Tag: grindcore

REVIEW: Pencil Lead Syringe – The Agua Mansa Massacre EP (2006)

SoCal trio Pencil Lead Syringe’s 2006 EP The Agua Mansa Massacre is a near 12 minute exploration of the intersection of Brutal Death Metal and scatter shot Grindcore. Lead vocalist Ramon Mercado’s pig squelched vocals don’t let a single word escape the noise, but it works. Agua Mansa is a completely percussive and textural album, with exception to the surprisingly melancholic lead out on closing track Buy Me Bonestorm (an early indication of the band’s penchant for referencing The Simpsons).

Pulling double duty tracking both guitar and bass, fretted string striker Chris Phillipsen creates brutal crunching riffs across all 6 tracks. But it’s when Phillipsen breaks away from conventional metal intonation that The Agua Mansa Massacre really stands out. It’s this willingness to get just a little weird that helps engage the listener and let’s Pencil Lead Syringe get out of the dog pile that is Metal’s ‘brutality’ pissing contest.

Balanced with David Gloria’s frenzied percussive attacks, Pencil Lead Syringe’s unique blend of brutality and weirdness is a gratifying installment in the mid-naughts Metal scene.

For fans of: Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Exhumed, Self-Deconstruction

Like Pencil Lead Syringe? Give these a listen: Gimli, Son of Glóin, Gets Worse, Exit 13

REVIEW: Self Deconstruction – Virtue (2014)

This post originally appeared on the 10th Dentist blog on Friday, February 5th, 2021.

Japan has been the new frontier for Western metal audiences looking for something fresh.

Self Deconstruction’s chaotic punk microclipses and occasional 3/4 timing may bring a hint of familiarity for Rudimentary Peni fans, but its ultimate grindcore sensibilities make this a strong contender for any metal fan’s music collection.

Virtue presents a fully formed idea without succumbing to overindulgence. Each motif is given an equal sliver of time to present itself and exit stage left. This not even 5-minute album of near pure-aggression presents itself like a frenzied attack from a monster coming out of the bushes, rather than the hellscaped demonic journey common among American and European bands.

A distinction should be made to separate the term ‘raw’ from the often synonymously used (but quite different) ‘shitty’ sound worshiped among metal heads, edge lords, and the uninformed alike. No, this album is raw, and it serves its frenzied nature well. Well mixed, well recorded, Virtue’s fanciest production trick is its use of occasionally panned vocals. This album brings back memories of seeing south-eastern weirdo power-violence and grindcore bands in North Carolina, or of hearing Minor Threat 7”s, early Pig Destroyer, or Bad Brain’s Black Dot album for the first time.

For fans of: Pig Destroyer, Rudimentary Peni, Sete Star Sept

Like Self Deconstruction? Give these a listen: Ents, Flagitious Idiosyncrasy in the Dilapidation,Cheap Art

Want more Self Deconstruction? Check out this interview at Lixiviat Records!