A Bastard Noise: Power Violence Lives on in a New Generation

“No Comment! Manpig! Capitalist Casualties! Man is the Bastard! West Coast Power Violence! Let’s fucking go! Kick ass!”
And with that, the term power violence entered the hardcore lexicon. The loose confederation of California bands had little in common stylistically beyond a penchant for brevity. They certainly didn’t set out to spark a musical revolution. But 20 years after Man is the Bastard shouted the term into existence, a host of up and coming bands are taking what was once an inside joke to brand outcasts in the California hardcore scene and turning it into an ongoing and constantly evolving musical movement of its own.
Though the term power violence has been “commodified and bastardized” in the two decades since its introduction, Robby Komen of Sea of Shit still sees the spirit of that first run of bands in the wave of contemporary practitioners.
“It was definitely a time/era specific thing in its original incarnation (just like anything, it has to start somewhere), but I do believe there are contemporaries that earnestly share the same ethos and ideologies that unified these bands in the past,” Komen said.
Attracted by power violence’s aggression and malleability, a modern wave of neoviolence bands are taking short shocks of hardcore festooned with prominent bass and exploring all of the possible permutations, keeping it from going stale and extinct. Sprawling across the globe and adapting to fit new musical ecosystems, power violence is more vibrant and fertile than Man is the Bastard and their cohorts ever could have imagined.

Jersey Boys: Amputee Go Out on a Limb for Grindcore

Extreme metal revels in the sort of morbid, tasteless fascination with death, destruction and misery that most people who consider themselves well adjusted endeavor to avoid. In fact, a blunt indifference to social niceties is often treated as a point of honor in the ongoing arms race to provoke the biggest rise out of the squares. And then there are those hilarious moments when metal's fascination with dismemberment and B-movie gore makes its awkward acquaintance with flesh and blood reality.
Case in point: Actual amputees have crashed grinders Amputee's social media profiles, mistaking the New Jersey  band for some sort of support group.
"I obviously have nothing against actual amputees, but I don’t know why they add us on Facebook or send us 'Amputee and Proud' messages," guitarist Bill Sikora said. "That’s cool and all, but I think it’s pretty clear we’re some shitty band they don’t care about. Our videos on YouTube get insane amounts of views as well. I’m assuming it's total creeps looking for amputee porn and settling for us. I would say that is the biggest blowback aside from trying to tell your grandparents and co-workers your band’s name, but that's every band I’ve ever been in. Band names suck."
Sikora is being a bit modest because Amputee is an awesome band name and he and bandmates John and Ben previously played in the wonderfully titled Chainsaw to the Face (notable for their contribution to the first volume of This Comp Kills Fascists). Rounded out by vocalist Brian (ex-Doomsday Machine Schematic who will be ceding his spot to new screamer Chris this year), the New Jersey quartet have built their buzz on a devastating demo, a tidy 7-inch and a split with Nimbus Terrifix that exhume, embody and update the path blazed by Assuck before them. Along with likeminded grinders Cellgraft, Backslider and Triac (with whom they are readying a split), Amputee revel in the no frills grind path blazed by the Floridian band. But Amputee would like reductive internet assholes who appointed themselves as musical arbiters (not thinking of anybody in particular, here) to know the band does have other influences too.
"I would say, for us, we have no intention on revolutionizing grind or whatever," Sikora said. "We just grew up on old Slap a Ham and Earache stuff. I think people get too hung up on nostalgia. I mean, we’re not trying to relive something we were never apart of. Realistically, how could we ever get sick of being compared to Assuck? I am nothing short of flattered to the comparisons to [Excruciating Terror] or Fear of God as well, but I don’t want people to think we are a revivalist-type band. What it comes down to is playing music that isn’t complete horse shit and having fun. Our direct influences would be bands like the three mentioned above, Autopsy, Crossed Out, Gorguts, Entombed and Infest."
Reached from the studio where he's laying down the beats for Triac's half of the upcoming split, drummer Jake Cregger enthused about Amputee's raw, relentless approach, regardless of any influences.
"If you boil their sound down to its raw essence then you have high energy and … malicious intent, (Name that song!)," he said. "I’d say that if Amputee were equipped with a bag of potatoes, an old boot and a can of chili, they would still manage to make something forceful and nasty. That is why they exist and they don’t have patience for much else. I think that comes across well, live and on record." 


