Monday, February 20, 2012

Grindcore Bracketology 2: Round 2 Week 2

Round two kicked off with the rise of the underdogs...to a certain extent. Here's who you say will be moving on.

The Old Guard
Repulsion have been riding one damn good album for decades now, and apparently that isn't enough to compete with Jesse Pintado's plethora of outfits over the years. The J-man squeaked out the grave robbers by 9-5.

The Innovators
Human Remains were grindcore prophets of the new flesh, but we live in a transhuman era and Papirmollen is the acolyte of extraterrestrial grind. The Norwegian prodigy advances by a vote of 8-6.

The Punks
Phobia are a grindcore institution who seem to be on the upswing after a pretty fallow middle frame, but they still got scorched by Insect Warfare's Beau by 12-2.

The Technicians
And here's where the underdogs' momentum came slamming to a halt. Rob Marton's untimely demise at the hands of Rainwater is avenged as the Noisear noodler got served by the tentacle rape tuneage of Mastsubara by a commanding 9-5.

The brackets have been updated and the visually minded them can peruse them here. Meanwhile, it's time to get down to the second half of Round Two. Arguments close on Sunday.

The Old Guard
2. Steer (Carcass/Napalm Death) v. 3. Gurn (Brutal Truth)
Can Steer drive Gurn from enslavement to obliteration or is he about to face a brutal truth?

The Innovators
2. Hull (ANb/Pig Destroyer/Anal Cunt) v. 4. Johnson (Enemy Soil/Drugs of Faith)
Two drum machine innovators who have plenty of other tricks in their tool boxes. Only one gets to move forward.

The Punks
2. Heritage (Assuck) v. 5. Rasyid (Wormrot)
I don't envy you here. Assuck represent the best of grind's past, but Wormrot are the future. Who's more important?

The Technicians
3. Burke (Lethargy/Sulaco/Brutal Truth) v. 5. Arp. (Psyopus)
Arp may be the most technically adroit of all these fretboard wizards, but does his work stand up against one of the great grind innovators in Burke?

15 comments:

PatrickDM said...

Gurn...better riffs
Hull...better riffs
Heritage...wormrot is amazing, but i find assuck so crucial to grind
Burke...the new sulaco album is amazing. there is less grind to it, but the riffs!

HeroinJesus said...

Old Gaurd: Steer, carcass was the first grind band i ever got into and i still consider them one of my favorites

Innovators: Hull, i love both of these guys, but i'm not a huge fan of drugs of faith, whereas anything hull has played on is amazing.

Punks: Wormrot rights catchy as balls riffs with amazing songwriting. Assuck is cool, but there are 1000 other bands i'd rather listne too. I've never understood why people jock them so much, so rasyid gets my vote

Technicians: Given it to Bruke because i actually listen to his bands

Vegas said...

Definitely Bill Steer. Gurn is way less consistent IMO. His best is really good though. But you can't put it up against F.E.T.O. and Symphonies of Sickness.

Don't make me choose between Hull and Johnson. It's way too hard. I think Scott Hull may have written every riff possible in grindcore and a few other genres... But Johnson is innovative in his own way, adding his own signature rock 'n' roll swing and bounce. They're both consistently good. Fuck it, I choose Johnson. This is why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUFP5f9iO0g

Enemy Soil's side of that split is amazing, and way better than the ANb side.

Heritage.

Burke's record is really all over the place, but I like him more than I dislike him.

Vegas said...

(that was my vote for Burke)

Vegas said...

Also, because now I'm really into this, my predictions: I dont' know whether heritage or Rasyid will win this round, but all will fall in the shadow of Beau. Similar for Takafumi Matsubara, the Burke and Arp vote is just a formality.

I'd like to say that there's an even match between Johnson and Hull but in my heart I know Hull will win. And he'll win against Papirmollen as well.

Gurn/Steer/Pintado is the most puzzling to me. I'd like to think Steer will beat both Gurn and Pintado, but I'm not sure. Hm...

Alexsmusic said...

Steer

Hull

Heritage

Burke

Anonymous said...

Gurn

Hull

Heritage

Burke

Chaosphere said...

1. Gurn
Both diverse and awesome as hell, but Brutal Truth are one of my favourit ever.

2. Hull
The modern day riffmiester

3. Heritage
Purly because I listen to Anti Capital more than Abuse.

4. Burke
Sulaco Lerthargy and Brutal Truth. Need I say more?

Trey Azagthoth's Quake III Clan said...

Steer on the first, Hull on the second. The third is a very hard choice, but I think I'll go for Rasyid. I have no idea on the last one.

Anonymous said...

Steer is a grind god among men but ill go with Gurn since i enjoy Brutal truth more than carcass.

Man what a hard decision!Johnson is truly an innovator of Grindcore but Hull's riffs are just crazy!Hull gets my vote.

I mosh with both bands and go totally insane in general while listening to them but Ill choose Heritage only because Assuck were formed first and have some history behind them.

I dont like Sulaco or Psyopus at all but since the last brutal truth kicked ass:Burke

JAMES FROM GREECE

Perpetual Strife said...

Old: Gurn
Tough one for me because Scum is so great and Steer was an essential part of that (but i dislike Carcass). But Brutal Truth's had a better run and there's plenty of good riffs to be found, especially throughout Extreme Conditions
Innovators: Hull
Prowler in the Yard is one of grindcore's finest moments and was an essential part to my high school listening. Without a doubt, Hull deserves this more as he's found a beautifully terrible way to match the lyrics and imagery of PxDx.

Punks: Heritage
Assuck's one of the greatest grind bands for a reason, Wormrot's a great new act, but not doing too much new. I'd rather have Heritage no questions ask. Anticapital for life.
Techs: No input

Novel said...

Steer

Hull

Rasyid

Burke

Ryan Kennedy said...

Steer, easy

Hull, easy

Heritage, easy

Burke, easy

.... easy

DesiccatedVeins said...

The Old Guard
Gurn. Steer's a great guitarist, but Gurn combines technical and stoner riffing in a way that no one before him really had, and few after him have improved upon.

The Innovators
Scott Hull, no question. I'd give him it for his work with Pig Destroyer alone, but the scope of and variations in his work make his supremacy in this bout undeniable.

The Punks
I'll give it to Rasyid here just because I like Wormrot more.

The Technicians
Burke and Arp both favor chaotic, hyper-technical styles, but Burke manages to weave his playing into riffier, neater songs structures while Arp gets too caught up in sonic abstraction to worry about listenability.

Ouroborus said...

The Old Guard: Gum

The Innovators: Hull

The Punks: Heritage

The Technicians: Burke