One(more) Last Final 2008 Post

The scene: an untidy bedroom, full of musical instruments and recording gear. An enormous LCD monitor dominates a black desk by the window. Sitting at the desk, typing a nonsensical comment about Sony on UKResistance is a shaven-headed chap in amusingly large flared trousers and an Arcade Fire hoodie. The camera settles in the middle of the room as the chap turns, looks surprised, and begins to speak. LORD DAVYDD GRIMM: Oh, hallo, I didn't notice you there! I was busy giggling like an idiot at a picture of a bootleg Chinese Sonic the Hedge…

One Last Final 2008 Post Part 1

So how was 2008? T'was good I guess. Especially musically. After centuries of only playing video games and watching anime, Jon Chang decided to make me a happy man once again, two times in one year. Yes, Chang and the rest of his pantheon are the gods of grind, an unstoppable force continually deconstructing all philosophical bullshitting about music and its respective purpose into a perfectly clear, primal purpose = SPEED . So... album of the year? Fuck the year. It transcends time. Our gang of three aside, here's the best post of t…

Cephalochromoscope embodied in song

So here's a holiday present for all you Discordance Axis fans! Davydd Grimm says (13:50): so, that cover... Davydd Grimm says (13:50): when are you emailing it to jon chang? Zmaj says (13:50): what cover? Zmaj says (13:50): this? Zmaj says (13:50): well, let's think about that carefully Zmaj says (13:51): I'm not sure if I want to disclose any personal information at all since he might attempt to assasinate me Davydd Grimm says (13:51): hahahahaha! Davydd Grimm says (13:52): he does own guns Rare 2008 Information Sniper Cover (Medi…

Cephalochromoscope embodied in video

Grind and loathing in Melbourne: The Agents of Abhorrence [Part I]

So finally (well, at least as far as I'm concerned), another interview on Cephalochromoscope! The Agents of Abhorrence are probably my absolute favorite when it comes to all these "new wave of powerviolence" bands. About this term, "(new wave of) powerviolence"; I wouldn't really say that it fits too well, and I use it somewhat hesitantly, but since many people like to identify bands such as Iron Lung and the Endless Blockade with the aforementioned term, I guess it's not that far off. These bands aren't th…

Grind and loathing in Melbourne: The Agents of Abhorrence [Part II]

Interview with the Agents of Abhorrence. I am bold. Zmaj: Do the Agents of Abhorrence have a specific musical objective or something similar? To be as clear as possible with this question, I'll use NOISM as an example: the objective is to produce the most technical, fastest possible stuff, which is in turn supposed to result in the ultimate aural brutality, but without going into (harsh) noise territory, so to say. I'd like to know if you guys have any compositional principles like that. For another example see the infamous first rule …

Sludge galore, Birushanah and Suma!

11-18-2008. Within their current (still on-going) Europe tour, Birushanah and Suma played at KSET (Zagreb), a student club of the best Croatian faculty/college for electrotechnics and computer science, FER (that doesn't really have much to do with anything though; a lot of stuff goes on at KSET). I was sick (still am; I think it's the flu), but I wasn't gonna miss this no matter what. Zagreb, bloody Zagreb. What kills me about trains here is how you need to transfer to a bus midway, like I'm traveling to some remote village in…

Escape from New Cephalochromoscope

Just to link to some musically related posts on other blogs (and keep a few promises). The new Muga album, "There is Nothing Eternal Exists", in all its Engrish glory, is now on Crustmas . I remember some guy asking about it in the shoutbox ages ago, but that aside I know that many Cephalochromoscope visitors love Muga. Zero linked to our Muga/Swarrrm split some time ago too, in this Crustmas post , precisely. Now, I might as well mention this if I confused some Swarrrm fans with my comments on that Crustmas post (as in, what the he…

Barack Obama (USA) - The Presidency (2008)

We're not scaremongering. This is really happening. Sorry to intrude on the musicky goodness with some reality, but am I the only one currently imbued with a faint sense of optimism? Come on, let's have a debate.

