviates from crusty, grinding hardcore and slow things down the songs don’t quite hold up. I can appreciate “change of pace” tracks, and there are often lumbering mid-album songs that work well to divide the faster, shorter bursts of intensity. In fact, some of the very best songs on Complete Failure’s previous release (the excellent Heal No Evil) were those that slowed things down and oozed between the grind attacks. “Drag Migrator” limps forward with dissonant unease but doesn’t build to a pay-off. After the first underwhelming half of “Hero of the Church Herd,” where Mack summons the spirit of Henry Rollins for some un-screamed spoken word that feels out of place, the song amps up the aggression and even achieves effective melody before speeding to the finish line.

The album’s second half still possesses great cuts like “Disinvictus,” which is driven by punk riffs dyed black from sewer grime, and “The Unlove Unhue,” which violently thrashes before ripping the mosh pit an asshole with a queasy breakdown. With songs focused on the specifics of the human experience, not generic anti-establishment/pro-bloodshed posturing, Complete Failure has a lot to say, and they say it loudly. There might be a couple missteps on this album, but it features absolutely top-notch grind execution and drumming, projects unrivaled rage, and at full-throttle the album is totally untouchable. If you’re speeding towards a bleak future and want company, The Art Gospel of Aggravated Assault is the perfect surly companion for your downfall.

Listen to the album on Spotify or at Bandcamp here:  http://comfail.bandcamp.com/

And learn more about Complete Failure and their mission statement over at the Season of Mist site here:  http://www.season-of-mist.com/bands/complete-failure