The Namesake Series: "Mothra"

While publicly proclaiming my love of kaiju metal a few months ago, I did severe damage to my credibility by forgetting that Justin Broadrick is not the only one who has fallen under the sway of Godzilla's benevolent lepidotera companion. Canadian power violencers The Endless Blockade have also sung the praises of the peaceful spirit of the Earth. While I prefer Battra, the spirit of the Earth's rage, I've got to admit these are a pair of pretty sweet songs.

Bring the Noise: A Crash Course in Electrogrind

Like a chocolate covered cadmium Witman’s sampler, consume at your own risk. Side effects may include cerebral hemorrhages, pissed off neighbors/roommates/spouses, expanded musical horizons and exorbitant Radio Shack bills as you attempt to recreate the sounds contained with in.
You’ve been warned.

1. Winters in Osaka – “Flowers in the Bodies”
2. Body Hammer – “Digital Direct Drive”
3. The Endless Blockade – “Perfection”
4. Exploding Meth Lab – “Exploding Meth Lab Soup Kitchen”
5. Napalm Death – “Harmony Corruption”
6. Gigantic Brain – “Dehumanize (Ninja Gaiden NES cover)”
7. Origami Swan – “Castigating Leukemia”
8. Jesus of Nazareth – “The Shame of Being a Child Track 11
9. Agoraphobic Nosebleed – “5 Band Genetic Equalizer 2”
10. Man is the Bastard – “Steak Eating Boss”
11. Discordance Axis with Merzbow – “Alzheimer (Live)”

G&P Review: Agoraphobic Nosebleed/The Endless Blockade

Agoraphobic Nosebleed/The Endless Blockade
Split
Relapse
Though I eventually came to enjoy it on its own terms, I had a bit of a Chinatown reaction to Agorapocalypse at first: I love it, I hate it, I love it, I hate it, I love it and I hate it. *sob*
I’m similarly conflicted about Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s side of this 7-inch split with Toronto power violence revivalists The Endless Blockade. Since their split with Apartment 213, Nosebleed have been drifting further and further from the microgrind mindfucks that they popularized at the start of the new millennium. I’m all for experimentalism, especially from someone as preternaturally talented as Scott Hull, it feels like Nosebleed has suffered and lost focus the more successful Pig Destroyer has become.
The 7-inch was the world’s introduction to new vocalist Katherine Katz and she dominates the first two songs, “Spielberg Summer Blockbuster Snuff” and “One Nation Under Z.O.G.,” both of which feature some classic ANb random assault rifle spray style machine grind, but buried between pseudo sludge meanderings that never seem to decide on a destination. Spoken word free association rant “Sand Worm/Improvised Explosive Dismemberment” easily could have been lifted from one of the interludes on Altered States of America and features some of J. Randall’s most beautifully psychotic ramblings since that album. “Cum shot in the eye of Allah/ American GI caught jerking off/ Inside a mosque/ His head separated from his body/ Like the church from the state” is pure genius and better and more focused than any of the cheap misogyny shock tactics on Agorapocalypse.
While Nosebleed’s half may be a mixed bag of caviar and rotted veggies, The Endless Blockade easily make this EP worth the $6 bucks. The Toronto noisemongers savagely beat and fuck (not necessarily in that order) everything their electronically augmented Godflesh jello wrestling Man is the Bastard at a Capitalist Casualties basement show. “93 93/93” stomps, chuffs, grinds and stops again in the space of about 90 seconds while “Hangman” ponderously surveys the landscape against a backdrop of electronic menace. As with Primitive’s “Perfection,” The Endless Blockade’s “Phantoms” out-Nosebleeds the masters with a dick-in-the-electrical-socket rant while every hair on your body spits arcs and sparks and where Jello Biafra got the honors on Primitive, The Endless Blockade rodeo Mick Harris into screeching out the vocals on the latest version of their ubiquitous, eponymous tune.
The Endless Blockade don’t stray far from the sound they perfected on Primitive, but their half of the split shows them steadily refining the elements, demonstrating why they are clearly the leaders of the power violence renaissance.

G&P review: The Endless Blockade

The Endless Blockade
Primitive
20 Buck Spin
Primitive is fucking right. This Ontario power violence collective rages like a pissed off Neanderthal (*nudge, nudge wink, wink*).
Praise Vishnu, power violence has been on the upswing again as this plague of girl pantsed mall metal seems to finally be cresting before the inevitable backlash. Leading the resurgence has been The Endless Blockade, who crest the sine wave bass rumbles that Man is the Bastard left unfinished, mashing together Swan dive two step, bastardized noise and martial blast beats into a frenetic assault on the senses.
One thing that sure is hell is not primitive is the sterling production that graces the album courtesy of Chris Hegge and the ubiquitous Scott Hull. Primitive’s guitars and noise scrape through the speakers with a precise balance of static and clarity, giving the seconds long songs a punchy resonance.Though these Canucks rarely break the minute mark with the frenetic, pounding outbursts that pass for songs, Primitive offers a wide array of tunes, such as the electrofrazzled “Perfection,” which could pass as one of those Agoraphobic Nosebleed interludes in a blindfolded test. We’re also treated to yet another version of the microburst “The Endless Blockade,” whose lyrics are encapsulated by the title, this time barked out by benevolent punk icon Jello Biafra. Primitive closes with “Do Not Resuscitate,” the album’s longest song, a fried fx board creeping crawl of burned out electronics and sputtering vacuum tubes. Sure, that’s been done a few trillion times before, but The Endless Blockade inject fresh blood into the power violence scene, which is enjoying a well deserved renaissance in the 21st Century