CVLT Nation’s Top Six
GRINDCORE/ POWER VIOLENCE
Releases of 2011

Number One DEPHOSPHORUS

So check this out…how gnarly is gnarly? Better yet. how epic awesome is epic awesome?? Well, I’m hear to tell you the sounds that DEPHOSPHORUS creates on their debut record Axiom deserve all of these accolades & then some. This band is so sick they produced their own genre called astro grind. So you are probably asking yourself, what the fuck is this? From my point of view, it’s some of the heaviest shit that I have heard lately. Basically, DEPHOSPHORUS are some demented musical scientists that have mixed the torment of black metal, the animalistic power of grindcore, the rabid angst of hardcore, the FTW attitude of punk with buckets of blackened soul to produce a record that should be on everyone’s top ten list. While listening to this album, I feel like they are drilling holes into my skull, but I don’t mind because this music is rotting joy to my demented soul. The grooves that DEPHOSPHORUS conjure up are truly astro, they are deep & otherworldly. This band is a perfect example of laying everything on the line & hiding nothing – they put every ounce of their souls into each song. The riffs that you will experience on Axiom might leave you in a state of shock or maybe with just slight brain damage. The tones that the guitars make on this album speak a language of revolution & call for the overthrow of all of the corrupt beings on planet earth. The drumming on this album sounds like an ancient army on a warpath fighting for their rights against a maggot-eating emperor! Grindcore is only the jump off for DEPHOSPHORUS – each song weaves elements of so many different genres you can’t tell where one starts & the other ends, and this blending almost leaves me speechless. What else that gets me hyped about this band is their use of eerie & bugged-out sound effects that give your thoughts a space vehicle to travel on! Vocally, the screams & growls pack a vibe of blackened rage that can’t be ignored – actually while listening to them I get an energy boost. So when you hear their tracks COLLIMATOR or ON THE VERGE OF AN OCCURRENCE, if they don’t make you feel good to be alive, you just might be dead already! Plus, DEPHOSPHORUS get props for their sick album art by Viral Graphics.

[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/COLLIMATOR.mp3|titles=DEPHOSPHORUS COLLIMATOR]

[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ON-THE-VERGE-OF-AN-OCCURENCE.mp3|titles=DEPHOSPHORUS ON THE VERGE OF AN OCCURENCE]

Number Two ACXDC

This one is for the kids, & after listening to California’s ACxDC’s new album called The Second Coming, I know the kids will be united. Now nothing can tear them apart because they are bonded by grindcore super glue and a mixture of straight power violence with a dash of hardcore madness just to level everything off. All of the songs on this album are busting loose at the seams with rage & righteous fury. What really makes that the hairs on the back of my neck stand to fucking attention is the caustic groove that this band is able to put out. ACxDC are that kind of grindcore that makes your jaw bones tighten up with excitement. They also have metallic riffs jumping off that are so rad that they fucking sound 3-D – it’s like they should write a movie for their riffs to star in called “Night of Undead Riff That Kills all Suckers”. These dudes love playing together & that can be heard in all of the band’s material. ACxDC does not make songs, they create anthems for the world to get crunk to! You better recognize that this Los Angeles band of radical humans should not be fucked with, you might lose your mind when you hear so much raw power.

[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ACxDC-Leech.mp3|titles=ACxDC – Leech] [audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ACxDC-Milk-Was-A-Bad-Choice.mp3|titles=ACxDC – Milk Was A Bad Choice]

Number Three The Afternoon Gentlemen

Good day, we are going to take the time to talk about music that may cause brain damage. What better band to choose as the example than Leeds’ grind/powerviolence group, The Afternoon Gentlemen. Their new album, Pissedography, out now via Give Praise Records, is a dirty clinic in how to create noise that disturbs, but at the same time gets you hyped! Over 38 tracks, these fucking weirdos cause pure harm in and out of your ears with each listen! Of course, The Afternoon Gentlemen pound you song after song with spazzy fastcore mixed with grind/powerviolence, but they do it with this constant killer groove that holds it all together. They also shake things up and keep you tuned into their planet with a rad dose of hip-hop samples that adds a cool layer to Pissedography. Every song jumps up straight into your face and screams, what the fuck are you looking at! It’s really awesome the way this band creates super raw, angry-sounding music, but at the same time they never take themselves too seriously, you can see the this in some of their song titles: “Thrash Potato,” “Fuck the 12-step program” & “Piss Town” – I think you get the picture. You also get that these motherfuckers can play the fuck out of their instruments on this album, and on the vocal tip, these dudes are the dogs bollocks! I guess I’m pretty lucky to say that I have seen The Afternoon Gentlemen, and these humans from the other side of the pond straight kick ass and take names later. While listening to this band, you will find yourself saying, damn, did someone just put a jackhammer to my head full blast? So if your boss is treating you like shit, trap them in the lunch room, blast The Afternoon Gentlemen and the sounds of Pissedography will decapitate their ass!

