We've moved...

I know my last post made it seem like it might be the end. Well, it is. New blog is at the location below. All of the free music and snark that you've come to expect from Grammarcore only now with more other stuff.

Now Seitan Makes Your Rules!

The Future

As you may well be aware, in the wake of the Megaupload take down, the majority of file hosting sites (like Mediafire, my preferred site) are removing infringing content, blocking US IP addresses, only allowing downloads of files you have uploaded personally and more. Right now it seems that the majority of albums I have posted on here are still up. I'm hoping the reason for this is that much of what I post here is non-RIAA affiliated, so they have no goddamn business demanding demanding Mediafire take down copyrighted content that is not theirs. We'll see how everything shakes out, but right now it seems that a number of my favorite blogs are closing their doors. I'm not planning on stopping, especially since all of the links I provide are taken from other sites and I'm not really in danger as a I haven't uploaded anything to a file hosting site. It may be that I'll just have to start linking to albums in Spotify or something of the sort, but we'll soldier on, just give me a little time to figure out what to do next. As always, if you have any suggestions, leave 'em in the Cbox.

Riddle of Steel- Got This Feelin' (2005)

I remember hearing great things about Riddle of Steel when this came out in 2005. In fact, it was seemingly everywhere, Robotic Empire even put out the vinyl. For some reason I never got around to checking it out. It wasn't until Riddle of Steel guitarist/vocalist Andrew Elstner joined Torche last year and people started talking about them again that I remembered to give this album a listen. Turns out I'm a fucking moron, because Got This Feelin' is an absolutely incredible power pop album and had I known I would have been listening to the shit out of this for the last six years. This is absolutely essential if you're a fan of Weezer, Criteria, The Presidents of the United States of America, Foo Fighters or even Torche as it does get a little heavy now and again. Ridiculously catchy. Crazy awesome bass lines. Get it.

Riddle of Steel on last.fm



Get it here.

Whores- Ruiner (2012)

Huzzah! First release of 2012 to be posted on the blog. I'm in the middle of listening to this for the first time so I don't really have a long-winded description for you. Whores play Melvins and 90's Am-Rep inspired sludge. It's pretty gnarly.

*Edit* Shit. There's a little glitch in the 4th song. I'll post a new link when I find a copy that isn't corrupted, thus far I have only been able to find it one place.  



Get it here (direct link).

HOLY SHIT THIS IS GREAT

Check out the video for "Slander" off of the new(ish) Trash Talk EP.



While you're at it get the EP here.

2011 Year In Review AKA Death Metal Rides Again

I would say that 2011 was an especially awesome year for music, but really every year is an especially awesome year for music. I can't remember a single year in recent memory where I haven't looked back on what came out in the previous twelve months and marveled at the number of truly great albums. One thing that will definitely stick with me about 2011 though, is the number of excellent death metal albums released this year. I can't explain it, but for some reason death metal gems were being cranked out like it was the early 90's again and I like it. A lot.

I would have to spend months on this list to narrow it down to a Top 10 or to even rank the albums. So here's a semi-organized list of awesome shit. If you want anything on my list I haven't posted already, leave a comment.

Album of the Year: (Yeah, I know I said no ranking) Mitochondrion- Parasignosis
I don't know why I haven't got around to making a post about this yet, but when I do the post will definitely be of the longer variety. According to Last.fm I first listened to this album on January 14th. I was so blown away that, when it was over, I put on a pair of headphones and listened to it again. And then I listened to it again. 14 days into the year I knew I was listening to the album of the year. In December 2019 when I'm making a list of albums of the decade, I fully expect this to be on there. Mitochondrion play awe-inspiring, challenging and horrifying death/black metal. Absolutely incredible.

Cream of the Crop (Things that might make it into my Top 10, if I had the effort in me)

Flourishing- The Sum of All Fossils. Post here.
Totally out-there death grind, with elements of noise rock. Rips like nobody's business. Really this is probably tied with Mitochondrion for my favorite album of the year. The more I listen to it the closer to creeps to drawing even, I just haven't spent enough time with it yet.

Absu- Abzu.
Haven't got around to posting this one either, but I've promised a few people I will, so soon. Blazingly fast thrash/black metal. With each release Proscriptor demonstrates why he's pretty much the best drummer in the business. Watching this guy play for two straight hours at the show James, Ruben and I went to left me speechless.

Battles- Gloss Drop. Post here.
I know this one didn't grab a lot of people like Mirrored did, but I loved it. "Ice Cream" is probably my favorite song of the year, even if they did kinda ruin it by using it in a FIFA soccer commercial.

The Beastie Boys- Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
What the fuck? The Beastie Boys put out their best album since the late 90's and I don't think I've discussed it all year. Why do you even read this blog? 

Disma- Towards The Megalith Post here.
Absolutely crushing death metal with Craig Pilliard, formerly of Incantation. Not surprisingly it sounds like Incantation and fucking slays.

Trap Them- Darker Handcraft
Heard this one in January, not sure how I haven't posted it yet. Truly great Converge-esque hardcore with Entombed's guitar tone that somehow manages to be catchy. 

Barghest- Barghest Post here.
No frills black metal from Louisiana, with Matt from Thou on guitar. Some of the most epic riffs I've heard this side of Weakling.

Loss- Despond Post here.
Epic and beautiful funeral doom.

The Atlas Moth- An Ache For The Distance
 Another album I haven't posted yet. Awesome, sludgy and progressive stoner/doom.

Indian- Guiltless Post here.
Filthy blackened sludge with absolutely scathing vocals.

Maritime- Human Hearts Post here.
More incredibly catchy indie-pop from ex-Promise Ringer Davey von Bohlen.

Krallice- Diotima
A par for the course Krallice album, however par for the course Krallice is absolutely amazing. I mean, come on, it's a black metal band with Mick Barr and Colin Marston, how could it possibly suck?

