No Zodiac - Population Control

What a nice surprise this was.  No Zodiac are purveyors of Heavily Death Metal influnced Beatdown Hardcore.  The grooves run slow and thick as tar, with enough blastbeats and thrashy moments to keep tensions high.  The considerably seismic guitar tone (I'm guessing A-tuning?) will surely devastate any yuppies or hipsters within a 50 foot radius.  The vocals are a bit run-of-the-mill and could use more neanderthal fury, but they get the job done.  This is what I wish the Xibalba full-length sounded like.  Smash all your Bane and Comeback Kid cd's.  This is the real shit.

 

rigor mortis of the ass

Weekend Nachos - Worthless

This year, the Nacho boys have returned and given us a new (very short) LP.  Just like last time, they've made some changes, but still deliver the goods.  This recent album sounds like a compromise between their last two:  you get the speed and fury of Punish and Destroy, plus the generous helpings of mosh from Unforgiveable.  The enormous, "tree-felling" guitar tone that everyone loves is still there, and is a bit more "detailed" thanks to a slightly cleaner production job.  The only thing that's really missing are the "clenched-teeth" vocals that the singer was known for.  This time around, he's opted for a more typical, throaty scream; sounds fine, but not nearly as intimidating.  Still, a stellar release, and proof that Los Nachos remain at the top of the Powerviolence heap.

bob swerski approved

Harm's Way - Isolation

If you're like me, you often have to push really hard to motivate yourself to work out.  After a long day of work, you need all the help you can get to manage getting off the couch and exercising (more work).  This squeaky new album is just the remedy for such problem.  You can now look forward to your routine knowing you have the perfect soundtrack for muscle development.  

Harm's Way have been making waves in the hardcore/metalcore scene for a few years now; starting as a vaguely metallic Powerviolence band, and later as a typically "moshy" Metalcore band.  This most recent album continues in that path, but now, I hear a significant Godflesh influence.  There's even one song that uses a drum machine, very odd, but it doesn't suck.  Aside from that, this is pretty straight-forward slow to mid-paced heaviness.  The production here is great too; slick and punchy, reminding me of Dan Swano's work.  Overall, this is just a great album to do strength training to, or to beat people that don't meet your elitist ideology.

 yes, that's the singer, talk about tough-guy cred...

 music with broad shoulders

Weekend Nachos

I've been digging this band a lot this past year. Definitely one of the top 5 powerviolence bands going right now. This is the meanest and toughest sounding hardcore you'll hear anywhere. It's hard to believe these are just normal looking dudes making this music, cause this shit sounds massively obese.  For the most part, they sound like a better-produced Infest with the heft of Crowbar.  On their newest album, Unforgiveable, they've ditched most of the speed for a thicker, more mosh-heavy and metallic sound.  But don't let the whole "metallic" thing scare you, those are some serious riffs and attitude being dished-out (not mindless palm-mutes and preachy vegan nonsense). This is what shitty fat-guy metalcore bands like 100 Demons and Full Blown Chaos wish they could sound like!

I have their whole discography here, which includes the horribly produced ep's, but the two full-lengths are where it's at.

rock over chicago!