DISASSOCIATE.

Here's a little something to get your fat ass off the couch to get ready to go back to work tomorrow morning. How about some seriously scary / real Brooklyn grind-hardcore!

None of that fixie-riding / ironic beard / women's jeans / one-man black metal bullshit. This is like "getting dusted" at some party a friend-of-a-friend "invited" you to in a strange part of town (filled with creepy people), and then not knowing who/what/when/where, etc. for the next 12 hours.

They were huge in Japan, and played w/ all the great Far East grinders, but you missed them 'cuz that fat girl w/ the white sunglasses & bitch boots (who turned you gay) "didn't like that kind of noise".

You fuckin' puss.



Disassociate - Controlled Power

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ABSCESS.

Old-school death metal with a brutal groove…

Chris Reifert is a master of the death metal arts.
A frenetic master skin-beater who has also done time in Autopsy & Death - no joke, son!
Hoarsing-his-throat-the-fuck-out simultaneously is what he does best.

Bower & Corrales have always been a lethal duo in the six-string motherfucker department, yet they hardly get any notice in the press. So under the radar…

I can easily listen to these guy at 7am on a Monday morning sitting in my car, "tuning up" for another shitty day in "The Tombs", er, "work".
It fits well in my collection right alongside Obituary, EyeHateGod, The Accüsed.

It works for me is what I'm sayin'...



Abscess - Damned and Mummified

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HYPOCRISY.

Brutally heavy & sinfully harmonious at the same time?
It must be Sweden's Hypocrisy we're talking about.

There's a few different versions of this band sound-wise, and while I dig the early satanic-leaning material, this record sounds fucking HUGE.
The drums on this underrated release are standout for sure; the battery is relentless, the vocals top-notch, the riffs keep coming, & the leads "take you there".

Melodic Death Metal hardly gets my blood boiling - in fact, I am usually a non-fan of it - but Hypocrisy has always brought something heavier & deeper - the mix is always spot-fucking on w/ these dudes as well.

If you missed this, check it out.
There is a cold blackness about this that is refreshing without being cliche'.



Hypocrisy - A Taste of Extreme Divinity

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DARKSIDE NYC.

Sometimes you just truly don't give a fuck.

When I get that feelin' - today kind of sucked a giant bag of herpetic dicks - it is not uncommon for me to bust out some burly-ass / tough-guy / circle-pit-inducing / thick-necked / thrashy / thug-core to mellow my "amped-the-fuck-up" self back down to a tolerable level.

Sometimes I add beer to the equation as well, but enough about me & my world, right?

Darkside NYC has been pummeling earlobes, craniums, & 40-ouncers for nearly 20 years on & off.
You can't pin them down to just the hardcore set either - right when you think all they got in their tank is killer heavy "chugga-chugga" breakdowns, they'll switch it up & get all "Tom G. Warrior-styled" thrashy on you!

Just go with it bro, the shit's all good...



Darkside NYC - Ambitions Make Way for Dread

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SUFFOCATION.

I love it when I dig through my archives to see if I posted a "classic album" - only to realize that I haven't - then I end up going, "How the fuck did all this time go by & I didn't post this yet!?!"…

Dark & crushing with a grip of technicality driving the brutality, this album pretty much kicked my ass the very first time I heard it.
The riffing on this record is tasty as fuck; Hobbs takes you on an unrelenting journey, while the rhythm section gives you something to hang on to.
Everybody has a favorite album by these "Strong Island" death metal merchants, and while I dig every record they've done so far, this is the one that I always turn to when I need that extra bit of juice to get my day started, etc.



Suffocation - Pierced from Within

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PULLING TEETH.

Charm City hardcore w/ a fresh and solid bent in the way they lay it down.
While these guys are a "Deathwish" band due to the association w/ said label - most of those bands on that label get/give themselves WAY too much credit - P.T. actually gets less respect than many others (who pale in comparison) in the "metalcore" genre.
They may play HC shows & such, but they play their heavy HC w/ more metal-than-'core in the mix, and they certainly know how to mesh the texture & dynamics to create a stark caterwaul of anguish whether they are doomin' it up, getting' melodic with it, spacin' out, or thrashin' their tits off!

A great bill would have been these dudes & the sadly-missed Cursed - maybe that happened, who knows?
Ignore the poorly-rendered new-jack tattoo artist covert art & let 'er rip - this one is unique & stands on its own in a genre that I find hard to back much of the time the older I get.



Pulling Teeth - Paranoid Delusions / Paradise Illusions

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C.R.

Known for being the birthplace of the Wu-Tang Clan, as well as for having the honor of also being the place where all the trash/refuse from NYC goes, Staten Island also spawned one of the true greats of the powerviolence genre - Compassionate Revolution.

While they certainly couldn't be pigeonholed within that movement, "emotional, intense" hardcore just doesn't sound right when describing their sound either. They fucking blazed ass, and made stark, gritty, violent "thinking mans" balls-out adrenalin-fueled hardcore for lack of better stereotype/term.

I'd be surprised if you never heard of them, but in the case that you haven't, do yourself a favor & check these guys out.



C.R. - Discography

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