Blog: AVERSIONLINE.COM - THE MP3 BLOG

For what I think is only the second or third time in a little over 12 years, I'm going to take a hiatus from the site. It's been a tough decision because this time it feels like it could end up being a permanent thing, but I need a break. On the one hand, I [...]

At this moment in time I can think of no better combo for a split than Rot in Hell and Integrity, compliments of Thirty Days of Night Records. I mean, this must be right up there with the Integrity/Mayday split in terms of absolutely perfect, wholly appropriate pairings. Rot in Hell kicks things off with [...]

From Trip Machine Laboratories comes this vinyl reissue of Most Precious Blood's six-song demo from way back in 2000. The digital download also includes the band's cover of Slayer's "Necrophobic", the original version of "So Typical My Heart" (their last recording with Tom Sheehan on vocals, from early-2003), and a 33-minute live set recorded at [...]

• Most Precious Blood - Sincerely,

"What a Plague You Are" is the debut LP from Providence, RI's Weak Teeth (released by Flannel Gurl Records and Tor Johnson Records), offering up 11 songs in about 24 minutes. I guess you could refer to this as weirdly aggressive melodic hardcore with emo/"screamo" leanings. It's interesting because there's something about this material that [...]

This relatively quick 26-minute split LP (Which I believe was self-released by the bands?) sees Salt Lake City/Provo, UT's Maraloka (featuring current and former members of God's Revolver and Parallax) teaming up with Denver, CO trio Cannons. Maraloka kicks things off with three tracks of generally somewhat sludgy, slightly rocked out, essentially "metal" (but not [...]

From A389 Recordings comes "End of Time", the debut EP from Montreal, Canada's Enforcers (featuring former members of A Death for Every Sin and Final Word). Expect six tracks of unstoppable metallic hardcore that seems to be highly influenced by the late-80's/early-90's golden age of NYHC. Gruff vocals over chugging midpaced rhythms, fast-paced power chords [...]

The latest from Finland's Throat (released by Kaos Kontrol) is the two-song "Pee" 7" - offering up about eight more minutes of their superb and sinister noise rock. Expect dense, winding bass runs; "skronk"-laden riffing with just the right amount of odd melody/dissonance; dashes of searing feedback; lightly distorted vocals that veer from snarled shouts [...]

From a whopping five cooperating labels (Ash From Sweat, Carucage Records, Lilla Himmel, Ödebygd, and strictly no capital letters) comes this succinct split 7" offering up one track apiece from Wits End (Norway) and Perfect Future (Maryland). Wits End kicks things off with the nearly six-minute "Wounds" and its loose, jangly, angular riffing and frantically [...]

"Moonchild" is the self-released sophomore EP from Stockholm, Sweden's Morito Ergo Sum, unloading four lengthy tracks of moody doom in 31 minutes. It seems a little strange to name an EP after a cover song (the title track is an interpretation of a King Crimson tune), but... hey, whatever works, 'cause this is some very [...]

I believe "I Want Nothing" is the debut EP from Lowell, MA's My Fictions (released by Flannel Gurl Records), blending a number of different influences amidst its five tracks in 20 minutes. I guess you'd say they're building upon a base of melodic/metallic hardcore with a pretty significant "post-rock" edge and some "screamo" tendencies. There [...]

"Tear Up the World" is the sophomore full-length from Synarchy (released by Tutl Records). I don't typically write about stuff like this, but I have to say, were it not for Synarchy's extremely isolated locale (the Faroe Islands), I can't help but think their Soilwork meets Lamb of God type of approach would be incredibly [...]

The latest from Ape! is a two-song 7" EP released by SRA Records. I can't really pin down Ape!'s sound other than to say they're a "heavy rock band" - "heavy rock band" being a very generic and potentially misleading phrase, I realize. There's a good amount of thick, heavy riffing with a tinge of [...]

From Fading Halo Records comes this six-song, 15-minute EP from Romanian act I Stared Into the Forest. To my ears this feels like kind of a weird fusion of "screamo" and grindcore. The vocals are gnarly, strained snarls (with a few distant spoken passages buried in the background from time to time) while musically they're [...]

From Get Young Records comes this split 7" from two Massachusetts bands, Now Denial and Get Laid. Now Denial kicks things off with two tracks of... well, I don't know what the hell you'd call it. Weird hardcore/punk/rock with unusually stripped down production values. There's barely any distortion at all, and I'd actually say the [...]

"No Hope, No Escape" (released by Purgatory Records) is my first exposure to Glasgow, Scotland's By My Hands. The 7" offers up three tracks and is crammed with about eight minutes of absolutely awesome metallic hardcore in a straightforward 90's style. Expect essentially nothing but chugging midpaced rhythms with just a little bit of moderate [...]

"Transylvania" is the debut 7" from Cape of Bats, limited to just 500 copies (200 on yellow vinyl from Holy Terror Records and 300 on black vinyl from Grim Winds). Described by the labels as "four tracks of vampyric punk black metal hailing from the forgotten glens of Ireland and the depraved outskirts of Philadelphia", [...]

The latest from Take it Back Records is "Knowledge of Self", the new six-song, 20-minute EP from State of Mind (from The Netherlands). This is my first exposure to the band and their style of heavy, lightly metallic hardcore that's also balanced out with plenty of rocked out, post-hardcore melody and groove. Expect a lot [...]

From Kapa Records comes "Chapter I: The Current of Her Ocean Brings Me to My Knees", the debut EP from Slovenian act The Canyon Observer. Expect four lengthy tracks in about 30 minutes of brooding, post-rock influenced metal that builds upon lots of pulsing bass and shimmery clean passages. It's interesting to note that the [...]

I have no idea what the hell an "amulance" is (if anything), but Aurora, IL's Amulance released one full-length, "Feel the Pain", on New Renaissance Records in 1989 before presumably fading into obscurity (it was re-released on CD in 2006, and they released a new EP in 2010, so I guess they've reunited). I had [...]

A389 Recordings switches it up a bit with "Dream Punx", the debut full-length outing from Portland, OR "shoegaze" act Anne. The nine-song, 31-minute album includes five new, unreleased songs (one of which is a re-recording) alongside remixed and remastered versions of the band's favorite tracks from their 2010 mixtape and demo recordings (which I've yet [...]