iced ink - there's a bee in here

Iced Ink were an instrumental surf-jazz-metal guitar-drum-bass-percussion group from the snowy bowels of Minneapolis, MN. It spawned in 1998 when Mike (guitar) abandoned all contact with outside musicians for a few years to focus on writing music he wished he was hearing more of in the Twin Cities area that couldn't necessarily be written by just "jamming".

Let's move ahead to July of 2001: Freshly transplanted to the Twin Cities from that one famous music school in Boston full of gifted wankers, VomitGod (drums) along with his wifeperson Sara T. (percussion) were lured in by shameless Iced Ink promotional bait printed on the back of Minneapolis' premier weekly alternative news source, City Pages. He contacted Mike, and 6 months later, Joe Berkman's skillful (and very audible) bass manipulations won the Iced Ink Bassist Pageant to complete the lineup. They bought a colorful bus, were driven around by their mother and manager Reuben to perform to the delight of many screaming fans, and compelled families across the world to tune in every week for a half hour of pure watery comedy and bad lip-synching. - (cdbaby)

RIYL: fantomas, mr. bungle, john zorn

iced ink - there's a bee in here

friendly action

Action Friend's heavy debut immediately penetrates your warm, wet, sonic psyche--whether you like it or not--and that's how it is for the rest of this erratic, yet well-planned and expertly-executed sonic voyage into the genre blending, grunge-saturated, mind-fuck zone. You will either love it or hate it, but its not going to stop.

Track one, "Powerbate" instantly erupts hardcore/grunge style just long enough to get the hard head-nod rhythm going before sliding into rapid, Herman Munster-like surf for a few measures--complete with old-school hand claps--before bridging into some very stony, traditional reggae. Then, it spazzmodically returns to the original furious brain bashing. Just when you feel the rhythm and think you know where these songs are going, they make abrupt shifts in style, tone, speed, and direction.

While other fusion bands seamlessly blend in and out of various styles, Action Friend's genre-bending is much more segemented while also remaining clearly connected to what came before. It's like being thrown around on a rough carnival ride that has a few deliberately broken bolts and no restraining bar. Track three, "Decorator's Lament" evolves from a hip-swivelling ditty to a Dick Dale-like surf tune, to a brief double-bass fueled Slayer-like metal interlude, more Melvins-ish coagulated fuzz, and some of that creepily-soothing muzak stuff, before allowing all of these elements to dance in and around each other.

There are no words; only seven expertly-executed tracks of delightfully weird rhythmic concoctions--with added pummeling by Melvins' Dale Crover--that create a strong sense of deliberate madness (Razorcake.org)

Action Friend bandcamp
 

all is suffering - the past: vindictive sadisms of petty bureaucrats

.... prepare to be crippled ! 14 epic assaults of high speed violence that blast through the barriers of death, doom, crust, noise, & grind....

These guys blend Black, Grind, Crust and straight-up Metal into a bunch of different areas that make maximum use of the diversity, spitting it back out as an angry, dark, killing machine. You could play this album to any kind of extreme metal fans and Im sure they would say AIS is a band from his favorite genre, yet the group manages to keep from being saddled with the baggage that comes from making a concerted effort to be a very specific type of band....

Brittle n belittling shards of crust, grind, black metal, D-beat, doom, melody, harmony, dissonance, disease, lifeblood, chaos, confusion,clarity, calamity, pessimism, optimism, hope, anguish go knee-deep into All is Sufferings bewilderingly assaulting/assaultingly bewildering debut album, The Past: Vindictive Sadisms of Petty Bureaucrats. Not so much a bunch of wankers playing DJs on an extreme jukebox, more so the sound of seemingly disparate elements congealing into an idiosyncratic, startlingly unrecognizable/alien whole, All is Suffering keep proceedings to a stridently urgent n outta-their-heads-with-dread onrush but slip in any of the above elements to jarringly dramatic effect, thereby eluding the easy tag of crustcore by appearing a helluva lot more evolved.

.... they take some of the most creative hooks and arrangements you are ever going to hear in grindcore and fuse them onto a framework of sound that is influenced by crust, power violence, death metal, and the kitchen sink ....