Cephalochromoscopin' 'round the world

Did you break my goddamn cephscope, Barris? So back in April I thought that people didn't appreciate Swarrrm nearly enough. I made this blog and posted a shitload of Swarrrm. Then Orfee contacted me with even more Swarrrm (and other, awesome music), and we even started a totally punk overseas collaboration, but now's not the time to be talking about that. In any case, this blog made me very happy musicwise. But the reason I'm posting this is 'cause another fine lad joined us! Namely, bullet hell loving Davydd Grimm. So yeah, Ca…

Dislike (Croatia) - Ctrl (2006)

Tracklist: 1. Way Of Slavery 2. Hypocrisy 3. Dislike 4. Gore ne Može 5. Chaos Crust 6. Silent World 7. Digital God 8. Lifeless 9. Nema Boga 10. Church 11. Ti Si Mrtav 12. Get Drunk 13. World Of Shit Total playing time 15:56 Back in 1997, Dislike played a whole different, crustier, simpler kind of grindcore. Today, they play more technical death-grind, and as far as I'm concerned, they're one of the best Croatian grindcore bands. Požega kicks ass. And I might as well mention; one of the founding members was Kukatz, only member of the qu…

Rise of the Blogging Men, Vol. 1

Buried under shitloads and shitloads of music blogs, there are some without (mp3) download links. No download links at all. Incredible! For that reason, most of these sites (that represent actual blogs, rather than mp3 archives) are not quite popular among the blogreader crowd "interested in music". Truth is, most of you just want to download crap for free. But I don't care and I wanna turn THIS blog into a more webzine-kind-of-thing. However, this post isn't about Cephalochromoscope. It's about great music-related no-mp3…

Kowloon Walled City (USA) - Turk Street EP (2008)

Tracklist: 1. Turk, Taylor, and Jones 2. My Hands Are Turning To Bricks 3. Another Corporate Takeover 4. Inheritance 5. Make Us Pay Total playing time 25:16 Your hands are turning to bricks you say? Yeah, that's how it sounds too. Kowloon Walled City sounds like every sludge band should sound. Like the Thing himself is on guitars. When attempting to describe their influences, the words of an actual bandmember are quite likely to be more accurate than my own; "detuned sludgy heaviness - Unsane, Shallow ND, Black Cobra, that kind of th…

Mercenary Cockroach (Croatia) - Steps To Nowhere Demo (2006)

Tracklist: 1. Capitalist Values 2. Steps to Nowhere 3. Age of Deception 4. No On Paper 5. 0.00 Promile Total playing time 09:26 Members of a shitload of other awesome Croatian hardcore/crust/grind bands ( "Extreme SV, Nulla Osta, Suffer, Homo Homini Lupus, Bolesno Grinje, Tutta Forza" ) decided to form another grindcore band, and this is the result. Not quite old school, or original, but it's great, ferociously heavy and angry grindcore. Something to note are the solos from the Dream Theater fan on lead guitar. Yes, a Dream Theat…

Mortalized (Japan) - Satanic Serial Murder (2004)

Tracklist: 1. A Crack in the Cataracts 2. Castration Rites 3. Destruction 4. Drowned 5. Speed Satan 6. Untitled 7. Untitled 8. Untitled 9. Untitled 10. Untitled 11. Untitled 12. Destruction (Adagio) 13. Darkside 14. Speed Satan 15. Rapture 16. Nine 17. Bound to Kill 18. Killer-3 19. Rapture and Being Broken with Fire Total playing time 20:11 While the Russian Mortalized represents your average goregrind band, the Japanese band is probably one of the most kickass deathgrind bands in existence. Unlike so many younger bands, they remember what is…

Monstres par Excès releases (noise label)

Here's some noise for a change. Thanks to Gabriele of Monstres par Excès , an Italian noise/experimental label. Cassa Ufficio Malattie Tropicali (Italy) - L'Anno dei Mongoloidi (2007) Tracklist: 01. L'Anno Dei Mongoloidi (10:23) "A 10 minutes harsh and raw live set in Shanghai, recorded by C.U.M.T. in the first days of their allegiance. With members of Lolita Vibrator Torture, Istituzioni Ambienti Naturalismo and some other slaves. Includes video footage of the live event in Shanghai!" Download (Mediafire) Istituzioni Amb…

