One Day in Fukushima--The Shameful Eighteen (CD/LP) (2025 Global Help Records/Jungle Noise Records)

globalhelprecords.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

One Day in Fukushima play furious grindcore that borders on deathgrind at times. They manage to write in plenty of hooks and catchy moments into these brisk songs. They do have one of the funniest song titles ever, "Conan, Destroyer of Incels," which makes me chuckle every time I read the words. This is grind, so the songs are socially aware lyrically, and critical of our current world order, as they should be. I never took this band seriously before because of the name, but after seeing the awesome cover of this LP, I was tempted into checking them out, and I'm glad I did. My favorite thing that they do is when they drop a Terrorizer-style riff into the midst of their furious punk-based grind, it truly metalizes this material. Vocally, this is about what you'd expect them to sound like, with low growls mixed with high screams, often in the same verse or measure, but the performance is powerful and should be commended for tone and vocal patterns. The blastbeats are steady and precise, as well as energetic, and they focus the intensity of the music. I find often that grind succeeds in being much more intense than death metal due to the urgency with which it's played. Overall, this is a fine record, and one that belongs in every grind freak's collection!

Sarin Attack--Perikato (CD) {2026 More Hate Productions}

morehate.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

On their second full length, Sarin Attack have brought us some seriously fierce fuckin' grindcore that attacks, attacks, and doesn't let up. They remind me just slightly of Nasum, but the looseness in the production gives them their own identity apart from any comparisons, kind of like how the bands in the 1990s all had a different sound just due to recording techniques. This is pretty noisy stuff, which mostly stems from the chainsaw guitar sound and relentless blasting (there are no triggers on the drums as far as I can tell). It takes a couple of songs to adjust to the recording, as it's a little thin and noisy, as I mentioned. After your ears adjust, though, it's perfectly fine. The band is remarkably adept at writing catchy riffs, which not all grind bands are capable of, and little hooks abound in their material. Vocally they rely on primarily a low growl but at times a high scream enters the mix, often when layered with the low vocal. It's a quick listen, as the songs are short, and a lot of it is in Finnish so I can't tell you much about the songs, but there are three done in in English which allows me to assume they're primarily talking about societal issues, injustice, and social critique. Pretty common for grind with its punk aesthetic and background. In all, it's a good record, not great, but worth your time if you're a grind freak like me.

Choke Me--A Violent Phenomenon (Digital) {2026 Independent}

chokeme.bandcamp.com

6/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Choke Me play fairly unique-sounding grindcore that occasionally veers off into hardcore of a violent persuasion, and crust influence rears its sludgy head here and there as well. Everything on this recording is pushed to the limit, to the point of distortion, with fuzz on the guitars, drums that thunder, cymbals that hiss harshly, and vocals right on the edge of noise. There's a surprising amount of melody for a grindcore band, which is when the crust shows through the most sharply, with riffs that remind me of a melodic death metal band at times. I don't believe I've ever heard a grind band combining these elements in quite this way and come out the other side with cohesive and at times catchy songs. Vocally, there are two primary styles - a raspy high vocal and a guttural low vocal. Occasionally a shouted or sung phrase peeks at us from behind the wall of noise as well. This is grind that's worth a listen or two. While it didn't floor me, its intensity and originality is definitely worth the time invested.

Scalp--Not Worthy of Human Compassion (LP) {2025 Closed Casket Activities}

www.closedcasketactivities.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Scalp play an unholy amalgamation of death metal, grind, and hardcore, but I would probably classify them overall as grindcore. Vicious fucking grindcore, at that. This is hyper-aggressive and monstrously heavy shit, crushing riffs and lightspeed blastbeats combining with frenzied vocals to annihilate the listener's ears. The singer is truly pissed off, using a scream that has all the hate in the world wrapped up in it. He's backed up by another member of the band, the guitarist, who belts out low death growls with force and violence. This is the kind of grind I can get behind, just incredibly heavy riffs that whip up into blastbeaten insanity on a dime. I'm not entirely sure if an HM-2 is being used on the guitars, but it sure does sound like it. I highly recommend this record if you're a grind freak like me, it's absolutely worth the effort to track it down.

