Crossface aren’t particularly bad for your average hardcore band. I don’t understand hardcore at all so I’ll skirt over this before I say something to embarrass myself and bring down a sea of X-marked fists upon my head. Schnauzer on the other hand is one of my favourite things ever. Why is it then, that it has taken me so long to finally write a post for this, one of my all time favourite 7″s?…

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This EP has a mega-random story behind it. When I was around 13/14, our gang would always chill / play fuck in this one street in upper-Abercanaid. The wannabe-middle class fucks up there hated us, but we had a few friends who lived there so we always hung around there. Not everyone there was bad, but there was the usual crowd of grouchy middle-aged meatbags who despised children. Not to mention, we did play fuck quite a…

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This is Volume 4 in the ongoing and extremely extensive noise series entitled “Redlight District” by German record label Shit Noise Records, who really do have a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin attitude. Each release is identifiable by a new colour, and number 4 (or is that IV) is purple. Limited, as always with this series, to 50 hand numbered copies. Painburn open the disc with what seems like a harsh noise-meets-instrument experimentation. Underneath the garbled layers of hell…

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Mad props to Mike from Vaginal Necrosis / Dead Chemists Records for sending me this CD for free, you’re a legend! This has been out for a few years now on Parkinson Wankfist and Alarma Records. To be honest, I expected a compilation CD with 100 Myspace bedroom goregrind bands, but this CD seems to contain about 50% Myspace bedroom goregrind bands, 25% crappy digigrind/gabba/noise artists and 25% actual death metal and goregrind bands. Those…

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“Slateman” is one of my favourite ‘Flesh songs, and is a prime example of what excellence can be achieved by simply using a drum machine right. This isn’t particularly heavy or drawn out or even harrowing in any way, but it is the perfect example of Godflesh’s sound. The drum sound is absolutely spot on, I don’t really know what does it here for me but it’s just so right. The bass is clanky and…

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I can’t exactly review this as it’s my creation, but I got one in my collection so it’ll have to wind up on here eventually, so I’ll just do a brief run down to plug this fucker. I recorded this bastard of an EP back in 2007, simply by running a distorted B C Rich through a whole world of filters and then recording a cold, mechanical drum beat over the top of it before…

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I remember back in the day when I first heard of this album. I remember how ridiculously excited I was to hear something so musically challenging. 100 songs? Less than 20 minutes? Bitch please, you must be trippin’! And trippin’ I was when I first got this record in it’s original 3″ CD package from some crazy-mainstream outlet like Virgin Megastore or Zavvi (I forget which). I now own this testament to insanity three times; on the…

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I always have mixed feelings about D12: the potential with the group was absolutely fantastic; each artist is an excellent rapper in their own right, but if they work together as a group or not is something that has always bugged me. I guess it’s the endless “it’s Eminem’s old band, innit” that pisses me off. The first record shared the load fairly but the second album parodied this yet lived up to it entirely; employing Mr….

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So, Nirvana. A touchy subject. Well, not touchy but a hard one to define. Awful? Maybe. Terrible? Maybe. Over-rated as fuck? Definitely. The thing with Nirvana is that the songs were fantastic. The songwriting was spot on, it’s just when the songs unfolded into real entities they were boring, nauseating grunge numbers. But, it would seem, a lot of people like Nirvana’s music, and that includes dub legend Little Roy, who for some godforsaken reason decided…

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I put this out around Christmas time on my part-time label Pointless Records, and even managed to shift all ten copies. Holy shit, that’s a fucking first! Ha ha. These were cut for me by a lovely American chap by the name of Graham, who was exceptional in handling this project. Get at me for his contact info, if your looking for some cutting. Obviously I can’t review Clunge as it’s my creation but I will…

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Another few months sail by, another Agathocles or Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium record falls into my claws! Ha ha! It’s good because I think that if I listened to Necro Vom on a regular basis I’d become a serial killer of skanky heroin-riddled hookers, but every now and then I need my fix of cold, Eastern bass-grind and this 7″ out on Escaravelho Records does not disappoint. The Necro Vom sound here is at it’s most typical, which is also…

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I don’t know if I like Throatplunger because of their wigger-slam-cross-hypergrind nonsense, or because of their absolutely fucking excellent samples. Mingling both in disgusting pornographic unison, Throatplunger hit the fuckin’ spot with their sounding-suspiciously-like-XXX-Maniak grindcore. Pummeled by Cocks comes in DVD case with a photocopied cover featuring all the awful xeroxed porn you could ever want. What bugs me is that on the back, the tracklist is a couple of songs short! What’s up with…

