CD reviews special!!!

Since I've been reviewing tapes/vinyls more, I didn't want to let cds out of my blog, so here's a CD special, only cd reviews this time!

***Super Fun Happy Slide- The undislodgable nugget scenario, Bizarre Leprous 2009
I first heard the name on a forum I used to go years ago. One of them posted a link to their myspace and/or some tracks to hear, I don't remember now. I always wanted to trade with them their demo cd-r but since it was a difficult period in my life...you know how these things go, so I was still curious about them, when I saw that Roman's label, Bizarre Leprous, released them.
Super Fun Happy Slide are an Australian band from Melbourne. Australia has been known lately for many great bands like Extortion, Captain Cleanoff, Roskopp and yeah, Super Fun Happy Slide. I include them because after listening to this cd you'll agree with me that this is one of the best bands around nowadays. 19 tracks of old school grindgore madness, including a Napalm Death cover of "Retreat to nowhere". If you want something rotten, sick and fast this is for you. Fast and brain melting as the mighty Last Days Of Humanity of the "Hymns of the indigestible suppuration" era, but with a rawer "I recorded this in a toilet" sound, and some Carcass/Repulsion touches in it, and some thrashing mad solos blended in it. Even if you might think thrashing solos won't fit, believe me, they do. They actually make me think of Carcass/Repulsion. Downtuned fuzzy guitars, hyperfast drums and pitched vocals, and sometimes "clean" growls, that's their music. They manage to use well the alternation of pitch-shifted and not vocals, and that makes things interestings to my ears, because sometimes too much pitch shifter can be boring. Not many mid tempos here, this is goregrind with strong grindcore roots and just a few intros or samples taken from movies, it's pure sonic decapitation with that punkish garbage feeling. Titles are funny/splatter themed, like "Placenta on the dancefloor", "I can't believe it's not Carcass", "Let's trash metal"...
Last 3 songs were recorded live in 2008, while the others were recorded in 2007 in a reharsal room.
As you might have understood I am fucking happy of having bought this cd. And yes, it's strongly reccomended to anyone who likes it raw and fast and, quoting a sentence in the booklet of the cd "As Unholy Grave say: PLAY IT LOUD!!!", let me add "As the Noise Corner say: BUY IT NOW!!"
Super Fun Happy Slide
Bizarre Leprous

***Cacasonica/Captain 3 Leg split cd-r, Mortville recs. 2009
Got this as a reccomendation from my friend Brandy.
It was a long time I wanted to check out Cacasonica (see the interview I made with them), since I still haven't got the chance to check out their split tape with Gorgonized Dorks, while I already had the chance to check out Captain 3 Leg on their cd-r split with C.S.M.D..
Let's get to the split now. First 19 tracks are from Captain 3 Leg hailing from the USA. Some of the tracks have been registered as a trio in January 2007, and the last 3 as a duo in August 2006. The recordings differ from the kind of music. While the first 16 tracks are more grindcore/noisecore oriented the last 3 have d-beats, and crustish/scandinavian riffs. The first 16 tracks are noisegrind blasts. But it's not simple grindnoise, as there are a lot of influences. The guitars-bass are not always hearable, and has a downtuned decadent sound, reminding, like in "Psychic surgery", some goregrind bands. Vocals are most of the times pitch shifted, and I believe there's also a pitch-shifted speaking vocal. There are also intros taken from documentaries about African traditions and animals, like in "Death rattle". From songs 17 to 19 there's a change. The music gets slower and more punk/d-beat/scandicore influenced, think of a slower version of Shitlickers or Anti-Cimex with pitch-shifted vocals. Surely a radical change from the 2 recording sessions, but both are enjoyable, so they fit well. A lot of different influences here, I'm sure most of the lo-fi grind freaks will recognize the ability of these guys, since their stuff is cool and well done.
Following there's 9 tracks from Cacasonica, 4 freaks from Guayaquil, Ecuador. I've always heard good words upon them, plus a friend of mine who run(ned?) a label released a split tape featuring them and Gorgonized Dorks, so I was curious to check them out. The guys come from Ecuador's extreme music underground, notorious for its obscure and valid noisecore bands. I'm not sure the members played in bands like N.P.H., A La Patada, Mundo De Mierda but they sure know them (This was written before the interview, so I didn't know that there's a member who played in N.P.H.). They deliver a mixture of noisecore and furious hardcore with funny titles/intros. The last 2 tracks are from their split with their friends Colico. Their sound is really interesting and well recorded, and sometimes, especially in "Pies suicos con leche", the guitar sound reminds me of Los Crudos, with the vocals being harsher and chaotic, mixing the best of 80s hardcore with the best noisecore, resulting in something you can't dislike if you like both genres. Latino noisecore, andale!!
It's a cool release to get if you want my opinion, I would definitely check it out if I were you.
Mortville records