Razlog Za (Croatia) - Boli Njih Kurac Za Nas MC (2000)

Tracklist: 1. Old Skul Stvar 2. Živiš Samo Jednom 3. Boli Njih Kurac Za Nas 4. Davidova 5. Kada Padaju Zvijezde 6. Na Kraju Priče 7. Jedinstvo, Prijateljstvo, Snaga 8. Emo Stvar Total playing time 13:49 Razloga Za is a hardcore punk band with legendary status in the Balkans, though they've split up a while ago. Probably the most famous band to come out of Kutina, Croatia, even a "Tribute to Razlog Za" compilation with bands all over the place doing covers was released recently. Their music and lyrics had a undeniable positive st…

Smetnja & Zmajevdah (Croatia) - Seiuchi / Antarctica Split (2008)

Tracklist: Smetnja 01. Seiuchi Warmaster Dušan 02. Penguins Are Not For Politics 03. Dada Submarine 04. Blue Whale Sonic Destruction Zmajevdah 05. Happy Shipyard 06. So Beautiful 07. Sea of Eden 08. Antarctica 09. Our Planet's Dream 10. Neon Sea 11. Polarity 12. Love Factory Total playing time 57:56 So I figured since it's my blog I might as well post my own stuff, Zmajevdah! C/P from myspace : Mr. Smetnja and I decided to do another split release, and obviously that's what we did. It's free for download at a pretty co…

Information Sniper - A Tribute to the Grindcore Ninja Commando Team [0001]

The following two posts are something I've wanted to do for a while, and they are what the title says they are - a tribute to Discordance Axis. The first post features a short review of "The Inalienable Dreamless", and the second lots of other stuff, more precisely random DA trivia that I couldn't find answered anywhere else and present/future bandmember project(s) info. So hopefully at least DA fans will enjoy this. [0010] - The Inalienable Dreamless [0011] - An Interview About Particularities

Information Sniper - A Tribute to the Grindcore Ninja Commando Team [0010]

This album cover is that of the best album ever. Seriously, I will not argue about that with anyone. As I have already mentioned, for the first part I wanted to do a short review kind of thing, so that's what I did, irrelevant to whether it makes any sense mentioning the sheer levels of fanboyism contained within the next few paragraphs. The Inalienable Dreamless, as I experienced it on the first listening session, was... amazing. I had either realized, or made myself believe through blastbeat-hypnosis, that I had found in this album a sor…

Information Sniper - A Tribute to the Grindcore Ninja Commando Team [0011]

Since Jon Chang is such a nice guy I got the chance to ask him a few specific TID-related questions (and a bit more) totally unexpectedly. :D There's really not too much text, but I asked some stuff that I haven't seen answered anywhere else (+ I included some scanned pics and whatnot), and I actually managed to lose my original questions so I'll have to improvise that part. Sorry lol. Alright, here goes (I'm the bold one ;)): Regarding the TID front cover and the booklet - what's the meaning of those numbers/code above the…

KIKURI [Japan] - Pulverized Purple [2008]

Few people are sane. The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville , a world-renowed "avant-garde" music festival, celebrated its 25th edition in May of this year. These few sane people know why folks like Fred Firth, Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Otomo Yoshihide and Mike Patton to name a few, feature as regulars and they knew why back in 2005, on The Boredoms 5-date north american tour, cities included Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Victoriaville. Last year on the 24th edition, on May 21st 2007, tw…

S41 - S/T [Japan]

S41 from Wakayama City play fastcore thrash power violence or something similar, nevertheless, it's all the rage with the kids right now and with good reasons. The band is mainly compromised of two individuals, Tatsuhiro Tawa on drums and Yuu Ogura on vocals and guitars. They are guest vocalists [maru & makkin] but I hardly noticed, everybody scream indeed [not that there's anything wrong with that]. I'm not sure when this was released [on MCR mind you] but it was recorded in 2003. If you like your hardcore not wasting time g…