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This, along with the other Akercocke records, is something I have always wished to be released on vinyl. It’s fuckin’ death metal! Death metal belongs on vinyl! Ya hear me Earache / Peaceville? Re-press this shit on wax or I might blow a gasket. Ha. (2020 Edit: I believe this has now been pressed on vinyl? – Ed) Anyway, The Goat of Mendes is probably Akercocke’s most black metal of records, although they somehow retain…

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Misopsychia seem to want to break my stylus. Here they play a down-tuned, faster than fast mush with endless blasts and EQ-piercing screams that want to escape up my needle, through my stereo and punch me in the fucking face. The music is a bit uninspiring (that’s not to say it’s awful) but the vocals are mental as fuck. Top points for the insane level of effort here! Why Suppression would collaborate with experimental noise…

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This is my second £1 Mahler purchase, and the second time I’ve been disappointed at not receiving some bat-shit insane classical music. I’m guessing that maybe Mahler gained his ambitions over time? The 4th is rather straight forward but complex in it’s own way, and number 6 (the final symphony he wrote) is absolutely maddening as fuck. Number 1 however, after building and building from nothing over a long period  breaks into something that sounds like a typical background film…

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Some of my most favourite ANb stuff ever! What a mess! There are like 28 songs on this 7″, all of them micro-blasts of pure grinding hell. For those of you that have Bestial Machinery, these tracks are on disc 2, so you’ve probably heard them before. I can waffle on about like I can with any other ANb release but this really just has to be heard. It’s been out since 1996 on Bovine…

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Kroh are on top form here, bringing up more mega-heavy tunage with their trademark crooning vocals. This could be a B-side from the S/T recording sessions for all I know, the sound is that similar to the recordings used there. Does it matter? Nope. Great stuff! Fat production, brilliant singing and THAT guitar sound that we love so much from Fukpig. Ice Dragon I can’t get my head around, unfortunately. The sound is an absolute…

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So I’ve been holding off buying this fucker for a long time, mainly because I was plagued with the dilemma of getting it on vinyl (the far superior format, of course) or on CD (song plays through in one go rather than in three parts). As collectable as the vinyl pressing of Tee Pee’s release might be, I forever shied away from it due to the fact that the hour-plus trip that is Dopesmoker would…

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The sound on this record is huge! Kudos to the pressing people, they really packed this one in. Having grown up through the nu-metal generation I have always had a soft spot for System of a Down, and I was fairly impressed by Serj’s first solo single. Unfortunately, the fun ends there as the album turned out to be rather disappointing (who saw that coming, eh?). Side B is just a shitty dance remix so unless your…

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Another Agx split with (apparent) original songs here, so I went ahead and got it from the Goatgrind Records distro. The Agx stuff is fairly good but the sound leaves a lot to be desired. As far as I can tell it isn’t live or anything, but it really is a nasty recording. Yes, yes, I am still fully aware of what genre I’m reviewing here but is it too much to want on some clarity every…

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This is one of those albums that I forgot about for nearly a decade until one day it’s existence just came crashing back to me like some sort of acid flashback. Of course, all that was left to do was to buy it off Amazon for 3p. In hindsight, I’m not sure if it was worth it. The title track is a totally epic and original composition of heaving modern-classical and emotional vocals. It builds…

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This is such an awesome looking tape! Just look at those colours! This is pure noisecore. I can’t tell who’s side is who’s as there is no information but one band plays in a slow, dirgy and nasty style whilst the flip-side counterpart seems to be smashing fuck out of an electric guitar in the name of noise. Very, very under the radar and for fans of true noisecore fuckery only. Limited to 20 pieces on the…

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Another piece of goregrind history that is now mine! Hahahahaha! LDOH splits in the original forms are rather hard to find these days, so I am very lucky in the respect that the two I have (to date) I’ve gotten for fairy reasonable prices. What we have here is their split with Rakitis, which was, if I’m not mistaken, out a while before the Hymns…. album, so it’s fairly aged by today’s standards. In fact,…

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This marks the first time in fuuuuuuck knows how long I’ve actually paid full retail price for a CD (by that I mean £9 or higher) but it is just impossible to get the career-end late 90s Swans stuff anywhere any cheaper (in Britain, at least). Swans Are Dead is a retrospective live album, released not that long after their original demise, and features two discs of live performances. 1995-1997 was an interesting time for…

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What better way to see in the new year than with some head-pounding Scorn music? Stealth is probably one of my favourite Scorn records and it is the record that I recommend to people that are new to Mick’s work and who are familiar with the concept of dubstep. Stealth is very similar to the album that followed it (Refuse; Start Fires), but unlike Refuse and its exploration of the one-dimensional sound by using real…

