REVIEW: CHULO 'ODIO A PRIMERA VISTA' (GRINDCORE KARAOKE)

With a low end bass rumble like something horrible being dredged out of a blocked drain, Colombian four-piece Chulo charge, ape-like through eight minutes of punky, primordial powerviolence in the feedback-driven style of Crossed Out, Infest, Spazz, Disrupt and the like - roll over the nearest comatose crusty with froth for a beard and you'll find all the appropriate reference points scribbled in tipp-ex about his attire.

Up for free download on J Randall's Grindcore Karaoke label, there's really no need to review this – as listening to it has no barriers, there's really no urgency to hold your trembling hand through a buying decision, but here we are anyway. Dark, thuggish and over breathlessly quickly in a burst of Dean Jones-like bellowing, 'Odio a Primera Vista' is old style hate delivered by 21st Century tools.

PLAY FAST OR DON'T 8 IS STAGGERINGLY GOOD

Play Fast or Don't, the other Czech grindcore festival, held July 29-30 in an incredibly sketchy looking aircraft hanger just outside of Hradec Králové, has announced its line-up with the standout acts being Belgian mincecore progenitors Agathocles, much hyped Czech powerviolence savages Lycanthrophy, Italian apocalyptic crust thrashers Children of Technology, handsome British crust/sludge/grindbastards The Atrocity Exhibit, Texan grind whirlwind Pretty Little Flower and d-beat originals Mob 47. Check out the full line-up on the poster.

DARGE, DISGUST AND NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR VIDEOS FROM NAGOYA

Rafael Yaekashi, of Brazilian-Japanese crossover thrash punks NEK and metallic crusties Darge, takes a lot of pictures and films a lot of videos of assorted shit going down in Nagoya, which is grand, because who hasn't wanted to go to a punk or grind show in Japan? 


How about one featuring Danish crusties Nuclear Death Terror?




And Japanese death-dealing crusties Disgust?




And, of course, Darge?

BAND OF THE DAY: CTHULHU YOUTH

Not to be confused with Chthonic Youth, who definitely scored the better version of the name but the far shittier sound, London-based Cthulhu Youth are feedback-laced, dissonant powerviolence, coupling sludge grooves, in the manner of Weekend Nachos, with harsh, dystopian electronics and chaotic, pit-filling hardcore.

The masked three-piece have an “anti-cosmic” cassette demo out, strictly limited to 50 and possibly touched with a cat, and a bunch of shows with assorted grimey hardcore bands of chuggerific quality. Enigmatic pseudo-black metal image management aside, this is sinister, disorientating stuff and the lack of gurning faces, acne-ridden peering gormlessly over the top of boxfresh Bastard Noise t-shirts only adds to it.

BAND OF THE DAY: LE BUCHERETTES

There's no gagging, gurgling deep-throat samples or KKK rally speeches here, but the boundaries of acceptability are being well and truly pushed. Crusties, prepare to cry foul. Formed in 2007 in Guadalajara, Mexico, Le Bucherettes are a sleazy garage rock two-piece featuring drummer Gabe Serbian, he of The Locust and ex of Cattle Decapitation, as of LB vocalist/guitarist Teri Gender Bender's relocation to Los Angeles in 2009.

Le Bucherettes debut album, 'Sin, Sin, Sin', is produced by Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, and is due to be released on his label later this year. A surprisingly catchy, very '90s single is up for download here, but while the music is all jagged guitar rock irreverence, the band are waging a war on the malign mundanity of domestic oppression – check out this LA Weekly interview. Not that they're trying to appeal to reactionary grindcore douchebags or anything, but that should tip the scales over from overwhelmingly unappealing to mostly unappealing.

Now stop throwing things, please. You can have some crappy d-beat tomorrow.

MORE STUFF TO DOWNLOAD

Another haul of legally free delights to get down yer. Firstly, Cork, Ireland's I'll Eat Your Face play, unbelievably, instrumental grindcore and you can get their full-length, 'Irritant', from here. Secondly, Birmingham's ferocious Macho Insecurity recorded a whole bunch of songs for a split with Mistress/Anaal Nathrakh-affiliated blackened crust grinders Fukpig and got so impatient they ended up releasing them as a EP, 'The Shit End of the Stick', here. The split is still happening mind, only with newer songs.

WATCH DESPISED ICON'S LAST SHOW, EVEN IF YOU HATE THEM

It was a sad day for pit ninjas when French Canadian proto-deathcore beefcakes Despised Icon called it a day. Immeasurably superior to a lot/most of the bands they inspired, they had an awesome run and despite dribbling to a close somewhat underwhelmingly, they'll be missed - unless your tolerance for gang signs, slam hands, 'Awwwww shit [your city]' mosh call-outs and gratuitous beatdowns is wafer thin.