Subscum--Massgrave Summit (Digital) {2025 Independent}

subscum.bandcamp.com

6/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Subscum play crushing deathgrind that really sounds like no one else I can identify. The growled vocals have a supremely obscure echo with tons of reverb and distortion, and the high vocals are almost puked-up sounding, with a bunch of effects on them. The guitars are a chainsaw to the brain, and they may use an HM-2 pedal to achieve this sound, but I'm not certain about that. It could just be layers of distortion. They seem to take plenty of influence from Assuck and Napalm Death, and that's a plus. This is a very short record at just five songs, and it's all quite noisy, with a lot of experimentation with different sounds in the intros and outros. I definitely want to hear a longer release so I can analyze this band a bit further, because I see a ton of potential here. If you want a short grind release to pick your day up, this would be the one.

Lay Waste--Lay Waste (Digital) {2025 Independent}

laywaste2.bandcamp.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Lay Waste play harsh HM-2 powered deathgrind that reminds me a little bit of Nasum at their best. They also have quite a bit of anarcho-punk influence in the music and lyrically, as their views and topics skew left of center. The cover is very cool - it's a collage of chaos, of recent events, and of confrontational imagery. That fuckface Elon Musk is on the cover, and just looking at that fucker gets me in the mood for grind this violent. The blastbeats are like a machine gun when present (and they're present a lot), steady and with a heavy snare sound. The guitars are sludgy when they slow down to give us a catchy riff, and they maintain the violent atmosphere perfectly. The more times you listen to this record, the more distinct the songs become, which I find is true of all good deathgrind, because you're able to see past the lightspeed compositions and hear the catchy parts more. I recommend this highly for grind freaks and deathmaniacs alike.

Grindfection--Infeksi Dendam (Digital) {2025 Independent}

grindfection1.bandcamp.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Hailing from Indonesia, this is the first EP and debut release from this grindcore outfit.  They play heavy-ass grind mixed with crossover thrash and feature crushing breakdowns. It's nice to hear a brutal band from this country that plays in a different style than the usual brutal death metal. The band is extremely tight and they stick to the rhythm section like glue. The album is sung entirely in their native language, so I can't tell you about the subject matter, but the language is every bit as effective as English for metal, with lots of hard edges. The vocals are sung in a hardcore snarl with just a tinge of death growl, and it fits the music absolutely perfectly. We get only ten minutes and five tracks here, but it's enough to say that I want to hear more, and I want a full length. 

Melting Rot--Infatuation with Premeditation (CD/LP/CS) {2026 Hells Headbangers Records}

www.hellsheadbangers.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Melting Rot play absolutely furious deathgrind that takes no prisoners and gives no fucks. The vocals are ultra-guttural most of the time, but some different styles of growls present themselves from time to time. It's a masterful performance from the vocalist, overall. The guitars are down-tuned into hell and blown out, and they fill out the record nicely, taking up a lot of real estate with the mammoth distortion. The riffs are devastating, and at times incredibly catchy, with a real sense of hook. Grind is difficult as far as writing catchy songs since everything goes by so quickly, but these boys have pulled it off, and every song here is memorable. Some more so than others, but they have a baseline of being catchy overall. This is a band that would be at home on a death metal show as well as a grind show, and they truly straddle that line. I'll be buying this one, and all grind freaks should do the same!

Plague Master "Frozen Tomb Annihilation" (Review)

Plague Master Frozen Tomb Annihilation

2025 Independent (Digital)

plaguemaster1.bandcamp.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

I cannot fathom why certain bands haven't been snapped up by a label, and Plague Master is one of them. They play a furious mixture of grind and death metal that never fails to be as intense as possible on every track. Each song has fierce breakdowns with chugging, groovy riffs that are made for the pit. It's total violence in the best way. They're supremely heavy and extraordinarily tight, and are clearly masters of their craft. The vocals are in a higher register, due to being female fronted, and this makes them stand out nicely from the morass of death metal in the scene. Catchy riff after catchy riff hits the listener's ears, with hooks aplenty, and the vocals provide plenty of hooks on their own with top notch vocal patterns. This is truly brutal material, and it out-heavies most death metal in the scene today. This is absolutely worth getting. Get your ass to Bandcamp.