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In my quest to own all Swans shit I endeavor to pick up all the singles as 12″s (2020 edit: that didn’t exactly go to plan), with the exception of New Mind as the 12″ doesn’t really offer me anything for the increased price. For the singles that follow, a lot of alternate versions / exclusive tracks occupy the B-side, but with New Mind all the 7″ gets is a shorter version of what’s on…

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The best thing about this tape is that I have no fucking idea how I ended up owning it. I cannot for the life of me remember where I got the thing from! Anyway, this is a transparent purple tape containing a live set of Birdflesh performing in Japan. The quality is fairly clear, and the band play all the hits, but it definitely remains at the level of being a completist item for Birdflesh fans; I…

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This isn’t as distorted and harsh as I originally thought it would be. The noise slowly builds and builds, and when the hellish garbled drone kicks in fully it is still without any eardrum penetrating fuzz or hiss. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; Torturing Nurse’s rumbling, harrowing soundscape of death is perfect just the way it is. It levels out a bit as it continues and some nice haunting female vocals weave in and…

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Welcome to part 2 of my Christmas Day double post! Not sure how many of you will actually be reading this on Christmas but I hope the festivities have progressed satisfactorily for you all. I for one will be no doubt smashed off my face by now on my parent’s free beer. Can’t beat the Christmas visit! This year’s Decibel Christmas flexi is a follow up to last years cracking ANb EP, A Joyful Noise….

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Ho ho ho! Merry fucking Christmas! Hope your having a good one and that plenty of turkey and grog is consumed. In line with the festivities, I have planned a double post for today, showcasing both the Agoraphobic Nosebleed flexis put out by Decibel magazine. I’ll start with my favourite – the former of the two; last year’s Make A Joyful Noise on square transparent red. These flexis are an absolute bastard to get in…

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Look It’s been a good while since I last reviewed a tape (the Electric Wizard one that went up yesterday was written months ago), so seeing as I bought a few recently it’s high time I did some more tape posts. This is my first ever Merzbow purchase and potentially an in-road onto a long slippery slope of trying to collect all his shit. I went through the same fad in 2007 with Agathocles, and…

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So if you weren’t at the London show when this 7″ came out, you were pretty much boned for an original copy! Represses exist on 7″ though thanks to Rise Above, and the EP was released more nationally as a free copy by the good folk at Terrorizer magazine, on the excellently under-rated format of tape and with a couple of extra tracks thrown in for good measure! You though vinyl had a warm sound?…

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Every now and then, in all scenes of music, a band or artist will come along and snowball into something massive. Insect Warfare were an absolutely fantastic grindcore band, so at least in that case they weren’t shite as well as overrated. It’ll just be the latter then. Phew. I feel bad writing that because I believe and want decent bands to get the attention and exposure that they deserve, but I don’t think anyone can deny…

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This is the first Jesu record I heard and it is still probably one of my favourite releases by him. It also introduced me to Jarboe, which opened up a whole can of worms in my life in the form of Swans (another very long story for another day), who appears here as a special guest, not to mention as a precursor to the pair’s collaboration album that would follow. Lifeline was released on the…

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One doesn’t really know where to start when it comes to analyzing the works of Steve Albini, and if I’m honest I’m still a total amateur on the subject; although I guess Songs About Fucking is a great place to start considering it is rather well known. I kinda worked my way backwards through the world of drum-machine propelled music, starting with Agoraphobic Nosebleed and other digigrinders, then onto Godflesh and other industrial. Big Black,…

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Pig Destroyer’s Prowler record is considered a modern classic in the world of American grind, and it doesn’t take a genius to see why. Adding a poetic, dark and downright creepy edge to the hyper-precision blasts helped Pig Destroyer stand apart from the legions of other grindcore acts clamoring for attention; and despite what your opinion is on what Pig Destroyer has become these days, it is very hard to deny that Prowler isn’t an absolute corker…

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This here is the fantastic repress on Power It Up Records. Mine, unfortunately, is not the edition with the bonus 7″ (I didn’t know it existed when I bought this, which is a shame as I wouldn’t have minded paying a bit extra for the whole set). This set contains Effortless Regurgitation… on one slab of wax, and the Concrete Human Torture tape plastered onto a single side of another slab of wax. Adorning side…

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Om were an accidental discovery for me. I have had the mp3s of Pilgrimage for years thanks to a friend, but I had never truly appreciated them. To me it literally just seemed like SleepLite. What was the fucking point? Anyway, I’ll cut the bullshit and get straight to the point. One day I decided to try and smoke as much weed as I possibly could. I’m not talking “oh, let’s get totally baked”, I’m talking about…