It should come as no surprise to hear that some of this groups favorite bands are Bolt Thrower, Celtic Frost, Repulsion, Bestial Warlust, Discharge and Motorhead, for you've certainly got the best elements of all those unique styles. At the forefront is a vocalist that screams his head off in a style that excellently blends the best of black metal and hardcore. Behind him are musicians that deliver such intensity and precision in their performance of the passionate music that they've written ....

the Past: Vindictive Sadisms of Petty Bureaucrats

suzukiton

Suzukiton is mathy in a Keelhaul way – angular and chaotic, yet tightly focused and wound up even tighter. Some of the more abstract styles found in a band like Stinking Lizaveta are also on hand. What you won’t get with Suzukiton are vocals. The four piece is far too involved with creating organized musical chaos to bother. Besides, the 13 songs on Service Repair Handbook don’t need 'em. For fans of Keelhaul, Stinking Lizaveta, Mastodon, Dysrhythmia, Swarm of the Lotus and the like

... executing an elaborate schematic of progressive, technical musicianship and earth-shaking rock propulsion, Service Repair Handbook delivers an onslaught of anthemic, pulverizing tuneage that intersects math metal, heavy prog and stoner rock

suzuki math-metal manual

born under saturn - reflecting the beautiful design

Born Under Saturn was a highly overlooked band that was doing the grinding tech-metal thing way ahead of the masses. While most bands were more concerned with pileup singalongs, this band was doing some wild offtime shit and heavily defying what was going on at the time. The songs on this beast are constructed very well and overall this is just a blistering, heavy and technically masterful album that should appeal to fans of everything from Human Remains, The End & Dillinger Escape Plan to Creation Is Crucifixion, Deadguy & old Pg. 99

conceived beneath the ringed planet

so, you like the melvins ... ?

... then you'll prob like these two albums by core of the earth

"HEAVY is the best adjective to use…"

They are heavy. Heavy as fuck. Somewhat metal, somewhat doom, and very Melvins heavy as fuck, to be exact. ....definitely in (Melvins) Stoner Witch/YOB/Electric Wizard territory. It's not a bad place to be, even if the sound is familiar. Besides, it's all in the execution, something that Core of the Earth do well. ... tribal drumming and pummeling guitar ... slower crunch, sounding like a sort of doom-boogie .... Loadstone is the album the Melvins never released.

.... home-grown sonic thunder-crushing crust rock..... heavy rock in the vein of the Melvins ...... they employ numerous examples of hefty basslines and forcefully penetrative percussive strikes as they construct their weighty sound from the groundlevel upwards. .... an album steeped in truly gargantuan sounds, the band utilizes two main approaches to pummel their material into the listener. On the one hand there is their slothful, primitive, repetitious manner that brings to mind the likes of Sleep and Electric Wizard, while at other times the group exaggerate the tempo as they move into the chugging stoner rock territories of Kyuss and Orange Goblin. ..... their multitasking drummers' words are outputted with a gravelly, atonal feel to them which coalesces effectively with the rest of the material. .... the band assert their presence unrelentingly...... heavy as hell. Heavy as in a storm of lead hailing from the sky. These three form Colorado really know how to rock.

... lava flow of sludgy tempos and iron-alloyed guitar.... (like) a viscous and vitriolic compound of the Melvins, Saint Vitus and vintage Black Sabbath. Lodged somewhere between rock-and-roll fantasy and technical ecstasy, Loadstone points the way toward the hidden essence of hard rock, punk and the subterranean grinding of science against magic.

curtains

loadstone

shamelady - the winter days were nights

shamelady have a dissonant sound that is as devastatingly heavy as it is driving. Combining noisy elements of crushing math rock and slower stoner rock influences, Shamelady is the perfect answer for listeners who want something different in these times metalcore saturation.... bands like Botch & Yob can be heard in Shamelady along with other elements that are reminiscent of other three-piece bands like Unsane and Anodyne. ... these three guys have a very powerful sound and that the dirty distortion of the guitar and bass perfectly complements the mathy grooves of the drummer through the entire album.

