Double Review: Noisear- Subvert the Dominate Paradigm and Defeatist- Tyranny of Decay

Noisear- Subvert the Dominate Paradigm

Defeatist- Tyranny of Decay

Over the past few years, Grindcore had been a genre of segments: on one hand, we had the purist Grindcore inspired by it's roots: Rotten Sound, Magrudergrind, Wormrot and others were doing it they way Napalm Death used to do it back in 1989. On the other, we had the progressive elements of the genre, toying with dissonance, technicality and time signatures: Discordance Axis, Pig Destroyer, Fuck The Facts. It has become a shit tossing war of fanboy attrition, as the two sides bicker over where the genre needs to go from here.

That question has been answered with Subvert the Dominate Paradigm and Tyranny of Decay: they will be smashed, molded and melted into one. Both of these albums represent the future of Grindcore, one grounded in the genre's past while at the same time embracing it's future. New Mexico's Noisear and New York's Defeatist have both released incredibly impressive albums, mixing the purist, crusty Grindcore of Rotten Sound with the hyper technical and dissonant guitar work of Discordance Axis to create a new kind of Grindcore. And boy does it fucking rule.

Of the two albums, Subvert the Dominate Paradigm is the stronger record. In fact, Subvert the Dominate Paradigm might be the finest Grindcore album of the last five years. Each of the thirty songs(minus the last song, "Noiseurption," which is mostly Power Electronics) are perfectly crafted pieces of this new kind of Grindcore. The basic riffs, song structure and tempo are classic Grindcore: fast, brutal, crusty and reeking of Punk Rock attitude. But Noisear often break into burst of technical, hyper dissonant riffing that brings to mind Discordance Axis and Fuck the Facts at their most inhuman and enraged, and the band often toy with Jazzy and complex song structure, if only for a few fleeting seconds, before going back to the Grind with a furious vengeance. The vocal attack is also incredible: varied, pissed off an bubbling with pure shit spewing hatred, the alternating high shriek and low guttural growl is as impressive as any you will ever hear. This synthesis of two styles is incredibly fun to listen to, and kept me on my feet for the entire album, wondering what Noisear were going to throw at me next.

Tyranny of Decay does not lack for truly awesome moments. Defeatist are the more traditional of the two bands, and this 12 track LP does feel dirtier and crustier. Defeatist are not quite as technically sound as Noisear, but they heap the rage on by the truckload(and in the end, that might be the most important thing). At times very Doom-y, and occasionally bringing to mind a more primitive Immolation, Tyranny of Decay is a force of sheer destruction. Its technical moments are less pronounced, but when they hit, it often creates a sea of dissonance that would make Ulcerate proud. I also prefer the overall production of Tyranny of Decay: Subvert the Dominate Paradigm has a very even mix and a ridiculously perfect snare sound, but Tyranny of Decay feels nastier and more filthy in an early Rotten Sound kind of way. On the other hand, the fairly mono-tone, screamy vocals of Tyranny of Decay are not the album's strong suite.

If this is the future of Grindcore, then a bright future it shall be. Both of these albums, but particularly Subvert the Dominate Paradigm, represent an aesthetic synthesis that I wish other genres would at least attempt(I am looking at you, Death Metal), and continues to prove that for sheer unbridled creativity, Grindcore is the superior genre to just about any other form of Extreme Music. I love the proclamation of Subvert the Dominate Paradigm's title: Noisear(and Defeatist) have done exactly that: taken the dominate ideas in Grindcore today, undercut them, and then popped a squat and took a shit on them.

Rating: Subvert the Dominate Paradigm: 10/10
Tyranny of Decay: 8.5/10

Double Review: Morbus Chron- Sleepers In The Rift(2011)/Morbid Blood- Reborn In Death(2011)

Morbid Flesh- Reborn In Death

Morbus Chron- Sleepers In The Rift

I could not think of a more appropriate time to write my first double review then after listening to these two new LP's. On one hand we have Spanish Death Metal band Morbid Flesh, and on the other we have Swedish Death Metal band Morbus Chron. Both bands play a very similar style of Death Metal, one that hems closely to the very roots of the genre: early Obituary, early Death and most obviously early Autopsy. The sound is unmistakeable: blast-beat free and decidedly Old-Fucking-School. So what is the difference? Only one is worth listening to.

Sleepers In The Rift, the first LP from Morbus Chron, fits the aesthetic perfectly while at the same time being utterly worthless. Inoffensive, safe and completely listless, Sleepers In The Rift goes through 9 tracks in the most painfully uninteresting way possible while mindlessly ripping off Severed Survival for it's entire 34 minute running time(which feels much longer and elicits more yawns and feelings of total disinterest than any album barely over half an hour ever should.) Add in a vocal attack which brings to mind a mentally-disabled and dangerously drunk John Tardy(a fully-functional Tardy is unbearable enough) and you have a recipe for a headache and a shitty album. The phrase "all style, no substance" was made for an album like Sleepers In The Rift, which is an embarrassing symbol to the obsession with Old-School credibility and 13 year old metalfags who talk like they saw Death in Florida just after they released Scream Bloody Gore. Only in this time when scene credibility matters more than competency or creativity could an album like Sleepers In The Rift ever find a legitimate audience.

Reborn in Death is everything that Morbus Chron failed miserably to accomplish with Sleepers In The Rift: each riff has power and heft that smacks the listener right in the head like the pick-axe of an inbred psychopath, while the ferocious vocal attack alternates deftly between a solid and very old-school sounding guttural and one of the more unique, and awesome, high vocals I have heard in a long time. The drums carry weight and smash against your ear-drums, and the grim and Doom-laden atmosphere creates a feeling of impending and ever encroaching death. Imagine a faster, more technically active Decrepitaph, and you have some idea of what to expect for a portion of Reborn in Death. Despite being an incredibly young band, with only demo before releasing their debut LP, Morbid Flesh show a comprehension of Death Metal that is hard to deny. While using early Death, Obituary and Autopsy as a baseline, Morbid Flesh jump around almost the entire early history of Death Metal: "Gulag(Cracked Bones)" has an overwhelming Altar of Madness feel, while "Impaled Ratzinger" brought to mind early Suffocation at certain points. Meanwhile, Morbus Chron fearfully stick to Severed Survival and never let go, living in dread terror that any semblance of originality or uniqueness will draw the ire of quick little fingers behind a keyboard.

I wish I could say something positive about Sleepers In The Rift, or mention a specific song as a highlight, but after a dozen listens I was tuning it out on instinct: in contrast, I have listened to Reborn in Death almost two dozen times for the sheer enjoyment of it. Reborn in Death is more powerful, more adventurous, more technically proficient and flat out more interesting. Throughout the whole process, Sleepers In The Rift had only one thing over Reborn in Death: a superior album cover. Score one for aesthetic, hype and internet credibility, score a whole hell of a lot more for good music.

Rating: Sleepers In The Rift: 4/10
Reborn in Death: 9/10