Agoraphobic Nosebleed - PCP Torpedo/ANbRX (V)

As of this record - Agoraphobic Nosebleed is direct and brutal. They take advantage of the punishing power of the drum machines and build fast, effective tracks that are over as soon as the point is made. And better yet, this release is half remixes. Excellent remixes.

Admittedly, most of the time it's nigh impossible to make any connection between the remixes and the original tracks, but a mix of hardcore/speedcore and noise makes an effective combination with the so-called cybergrind Agoraphobic Nosebleed makes. The original tracks blast through and leave a mark, then the remixes keep the energy up and build interest through their varied distinct styles and artistic voices. Ah, the advantage of having Relapse on your side.

And this makes me want to give speedcore another chance. I was disappointed on my first attempt with a Neophyte best-of, but I see some actual potential here. And the glitchy chaos James Plotkin inserts - I might prefer an album of this to Khlyst. Might. Jansky Noise's remix is fucking brutal. And Justin Broadrick seems to have made Agoraphobic Nosebleed into a slow, crushing industrial band. I didn't know that was possible. And Masami Akita made a Merzbow track out of Agoraphobic Nosebleed samples - unmistakably Merzbow.

This CD, this CD I would recommend picking up.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Altered States of America (V)

Agoraphobic Nosebleed is obnoxious and irreverent. While this mini-CD is something of a classic grind record with its 100 tracks, a lot of it is, frankly, shit. A lot of it is really enjoyable inhuman-speed drum machine grind, quick blips of songs like they should be. But it seems like Agoraphobic Nosebleed spends half the time on pure filler - not a problem on most 20-minute CDs. Dozens of tracks consist of random rants about drugs and Japanese terrorists and how much the band hates homosexuals and black metal.

We won't go into the irony of homophobia in a band and genre so amazingly obsessed with the anus and anal sex. But seriously, I don't buy records for a dozen tracks in sequence of some guy yelling over soft noise. Unless it actually sounds good. Which this doesn't.

I don't really like it, but I might if their lyrics didn't show them to be fucking shitty human beings, or at the very least if they didn't waste my time (it seems absurd to start getting bored around the 50th track on something so short) with bland filler tracks. I'll try something else (maybe that PCP Torpedo/ANbRX remix album), and maybe it'll be worth the second chance. But please, if you ever consider challenging this blast of sound, leave out the crap and stick to grind.

Devourment - 1.3.8 (V)

Devourment's 1.3.8 is something of a classic in the gore and death scene - originally formed in San Antonio in '95 with Chicagoan vocalist Wayne Knupp, Devourment wandered through the next 4 years with lineup changes, releasing a couple of demos and replacing Knupp with Ruben Rosas - as much as possible. Rosas recorded vocals on Devourment's 1999 release, Molesting the Decapitated, before being jailed, during which time Knupp rejoined the band and recorded the track "Babykiller," which saw release on the Southern Uprising compilation, and then the Devourment compilation 1.3.8, featuring that one track, three from the earlier Impaled demo with Wayne Knupp, and 8 with Rosas' vocals from Molesting the Decapitated.

Not confusing at all.

"Babykiller" is a classic track. Don't read the lyrics. Whatever you do, don't read the lyrics. But the track is the perfect slam-dancing beast, and Knupp's vocals are pure raw gurgle. Right down to the 24 or 25-second extension at the end of the track.

The next three tracks, from the Impaled demo, aren't as well-produced. And that's saying something; "Babykiller" is RAW. Incredibly scooped distortion and all. And the Impaled tracks are a few good notches muddier. The songs are great. The messy bits are perfectly messy, and the chugs are clear and heavy. Knupp's gurgling is as gory and indecipherable as ever.

That said, I tend to skip past the Impaled tracks to hear the better-recorded versions of the same songs from Molesting the Decapitated. Rosas' vocals don't have quite the same raw edge, but they're definitely in the right mold to fill the gaps, and the production is comparatively without blemish. The tracks have the traditional gore soundclips about murder and the like, but the whole album is filled with appealing dance grooves. This is happy music. In a gore-dripping, dark, hateful way. Get this stuff and enjoy it . . . unless it's too far below your artsy standards or the focus roils your gut, you will.

And Devourment's writing a new album - and don't forget to check out Butcher the Weak in the meantime.