Gigan- Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes Post here.
Fucking insane technical death metal, a genre which I generally loathe.

Futur Skullz- Futur Skullz
Punk as fuck metal with Josh Smith of Weakling/The Fucking Champs.

Midnight- Satanic Royalty Post here.
Another batch of sleazy blackened thrash by Athenar. He really stepped up the Motorhead worship on this album, very nice.

Oranssi Pazuzu- Kosmonumnet Post here.
Blackened surf rock? I guess. Incredibly hard to pin down album, but ranks with Flourishing for most unique album of the year.

Cannabis Corpse- Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise Post here.
Andy and the boys really hit it out of the park with this album, what a fucking beast of an album. Andy and Nick left the band a few weeks ago, so my days of listening to Cannabis Corpse might be nearing an end with just the Hall brothers at the helm, but we'll see.

Maruta- Forward Into Regression
Another not-yet-posted. This was the only grind album I heard this year that I really liked. Maybe it was the only grind album I heard? I think I need to try harder. 

Psudoku- Space Grind
I lied in the above post. I also heard this grind album, another one man project from the weirdo from Parliamentarisk Sodomi. Space Grind might be the most accurate album title ever.

Things that ruled that probably would have just missed the cut on a Top X-number List:
Miasmal- Miasmal Post here.
Cave In- White Silence Post here.
Mars Red Sky- Mars Red Sky Post here.
Young Widows- In And Out Of Youth And Lightness Post here.
Algernon Cadwallader- Parrot Flies Post here.
Wizard Smoke- The Speed Of Smoke Post here. 
The Osedax- Delayed Response
Batillus- Furnace
Blut Aus Nord- 777 Sects
Pneu- Highway To Health Post here.
J. Mascis- Several Shades Of Why Post here.

Shitty things that everyone on the internet went nuts over, but in reality completely sucked:
Yob- Atma
Revocation- Whatever that album was called

So that's it. There's a lot of stuff I really haven't spent enough time with that will find it's way onto a "Retroactive Best Of 2011 List," but do you think I missed anything? Anything on my list that you thought blew? Leave a comment in the C-box (you know, that thing over there ---> that you never use).

Things I'm looking forward to in 2012:

Gilead Media Fest
Nile
Gorguts
The Helio Sequence
John K. Samson
Pig Destroyer
Converge
Auroboros
Thou
Tragedy
Earth
Portal

Yeah, but I'm kinda diggin' it.

Step 1: Play the below video.



Step 2: Mute this video, then press play. Watch.



Step 3: Repeat.

Disma- The Manifestation EP (2011)

New(ish) two track EP from death metal masters Disma. The more I listen to it, the more I'm convinced that their album Towards The Megalith is one of the best death metal albums ever. Yeah, ever. Not just in the last few years or the last decade, but ever. These two tracks hang with anything off of Towards The Megalith. This was only released as a 7", so the link below is to a vinyl rip. It's a little noisy, but not too bad.

The blog will probably be slowing down a bit (yeah, I know, how much slower could it get?) for the last couple weeks of the year as I'm putting together a year in review for 2011. I've also got a few new ideas to generate content that I'll roll out next year.

Disma on last.fm

The entire EP on YouTube:


Get it here.

Graveyard- Hisingen Blues (2011)

Tip of the hat to Black Metal Bobby for the recommendation on this one. A lot of bands have been going for a throwback "classic rock" sound in recent years. Some of them do it pretty well. The Black Angels modern take on the 13th Floor Elevators' psychedelic sound has produced some of my favorite albums of the past decade. Black Mountain also does a nice job with a variety of different classic rock sounds (I posted their most recent album back in April), particularly with their more Zepplin and Sabbath-esque tracks. Unfortunately for Black Mountain, Sweden's Graveyard may have made them irrelevant in my mind. Graveyard's brand of heavy blues harkens back to...well... Led Zeppelin. Most of you know I have a love/hate relationship with Led Zeppelin and publicly I profess a lot more hate than I do when listening to them privately. Their lifting of riffs and entire tracks from blues musicians and traditional blues songs without attribution, responsibility for the bullshit self-aggrandizing rock star posturing that continues to this day and generally shitty attitudes  make it difficult for me to simply enjoy the music. Anyway, Graveyard remind me quite a bit of Led Zeppelin at their best. I'd throw Deep Purple, Hendrix and bit of Sabbathian heaviness into the mix as well. The vocals are particularly strong, channeling Robert Plant at times. "Hisingen Blues" might be my favorite blues song ever, lyrically at least, with its nod to the Swedish black metal scene.

It's not the most original thing you'll ever hear, but it goddamn rocks and that should be good enough for you.

Graveyard on last.fm



Get it here.

Void Meditation Cult- Sulfurous Prayers (2011)

I really enjoyed the Sperm Of The Antichrist demo that I came across a few years ago, so when I heard a track on a Hells Headbangers Records compilation that sounded exactly like Sperm Of The Antichrist I was intrigued. Turns out they changed their name to Void Meditation Cult and are currently working on material for a full length. Sweet!

Not sure which (if any) of you this will appeal to, but having grown up a punk rock kid who dabbled in crust, I've always had an affinity for the ugly and grimy in music. The first time I heard Mental Funeral by Autopsy I remember thinking to myself something along the lines of "Fuck yeah! This is exactly what I'm looking for!" Void Meditation Cult definitely have a bit of an Autopsy vibe, playing ugly, primitive...ummm... deathened black/doom?....doomed black/death?...blackened black/death/doom/black?....whatever, none of you are going to enjoy this.

Void Meditation Cult on last.fm


Get it here.
*Bonus* Sperm Of The Antichrist- Blight And Darkness