Fortunately, you can relive the live glory of Despised Icon (or dance on their digital grave, whichever works for you), because their last ever show, in Montreal on December 5, 2010, was filmed in its entirety with quality superior to most £16 music DVDs. Check it out, and turn your New Era cap to a suitable hip-hop angle before tearfully burying it in the garden for a golden age of chug is now at an end.

BAND OF THE DAY: PICK YOUR SIDE

If there's anything 'typically Canadian' about Ottawa grinders Fuck the Facts its their tempo-shifting weave of dense polyrhythms and and juddering stop-start dynamics – the sort of things that brings to mind the output of Galy Records, those proud sons of Cryptopsy, before they all signed to bigger labels and got fat and boring.

Guitarist since 2008, Johnny Ibay, has only a finite tolerance for jazz bass it seems, having formed (along with one of the atrociously named Haymaker) a more heads-down, feedback-driven doomy hardcore mob. Shades of Cursed, 'My War'-era Black Flag and being so angry your voice comes out in a spluttering shriek that people laugh at, Pick Your Side have a 7” EP coming soon on super respectable metallic hardcore label A389 Recordings and European grind powerhouse RSR Records, and one track is up for your consumption here.

There's not much information out there, but all signs point to good crusty mosh.

WHOLE STACK OF STUFF UP FOR FREE DOWNLOAD

J Randall, the closet Doctor Who fan of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, and all round prolific internet personality, has uploaded an absolute deluge of free record downloads on his label Grindcore Karaoke. Get on that sharpish.

REVIEW: LILLE WINTER GRINDFEST 2010

Spring is gradually leeching the frostbite from our extremities, to the point where it's near impossible trying to picture the Siberian snowhell that turned the United Kingdom into a great big whinging ball of inactivity in mid-to-late December. The North of France was just as bad, Roubaix, just outside of Lille on the Belgian border is all kinds of bleak – the pavement may as well be coated in oiled marbles, yet a hundred or so dedicated grindfreaks braved the tundra for 2010's death rattle. No wheezing, laboured death was this, Lille Winter Grindfest was a full-on frothing fit, kicking January 2011 in the kidney on its way out.

An off-season hostel, Hotel de la Musique isn't quite the grimy squat you'd associated with bills of this calibre, and the well behaved guide dog being the closest you get to the obligatory crust hound on a bit of string – there's a stage wedged in the corner and a well-stocked bar, and it beats skidding around outside. Just because you like to grind doesn't mean you have to live like Onslow in Keeping Up Appearances – sometimes you just want Belgian beer and a cheese sandwich.

Trepan'Dead are one of those bands who shun success and attention, battle-scarred veterans of brutal death/grind they adhere to an old school creed, equating a low profile with underground virtue and it certainly suits their uncompromising bludgeon. They don't fuck about, they brutalise and then fuck off leaving behind only a faint impression of old dudes scowling, and, of course, tinnitus.

Hard-touring roadwarriors A Den of Robbers are the first of the day's Belgians, and the day's first blast of groovy, mid-tempo powerviolence interludes, a theme that continues with les rosbif from The Atrocity Exhibit who've slid like a corpse in the mud over the years from sludge to grind/powerviolence, settling now somewhere in between – this is the best they've ever sounded.

A drum machine really is man's best friend, faithful and consistently shitty sounding – the human aspect of Anal Penetration is without criticism, this dude is a one-man riot of riffs and screams. The high energy levels continue with serrated Germans Mindflair and through into Sylvester Staline, who deliver the first truly spectacular performance of the day. There's an element of 'local heroes' carrying them high, and it's late enough in the day for everyone to be drunk, but you can't shit on a band who get a conga line going and release so much party-hard good vibes through their highly strung French fastcore.

Fans of ridiculous pseudo-stadium metal shit like Soilwork may laugh, but some bands shrink like frosty bollocks in the glare of some decent sound and soccer-fixated powerviolence two-piece Jesus Cröst seem to be one of them. Sorely missing the shitty equipment of the aforementioned crusty squat, they sound like a noisy shit in an aircraft hanger.

