Walking Corpse hail from the frozen wastes of Sweden, and with them comes a riot of a record. Our Hands, Your Throat evokes Pig Destroyer and Insect Warfare with a record that although not wholly original is nonetheless a well-produced, perfectly rounded grindcore party with more than enough surprises to remain magnetic.
The riffs come thick and fast from the get-go with headbanging, hair shaking, body popping regularity. You could genuinely dance to Our Hands, Your Throat, and whilst it retains that nasty grindcore aesthetic it does so wrapped in a more than palatable cowl and chain mail vest. The kick drums sound like an asteroid beating its way for the last dregs of atmosphere as it plumets down to wipe out a planet, the guitars roar like a Space Marines chainsword devouring the flesh of an Ork Warboss. There’s breakdowns, there’s death metal, there’s even some sludge elements thrown in there for good measure, and it all adds up to this miasmic, fire and brimstone romp through the bold and boisterous halls of grindcore royalty.
Enthusiastic mancunian punks, GOING OFF have not shown any signs of slowing down this year, or since bursting onto the scene in 2020 with their first self titled and Destroy EPs. Since then they have proven to be a dominant force within the UKHC scene bringing blistering high energy, ignorant hardcore punk with face-smacking breakdowns and impactful lyrics – in a world that is going to shit, GOING OFF have something to say.
2023 has been an exceptional year for GOING OFF, from their release of their incredibly well received LP, What Makes you Tick, to selling out headline shows, sharing the stage with hardcore powerhouses such as Terror, Zulu and Scowl and their most recent UK tour with Employed to Serve and Pupil Slicer. GOING OFF’s raw abrasive energy not only shines through on record, but their performance and energy on stage makes for an enthralling and memorable experience.
A lot of bands these days are intent on breaking down what’s left of the flimsy walls keeping genre identities separated, Unprocessed are no exception to that. Consistently outputting technical and progressive music from their 2014 debut In Concretion, honing their craft and continuing to push boundaries for their chosen genre to experiment with a wide array of styles from the pop, rock and metal spectrums. The band have a relentless work ethic that sees them constantly writing and releasing new music if they’re not on tour with the likes of Heart Of A Coward, Polyphia or their upcoming dates with tech-metal legends Tesseract. With new album …and everything in between, Unprocessed are swinging for the fences creating one of the most unique releases this year.
Opening track ‘Hell’ is aptly named, beginning with percussive, disjointed guitar riffs and unnerving synth sounds that suddenly break for a groove that’s reminiscent of Mick Gordon’s soundtrack to a demon slaughtering hellscape. Weaving tech-metal polyrhythmic grooves with Polyphia style virtuosic noodling, underlying tech-death ferocity and soaring clean choruses makes for one hell of a first impression. Following this, ‘Lore’ immediately kicks things into a higher gear with its significantly faster tempo and immediately breaking into technical chaos. Using ambient synths to break up the pacing slightly from the full-frontal assault into more groove laden territory, inevitably careening towards the crushing breakdown towards the end of the track, peppered with atmospheric synths.
Initial single for …and everything in between, ‘Thrash’, melted the tech-metal community’s mind upon its release at the start of September with its mad-scientist fusion of styles and that breakdown. Embracing Polyphia’s pop-centred technicality with an accented vocal delivery, breaking into a chorus that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Bring Me The Horizon project then just saying “fuck it” and exploding into a completely unhinged tech-death furore. It shouldn’t work as well as it does, but somehow Unprocessed pull off this sort of manic clash across the album. ‘Blackbone’ fits snugly as a mild breather from the madness, focussing in more on the technical virtuosity of the guitars, leaning on the intricate melodies before collapsing under the weight of another furious breakdown.
The first of a trifecta of EPs that are set to be bounded within a full length record next year, Welcome To The New Dark Ages Part I comes following two respective full lengths from the Notts prog death metal collective. Releasing following 2017’s Seekers and 2021’s Our Kingdom Undone respectively, whilst see these two LPs where certainly aggregable slabs of modern and progressive death metal, in hindsight, they only seem to the originating sparks that have incited the incendiary fury that this is new EP. Raging with a sense of utmost urgency and containing the modern and forward-thinking density of acts such as Conjurer, Abysmal Dawn and Omnivortex, the first part of this trio is an EP that demands to be heard.
The first of the four song salvo that comprises this EP, ‘The Burning Season’ rings true to it’s namesake in a manner most profound. Remorseless as it is inconsolable, the track sounds like it would be utterly at home within any Conjurer record to date. Quite frankly, as it’s central riffs viscerally pendulum between lacerating and bludgeoning, the track heralds the sound of a band inspired; epically with it’s respective breakdown sounding positively primordial. ‘Buyer’s Remorse’ continues such a sentiment with the song sounding akin to a beehive – originally dormant for this winter – being rudely engulfed by firestorm that the proceeding track conjures.
One of Australia’s most hyped new acts, Future Static have already made a name for themselves between live dates supporting Ukrainian metal icons Jinjer and Eurovision breakouts Voyager and positive responses to their previous EPs Fatalist and Want. Now, on their debut album Liminality, Future Static are ready to cement themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the metalcore genre.
From the album’s opening track ‘Chemical Lobotomy’, Future Static reveal their melodic, pop-infused metalcore sound that elegantly balances catchy hooks and brutal breakdowns. Singer Amariah Cook’s clean vocals soar through this track before crashing down into a deep growl, it’s always impressive hearing a vocalist who can handle both screams and cleans and Cook switches between them effortlessly. Taking clear influence from noughties metalcore icons like Bullet For My Valentine or Parkway Drive, with their chugging, dissonant guitars and half-time breakdowns, Future Static bring a lot of the genre’s tropes up to date with an upbeat energy and focus on catchy pop melodies.
Best known for their supporting role as the phenomenal live accompaniment to folk punk’s preeminent ambassador, Frank Turner, The Sleeping Souls are moving on to pastures greener with their first ever album of their own devising. Admittedly, they haven’t quite escaped the incessantly-on-tour Turner, as the album was partially recorded at his rehearsal space, but that’s besides the point. Debut release Just Before The World Starts Burning is out now, so any fans of Plosivs, Hot Snakes or Elliot Smith should take note and preemptively run their headphones up their sleeves to hide from their boss.
The first thing to note about this album is that it won’t reinvent your view of the band – The Sleeping Souls have still stayed within their wheelhouse musically. There’s plenty of folk elements, some punky energy and rocky grit sprinkled throughout, and the entire LP is rife with tender moments. Vocalist and lead songwriter Cahir O’Doherty (Fighting With Wire, Jetplane Landing, New Pagans) provides a soft Irish lilt for three quarters of an hour whilst the rest of the group get into the groove.
