One On One With The GRIM 1

I grew up a thrash obsessed teenager. I lived in the early 2000s like it was 1986. Metallica led to Megadeth, who led to Slayer, who led to Possessed. Then Testament and Exodus, and across the ocean to Kreator, Destruction, and Sodom in Germany, down to Brazil with Sepultura and Sarcofago, and east into Japan with the mighty Sabbat. Each band seemed faster and crazier than the last. Riffs and speed became like a drug, and I needed more. Soon, I came upon the fastest one of them all, the L.A. Caffeine Machine, Dark Angel, who I still consider the speed kings of eighties thrash metal. A band that once clocked in 246 riffs on a single album, more than most bands conjure up in their entire career. Whose drummer, the Gene "the atomic clock" Hoglan, did the impossible task of playing faster than Slayer's Dave Lombardo, and made it sound easy. Dark Angel's landmark 1986 album  Darkness Descends  changed the game with what could be accomplished in terms of musical speed

The daily grind of death continues with Tomb Warden. These grindcore maniacs from Virginia released a split this week with Canada's Flash Out.  Clocking in at only ten minutes, this split is a fast and furious banger of death metal D-beats, guttural filth, and of course, a barrage of blasting.  Fans of early DEATH albums, classic Swedish death metal like Nihilist, and the speedy bombardment of extreme noise pioneers like Carcass, Terrorize and Napalm Death will dig these Wardens of the GRIND.  Listen below if you dare! Split w/ Flash Out by Tomb Warden . I'm always curious to learn what makes metal musicians tick, especially when it comes to the twisted style of music that is grindcore, so I interrogated Tomb Warden's Tommy (guitars), John (vokills) and Paul (drums and vokills) about their latest assault.  How did your alliance with Flash Out cum to fruition? TOMMY: It’s all thanks to that documentary Slave to the Grind actually.

Of all the regional flavors of heavy metal, particularly the extreme variety, Finland has a  special weirdness unlike any other on earth. The tiny country boasts of the highest number of metal bands per capita -  53.5  metal bands per  100,000 people. Every Finnish band I've listened has their own quirky twist.  So, here we have yet another lo-fi gem from the land of 1,000 lakes, Major Mistake.  These punks blasted off in 2019 with two filthy, low-budget demos, now available in the Foul Foundations compilation, via Dismal Fate recordings . Major Mistake immediately reminded me of a crust punk version of Entombed. The growls are reminiscent of LG Petrov, and they possess that sweet, down tuned chainsaw guitar tone, a characteristic of classic Swedish death metal. However, that's where the familiarity ends. Major Mistake possess the speed and brevity of grindcore, and generous servings of Motorhead-inspired D-beats, but just when you think you have it figured out, they

Photo by Derek Carr Kayla Dixon is a true triple threat. As the mouthpiece of doom veterans Witch Mountain and Dress the Dead, she commands a powerful voice that is both sultry and sinister. And when she's not on stage rocking out with her bands, she's still on stage, performing as a professional actor and a dancer. It's my grim pleasure to share this interview with Kayla Dixon, a renaissance rocker and a fiery front woman, on the eve of Witch Mountain's tour with Corrosion of Conformity this September. HELL-O Kayla! How's life? Life is fantastic, thanks for asking!  You've got an upcoming tour with Corrosion of Conformity in September. What can headbangers expect to experience when they see you on the road?  They can expect to have their souls snatched, haha. No but seriously, Witch Mountain has always been the kind of band to pummel people with heavy doom riffs and insane solos so expect nothing less than the usual.   For longer tours where you

What's that smell? The one you recognize right away, but can't put your finger on? The allure of old perform, with a touch of moth balls. It's the unmistakable fragrance of  PYRUS   CALLERYANA , a burlesque troupe from Grand Rapids, MI.   Imagine if John Waters tumbled down the rabbit hole instead of Alice, into a wonderland also inhabited by Franz Kafka, and they sipped on psilocybin tea together and watched  Showgirls.  That comes close to describing  Pyrus   Calleryana 's delectable flavor of weirdness, like boardwalk funnel cake served with an extra generous sprinkling of fairy dust. Fun fact: these weirdoes derive their name from the species of flora, whose distinct aroma earned its moniker "the cum tree." True to their name,  Pyrus  Callerina is an immersive exaltation of the outer limits, where beautiful nude bodies intersect with insect extremities, with the endearing campiness of a low budget horror movie VHS. Thoughtful but trashy, in the best

I often lambaste the stoner metal genre for being derivative, lacking in the riff department, and just plain boring. And yet, in spite of my preconceived judgement, sometimes there comes along a band....that completely validates my assessment. The offenders in this case is Lost Orb, whose 17-minute magnum opus  Low Ebb's Lament  boasts of a compelling backstory, super heavy production and an impressive personnel of musicians, all of which should have set them up for a more favorable review. Before I go throw the whole box of Franzia at Lost Orb, let's examine the pieces here.  Lost Orb is the project of Chris West, also of fabulously-named psych rock groups Stubb, Trippy Wicked & The Cosmic Children Of Knight, and Landskap. This song was written and recorded around 2012-13, right before Mr. West took a hiatus due to mental health issues. Criticism aside, I'm glad he's in a better place, and this recording will see a proper cassette tape release via Giganto Records