CEPHALOCHROMOSCOPE

Blue Holocaust (France) - 13 Flies on Bloodstained Velvet (2024)

We talk a lot about music subgenre around here. Grindcore, powerviolence, noisegrind, goregrind, fastcore, mincecore... Infinite gradations between the basic constituent parts of metal, punk and noise music. Recontextualized through time, location, means, intent, etc. to create differences that wholly change the finished work. Film subgenres work in the same way. First, grabbing pieces from several different larger genres. Then filtering them through context (time period, country, politics, popular culture, film trends, budget, artistic inte…

Suppression (USA) - Spiritual Sepsis (2024)

The bass guitar is the black sheep of the standard rock band configuration. It’s a well-worn saw among rock musicians that the bass exists simply to fill in the audible frequencies not covered by the rest of the band. Bass is considered simple enough that anyone with a shred of musical acumen can pick it up in a pinch. However, some musicians take its black sheep status as a challenge. Groups like Primus invert the usual bass/electric guitar dynamic, with Les Claypool’s lead bass augmented by Larry LaLonde’s adventurous guitar work. In extre…

Holy Grinder (Canada) - 10 Desecrations (2024)

For some bands, a signature sound is a curse. The Ramones never shook the "every song sounds the same" accusations, despite making a record with 60s Wall of Sound pop producer/murderer Phil Spector or making a mid-80s hardcore album. Neil Young famously waged war on Geffen Records in the 80s by releasing an electronic, vocoder-heavy experimental rock album followed by a 50s-throwback rock 'n' roll album after pressure from the label to imitate his previous successes. For Holy Grinder, however, their distinctive sound is a s…

Caca de Luna (Germany) - Sedition (2024)

Visual aesthetics are an oft-overlooked aspect of the music appraisal process. It’s about the music , right? But the art associated with an album, along with its title, are the first clues to a record’s theming and tone, and both help turn a collection of songs into a conceptual whole. Great album art makes you want to check out a record. Even atrocious art can pique one’s curiosity. Mediocre art, however, is the worst offender. It can be like active camouflage in a record store bin, causing the eye to ricochet off it to a more visually stim…

Durian (USA) / Kandarivas (Japan) - Split (2024)

Among grindcore’s many traditions, the split 7” is one of its most beloved, and for good reason. Sure, bands in most punk subgenres release splits. But none are as uniquely suited to the brevity of the medium as grind. Within the ~5 minute per side limit, a grindcore band can fit an EP’s worth of material. This means that 7” records offer a condensed showcase for bands at a low price point. For this reason, they’re a great place for an established band to give a shot to a lesser-known group, or for two like-minded bands at the top of their g…