[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/04-Track-04-4.mp3|titles=AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN Track Bus Fare Saviour]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/36-Track-36.mp3|titles=AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN Drunk By Lunchtime]

Number Four WAKE

A hooded cloak of mayhem of covers my tortured skull, as I try to unlock the lies that this society has tried to imprison me in. I know what the fuck I need, I have to help in the destruction of this fuckery that corporations pass off as the truth with some ultra killer blackened grindcore. Wake, from Calgary, AB, has the power I need on my team of wizards/warlocks to help me destroy these animals of deceit. This super rad band released their new album, entitled LEECHES, via Hearing Aids Records in North America & 7 Degrees Records in Europe. Wake has created an album that is one mammoth instrument of punishment, from the very first second that this album begins, the brutality commences. LEECHES is an all-out attack of grinding controlled chaos that will make you stronger. On every song, you can hear that Wake has something to say, so you better fucking listen. Musically, this band has bent grindcore into gnarly shapes of war that sound killer to those that take heed to their radness. Today, CVLT Nation is excited to be streaming Wake’s new album LEECHES in it’s entirety, so take a listen below & after the jump, and also check out dates for their upcoming North American tour…

Stream Wake LEECHES Tracks 1-7
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/01-Vice.mp3|titles=01 Vice]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/02-Cult-of-War.mp3|titles=02 Cult of War]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/03-Vermin.mp3|titles=03 Vermin]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/04-Sloth.mp3|titles=04 Sloth]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/05-The-Lies-that-Bind.mp3|titles=05 The Lies that Bind]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/06-Dire.mp3|titles=06 Dire]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/07-Leeches.mp3|titles=07 Leeches]

Number Five ULTRA // NEGATIVE

It feels fucking good to be alive, and who needs energy drinks when you can listen to bands that are audio meth, which is a healthy alternative to that bullshit. ULTRA // NEGATIVE is the kind of band that creates music that gives you the jolt you need. ULTRA // NEGATIVE hail from Portsmouth, NH, and thrash out some wicked power violence & grindcore that also has one foot in the dis-beat grave. Their new record, FINALLY I’M AT PEACE, is made up of 8 spastic bursts of rad fury. I’m super hyped on this record, because of all of the awesome caustic melody that jumps out at you in 3D. ULTRA // NEGATIVE conjure up head banging and face contorting in awesome tunes that I love to skate to. Another thing that will make you pay attention is this band’s conviction, you can hear it in every riff of protest that they shred! These dudes have super killer lyrics that are spit at you by their gnarly singers. I know we live in a pretty fucked up world, so it’s always nice to hear fucked up music that puts it all in perspective! As much as these dudes are coming with a message, you never feel like you are being preached to. The music on FINALLY I’M AT PEACE is fast without a doubt, but it’s full of groove and nuclear breakdowns. ULTRA // NEGATIVE do a fantastic job at combining all of the genres that they are into without the listener knowing that they have just switched shit up! The title of this record makes total sense, because after listening to it, FINALLY I’M AT PEACE. To bring this superdelic band into your existence, download their record HERE!
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ULTRA-NEGATIVE-Finally-Im-At-Peace-01-Rebirth.mp3|titles=ULTRA-NEGATIVE – Finally, I’m At Peace – This Station of Life Rebirth]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ULTRA-NEGATIVE-Finally-Im-At-Peace-03-Im-Safe.mp3|titles=ULTRA-NEGATIVE – Finally, I’m At Peace – This Station of Life I’m Safe]

Number Six Wölfe

I’m spazzing out and I don’t give a fuck, because right now I’m being injected with the pure fury of rawness! The self-released tape by Australia’s Wölfe is an all-out bloody sonic war – 15 minutes of brutal bliss. This band creates music that truly is alive with raging filth, and when you hear it you can’t help but give them the respect they deserve. Wölfe plays their own brand of primitive black metal & crust grind, all mixed together to manifest a sound that is beyond exciting. On the the real, every time I listen to this tape I get this sudden burst of energy and I feel like I could out run death itself. None of the songs have names, only numbers, and the music came in one long mp3, so it’s hard to break down by song. I will say that Wölfe’s singer is fucking inhumane for what they are doing to their vocal chords. The singing on this tape eats away at your eardrums, but it is totally worth it, because this band kills. Unholy fuck, the ballistic riffage that you will hear on this tape will make it hard for you to listen to anything else for a while, because nothing else will compare. Then you have the drumming, which also seems like it must be played by an alien high on ultra nuclear meth or something, I still can’t believe these killer beats are being played by a human. As an unit, Wölfe has taken underground brutal music to another level of furious rawness, digging black pits of cryptic melody with their songwriting. How long did it take for me to realize that Wölfe was extraordinary? After the first two seconds, I’m a fiend! Check this out – below we are streaming the whole tape and you can download the music HERE! Do not operate heavy machinery and keep out of the reach of children…Download HERE!

[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/audio/01 – II-III-IV-V-VI.mp3|titles=Wölfe I- II-III-IV-V-VI]