Agoraphobic Nosebleed / The Endless Blockade – Split 7″ (2009)

September 22, 2011

Here we have Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s 2009 split with The Endless Blockade, which was released on a 1000 copy press by Relapse Records. 500 were made on blue, and 500 were made on black. Strangely enough, there doesn’t seem to be the usual 100 clear pressed on this Relapse release (2021 edit: the 100 clear run does exist for this one, like every Relapse release).

Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s material sounds like a carry-on in the vein of their “Agorapocalypse” tracks. There isn’t any hateful Randall vocals to be heard here, but Katherine Katz and Richard Johnson sure as hell make up for that. The grind is blisteringly fast and the final track is harrowing as fuck. Short, but sweet.

The Endless Blockade starts off almost with a doomy feel, before heading full throttle into endless grind terror (no pun intended) melded dangerously with snarling electronic passages and over laps. According to info on the sleeve, vocals on this release were done by a Mick Harris; whether this is the Mick Harris of Napalm Death / Scorn /Lull fame, I do not know.

There has been no repress and prices are generally high for such a modern grind 7″, glad I nabbed this on the Bones Brigade stall at Hellfest when I did (it was sold out then, I believe).