The magic white sky powder has stolen away The Monolith Deathcult (perhaps one of the most anticipated bands playing) and Last Days of Humanity (who have trouble appearing in a mirror, having cancelled all sorts of stuff for all sorts of reasons since reuniting), and Leng Tch'e, the official BeNeLux back-up band rush in to fill the gap. It must be lousy for their self-esteem to not get asked to play these things in the first place, or perhaps they've got an agreement with Last Days of Humanity to tag-team grindcore festivals and split the ca$h – conspiracy theories aside, anyone who strikes a pose and sneers at their mosh-friendly crossover appeal (as in people outside of grindcore might like them, joining such 'sellouts' as Carcass, Nasum, Brutal Truth and Napalm Death) is getting shown up as the shit-talking scene fascists they are. People are going insane, lost in the catchy rock riffing and bludgeoning blasts, the atmosphere is amazing, and with fearsome vocalist Serge Kasongo suddenly gaining a pair of novelty antlers, strangely Christmassy.

UNIMPRESSIVE NEW ROTTEN SOUND VIDEO IS A CRACKING TUNE

It's live footage, there's not really much that you can say about that, other than it's nicely filmed but no substitute for getting all up in their shit in a venue - which you'll all definitely do soon. Anyway, it's a good opportunity to listen to one of Rotten Sound's chunky new songs three times in a row. Yeah, do that.

BAND OF THE DAY: RUINEBELL

It's perhaps bitterly ironic that Finnish new jack old school death dealers Hooded Menace have been getting so much hype (albeit much deserved) when veteran acts like Machetazo, once orthodox high priests of Spain's fetid goregrind underground turned atmospheric worshippers of Impetigo and Necrophagia's old school horror, have missed out completely. On the upside, there're probably a fuck tonne less patch-jacket posers pricks rocking out self-consciously to Machetazo, but they need more respect and hopefully new project Ruinebelle will redistribute some of those kudos.

A downtuned duo of Machetazo's Dopi Diablo (ex of Frustradicción and also currently in Dishammer) on vocals and drums, and on bass and guitar, Hooded Menace mainman Lasse Pyykkö (ex of Phlegethon and Vacant Coffin, and current of the equally hyped Acid Witch) are working on their debut 7” for the supercult Doomentia Records. There's no music up yet, but with a pedigree like this you know what you're getting in terms of raw venom and rumbling dread. As for the sound, they promise “apocalyptic, heavy and dark, metallic crust in the vein of Amebix, Axegrinder mixed in a blender with some Voivod and Godflesh.”

AMEBIX TITLE NEW DISC, FINALLY

Apocalyptic metallic punk prophets Amebix have finally announced the title of their new album, the first since 1987's 'Monolith', as 'Sonic Mass'. Due to be released through Alternative Tentacles and on vinyl through Profane Existence, you can gawp at some pics from the recording session here.

RAD TOXIC GREEN ROTTEN SOUND SHIRT

Because there just aren't enough green prints in the world, Mike Fisher, who's done designs for Fuck the Facts, Voetsek, Ghoul, Raw Power and so very many more, has just finished this beautiful t-shirt for Finnish grind outfit Rotten Sound, which is coming soon from Warlord Clothing, presumably in time for their Relapse debut 'Cursed', which is out March 15 in the US and 21 in the UK.

UNPOPULAR CRUST COMPILATION UP FOR DOWNLOAD

Ungovernable Resistance radio/promo have uploaded a 23-track compilation of furious crust, grind, anarchopunk and the like for download in order to spread the word about bands who're "great but not very popular" (lol). Get 'Support Your Scene 2011' here.

ROCK 'N' TROLL ANAL CUNT ALBUM FINALLY UP FOR PRE-ORDER

'Fuckin' A', the unashamedly fan-baiting cock rock outing from noisecore pioneers Anal Cunt - their first new album in twelve years - is finally available for pre-order from Patac Records. Apparently first 100 orders will receive a signed pornographic photo of Seth Putnam and a groupie. Enjoy!

NEW DRUGS OF FAITH VIDEO GOES UP ON DECIBEL

Drugs of Faith, the hard rocking, Fugazi-like grinding post-punk outfit led by former Enemy Soil/current Agoraphobic Nosebleed man Richard Johnston have posted a video of a new song taken from their eagerly awaited (by me) first full-length 'Corroded', out February on Selfmadegod, to the Decibel website - check that out here. The clip is produced by Handshake Inc, who produced videos for Fuck the Facts and Today is the Day.

GIVE PRAISE RECORDS LAUNCH WEBZINE

Awesome US powerviolence label Give Praise have launched a webzine, Crucial, in order to continue spreading the word. So far there are interviews with Deep Shit and Weedsteeler - check all that out here.

WORMROT COMPLETE (MOST OF) SECOND DISC

Much hyped Singapore mosh grind outfit Wormrot have nearly finished the nuts and bolts of their second full-length for Earache, drums and guitars were completed in twelve hours on January 7 and vocals were completed January 11.