***Anal Penetration/Punished Earth split cd, I Hate Humanity recs. 2008
It's been a looooong fucking long time since I was given this. And it's linked to a fun evening when Nydoom from Anal Penetration stayed at my place after playing a gig in Alessandria. He still has to come back and play Scopa (a typical italian cards game) with me and my flatmates.
Now back to this cd. It has been produced to I Hate Humanity records, ran by Geert from Faeces Eruption.
First 9 tracks are by Anal Penetration, a one-man band from Wankercity, Holland. I first listened to Anal Penetration when I was still doing "music" with Fibrosarcoma. I remember he was porn-grind oriented, and his last stuff I heard, if I remember correctly, was a early discography called "Sperm in your anus" with 2 elephants fucking on the front cover. On this release everything seems to have changed. Except the titles and the doses of laughters you get when you read the titles. No more gurgling vocals but just a plain grindcore assault with drum machine playing as fast as a Star Wars spaceship. Guitars are really crunchy if you ask me, with a really aggressive frantic sound. Vocals alternate from low to high screams, sometimes used together, and melt well with the guitar sound. Wow, this stuff is such a rush, there's no moment to take a breath from the assault, it takes no hostages, and there's no way to hide! If you like Anal Penetration you can't miss this one!
The other 9 tracks are from Punished Earth, a brutal death/grind band from Belgium. Their tracks are technical, their sound is more metal oriented. I didn't expect to find a band like this on the other side, for somewhat reason I was thinking that it was a one-man band with drum machine. Vocals alternate from guttural growls to screams, all above a thick as a brick sound of guitars, bass and drums. A lot of quotes from movies are used. Themes varies from gore to drugs and disgust for mankind. Personally I don't like this kind of sound, I'm not into this brutal death/grind mixture, so I don't really know what to say about them, and who to compare them with (sorry), but I'm pretty sure that any brutal death fan will.
You can get the cd contacting:
Anal Penetration
Punished Earth

***VA- Illegal grinding, an international grindcore gathering, Co-production 2009
Bought some copies for me and my distro from Luca Jennifer Grind records. The names on it were promising, so I thought "Why not get some?"
There are 6 bands on this release, from Europe, Asia and America.
The first band is Bloody Act Of Terror from Indonesia. I didn't know them before, so it was a nice surprise, as they play 5 tracks of a good mixture between Death metal and Grindcore. I don't like the mix of the instruments, but the result is good and powerful anyway, and it hasn't got a ton of boring technical stuff. Their sounds recall to mind some Assück, in the way guitars are distorted, in the screams, and in some mid-tempos too. Also the titles seems to have that politic/ironic feeling, but there's no lyrics in the booklet. If you like this kind of stuff check them out, I think they have the skills to make something really good, so let's keep an eye on them.
Following the Indonesians there's Goner, a grindcore duo with no bass from California. Same as Bloody Act Of Terror, I've never heard them before, plus there are not many infos about them in the booklet. They have 4 tracks on this cd, and their sound is brutal as fuck. Short songs with 2 vocals always alternating and insane drum speed, too bad the guitar's sound is a bit to low when the drums blasts. I don't know if it's one of their first recordings or not, but I would like to hear more from them.
Then it's the turn of Haemophagus, Italian horror Death/Grind trio in the vein of the Austrian masters Pungent Stench. 3 tracks for them, one of which (Grotesque laceration of mortified flesh) is a General Surgery cover, all well recorded and with a clear sound. Personally I really love their sound and their style, as they melt death metal with grindcore but with that punk feeling that makes it old school and headbangable as fuck. So be sure to check them out if you like Pungent Stench or that kind of gory death/grind.
From Italy to Turkey with Sakatat. Sakatat are a grindcore trio and they're about to tour Europe in late August/September. They are a grindcore whirlwind, fast, intense and raging. 6 tracks, with a S.O.B. (Humanity of stupidity) and a Rot (Game of hypochrisy) covers , all in less than 4 minutes. The first 2 tracks are from the upcoming split with Cut Your Throat, the other 3 from the split with Slaughter Of The Innocents. Can't wait to see them live, check them out if you don't know them yet or you will regret!
After Sakatat another band who has toured Italy some time ago, D-Compose from Amsterdam. Here they have 3 tracks, with a Ramones cover (I'm not Jesus). Honestly it's not my cup of tea, I don't really like that dissonant guitars and that polished metal-like sounds. All the songs are taken from their debut album. I liked them live because of the great energy they spread, but on cd they don't seem to get my attention and they sound like a well produced metal band. That's a matter of tastes, so give them a try if you like dissonant guitars, double vocals and brutal stuff you might like them.
Last band for this is Splattered Mermaids from Malmö, Sweden. 4 tracks of splatter brutal death metal with some grindcore touches. This stuff is the most technical on this cd, fast parts alternated with slow moshing parts and riff changes. It's surely powerful stuff and it's even listenable for me, that I'm not a fan of the genre and I get bored after a few minutes of it.
So finally you can get an idea on what's on this cd. It's a good start if you're more into metal and want to check out what grindcore is, plus, if you don't know the bands, the stuff on here is more than a good starting point, since there's a good range of different sounds/styles.
I got some copies in my distro, so you can contact me or the labels if you want to get it.
Labels involved in this:
To Live A Lie
Corrupted Harmony
Jennifer Grind
Bullshit Propaganda
Teriak
Extreme Terror
Goregeous

