Xymsa Releases 2CD Compilation Xysma Of Beach Boys Influenced Grindcore

Nearly thirty years after the heyday of death metal and grindcore (1983-1994) one of those “odd” bands, Xysma, similarly situated outside normalcy as Disharmonic Orchestra, Phlebotomized, Comecon, Afflicted, and Carbonized, finally releases a mass production compilation of its oeuvre of experimental death metal and grindcore.

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Deeds of Flesh Posts “Studio” Video

Deeds of Flesh posted a new video log to Youtube documenting how they are recording the guitars for their upcoming album. If you suspected that techno metal was recording in the bedrooms of pudgy action figure collectors with guitars directly digitally reamped into Cubase and Protools, you were right! Deeds of Flesh of course don’t pay for a real studio! This shit’s digital! The same chair and computer used for jerking it to BangBros is used for recording brutal tekdeathgrind! Guitar wank and actual wank in the same place! Hopefully Deeds of Flesh sidelines their recent ‘core tendencies to improve on the promising Portals to Canaan.

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Embalmer – Emanations from the Crypt (2016)

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Article by Corey M.

Too many death metal bands these days are attempting and failing utterly to convey the more obscure, ghastly effects of Onward to Golgotha or early Gorguts rather than the grisly, gory, in-your-face ripping and grinding style that was more prevalent at the time of those classics. Emanations from the Crypt is revitalizing to these ears as there is no effort made whatsoever to “enhance” the “atmosphere” of the music with excessive reverb or eight-hundred layers of guitar tracks; there is only brutality and aggression. Early Deeds of Flesh is an obvious inspiration for this juggernaut album as the guitar riffs squirm and shred through gnarly contortions, while the drums attempt to restrain and sensibly contextualize their wild leaps and bounds. The vocals are very convincing growls and gurgles that switch up just when needed to suggest a shift in dynamics, much like Infester used theirs and never attempt to take control or drive the music. Also present is some of Deicide‘s spirit announcing itself through the jittery, psychotically antagonistic riffs that seem to only represent melody tenuously. Embalmer’s Emanations from the Crypt some of the best death metal on the brutal end of the spectrum since Scalpel‘s Sorrow and Skin.

Listen to and purchase Emanations from the Crypt on Hells Headbangers’ Bandcamp page.

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Karl Willets and other death metal musicians form Memoriam

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Memoriam is very, very, very early in its history, to the point that their Facebook page only showcases a few rehearsal photos  but it’s beginning to build up some buzz, at least for its membership. Besides the aforementioned Karl Willets (of Bolt Thrower) and Andy Whale (also formerly of Bolt Thrower), the current lineup also features members of Benediction and Cerebral Fix. Bolt Thrower’s studio output withered after the 2000s due to bandmembers not being pleased with whatever they wrote after Those Once Loyal, so it’s worth noting that this could turn into a venue for part of the band to write and release more material. No guarantees of quality, though.

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Cropsy Maniac releases free EP Evil Holidays

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Evil Holidays is a free online gift for the horror death grind sickos out there. “Christmas Evil” and “New Years Evil” are two tracks based off the same title 80s holiday slasher films. Also featuring death metal legend Kam Lee who wrote the lyrics and did guest vocals on New Years Evil. Current Cropsy Maniac line up is Street Trash Travis (drums), Kevin Reece (vocals & lyrics), Patrick Bruss (bass, mixing & mastering) and Aaron Whitsell (guitars).

Cropsy Maniac started in late 2012 with just Aaron Whitsell and Kevin Herr, both on guitars. Living in a town with little to no metal heads it was slow going at first with us writing demo songs using midi drums. After searching on the web for others who could file share I ended up sparking up a conversation with Street Trash Travis our drummer. He had mentioned he was looking for people to jam with as well. So after we sent him a few demo songs Travis mentioned his buddy who was a vocalist was into it as well. So then Kevin Reece our vocalist was on board. We all worked hard for the rest of 2013 jamming around and wrote the Shear Terror! EP which was released thru Deadbeat Media in April 2014.

Since then we have done a split with Revolting called Nightmare Disorder as well as a yet to be released or titled 4-way split with Grave Wax, Burial Ground, and Severed Limbs. In October 2014 guitarist Kevin Herr left the band to pursue other things, but Cropsy Maniac added new bassist Patrick Bruss from the death metal band Crypticus. Patrick also does mixing and mastering for various other death metal bandsincluding our Shear Terror! EP and the two new tracks we have done today! Plans for a full length for late 2015. — Aaron Whitsell

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Swine Overlord live stream of Parables of Umbral Transcendence

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Grunting percussive deathgrind band Swine Overlord unleash their Parables of Umbral Transcendence on the world on August 19, 2014. The title might lead a listener to believe this album will be more jazz-lite “technical death metal,” but instead what you have here is gurgling blasting primitive and raw sound in the style of all bands inspired by Suffocation.

While much of metal has focused on hybridizing with known rock, jazz and blues genres, the deathgrind genre continues its development of its hybrid of primal death metal and raw explosive grindcore, continuing the gore and paranoid dystopic themes of its origin. Swine Overlord take a similar path with music and lyrics in the blasting mayhem and cadenced grooves of this work of utter depravity and abandonment of social trust.

To celebrate the launch of Parables of Umbral Transcendence, Gore House Productions and DeathMetal.org present the live stream of the album in its entirety:

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Swine Overlord – Parables of Umbral Transcendence

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Deathgrind took the guttural percussive sounds of Suffocation and took them to a place previously reserved for grindcore which was the ultra-primitive lower five frets of the guitar spelling out riff codes in a mathematic of recursion. Swine Overlord inherits this style and tries to give it as much life as possible despite a genre convention being simplistic repetitive vocal rhythms doubled by guitars.

The band keeps their focus on two predominant rhythms per song and works out several textural riff variations for each, then adds a series of pull-away riffs that serve as both break and transition. Ultimately songs remain in roughly the same cycle which they interrupt for effect. Vocals will take most of the focus of the average listener here and are executed in deep bass croaking expulsions that form the primary rhythmic instrument and through inflection cue mood. The problem with this approach is that it emphasizes very basic, almost-sing song rhythms. Vocals bear a passing resemblance to not only Cannibal Corpse but Infester in their tendency toward flared enunciation.

Guitars take a straightforward approach with occasional squeals and breaks but essentially non-stop blasting grindcore-style riffs or percussive speed metal-styled riffs that ride an E chord into a reductive cadence. The challenge to this band comes from the style itself: deathgrind has no rules but by its sonic conventions limits itself to a few general approaches and while Swine Overlord can make these interesting on first listen, Parables of Umbral Transcendence may not appeal to anyone but dedicated listeners of this sub-genre.

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