Saturday, May 14, 2011

SORE THROAT, NAUSEA AND HEADACHE REVIEWS

Mad Blasts Of Reviews VOL. 1 – DISCONNECTED / WASTELAND

If I have to point out a word when I’ve received the parcel from Idoneum Bello, it must be NEW. My order was driven by Sick/Tired, a band I started to love with their recent Full LP Highlife, but I was smashed by a good bunch of new bands, having the pleasure to listen to their very good efforts. On this post I’m gonne review the first of two chapter of the Mad Blasts Of Chaos saga. What are the characteristics of this saga? Well, the four bands featured on these two 7″ are all dwelling in the fast hardcore/powerviolence environment, even with differences between their styles. Plus these releases share the same amazing layout, with a very cool obi wrapping the top-opened envelope-like cover. Well, let’s stop talking about the whole picture and let’s go into deep with the first chapter of Mad Blasts Of Chaos.

Side A is ripped apart by Disconnected, a band hailing from Ohio, USA, formed by four sickos kidnapped by other local bands (like As Good As Dead, Full Scale Panic and Premonitions Of War). They kick in with four tracks of fast, punishing and somewhat dark pissed off hardcore, leaning sometimes to some crazy old school grindcore, with its oversatured sound and sharp drums beats. There’s a very cool taste in songwriting, with a lot of tempo changes and a nice structure often made by mixing open chords, short hypersonic riffs and simple yet violent drums lines. I really love the parts when Disconnected seems to take a little breath just to come back smashing your face with pure hardcore mid tempo parts, like in Broken Heart Suicide. They put some solos here and there, with the classic high pitched fast series of notes that reminds me the classics from early 90′s. There’s also a cool usage of the vocals. While Patrick’s way of singing can sound a little bit too linear and monotonic, he manages to dominate the scene with a passionate way of spitting out his hate that reminded me the vocal lines of Andy on the Low Threat Profile 12″. This is a very cool side and even if it’s my first time with Disconnected I really hope to listen to more by them really soon.


On the flipside there’s Wasteland from New Zealand. They’re more stuck to the classic powerviolence formula, so expect five songs built from an amazing bunch of tempo changes, slow downs, accelerations, nervous vocals and mind blowing drumming. Guitars and bass create a very enjoyable wall of sound, with a lot of distortions and feedback, also putting the always welcomed fuzzy feeling to each note. There’s a good bunch of slow parts that will make you scream the name of this band in your bedroom hoping to be at one of their gig. Just Scared, People and Sore Loser are perfect examples of how powerviolence should be played in 2011. Put your slow part in, make it punishing, unforgiving, then explode with a super catchy and even funny fast section. Rorschach meeting Charles Bronson. Make the dark part darker and the bright part brighter, make the difference not just big, but EXTREMELY big. Very cool indeed. I want to spend a couple of words on the vocals. Kader has done a very good job singing, using a very enjoyable and uncommon tone for most of the parts, not far from Infest, while he goes a little bit down with his voice he reminds me good ol’ Lack Of Interest.

Well, a very, VERY good split, give it a spin and you won’t be disappointed

Mad Blasts Of Reviews VOL. 2 – SICK/TIRED – COFFEE RAGE

The second chapter of the Mad Blasts Of Chaos series opens with Sick/Tired, a very good band which features members from MK-Ultra and Weekend Nachos. This is their first effort, recently followed by their full length Highlife released by To Live A Lie. These bunch of borderline fuckers delivers four songs of pissed off hardcore which can be called either powerviolence or grindcore without making a mistake. The first thing that will pop out listening to the Sick/Tired side is the pounding way that Gonzo and Kirk are playing their instruments, respectively guitar and bass, giving to each song a strong feeling of brutal violence. Drumming is cool, with a bunch of great mid tempos, like in Another Day, while vocals are stuck to a classic acid growl, which gives to this record a good early 90′s grindcore vibe. I think the best song of this side is Death In California, which can sound both punishingly intense and funny. There are a lot of good intentions going on here, but I think you can feel that they needed a bit more time to let everything take shape. Highlife is better than this first EP, even if they were already displaying a very good taste in songwriting. I want to show my appreciation of the drawings on the inlays, a steady standard in quality from Sick/Tired. This time the cover is very simple, with just the logo, but the inlays feature an amazing rip off of classic Janis Joplin’s Cheap Thrills cover, obviously re-adapted to grindcore and powerviolence imaginary. Follow this band, because Sick/Tired is a name you will hear a lot in the near future!

First of all, I’m VERY happy that I can talk about a band from New Zealand. I’m always down to find bands from unusual places and when the quality is like the one showed by Coffee Rage is a double winning! Coffee Rage assaults your ears with seven songs of restless old school grind…no…ehm…power…well….crust….not even there….hardc…Fuck, they mix a lot of style, imagine a very good blend of grinding powerviolence but with a strong influence by old school hardcore and bass pounding crust. The result is a bunch of songs which sound sometimes violent, sometimes groovy as fuck. Coffee Rage can create both the feeling of smashing someone’s nose with your forehead multiple times, both the one of dancing in the moshpit waving your arms and headbanging till your neck snaps. Lyrics are quite standards for the genre, mainly dealing with hatred and personal issues, with a black humor twist. Vocals are various, mainly dwelling in the pissed off bark environment, classic crusty Agathocles style, with some parts sung in screaming or with a deeper growl. There aren’t slow parts on this side, with all the songs going full throttle without losing the groovy factor. Discharge meeting classic grindcore. This record can be like by a lot of different people, because it combines pieces of many genres creating an all around enjoyable jigsaw of aural violence. Also this side pleases the sight, with a nice cover and a very funny ripoff of the cover from Lotta Per Vivere by Wrecthed (or at least, I think so….I’m pretty sure that design was also featured on a previous record but I can’t recall which one…anyway, if someone knows it, comment!).

Well, another good chapter in the Mad Blasts Of Chaos Series by Idoneum Bello, I can’t wait for the new one whichm by the way, will come out very soon…

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