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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DEVIATED INSTINCT.

True leaders of the pack as far as crafting the bass-heavy crust sound known as "Stenchcore", Deviated Instinct are still out there 25 years into it.
You ever wonder what you'll be doing in 25 years?
These guys are still practicing their crunchy / crusty craft, and we are all better off for it.

There are many pretenders are to throne - Deviated Instinct wrote the curriculum for how it's done properly.



Deviated Instinct - Welcome to the Orgy

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CANNIBAL CORPSE.

So here we have the first "Corpsegrinder"-fronted C.C. album, and for me, this is always a fun listen. I'm sure there's tons of "fans" out there who dig Barnes over Fisher, but I think George stepped it right up - the dude possesses a fine-tuned serrated throat-hole, for sure.

This is a heavy album full of catchy riffs, bottom-end brutality, and overall it is in-your-face with some nice thrashy bits with creepy little lead nuances form time to time. The rhythm section? Well, what can you say? They are the mainstay of the band, and for good reason - they always come correct.

Everybody has a favorite record / era of the band, and for me - this week anyways - Vile is my favorite by these "Noo Yawk" masters of death-pummel.



Cannibal Corpse - Vile

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Bonus story for you...

I once witnessed George Fisher puncture the tin lid of a Skoal can w/ two fingers on the first try after a 2001 gig here in S.F.
WTF, you say? I KNOW! Rad…