Draw Back a Stump

Amputee will get to parade their command of grind beyond the cream of Florida circa 1991  this year as they ready their upcoming split with Triac (who are recording tracks for their own split with Backslider during the same session) as well as a planned full length.
"We’ve known the Triac guys for years from playing shows with Chainsaw," Sikora said. "Out of mutual love for each other’s bands, we set up a tour and a split soon followed. Those dudes were seriously great to be on the road with and some talk of future touring has come up. Both bands are finishing up and Haunted Hotel will be putting it out. I honestly can’t say when it will be out but for sure no later than 2013."
 Cregger said split was a natural idea because the two bands are simpatico both musically and on a personal level.
"We are really excited to do a split with Amputee because, aside from being great guys, they are such a consistently nasty sounding band live and on record," Cregger said. "We have slowly been moving in the same direction sonically as best we can, and it seems to be a great fit. They really enjoy what they do which makes a huge difference and they execute their husky blend of grindcore very well. On top of that, having toured with them, they are truly the sweetest bunch of fudge-pots and made every day of tour a good time. Touring with them is like living an endless Three Stooges bit. They might not be pretty, but there is a ton of character underneath those gnarled mugs."

A Leg to Stand On

While the band is still hunting for a label to partner with for the full length, Sikora said the new material is "way less Assuck-worship," which may force me to compare them to a new band when it finally comes out.
The band also plans to commemorate first vocalist Brian's run with the band with a limited run of discography cassettes essentially collecting all of the band's output with his contribution. Stepping to Brian's mic will be new vocalist Chris.
"Our new vocalist is our good buddy, Chris. I have played in numerous hardcore bands with him and he has the biggest Ripchord button I’ve ever seen. Amputee will be back in action [this] year and playing shows around March. Brian will be on our upcoming split with Triac and that will be his last. We're bummed to see him go, but he’s a busy guy. We wish him the best."
While Sikora promises the new full length will expand Amputee's repertoire beyond Assuck, he can't dodge his influences in his self proclaimed Larm-core band Attitude Era. In fact, it turns out just about every member of Amputee has secret musical identity as well.
"Chris and I are in a poorly named fastcore band, Attitude Era," Sikora said. "Logan from Backslider, Chris, our buddy Jim and I wanted to start a band that sounded just like Heresy, Intense Degree, Deep Wound, etc. I play drums and we don’t distort the bass. We just put out a tape on Eat The Life from Chicago. You can google 'Attitude Era Philly' and a Bandcamp link should come up or one of our several three minute sets are on YouTube. Also, check out Brian and John’s band with Pat from Backslider, Callous. Ben also does a band with Josh from [Doomsday Machine Schematic] called Goat Thrower. If you’re into Dissection or At the Gates, you’ll love them."

Grind in Rewind 2012: It Takes Two to Tango

The split seems to be a lost art in the digital era. Downloading two different halves of an album from two different Bandcamp pages just doesn't quite have the same pizzazz as flipping a piece of wax on your turntable, ya know. Or I could just be an old coot (*pulls plaid pants up to armpits*). But despite modern technology's best effort to turn me into a parody of Abe Simpson, 2012 was blessed with a bumper crop of awesome bands that managed to work well and play with each other. Here are 10 bands over five splits who figured out how to do it right this year.

5. Amputee/Nimbus Terrifix
Split
Piggiron Sound
The Nimbus Terrifix side still doesn't really wind me up, but new Amputee material is a gift from grindcore Olympus. Ugly and without a hint of pretense, Amputee are everything you really want in a grind band. Sometimes you just want to be walloped upside the cranium without subtlety or art. Here are two bands that don't get too wrapped up in the whys and wherefores of their music and just decide to smack you silly instead.
 
4. Nashgul/P.L.F.
Split
Bones Brigade
I imagine the Nashgul and P.L.F. split was probably recorded in the musical equivalent of a broke down drive in theater that specializes in seedy midnight movies that are high on boobs and blood and not so finicky about acting or plot. Or the kind haunted by Scooby-Doo villains. One or the other. This 7-inch is a loving tribute to a time when movies wallowed in depravity and violence. And they would have gotten away with it if it hadn't... Actually they got away with it pretty damn well. The next time some Hollywood bigwig wants to make an "ironic" throwback to the heyday of exploitation films, maybe these two bands can soundtrack it.  