...a collection of perfectly balanced, nonstop heaviness from beginning to end. Even though there are only nine tracks on the recording, the song structures opt for longer lengths, as opposed to shorter ones, and do not disappoint.

shadelamy

planetstruck

... a hybrid of Sludge, Noise Rock and slowed-down Hardcore

Chicago's PLANETSTRUCK, with their huge, lumbering riffs and desperate, guttural vocals, are plenty rocking. In fact, they are rocking enough to the point where they should get noticed by their music alone, without having to cater to trends. This is the first full length release from the band, who has only recorded a demo prior.... dirty, downtuned dirges that these dudes deliver. Through all the sludge, there are moments of punk energy to liven things up.... they venture into full tilt hardcore territory, from humble, low key beginnings. Fans of THE MELVINS should check these cats out....

Most of the songs revolve around a couple of huge riffs, plenty of squealing feedback that only comes from turning an amp up really, really loud, and a very raw (but still pleasing) production that gives the whole thing a ’four dudes improvising in a rehearsal room’ vibe. It’s a lot of fun to listen too, and the loose feel of the album gives it a bit of a good times vibe.... Still, if your idea of having fun is getting insanely smashed on alcohol and speed, and then going round beating up junkies, then you’ll love this album.

... a simple and really quite enjoyable album. Everything’s raw and heavy, the riffs are massive, and there’s plenty of variety to keep you interested.

Imagine early Melvins crossed with hints of Godflesh, and you have a pretty solid idea of the sonic sludge Planetstruck churn on Mild Chronic Inflammation. Incredibly heavy slabs of molten riffage and relentless rhythmic pounding, enhanced by perfectly suitable lo-fi production, characterize their sound... sludgy, metal monotony

self-titled

mild chronic inflammation

close my eyes - robot retardation

Absolute Insanity!!! It's like the soundtrack of being sucked out of your body and through a dark tunnel on your way to hell!!! But, for real: CRaZy Noises, Robot Sounds, Machnine Gun Drums, Insane Guitars, and Screams Beyond Belief!!! This CD brings NOISE to a whole new level!!!! If your parents hear you listening to this sh*t they'll put you in therapy, for sure

RIYL: converge, dep, meshuggah

futuristic mental deficiencies

kung pao - bogota

... filthy grimy sounding rock.... full of straight up dirty bar brawling noise-rock with a major emphasis on low end... definitely gives a few nods to the likes of killdozer, early tad, etc.... with their brand of riff heavy ultra down tuned sludge.

heavy as shit, has just the right amount of mathy off beat measures thrown in, but not enough to make them out to be overly clever Indie Rockers trying too hard to impress their other indie rocker friends...no sir- just pure heavy rock... fans of Unsane, Helmet, Clutch, and all that is Heavy on the East Coast, step forward and indulge

... a brutal and heavy riff-fueled maelstrom.... a fine and raw combination of 70's Mountain-like riffage and Noise Amphetamine Records-styled stuff, as Helmet f.e. ....the mighty vocals got enough power to blew away the walls of Jericho, if they weren't still blown away.... KUNG PAO are a real powertrio and instead of much virtuosity, they got a truckload full of brutality.

bogota

of angels & gravediggers

Of Angels and Gravediggers' self-titled, self-released CD is a seven song, 45 minute beatdown on the eardrums that's almost as 1993 than 2003. Seemingly inspired by Tampa death metal, NY hardcore and the Cleveland holy terror sound. Massive riffs and breakdowns. Lots of double bass drums and down-picking. Deep growling vocals, screams, whispers. Lyrically punishing insanity and heavy metal hatred. Integrity meets Deicide. Bloodlet vs. Assück.

this is mid-paced, catchy, melodic type metal

of graves & angeldiggers

the inevitability of mind control through nanotechnology

The I Want To Kill You quintet is a band hailing from Pennsylvania's deep woods where Amish Mennonites have crystal meth labs on farmland. Oh yes, my friends, this is truly a bizarre place. IWTKY's musical stylings come from years of listening to brutal death metal, gnashing grindcore and jazz records. IWTKY believe in a very strict "metal up your ass" philosophy and constantly strive to maintain a certain level of quality and brutality in each one of their numbers.

RIYL: the dillinger escape plan, the locust

iwtky