the punk/core/crust/grind/death has arrived: All Pigs Must Die, Armed for Apocalypse, Centuries, Honduran, Mammoth Grinder, Quest of Aidance, Squash Bowels, Ramming Speed

These bands do not sound alike! They all have their sound. The reason they are all congregated here is because they have an obnoxious punk attitude. Some are grind, some crust, some hardcore, some a bit more thrashy, and some just don't give a flying flip about any genres and simply play loud.

Let's get to the details!

All Pigs Must Die (U.S.): "Nothing Violates This Nature"

(pic by Reid Haithcock]

With a name like that, this band better be as aromatic as a garbage dump and they better be abrasive. Sure thing, it's the type of punk in the neighborhood of grind, crust, death metal, hardcore and bags of garbage. They can blast and do so, but blasting is not the only thing they do. Just FYI, the blasting sounds so awesome!

They sometimes they slow down for some super heavy passages of sludge doom shoe/blackgaze drone. The guitar can sound metallic or punk-ish in a black metal-ish way or sort of hardcore in a metal-ish way or metal-ish in a hardcore manner...forget it, it's fierce, and I like it because of that.

Here's a little homework for you: when you find out who is in this band, you will know why they sound so experienced at playing stinking, rotting punk. That's because these people know.

www.facebook.com/apmdband

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Armed for Apocalypse: "The Road Will End"

What a filthy doom stoner punk crust whatever mix Armed for Apocalypse is! The screamer is painful furious anguish, kind of taking the time to enunciate-growl slowly the things that the band won't stop yelling about. This music appears to hate beyond hate all the "modern" hi-tech "perfect" recordings! It is raw, dirty, like a heavy garage growl punk just dooming and droning and sludging all the way to California and back...or Mars or wherever they got this cool sound from.

They even add a bit of melody, like on "The Well," but the sludge is so heavy that you won't even notice how sensible some of this segments are. You want nasty and heavy? Come and get it here. Please do not shower for a week before you come here because this band will notice the smell of clean and they won't like it. The last time they showered was back in 2005, and that was by accident.

www.facebook.com/armedforapocalypse

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Centuries (U.S.): "Taedium Vitae"

Ha ha, this is a "hardcore" band? I have no idea what "hardcore" is! The vocalist is a raspy, growling (not too distant from black metal, actually) lunatic, and the guitar work is this ultra heavy, windows-rattling sound, in the shoegaze-drone-doom-punk (what?!) played fast and loud (that's what's important).

What is really crucial here is the massive-aggressive sound, both heavy and fast at the same time, huge, big guitar sound and the energy of a band just being as honest as they can.

Don't try to avoid banging your head or nodding along or otherwise moving to the music because you will fail.

Overall, the charm of Centuries is the fact that they play an uptempo style of "hardcore" that even people who don't like "hardcore" will enjoy once they listen to this energetic performance. I'm not expert on "hardcore," but I don't think that that label is very appropriate for Centuries! But what do I know! Anyway, this sounds more like d-beat or crust punk, because of the speed, and they have an extra something different that makes it not really fit into any stupid box. It's familiar, yet different, to me.

www.facebook.com/centuriesfl

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Honduran (U.S.): "Street Eagles"

These Portland bums roar, scream, blast and rampage through their album. The growling and shrieking will make you think back to a happier time when you could throw a temper tantrum and nobody cared, they would just let you twist and scream on the floor until you got it out of your system.

Blasting sometimes, sludgy sometimes, metal at times, punk all the way, and 500% mutant rock. Just don't ask them what they genre they belong to because they are from Portland and bands like this will throw tomatoes at you for worrying about the genre. Just get in the pit or grab a beer or some orange juice and chill, what do they care.

Tons of heavy. Boatloads of abrasive. Genuine. Oh, and they have a song called "Hiding from the Idiots"! Yes!

www.facebook.com/honduran

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Mammoth Grinder (U.S.): "Underworlds"

Mammoth Grinder is definitely way more straightforward death metal/grind/crust. They have these brief guitar solos and a wonderful guitar tone that is both catchy and filthy. Mammoth Grinder writes songs that are more direct and to the point, and easier to remember. The more linear approach works wonders for the band. The on-point performance shines through big time. Mammoth Grinder is professional stuff. The drumming is the heartbeat of this band, and it centers the metallic riffing. By the way, this guitar is deceptively easy: heavy, metallic and punk, but memorable in a strong way.

So, you do not know Mammoth Grinder? I did not until now, either. What a professional performance they have delivered here.

Recommended for those into filthy punk/crust and rotting death metal. If you say that Mammoth Grinder is a death metal band, you are right, like old school death metal by people who hate the state of "modern" death metal.

Very well done. You might hear a bit of early Entombed here, and that's not so bad, now is it?

www.www.facebook.com/MammothGrinder

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Quest of Aidance (Sweden): "Misanthropic Propaganda"

What is melodic, tech grind?

I don't know, either!

To educate my ignorant self I listened to Quest of Aidance and I think I know a little bit better now.

Here is the deal: the production is very hi-tech with robotized-precision drumming that sounds like a machine blasting away; there are keyboards here, yes, keyboards and that will melt your brain. The vocal seem to be pretty much just growl-every-minute-of-the-day style. The vocalist here appears to be one ex-Scar Symmetry singer Christian, but these vocals sound different, so you can check for yourself what the deal is.

Quest of Aidance might sound a bit like blasting, melodic symphonic black metal, in some places.

Quest of Aidance is a very digital, computerized form of blasting metal, and do not fit in this review section, but now that they are here, I might as well tell you about it.

Hey, it's Wednesday, relax, the weekend is in sight. Quest of Aidance is not punk, not grind, but whatever. It's blasting, but the attitude is "modern metal."

www.facebook.com/questofaidance

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Squash Bowels (Poland): "Grindcoholism"

Just like Squash Bowels, I'm going to make it short and direct. Guttural growling, screaming, a low tuned guitar tone, and blasting like today is the last day that blasting will exist. No-nonsense, no-time-wasting grinding. Not as filthy as crust, but fast and brutal all the same, in a "modern" death metal and grind style. This band is not kidding around with their grind. Total grind freaks they are, to total grind freaks they will appeal. Roarrrrr! Grrrrrrr! Aarrggg!!!

www.facebook.com/squashgrind

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Ramming Speed (U.S.): "Doomed to Destroy, Destined to Die"

Oh, no, wait! I'm done yet! I have one more band to tell you about! Ramming Speed is a thrash/punk band. The vocals are growled and screamed. More than anything, Ramming Speed is fun. The riffing is a bit of party-thrash. They do a bit of blasting in certain places, but they have a good time all of the time. No big agenda, just a band that wants to thrash, drink some beer (or orange juice), and gang-shout their way across the country playing their thrash until everybody goes home tired and sweaty. They might want you to think they are a bunch of morons, but they play their thrash seriously!

Fans of the crossover thrash/punk sound will like Ramming Speed a whole lot!! Get in the pit right now!

www.prostheticrecords.com