Despise You / Agoraphobic Nosebleed - "And On And On..." (2011) [Relapse Records]

Grind and more grind. Safely put, there is no shortage of grind on the newest offering from both Despise You and Agoraphobic Nosebleed. Both are nasty and hostile as can be, as listeners of grindcore can expect. Grind is not known for beauty or even technical ability. Its much more of a hybrid of hardcore punk and death metal, with more emphasis on intensity than ability. There are plenty of bands who pull the tech-grind card and do it well, but its more of an atypical sort of sound for grind.

Despise You; very adherent to the old guard of grindcore. Punishing riffs, blasting drums, screamed hardcore-ish vocals and incredibly short songs. Again, more emphasis on intensity than technicality. The Despise You half of the split is very much like an old-school hardcore record played at 1000 miles per hour. Political and rebellious lyrical content is abound on their half of the record. Confrontational as can possibly be, both in sound and ideals. This will tear your head off. 

Agoraphobic Nosebleed; legendary drum-machine fueled grind insanity. AN is nowhere as straight forward as Despise You. AN mix thrash, doom and punk into their furious brew of grindcore. Some ripping soloing, courtesy of the master - Scott Hull, can be found as well. Experimental grind? I would not know what else to describe AN as, especially considering the amount of technical dexterity on their work. Angry? Yes. Furious? Yes. Going to convert non-grindcore listeners? Probably not. Brutal, memorable and awesome nonetheless.

Not for those who have yet to find their taste for grindcore. For grind freaks, like myself, this album will deliver in full.


-E.