3. Priapus/Old Painless
Split
Self Released
I wish I were in the land of cotton cuz grindcore there is not forgotten and runnin' rebs Priapus and Old Painless lobbed a cannonade with this self-released 7-inch. How some label didn't immediately snap this up remains the biggest head scratcher of the year. However, the bands have been spreading their nasty vibes all across the internet and it's yours for the taking at their respective Bandcamp pages. Old Painless' acquired taste vocals and Priapus' gutbusting death just might force you to secede from the world of record labels as a result.

2. Robocop/Detroit
Dead Language, Foreign Bodies
Grindcore Karaoke/Give Praise
Heading in the opposite direction from Priapus/Old Painless, Robocop and Detroit's neo-powerviolence pairing made the leap from Grindcore Karaoke's digital distribution network to a gorgeous 12-inch on Give Praise that you really, really want to add to your collection. It doesn't hurt that the bands both turned in defining performances. Robocop transitioned to a new, cleaner sound that swapped violence for intellect, placing a new spin on familiar songs and expanding the band's arsenal from broadswords to laser-sighted sniper rifles. By contrast, Detroit went atavistic, turning in a furrow-browed slate (and  J. Lo cover) that set up their subsequent solo releases later in the year.
 

1. Dephosphorus/Wake
Split
7 Degrees
Sometimes the most brilliant gambits are the most obvious. Case in point, the excellent and ascendant 7 Degrees Records grabbed its two foremost bands -- Wake and Dephospohorus --  and told them to each record enough music to fill one side of a 7-inch. The result was an absolutely scintillating pairing that proved to be a pivot from Wake's Leeches (which graced last year's list) to Deposphorus' dominating Night Sky Transform. Dephosphorus had backed off the artistry of Axiom for something more primal and vicious, which put them firmly in Wake's realm, giving the pairing a wonderful balance from side to side. This is absolutely everything you want in a split experience: two bands at the top of their game that clearly enjoyed the idea of working together.

G&P Review: Amputee/Nimbus Terrifix

Amputee/Nimbus Terrifix
Split
PiggIron Sound
Amputee obliterate the world in a squall of mushroom cloud white noise from the second the need drops on first track "Collapsed Lung." From there every song is laced together by keening walls of amp feedback, stringing them along like a six song grindcore chain gang. From release to release, Amputee just get nastier. This is a band that loves to get down dirty-nailed in the grindcore muck with perfectly shitty production that spews abraded emotion and an ill-tempered outlook on our collective human existence.
Though they mix up the tempos a bit on this split, Amputee deep down only know one speed: balls swinging in the breeze. The vocals are almost too guttural for the album, sounding more death metal than grind, but that open throated maw is just there to devour everything in Amputee's path. The drumming is particularly effective over the six songs, pounding their way through the delightfully noisy mix at shoulder cracking speeds. These Jersey boys are on the verge of out-Assucking the almighty Assuck.
Along for the ride, Nimbus Terrifix are an OK band but lack some of the pitbull tenacity that power Amputee. Their six amphetamine-driven songs rest on the singer's bug-eyed, tooth-grinding delivery, a slavering madman stalking around scratching through a coke-sweat detox.
While his shrill delivery is spot on, the rest of the Pennsylvania trio's songs tend to blur together. And not blur together in that awesome gestalty way that elevates great grind albums into a zen-like beating. Rather, sometimes Nimbus Terrifix blur in a "has this song been going on for five minutes" kinda way. But it's not entirely their fault. There are not too many bands who could so much as hold their own against the rage Amputee are bringing.

[Full disclosure: PiggIron Sound sent me a review copy.]