AMTERRORXP (Canada & USA) - Audible Animism (2008)

Tracklist: 1. Absinth and 8balls 2. Systematic Solution 3. American Idle 4. Nose Trim 5. In List and Light 6. Audible Dialysis 7. Ishemic Penumbra 8. Dope 9. Battle of Droids 10. Adoption 11. Grind is Dead 12. Cactus Damnation Total playing time 06:25 Thanks to Orfee . So here's a North American grindcore duo, AMTERRORXP being the short form of 'American Terrorist Experience'. Some influences of these guys include Swarrrm, Discordance Axis, and 324 which pretty much makes the project awesome by default. This rel…

Crowpath & Swarrrm (Sweden & Japan) - Split 7'' (2007)

Tracklist: Crowpath 1. Cleansed in Chlorine 04:49 Swarrrm 2. Smallman Have Bigmouth (Venom 2) 05:24 Total playing time 10:13 For those who don't know: Crowpath is a Swedish tech-death/whatever/kickass band. An abrasive wall of (totally awesome) noise. Something to look out for is the originality of the cymbalwork by Eric Hall. Swarrrm's side sounds like Swarrrm. It's one of those songs with a crazy-Japanese-guy-screaming-and-crying part. This 7" is pretty easy to find too - directly from the Crowpath Homepage (in Sweden) or t…

V/A - Fiesta Comes Alive! (1997)

Tracklist: Lack of Interest 1. My Life 2. Social Inequality Excruciating Terror 3. Addiction Bludgeon 4. Kill God Dystopia 5. Backstabber No Comment 6. Dead Stare For Life 7. Distant 8. Lament 9. Skin Rape (Soiled By Hate) Cavity 10. Burning My Eyes Plutocracy 11. Dankstahz Discordance Axis 12. Panoptic Phobia 13. Internal Rot Agents Of Satan 14. Castigo Del Brujo The Locust 15. Emaciation Fuckers Gob 16. Colombian Necktie Enemy Soil 17. Group Think Nuclear Armed Hogs 18. Diff'rent Strokes Man Is The Bastard 19. Heretic's Fork 20. E…

Rise Above [Japan] - I Love To Relax [2001]

Japan's Rise Above second full length, put out on a 3" CD by Eclipse Records. The production on here is simply amazing, their previous full length "Sound Systematic Grind" has a clearer metallic edge, where on "I Love To Relax" it's downright brutally gritty and blown out, encompassing true punk spirit, a sense of visceral urgency. I guess their disbanding was logical, grindcore pinnacles are not acheived on a weekly basis.   Tracklist: 1. Collect 2. A.U.I. 3. Aqua 4. Relax 5. Standpoint 6. Pulse 7. Nowhere 8.…

V/A - The True Ideal Realized Through The Underground Pt. 2 [2000]

I'm posting this because I told Zmaj I had some MORTALIZED. All-in-all, save for Cave In Depth with lots of keyboards, this is pretty much a straight up deathgrind compilation featuring all japanese bands, of course, which makes it practically automatically good. Just have someone read the tracklist out loud if you're blind. These guys were serious. They probably still are. DISCLAIMER: Use SOULSEEK to find [out of print] digital audio files. We are in no way affiliated; it's just the best and easiest way. None of our old (Mediafir…

Discordance Axis & Corrupted & 324 (USA & 2X Japan) - Universal Century Series Termination Split (2001)

Tracklist: Discordance Axis 1. Ikaruga 2. Berserk Corrupted 3. Bloodscape 4. Bougyaku No Basyo 324 5. Terminal Chamber 6. Prismrider 7. Just Sit There (Crumbsuckers cover) Total playing time 28:20   ere it is, the last DA split release. And what a great one it is, with all 3 bands probably being among the best in their genres! Oh and I love the cover art. Ikaruga is a lovely seizure-inducing thrash assault. In fact, I'd call this hyper-speed thrash metal. Coupled with the video , it's the kind of thing that makes you want to …

