Catharsis - Passion (1999)

Band: Catharsis
Album: Passion
Year: 1999
Genre: Hardcore / Metal

Catharsis were an anarchist hardcore band from North Carolina. Heavily influenced by Integrity and Neurosis, they created this strange monster with roaring guitars, pounding rhythms, spoken word passages, and a tormented scream. All of the elements praising and adding an apocalyptic atmosphere. Maybe not the most unique, or unique at all, but it's still some good shit.

Check it

Cult Ritual - Cult Ritual (2009)

If bands that push the envelope are your sort of thing, Cult Ritual is for you. Cleverly structured riffs and sneaky noisy interludes weave this 30 minute experience. Ranging from fast and heavy d-beats to lengthy ambient passages, this album has quite an inventive take on the genre.

Enjoy!

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Karp - Self Titled LP

Genre : Noise Rock \ Post Hardcore \ Heavy Metal \ Hardcore Punk \ Sludge Metal

Year : 1997

Do you like the Melvins ? Do you worship Black Sabbath ? The in your face attitude of punk ? Follower of High On Fire ? And yet love your metal to be fun and enjoyable ? Them come, grab a chair, sit down and let's have a little chat.

This band, Karp (short for Kill All Redneck Pricks) is one of those indie, never heard of bands that is in fact a sonic sludge assault of sonic brutality , whose only aim was being serious of not being serious. They are nerds, geeks and wear it on their sleeve proudly (the album prior to this was called 'Suplex'). Above all they want to have fun (the lyrics of the 3rd track are AHHHHHHH I'M FUCKING WITH YA HEAD, I'M FUCKING WITH YA HEAD, I'M FUCKING WITH YA HEAD"), and it it is this characteristic of their music that makes them infectious. With the name of the album being "Self Titled LP", the band merged and innovated all of their eclectic influences and spawned this really enjoyable release, which in the core of the all the fun and frolic and nerdiness is actually a really good slab of well constructed metal. It ironic enough to be hip, dedicated enough to be brilliant.



The old Melvins' formula [if a riff is good enough to repeat once, it's good enough to repeat one hundred times] is adhered to, albeit in a punkish form, which in KARP's hands works pure wonders. With the record's economical thirty minute length, everything is condensed, tight and vividly succinct, and all the better for it. Eight sandpaper-raw, bulldozer-heavy and raucous tracks smash, bash, crash and burn through your right ear, and exite through your other one, but it is the impact on the pink squishy mush between those ears that is worth mentioning, leaving a permanent mark. Each piece is centered around one main riff or a riff sequence, which is then tinkered and played around with throughout the track's duration. And boy, do these fellas know their way around their riffs! They turn and twist, change tempos, build up tension, squeezing just about all they can from these chords in the time allotted, while descending into the gluey, sludgy pits of hell and then rising above to gallop through a vast, wide-open faraway.

What a friggin' ride! Get on it!

Harassor - Harassor

Genre – Raw Black Metal / Hardcore Punk

Country – U.S.A.

So GRIM OBSCURE and KVLT, that there isn't an album cover for Harassor, instead there is this

Remember Lord Foul ? A supposed "joke project" by Roach, the guitarist/vocalist for the old underground grindcore band, Son of Dog, the funny part was Kanwulf (Nargaroth) actually covered a song called "I Burn For You" in his Black Metal ist Krieg album from Lord Foul’s Killing, Raping, Burning demo.

Harassor is the project of Roach from Lord Foul along with Pete Majors and Sandor GF, so do we expect another joke over here ? No not at all or wait, Yes! A song titled She Who Makes Dogs Shiver makes you feel that this is where Lord Foul left off and Harassor picked it, but this is rather upto you how you take it, something very original and is a treat especially if you are game for some Raw Aggressive Music.

Talking about the music, it is something in between raw black metal and hardcore punk, the riffs are catchy and the production isn’t too muddy neither clean, the vocals aren’t your trademark Black Metal vocals but the vocalist maintains a raspy sound which goes very well with the music, the drumming is done exceptionally well , especially when you play Raw Black Metal, the drum production in some cases are bound to be sloppy but it is done pretty well over here, right from the intro riff in Marching Abomination to various chaotic and noisy passages this album lives upto my expectations and please don’t let the Hardcore Punk tag bother you, just get it.