G&P Review: Amputee

Amputee
Convulsions
RSR Records
Chasing their three song dick tease demo from 2010, Amputee go for the full release massage on Convulsions, a 13 song guerrilla grind assault from late 2011 that's filled with tunes that hit it and quit it in 80 seconds or less. The New Jersey grinders don't stray too far from the rampant Assuck-isms that made their demo so enticing with this EP, but Amputee have started to grow into their own and take better command of their sound. The slithery sounding songs allow a little bit of daylight between the band and their most obvious influence.
The most representative and probably strongest of the lot is "Gather to Persecute," a late EP entrant that best displays Amputee's new found proficiency with varying tempo and tone. The song best balances the human metronome drumming with the blurred-no-time-for-nuance guitars, which grasp just enough emotion to convey the thrust and drive of the pounding songs. Each song is pared to a single point and pounds it to sand and then moves on. Even as Amputee branch out into longer compositions on songs like the epic 1:22 "Ass Gen" or the slow-building 1:08 of "Repetition" they make sure they never overstay their welcome.
Amputee still lack that intangible something that gives contemporaries like the similarly-minded Cellgraft that added zing, but this is clearly a band on the rise. Everything I've heard from them has been consistent, concise and played to the point. Amputee are one short step from dropping that excellent album that will garner them the praise they're so gonna deserve.

[Full disclosure: The band sent me a download.]

Grind in Rewind 2010: The Kids are Alright

I consciously try not to be that grumpy old dude who’s constantly complaining about how awesome things were when I was a young’un. As far as I’m concerned, musically, things are only getting better. Media fragmentation and the demise of the record label business model have shattered the entertainment landscape, weeding out those doing it for a paycheck and forcing the next generation of the truly dedicated to throw themselves out there and face the consequences. A lot of really cool demos have crossed my laptop this year, forcing me to reconsider my outlook on the pending collapse of all civilization as we know it into a Taylor Swiftian apocalypse of musical suck. The kids are alright as long as they keep banging out music this inventive. Here are five unsigned bands that won me over in 2010.

5. No Gang Colors
This is Your God
This is your god, and he really hates your ass. He insists on torturing you with electronic amalgams of clicking grind and harsh, psychedelic white noise. This is what would have happened if Justin Broadrick didn’t totally abandon grind for industrial post-Napalm Death. Encomiums to weed and power tools seem like a great way to lose a finger, but it’s also a perfect way to spend 11 minutes of your life.

4. Amputee
Demo
Two minutes. That’s all it took for New Jersey’s Amputee to cement themselves firmly in my affections. Yes, they sound like Assuck. No, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The fact that I could listen to their four song demo about three times before I finished typing this makes it all the better.

3. Standing on a Floor of Bodies
Teaching Pigs to Sing
Rising from the ashes of Thousandswilldie, one man band Standing on a Floor of Bodies ear rape four minutes of your life with an all bass ’n’ drum machine assault on your higher cortical functions. It’s got all the atmosphere of a suffocating horror film soundscape crammed into seven claustrophobic songs that won’t let go until those tentacled abominations in the basement decide they’re done with you.

2. Robocop
Demo 2009
Part man. Part machine. All power violence. Ryan “Body Hammer/Rational Punk” Page and his Robocop friends set out to torture hardcore with their seven track demo. Every instrument rattles against the others like clashing pots in an earthquake-addled kitchen producing a delightful racket of impassioned, urgent hardcore. And their most recent offerings have only spiraled off into more aggressive, abrasive directions.

1. Satellite Sleep
Demo
Satellite Sleep’s three songs of aquatically-tinged Australian hardcore just keep getting better with each listen. For a demo, the band just nailed that perfect somnambulant atmosphere, rising above the rest. This is what Eraserhead’s lady in the radiator sequence would have sounded like if it were filtered through post-millennial hardcore. Everything is hazy and disorienting but wonderfully riveting all at the same time.

Demo-lition Derby: Amputee

Amputee
Demo
When regular commenter Rosemary sent me a recent email with the header “Assuck worship,” my attention was immediately piqued. I was doubly intrigued when I realized there was a missing modifier and it should have read powerviolent Assuck worship. Either way, the classic Floridians are these Jerseyians top MySpace friend and it shows.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
The quartet features members of Chainsaw to the Face (known to most of you from their appearance on This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 1) and Doomsday Machine Schematic and rip through four songs of the aforementioned Assuck worship in a breathless two minutes of audio orgasm. Though it's only two minutes, Amputee manage to cram in a full EP’s worth of headsnapping moments, putting the band’s dynamism to the fore with jaw jacks like the steampress bass of “Repetitions” or the way “Problem Of” manages to cram a VW’s worth of college students into 27 seconds of varied tempos and moods.
The band is making their demo available for download here, and it’s well worth the 30 seconds or so it will cost you.