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What I’ve got here in today’s post is Bongripper’s 3rd pressing of Satan Worshipping Doom, which I wisely picked up at Roadburn in April. The band release all their records themselves, and it is now worth a small fortune on Discogs. Also, this is going to sound rather bizarre, but I see this as less of a record and more as a reminder, or a testament, to the band’s fucking mind-blowing set at Roadburn festival 2012. I gotta…

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Imagine how stupid I felt after shelling out for the super-ultra-mega-wicked-limited edition of this record that was ONLY available at day one of Roadburn 2012 when I found out there was actually less to it than the normal Relapse package and a few quid more expensive! Bitch please! In a European world where records cost an average of 20 Euros each I was not impressed. Never mind, I guess it is the same record regardless,…

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(2020 edit: It’s worth mentioning that in the last 8 years since this review was written, I have grown up considerably, and now appreciate The Burning World for what it is. Either way, here’s the 2012 review in its original format, some of which is also a bit factually inaccurate, so please take it with a pinch of salt.) Hmmm, this is going to be a controversial one for me. I don’t know how I…

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This is one of the chunkiest metal productions I have heard in quite some time. Nothing Violates This Nature is an amazing performance from start to finish; mixing the blistering ferocity of grindcore with the, dare I say it, artsy hardcore edge of stuff like Converge, even Dillenger et al. (2017 edit: I have since discovered that not only is Converge drummer Ben Koller in the fucking band, but this record was produced by Kurt…

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As much as I facking adore Fukpig I can’t help but get tits-bored of this album by track three or something. I almost feel bad writing this, but this record is equal amounts nasty, heavy and boring. I know that it is hard to be original in the d-beat/crust corner of grind and punk, but even when Fukpig bring their own rather unique black metal-esque distorted tinge to the table, the combination of different outcomes is still disappointingly low….

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(2021 Edit: You can thank Photobucket once again for shafting me out of the images of my record collection. Please enjoy this watermarked piece of shit! Ta!) I never thought that I’d end up with some of this band’s lesser available stuff, so I was chuft to see some excellent vinyl on sale really cheap on the recent Cemetery Rapist / Anal Penetration UK tour. This was the ridiculous price of £6, which is great because I never…

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I don’t normally like post rock type stuff. Sure, I appreciate what the genre is all about, the sheer scope and beauty of it seems fantastic on paper, but for the most part I just can’t see passed the whole twinkly-twinkly-becomes-epic-climax-in-7-11-minutes thing. Ugh. Build, bash, repeat. Wow, that’s art, man. What I like about Year Of No Light however is that they retain the post rock epic and meld it with something more dark and…

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For me, Pentastar is the essential first listen album for Earth. It combines the dizzying drones from the first few records with the unusual penchant for traditional song structures that would pave the way for the band’s later, more clean and folky shoegazer efforts. This is the last Earth record to fully embrace the wonders of the fuzz, and for this reason alone it must be worshipped! What I have here is the excellent value…

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(2020 Update: Scorn is now back and released a new EP and new full length in 2019! Yay!) Sadly, Yozza (released in the arse-end of 2011) was to be the last thing that Mick Harris would put out under the Scorn moniker after 20 long years of pushing the boundaries of underground electronic music. Looking back now, it is hard to believe how far ahead of the times Scorn was; playing something that was the…

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What I have here for review is the 1997 Morbid Records (RIP) LP release of Humarrogance. The sound is that of the usual Agathocles stock, if not a little crisper than most recordings. The tracks blast and grind away with impressive mincing fury until it comes to an abrupt halt at the start of track eight, “White Horse”. This song has a strange rock and roll vibe to it, and it is very refreshing to…

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Gorgonized Dorks may be painfully noisy in their approach to grind, but at least they do it right. Odd keyboard tones accompany crusty drumming and a highly-punk-influenced guitar and bass performance. It’s highly infectious stuff, torn apart by vocalist Katz’ harsh laments. If you like this or not will depend entirely on your tolerance for the noisier, more distorted side of grind. Not so much can be said for Xanax Feast, unfortunately. You can barely…

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This clusterfuck of a record is a collaboration effort by Agromosh and My Cheap Ass Life. Ok, let’s start with Sloth. I don’t know what happened here. This is some whacked out shit. Sample-laden minimalistic noises and quirky sound effects meets drum machine metal and second rate black metal vocals. Add a hint of noisecore, and probably a fuckton of drugs, and you’ve got Sloth. ‘Nuff said. Minch on the other hand, use a dryer as one of their instruments. They are…

