One On One With The GRIM 1

Infinite Regress by Defiled Japan's Defiled have returned with a lightning storm of technical riffs with their new album Infinite Regress . While civilization seems doomed to march toward a bleak future, these death metal veterans from the rising sun propel the genre forward with a chaotic but catchy record. Their 1984-inspired single "Masses In Chaos," for instance, balances memorable hooks with otherwise spastic compositions. The song's official music video both captures their live intensity of fretboard shredding and breakneck blast beats, with an endearingly low-budget home video aesthetic. Look for the hands coming out of the gear case, if you catch my drift. Infinite Regress  jumps all over the place. It's got discordant arpeggios, the most staccato percussion arrangement, to straight-up thrash metal beats to keep it fast and old school. Imagine a cross between Immolation and early VoiVod, and that's the territory these freaks have carved out w

Aggression. It's the driving force of Annihilator's new album  Ballistic, Sadistic. This record slices through the stratosphere with the rapacity of a heat-seeking missile. More than three decades since their groundbreaking debut album Never, Neverland,  Canada's Annihilator delivers a modern thrashing assault on their 17th studio album. Songs like "Riot" display Annihilator mastermind Jeff Waters' command of the riff, with frenetic solos and nasty rhythm chops. His vocal performance is on par with Testament's recent work, as he switches from bellowing clean vocals to growls that borderline on death metal territory. "Psycho Ward" boasts of a cynical lyrics with a tongue-in-cheek tone, not unlike Megadeth.  I spoke with Annihilator front man Jeff Waters via phone from his new home in the UK, about their new album.  Annihilator's Jeff Waters What's one of your favorite songs on the new album? Favorite song? Why, Slayer "Ra

"You son of a bitch / You killed our brother." These bitter lyrics convey the tragedy of Suicide Torment, late drummer of Ghanzi, Botswana's Overthrust. Born   Gakeitse Bothalentwa, the known as Suicide Torment  was killed in December 2018, by a reckless driver. His stage name memorialized in the title track of Overthrust's new EP. H is surviving bandmates honor this Death Metal Cowboy's life with a relentless new record, one of the finest releases of 2019. Suicide Torment by Overthrust   (In case you missed it, I conducted an email interview Overthrust vocalist and founder Vulture Thrust  last November. He fondly recalled Suicide Torment as a jokester with a voracious appetite for beer.) Suicide Torment  is a justly pummeling record, especially in the drumming department. The family legacy of Suicide Torment lives on as well. Suicide's uncle is the original Overthrust drummer, Beast Thrust, who returns to the band to deliver an armada of blast bea