Leech

G.I.S.M. - M.A.N. (Military Affairs Neurotic) (1986)

Genre: Hardcore Punk / Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) [Not Metalcore, assholes]
Country: Japan

Japan has a reputation for putting out some weird shit. Whether it's Gonin-Ish, one of those thrash metal bands who were infatuated with Nazi-ism, or the poster band for Japanese-weirdness, Sigh, G.I.S.M. combined punk music, heavy metal, and had their stints with Industrial soundscaping which was unheard of at the time.

After releasing “DETESTation” in 1984, G.I.S.M. returned with the more metallic sounding M.A.N. There are 3 things that make a G.I.S.M. release, Sakevi's vocals, Randy's guitar playing, and the album's production. Each are in top form in this release. While the production on the previous release made the guitar sound like it was channeled through a Nintendo, this album gives it new life with a proper sound. Of course, we're talking about a punk band in the 80's, this thing isn't a cleanly produced piece of art. This album has a very hallow sound. The drums and the vocals are at the head of the mix, but it sounds distant and empty as a whole. Randy's guitar is buried underneath and isn't too loud, making it a chore to pick it out and listen.

When you are able to listen to it, it's a real treat. It's almost as if he forgot he was in a punk band and was a part of an Iron Maiden tribute. Riffs whirl, solos flutter, it all just comes together in a perfect circle. It's hard to choose something as a standout example when all of the songs are of an equal quality, but if I had to, I'd say that the opener “Good as It Is” is the prime example. The vocalist, Sakevi, is also a big part to the G.I.S.M. sound. His use of harsh vocals gives the music a new, dare I say, unique sound. It's a very throaty kind of bark, something similar to what Mirai of Sigh does now, but more of a lower end. Unfortunately, I can't understand a damn thing he's saying. I don't know if it's because he is speaking in Japanese, or I suck at deciphering harsh vocalists, but I can't pick out any iconic broken english commandments. Sorry guys, no “Endless Blockades for the Pussyfooter” or “Tear there syphilitic vaginas to feecees” here!

Closing note: G.I.S.M. Were a pretty special band. At the end of the day, I feel these guys established a better bridge between punk and metal than Discharge ever could. Still, while the G.I.S.M. Discography might not be as essential as any Discharge works (at least before their Glam era), it's one of those albums that is a must listen if you have any remote interest in extreme music whatsoever.

Enjoy!

Decrepit - Tired of Licking Blood From a Spoon (1998)

Genre - Crust, Hardcore
Review - I may not be an expert on this genre but I definitely know what I like and this is admittedly a skull crushing record. Recommended to me by a fella with an arguably impeccable taste, I couldn't have gone wrong with this one. They sound pretty similar to Amebix only with deadlier and more insane vocals. The best way to describe them would be the thick chunky bass sound of Amebix with a riffing style of Discordance Axis and vocals of Discharge. This should get you all worked up.
-EyehateDoG

Mediafire

Deadguy - Fixation on a Coworker (1995)

Deadguy are an interesting beast. They're somewhat difficult to classify. The most noticeable thing on first listen is their heavy Today is the Day influence. Aesthetically they are distinctly American featuring heavy metallic guitars mixed with highly dissonant accents and harsh intense vocals. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what metalcore should sound like.


Makeshift Atomsmasher, nothing dangerous sounding about that...

In Disgust/Sidetracked - split (2007)

This is one hella tasty nugget of grind. In Disgust play a brand of grind violence immediately reminiscent of Insect Warfare. This is some brutal shit; extremely rapid changeups, heavy sludge mosh parts and blazing blast sections.

Sidetracked play an interesting youth crew influenced brand of power violence. Sidetracked's side is actually better in my opinion simply due to the fact that they play serious mind games. They'll start to settle into a stereotypical hardcore mosh riff, only to suddenly rip out a blazing blast section. They will use multiple tempo changes in a 10 second song. You never know what to expect. Crazyness. *interesting note*: none of Sidetracked's songs are scrobble-able, they're all under 30 seconds.

In Disgust/Sidetracked

Sea of Deprivation - Catharsis In Disharmony (2000)

Genre - Sludge Metal, Hardcore, Crust/Grind
Reviews - This album will possess you by its sheer power.Well to tell you the truth, this is my favourite sludge album ever. While the band buys the riffing style from black sabbath while there is lil bit of Eyehategod worship going on the riffing as well. When you listen to the vocals, you are completely in for a surprise.The vocals range from a high pitched screams and screeches to low growls on some of the tracks. The drummer goes berserk in faster passages of hardcore and crust/grind parts. An absolutely eseential stuff and good luck finding someone who is ready to trade this one.Because this is "MORE UNDERGROUND THAN CRUDE OIL".

Get it Here!