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Despite the constant hate towards this band from the “real” and “true” corners of the death metal community, Annotations of an Autopsy seem to have, over the years, done quite well for themselves in outliving the deathcore trend and showing that they are more than just a flash in the pan. This album might have been out on the fairly trendy-underground Siege Of Amida but they have gone on to have stuff released on Nuclear Blast; a big…

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This was my first ever noise CD. I accidentally bought it before I’d even heard of the noise genre, let alone of Merzbow or any of his button-pushing, knob-twisting, pedal-stomping ilk. I bought this CD once upon a long time ago off the Relapse mail order, purely because Jay Randall was involved. Boy did I have a shock when I played the fucker! At 17 years old I was at no stage in my musical…

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Two bands, four songs – every last one of them covers. Yacopsae’s usual frenetic powerviolence noise attack has been dropped here for a more punk, almost progressive (ha ha) take on things. They cover two songs, by Gang Green and Verbal Abuse respectively and they are definitely more laid back on this 5″ than the flip-side which features Massgrav, who tear into shit with no fucking remorse! Noisy and very fast, Massgrav clearly are the dominating band on this…

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It always seems to surprise people that I love ICP and other Psychopathic acts. I had two ICP tattoos done when I was 17, but I’m no Juggalo wigger, at least not anymore! Ha. For the years leading up to and following the turn of 20, I got a bit ashamed of my body art, mainly due to the internet revealing so many Juggalos as being total and utter fucking morons, and ICP et al’s…

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And the award for best cover art ever goes to…Stoma! Ha ha. This band are becoming a long standing default in the goregrind world, and with good cause; their low-end, rumbling gurgle’n’scream sound projects them as a kind of scat and prolapse obsessed version of Regurgitate. In the vein of the sheer ridiculousness of this particular sub-genre, this can only be a good thing. Their side of this EP, entitled Rectal Cranium Inversion, is two mid-length tracks of Stoma-ery goodness. My…

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Toecutter HC kick things off with a super-fast punky grind assault, and after all the non-grind I’ve been reviewing recently I find it rather difficult to keep up! It’s all kept rather simple here, there is a no-nonsense approach which seems to be missing on a lot of records these days. Straight to the point and over before I’ve written no more than a few sentences, Toecutter HC are ones to watch in the volatile world of…

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There is no other band in the world that sounds like Dead Neanderthals (although 7000 Dying Rats and Rich Hoak’s solo experiments do come close in their own little ways). Jazzgrind? Or is it saxgrind? Who the fuck would have thought it? Not me, that’s for sure! Trust the Netherlands! Ha ha. This is one of the original Bat Shit Records pressings of the 7″ EP, limited to 105 copies (I have number 92). It…

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An absolute classic record in every shape and form and propelled me full on into the world of grindcore and death metal. Could easily be a contender for one of my favourite albums of all time, but I think in my mid-teens I played this record to death. Unfortunately it was never pressed on vinyl (fecking sort it out Earache!), but the CD version will suffice. It’s simple, and digital as fuck (in both sound…

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I absolutely loved the first Waking The Cadaver record but I could never truly get my chops around Beyond Cops, Beyond God. I feel that everything I love about the WTC sound is missing here; the razor-wire guitar work, the out of time gravity blasts and THAT piccolo snare drum! Here WTC take their Devourment-by-numbers slam death sound and bash it head on into the more traditional brutal death studio sound. The quality is a massive improvement, but…

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Nothing screams “redneck death metal” more than having a CD out on Sevared Records and not being able to correctly spell your own band name. The label too, it seems, has issues with spelling. One shitty photoshop smear of a logo and boring cover painting later, we have Chronic Disembowelment, which despite all my sarcasm is actually fucking excellent. The intro sample is a fucking bore but as soon as this bastard kicks in you won’t be…

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This is the slipcase CD version of the 1994 classic black metal record. I’ve never liked Emperor if I’m honest, even though I should. The giant black metal phase of my life has for the most part passed and I doubt I will ever get into them. I always wanted Emperor to be good but every time I spun this disc I found it insanely hard to listen to. I guess it’s the production or…

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This was my first Technique purchase. I got it quickly after first hearing him online because I read it was free from his label Viper Records; the post and packaging coming to a nice little £3. You can download it here or get your free copy here (2021 edit: link is now fucked). Burn this shit, as the CD so strongly suggests you do. Can’t go wrong with the ethic this label has, so go and peep that shit. …

