CEPHALOCHROMOSCOPE

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…

Bronco Buster (Malaysia) - Dystopian (2024)

I’ve said this before, but I marvel at the range of sounds contained within an on-the-surface simplistic subgenre like grindcore. Bands are constantly developing new strains and cross-pollinations. It’s something I love about the style. And yet. As hybridized as it gets, the old-school sound still has an undeniable caveman appeal. However many -posts and -cores may branch off from it, we’ll always need bands like Malaysia’s Bronco Buster to keep the original flame alive. Their new LP, Dystopian , is a grind record like they used to make ‘em. 3…

Disintegration (USA) - Carbon Shadow (2022)

Graphite-Grind Disintegration are a death-grind band from deep in the heart of GWAR country, Richmond, Virginia, that play a type of grindcore that filters thrash and black metal through a crusty grindcore filter. They weaponize aggressive riffing and heavy blasting in the form of their 2022 full-length, Carbon Shadow . Since the debut of their demo in 2016, Disintegration have been fine-tuning and polishing their said metaphorical munitions, resulting in a very Assück sounding style of metallic grindcore. Although, Disinte…

Shitstorm (USA) - Only In Dade (2023)

Holy Shit Did anyone have a new Shitstorm release on their 2023 bingo card, because I sure as shit didn't. Shitstorm's Only In Dade came out of nowhere and absolutely destroyed. The album is a staticky, grime drenched onslaught of completely pissed off grindcore vengeance. Shitsorm have their grindcore roots in hardcore and thus have an unflourished purity to their grind. They don't have time to fuck around, just bludgeon. The guitar riffs slide in and out of chord changes and different levels of distortion tone li…

Closet Witch (USA) - Chiaroscuro (2023)

The Blast Witch Project I first saw Closet Witch in Dallas in 2018 and it was one of the most impressive live performances I had ever seen. What I bore witness to was a demonstration of unconditioned power and catharsis. On that tour the band was promoting their first full-length record and now, five years later, Closet Witch have followed it up with their second LP, Chiaroscuro —an appropriately titled album because Chiaroscuro is high art. Closet Witch's latest is a concoction of grindcore, chaotic hardcore and screamo …

Real Life Ugly (Texas, USA) - Manifestación (2023)

U-G-L-Y You Ain't Got No Alibi What's more exciting and appealing than professional wrestling? From Mexico's lucha libre to Canada's Hart Foundation, the cowbell kickoff of clean kayfabe competitive combat is for some the height of entertainment. It's a modern amalgam of clashing gladiators in a crowded coliseum and a Greek tragedy holding spectacle in an encircled amphitheater, brought to life in your home's living room like an in-ring telenovela. The conflict between larger than life baby-faces and sinister hee…