Forced Starvation "Forced Starvation" (Review)

Forced Starvation Forced Starvation

2025 Regurgitated Semen Records (CD/LP)

www.rsr-hateape-shop.de

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Grindcore from New Zealand is what's on order here. Blending catchy riffs and hooks into relentless grind is not easy/ The constraints of the medium - speed, blastbeats, screamed and growled vocals - do not lend themselves to diversity of sonic application. However, Forced Starvation has done the difficult task of creating memorable songs out of pure grindcore. They do this by interjecting strategically placed slower riffs and changing tempos often, as well as using samples and catchy vocal patterns. Fourteen tracks rip by in eighteen minutes, and their longest song clocks in at 2:14. This is absolutely crushing material, and grindcore freaks as well as death metal devotees should give this a solid look if what you desire is nonstop sonic devastation.

Crush the Rats "Don't" (Review)

Crush the Rats Don't

2025 Independent (CD)

crushtherats.bandcamp.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

From France comes this mixture of intense grindcore and death metal that skews toward the hardcore punk end of grind. There's a small tinge of blasting black metal to this as well for added harshness. The guitars are noisy as fuck, but the production is clean - they're mean to sound like a wall of fuckin' noise. They have an intensity that I wish more straight death metal bands could muster, a relentless fuck you energy that pervades the music. The drummer is fast, blasting his way through each song and hitting rolls flawlessly. Precision personified. The vocals are harsh screams and would be at home on any hardcore punk record, but here they transform into pure anger and urgent hate. This is a constant, intense, relentless musical attack. Recommended highly.

Violent Testimony "Aggravate" (Review)

Violent Testimony Aggravate

2025 Horror Pain Gore Death Productions (CD)

horrorpaingoredeath.com

10/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is the first length from this Wyoming grindsquadron. They play a catchy mixture of death, thrash, and black metal on a grindcore chassis and it's absolutely wonderful. They remind me slightly of Rotten Sound, if only for their song structures. This is vicious stuff, violence in musical form, here to take your worthless fuckin' head. This is very original material, also - other than the Rotten Sound comparison I made, it's unique and I can't think of anyone they truly sound like. The consistent power of the blast beats brings to mind classic records like Panzer Division Marduk. They have the same rabid energy and quality of composition that it takes to make a great record with this much blasting. This one just grabs hold of you and won't let go at all, drowning you in the turbulent atmosphere. It's equal parts piss, vinegar, and violence! Their vocalist is a formidable force, belting out his lines with power and conviction. They also know how to slow it down and bring the heavy like on "Left to Rot," among other tracks, to give us a break from the grind for a few seconds. This is a perfect record and I am now a fan, and I can't recommend this highly enough. Mandatory purchase - don't let this one get by you!

Aftermath "Entangled in Razorwire" (Review)

Aftermath "Entangled in Razorwire"

2024 Independent (Digital)

aftermathphx.bandcamp.com

BADASS SONG TITLES: Boiled in Oil, Entangled in Razorwire, Radiation Incineration

Aftermath plays grinding crust with a heap of death metal influence injected into it. I'm a fan of all things crust, so this was a pleasant find, and I decided to review it. Aftermath would be at home on shows with crust bands, hardcore bands, or death metal bands, and their sound is such that the fans of all these genres could easily get into them.

Some of the blast parts remind me of Parlamentarisk Sodomi, which is a personal favorite of mine among the anarcho-grind scene. The performance, especially in the drum department, is tight, aggressive, and fierce. The vocals are deep, grunting growls with plenty of nutsack. Occasionally a high vocal is introduced as a call and response, and the high vocals are just as good. 

"Entangled in Razorwire," the song itself, truly stands head and shoulders above the rest as the namesake track, and it's clear the band worked hard on the awesomeness on display here. "Time Warp" also has an incredible blast part that's very effective, and instantly gave me a shiver.

The record is free to download from their site on Bandcamp, but throw a few bucks their way. I'd recommend to the band to at least get a tape version of this out, since a lot of guys, like me, want physical copies whenever possible. I'd buy it in a snap.