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Wow! This is short and sweet but it sure does the trick of hitting the ol’ grindcore spot  (could I shorten that to g-spot without sounding suspect? Hah). Necklacing’s pro-pressed tape release of I is a powerviolency grind smash up available in three lovely colors. I have the transparent red version. Don’t take my word for how awesome this is, listen to it for free and then buy it because it’s wicked awesome and cheap…

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The first thing you’ll likely notice about this EP is that the labels instruct you to rip this at 45rpm, when it clearly should be played at 33rpm. Typos aside, we have a seriously interesting mix here. Fascist Insect have a punky approach to grind, and throw a lot of different influences into the mix as well (there is even an acoustic guitar at one point). The sound is very metallic, and the vocals are very strained and impressive….

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Hells bells I’ll say one thing; Bringer Of Gore Rex loves the dirtier underbelly of grindcore almost as much as he loves his badly pixelated cover artwork! No frills here once again, just Tumour belting out blast after blast of indecipherable watery cyber grind. almost sounding like your mother drowning in piss after stealing the original LDOH demo and adding a electronic drum track to it (before she drowned in piss). Yes, this is that…

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Initially, I was puzzled to why the WIAFS album was split into 2 parts on vinyl. I could live with it, but it annoyed me nonetheless. When I espied part 2 for cheap on Discogs, I snapped it up. Little did I know until this arrived (go me for researching properly) that these two volumes are just two tracks a piece; one on each side. Man that sucks! I guess it was an easy way…

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This post is dedicated to Michael Gira’s dog Nina, who passed away last week. Songs for a Dog is essentially the vinyl version of what would become The Milk of M. Gira on CD. Both act as compilation albums of Gira’s self-released acoustic stuff, which is all out of print, limited edition and worth a fucking fortune. This was originally put together by a British label called Lumberton Trading Company back in 2006. It is…

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I picked this 3 track promo / single up dirt cheap from Kelly’s Records in Cardiff (it’s a wonder the fucking thing doesn’t skip – you’re lucky to get a playable record from that place, let me tell you!) as I’m a sucker for classic Alice Cooper and as you all know everything sounds better on vinyl. Well, most things. This sneaky 12″ spins at 45 so “Poison” and “Trash” fly by on side A;…

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9TH OCTOBER 2012: It is with an epic feeling of chuft-ness I unveil to you the 100th Lines in Wax blog post! What sorcery is this? I have actually stuck something out passed it’s initial conception stage! I’m rather proud of what Lines in Wax is slowly becoming, if I’m honest, so I’ll take this moment to quickly thank all you readers from around the globe for tuning in and having a gander at my…

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I don’t know where my interest in classical music came from, but one has to assume that it has somehow stemmed from the orchestral involvement in some metal music; either that or film soundtracks. I don’t collect or own many film soundtracks, but I guess that we are all subject to a lot of classical music without really noticing that we are listening to it as it plays along to some of our favourite movies, tv shows…

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I always forget how much I love BFOT until I spin this one-sided nightmare. The mix of power electronics and harsh (dare I say it) post-grind really is something to behold. The electronic and noise passages range from the downright horrid and nasty through to floral and sprawling; lush soundscapes of peace acting as intermissions between the balls-to-the-wall full band pieces, which are something to behold all on their own with their genre-bending groovyness. BFOT…

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It has been a long wait, but I bet a whole bunch of people are happy with Earache for finally deciding to press both Iron Monkey records onto wax for the first time ever. They are pressed from digital masters, so I wasn’t expecting the world but they actually sound absolutely fantastic. I’ve always been put off by Earache’s CD comp of all Iron Monkey shit (I’m a record-in-it’s-original-form kinda guy), so when I heard…

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This 12″ is absolutely massive! Every time I put it on the bass on this Planet Mu pressing literally shakes my house! This is a prime example of electronic music cut onto vinyl; I would gladly use it to put all the analogue-or-die vinyl fans in their place, that is if I was cool enough to know people who could possibly argue over that thing. I was excellently blessed with this for free by someone…

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This is the Gold Dust Gramaphonics pressing of GLC’s 2002 seemingly untitled EP. You Knows It 1983 is written on the back under the logo, so I’ve just used that as the name for now. All we have here is basically a collection of skits and old tracks, one of which would go on to appear on the 2005 record Safe As Fuck. Side a kicks off with “Roller Disco Remix”, which is just that;…

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I’ve been anticipating the review of this monster for a very long time; it has been nagging away at the back of my mind since I heard the album a few months ago. I almost wrote the review on the mp3 files I heard, but I pressured myself into waiting for the actual finished product, and boy am I glad that I did! The Seer is an absolute fucking monster of a record, and is…