***Filthy Charity- Return to the bloody old vein cd-r, Self released 2008
Got this stuff directly from Dave, who was so kind to send it and to ask for a trade, thanks again bro!
I have always been curious of checking them out, because they shared a 7 Minutes Of Nausea tribute split tape with Cripple Bastards, Harsh Feelings and Grimcorpses. Being Cripple Bastards my first exposure to grindcore, all the bands I wanted to hear after the discovery of Cripple Bastards, were the ones that shared splits with them.
For those who don't know them, Filthy Charity is a French grindcore band that started in 1989 but in 1999 the band broke up, but then they decided to re-unite in 2008. They had a several demos, one of which repressed on 7'' (Disgrace of the earth), a split 7'' with S.R.M.P. on the great Psychomania records label and some appearances on some famous comps, like Son Of Bllllleeeeaaauuurrrgghhh by Slap A Ham. This stuff was recorded after their reunion. It consists of 7 tracks, and, as the title says, you'll find some ripping "old vein" grindcore on here. Tracks are all short, the longest one is 1:39 minutes long, and it's the first track. Chaotic and harsh as fuck this cd will surely appeal everyone who still likes the mighty gods of early grindcore. Distorted punk sounding guitars, harsh screams, growls and blasting drums are the main ingredients for the recipe, all mixed with a kind of various influences, especially in the guitar, that sometimes has "metal-oriented" riffs. But no technic stuff here, just pure fast raw chaos! Sometimes there's time to take a breath with some small slower parts. I can't tell you if all the songs on here are old or some are new, but for sure the last one, "Destroy!, is an old one. There are no lyrics included, but I believe the lyrics are about social/political matters. The thing I love more about this demo are the chaotic light-speed parts with that harsh vocals on it, they're simply fucking awesome and bringing to mind all that old school noisecore/grindcore we all love.
Can't wait to hear more!! Check them out if you don't know them, and get their demo off their myspace!!

***Adamennon- La cinica foresta di tetri arbusti deformi II 3'' mcd, Cynic Lab 2009
And finally it's time to review something unexpected for you readers, because this is an ambient album. Got this from Adam itself when he played a show with Akronia, another ambient project, and Choriachi, mighty stoner rock from Bologna.
First I must spend some words on the packaging. The black 3'' mcd came in 66 copies folded in a black envelope with the number of the copy written on the inside, and the cd "case" is a sheet of paper with metallic print on it and an obi strip with Cynic Lab logo sticker on it, to close the "case". It's hard to describe it, because I don't know the exact words, but I assure you it's great. On the inside there's a story of a kind of bad trip experience in a cynic forest of bleak deformed trees (that's a translation of the title "La cinica foresta...").
Now it's time for the music. I'm not a big ambient expert, so I won't make no comparisons, because I don't feel like I know the genre enough to do them, and, since it's an ambient album, I'll focus more on the images and feeling it transmits to my mind. It's a 18 minutes long track of wicked dark ambient. I would call it "minimal" because there are not many sounds involved there. It's a really obscure and wicked track, that gives you a strange feeling of anxiety by a repetition of different sounds. First there's a haunting paranormal-like effect, then something like an explosion, followed by something like a cold artic wind, with some whistle-like sounds on it, just to remember you that the crows are flying free in that forest. Then starts a flangered repeated noise so sludgy to make you think of a swamp monster's stomach aching for its hunger, followed by some clap-like background noises. Then the hunger is calmed and there's a strange haunting UFO like effect, like the first part of the track, just to make you think about that monster itself and the wind passing through the forest. The first known image that comes to my mind to describe this is actually the cover of "Altar" by SunnO))) and Boris, but without that glimpse of hope given by the light, because this track is black, monotonous and has that "bad trip" feeling that gives you the chills down the spine. It's like being trapped somewhere you can't get out of, like a cannibal movie, where you have to run not to get eaten, but set in a forest.
If you like dark ambient I'm sure enough you'll appreciate this piece of anxiety, then you'll open the beautiful packaging and you will be satisfied while playing this piece of blackness on your stereo.
Adamennon
Cynic Lab