Discordance Axis (USA) - Necropolitan 7" EP (1997)

Tracklist: 1. Drowned 2. Untitled 3. A Leaden Stride to Nowhere 4. The Inalienable Dreamless 5. Untitled Total playing time 06:56 Continuing with Discordance Axis, here's their only EP. There are some important facts to be said about this one, so let me start: - this is the only DA studio recording where Steve Procopio plays guitar (Rob Marton recorded every other release) - "Drowned" and "A Leaden Stride to Nowhere" are Rob Marton songs - this first version of "The Inalieanble Dreamless" was a Steve P…

Discordance Axis & Melt-Banana (USA & Japan) - Split 7" (1995)

Tracklist: Melt-Banana 1. Buddhism Core 2. Hangnail (Let it Go) 3. No One Wants Next One 4. Sicklist On Fire 5. One Dimensional (aka One-D, Discordance Axis cover) 6. Not D, But M, Also S Discordance Axis 7. Information Sniper 8. Amphetamine Hollow Tip 9. Tokyo 10. So Unfilial Rule (Melt-Banana cover) 11. Junk Utopia 12. Continuity Total playing time 08:35 Discordance Axis and Melt-Banana first met on a DA Japan tour around 1994 (not sure about the year), and I guess they became friends haha. A great example of this is Dave Witte who drumme…

Discordance Axis & Plutocracy (USA) - Split 7" (1995)

Tracklist: Discordance Axis 1. Alzheimer 2. Flow My Tears The Policeman Said 3. Eye Gag 4. Area Trinity 5. Integer Plutocracy 6. Feel The Wrath 7. G Of The D 8. Shorty But A Goody 9. Plutoko 10. Suckass 11. Chickenz Total playing time 08:13 The second DA split from 1995. Apparently it was supposed to be a Plutocracy & Assück split, but Assück never recorded their part so Discordance Axis jumped in. DA side features 5 kickass songs, and some of my favorites from Jouhou. Plutocracy was a great grindcore (/powerviolence?) band from Athert…

Discordance Axis & Hellchild (USA & Japan) - Split 7" (1993)

Tracklist: Hellchild 1. Caress Wounds Discordance Axis 2. Dominion 3. Hypnosis 4. Appleseed 5. Macropolitical Drama (aka Macro on later releases) Total playing time 10:21 Alright, second DA split! Both bands are incredibly awesome so obviously the split kicks ass. If you haven't heard about Hellchild - a very very heavy metal band from Tokyo. Caress Wounds is a pretty cool and relatively long (in contrast to DA tracks, 05:24) slab of slower heavy death metal. They evolved a post-thrash kinda sound on later releases. Discordance Axis is …

Discordance Axis & Capitalist Casualties (USA) - Split 7" (1994)

Tracklist: Capitalist Casualties 1. Drinking Alone 2. My Dad Kills for the USA 3. Bio-Plague 4. Dislike Discordance Axis 5. Empire 6. The Kill 7. Lathe 8. Mind Seduction Aftermath 9. Dominion 10. Macro 11. Dystopia Total playing time 09:46 OK, third DA split! Capitalist Casualties is probably my favorite powerviolence band, and I really like this split. No idea what else to say about them right now. It's awesome noisy thrash. As for the DA side - it's so horribly, horribly noisy. I love it. A great deal of the time you can barely he…

Discordance Axis & Cosmic Hurse (USA) - Dystopia / Life Burns Me Out Split 7" (1992)

Tracklist: Discordance Axis 1. Mind Seduction Aftermath 2. Hypnosis 3. Human Collateral 4. Amnesia Ceiling 5. Macro-Political Drama 6. Parliment Of Anonymity 7. Empire Cosmic Hurse 8. Turned Away 9. Makes No Sense 10. Hair 11. Close The Door 12. Life Burns Me Out 13. Various Blobs Of Noise Total playing time 11:07 The first post in a series of splits and other stuff from the (unarguably) best grindcore band ever. Which one of these two is it? Hint: 2 words, 1st one includes 'disco' and 'dance'. And yeah, once ag…