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In my last Anal Cunt post I mention briefly that Limited Appeal Records put out some fantastic records, and this here slab of ridiculousness is a prime example. Regardless what you might think of Anal Cunt’s Picnic of Love record, the pressing itself is a labour of love; the front has whole new artwork from the original, each one is hand numbered (I have 13 out of 311), the art and text on the labels is hand done; and…

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(2021 Edit: thanks to Photobucket for fucking my only picture of this release with a whopping sopping wet cunt of a watermark. There are 2 other versions of this release, the artwork on mine is posted at the bottom of this post. Fuck you Photobucket!) Welcome to Lines In Wax’s first CD post! Holy mother, I’ve sold the fuck out. It had to happen eventually; it is a dark world where every single piece of…

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A quick note on looking back at this blog’s beginnings: I realise how harsh I was towards Agathocles in some posts. Whilst I do tire of them constantly re-hashing the same old stuff over and over in different shitty recordings, they are an excellent grindcore band (yes, grindcore!) and when they actually make original material it is usually very good. Not to mention they are fucking excellent live! I picked this 7″ up from Nic’s Bones…

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Post Mortem is another Seth Putnam band* from back in the day before Anal Cunt gained any particularly large international recognition. Although Seth is only on side A, he put this out on his own label; Wicked Sick Records (RIP). His vocals here show a whole different side to the guy so deeply associated with his usual shitty AxCx gargles and screams. Post Mortem themselves seem a bit lost musically, there is a whole lot…

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The more I write about XXX Maniak the more I wish they would come back and make some more music, as a one piece or two piece; I’m easy. Just make more grind. Please! There are some XXX Maniak greats here, “I Must Fuck Everything” is just too catchy for it’s own good, as is “Slutty Vag, Tiny Tits” and “Unbridled Sex with Dead Animals”. It’s not their best sound ever though, it feels like…

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I never know what to make of Zeke. I picked this 7″ up purely because it was so cheap on Relapse a few years ago. I picture this band to be great live. I envision it as fast sludge. It is like rock’n’roll and hardcore punk mixed into a sludgy southern feel. There are a lot of traditional influences here, and it even sounds like something altogether more Black Label Society in parts. Hmm. Puzzling. This is…

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As with the other Mixomatosis 7″ I have, I have come to the conclusion that they seem desperate to squeeze as little as they can onto a record and call it an EP. Saying that, this is by far my favourite Mixomatosis minute or two; obscene goregrind obviously digitally remixed (shifted drums) melds awkwardly with (probably copyrighted) full orchestra music, before falling away and returning with more flanger-drenched horribleness. This is more noisecore than I…

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Alas Babylon! What we get here from the forever excellent and fantastico! crazy grinders TFD are demo versions / different recordings of songs that appear on the Hater record, mixed with a few others for good measure. The sound is big and biting as usual, the clusterfuck drums ahead of the winding guitars. It is a condensed version of some of their excellent tracks and a great place to start if you’ve never heard their mental-as-fuck grindcore…

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How nice it is to look back on something you’ve created! I’ve been involved in my fair share of shitty projects, and Urinal Shit was my solo noisecore/goregrind crossover. In the myspace days it (somehow) garnered small levels of interest, and I was even offered a realise by a D.I.Y. label, which really rocked my shit. The now rather extinct Mental Abuse records released my first and only EP under this name in mid to…

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At first glance this 7″ looks awesome, but take a closer look at the artwork and you’ll notice it is actually badly drawn. Nevermind! Epic studio quality shits from Mixomatosis with hilarious vocals. Terrible samples aside, this music is well recorded and well put together, but side B’s live track is a bit shit, if I’m honest. Also, at 45rpm it is over in such a short time.  I wouldn’t know where to start with Mixomatosis’ rather extensive back…

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(2020 edit: I apologise for the shitty artwork on this one, Photobucket have laid a watermark over a photo that I took myself, but there we go) I wasn’t entirely fussed on Mortiis’ much more metal approach in 2004 but there are some cracking tunes on The Grudge, including the title track, packaged here whittled down to a club-size bite. I can’t blame Earache for wanting in on the electro-goth club scene audience that Mortiis…

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I initially thought this just a completists item, and being a total crazy fan I simply had to get a copy on my quest to own all Godflesh stuff. The “Radioslave” version carries the original off on a whole new tangent, keeping the opening 90s dance vibe as its leading beat rather than heading into the heaviness the original does. The sample of the lyric “Jesus!” blares continually. “Total State” batters “Slavestate” into an unrecognisable…

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This is one of the albums that changed my life, as far as music is concerned. By far superior to anything else the Carcass discography, Symphonies of Sickness is the ultimate expression in downtuned guitars, scatterfuck dual vocals and blasting drums. The crisp and warm guitar tone can only be described as grinding. This is the definate grindcore guitar sound; fuzzy, yet grating enough to create a suitable amount of audible chaos. Symphonies can sound…

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When I Initially bought this I thought it was an LP (silly me) so expectedly I was a touch disappointed on its arrival. Never mind, because that initial disappointment faded very quickly upon first spinning Black Sun’s self-destructive noise meets sludge attack. Imagine early Swans, Iron Monkey and Burning Witch having a fight in the bottom of an mine shaft and you should have a pretty good idea of how Black Sun sound. Paralyser isn’t as noise…

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I don’t particularly find this record exciting in any way . As far as middle of the road, no frills thrash goes, Re-Animator have got it down to a tee. I’m sure that there is a bunch of metalheads out there who love this, without question, but the reason this is in my collection actually has nothing to do with the music on the disc. It is there because of its artwork. The artwork was…

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Godflesh is one of my favourite bands. Not of all time, because I have not known them “all time”. But, when I finally got my head out my arse and searched for some music that wasn’t grindcore, German techno-porngrind or Sunn O))), I never, ever looked back. Godflesh’s effect on my outlook of music is just as important as Napalm Death’s original input into my perception of music (how ironic it is that both bands…

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This is the TVG Global Thrashcore Dealer pressing of Abuse, which I picked up before it was re-released by Earache a short while later. I got this off Shane Embury’s FETO stall in Deathfest 2010 (or were Wormrot selling this next to Shane Embury’s stall? That would make much more sense, surely? I don’t know!) back when Wormrot were very much unknown in the UK. They have come a long way since, and two full UK tours later I feel they…

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So I finally grew the fuck up and got this album. After years of holding out, hoping and praying for a shot at the original pressing from back in the day, I finally gave up on owning a piece of musical history. I can only justify so much for a record. It is, at the end of the day, historic or not, it’s just a piece of vinyl. I don’t like Burzum enough to justify…

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Another smashing Back On Black black metal pressing (did you have to read that twice? Ha ha). This is really fancy, smooth and shiny and looking as sexy as black metal can in all its gatefold glory. I learned my lesson after purchasing Burzum’s Burzum and instead got this from HMV for the fucking criminal price of £9.99 including delivery rather than being raped by Plastic Head. Why go direct, eh? 1349 are something else….

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Early Misfits seems to me to suffer to the same bane as Agathocles, all the same shit seems to be released on tons of different bloody albums. It is hard to tell what is the original recording of a track and what is different. I was going to start off by saying that Legacy of Brutality mixes alternate recordings of some tracks with other tracks that are originally off…then I drew a blank. They really…

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One of my all time favourite songs! Shaming that I never got around to buying this any sooner too! And I gotta say, it sounds fucking massive on vinyl. The higher vocal frequencies end up in fizz a bit, but the bassier parts are much more prominent to what I am usually expecting. Also, the panning seems somewhat different? The joys of analogue music (assuming Aphex Twin was still using analogue equipment to make his…

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One of the first black metal records I ever heard, and one of my favourites. I waited a very long time to get this on wax; eventually getting a copy on white when Back on Black were good enough to release represses. The original vinyl pressings on Nuclear Blast are worth a bit more, but that’s ok, I’m not particularly wild or fanatical enough about black metal in the grand scheme of things, so I can let the original…

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Where Scum put grindcore on the map for most people, From Enslavement to Obliteration took the whole genre to new depths of mental speed and heavyness. I read once, I think in Terrorizer magazine, FETO being described as the bastard of a younger brother to Scum. Scum may have started it all, but FETO perfected the blueprint. To be honest, it just rips your fucking head off. I got this picture disc as a gift…

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This has to be one of my favourite records – just look at those colours! The way this album was packaged and marketed by Relapse was brilliant; alongside this excellently nauseating vinyl package, the CD version came with extravagant packaging and a formaldehyde scented disc for ultra-mortician vibes. That’s dedication! For me, I find that I love The County Medical Examiners because they fill the void that Carcass left when they fucked off to make…

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I don’t think in the history of music that an album title has so correctly summed up it’s contents like this one. By the time Anal Cunt announced that they were working on a new album that wasn’t shitty attempts at rock music, most people had either forgotten or given up completely. Now you have to take what I’m saying here with a pinch of salt because it is Anal Cunt and it is hard…

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