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Kill the Client, Neuraxis, Watchmaker, and Crowpath…

Kill the Client - Escalation of HostilityNew releases from one of the best underground metal labels on Earth, Willowtip, just keep stacking up lately, and among my favorites is the latest from Kill the Client—who follow-up their absolutely impeccable "Wage Slave" EP with the "Escalation of Hostility" full-length. Get ready for 15 tracks of absolutely scathing socio-political grindcore in less than a half-hour, delivered in the classic vein of Napalm Death meets Brutal Truth with raging speeds that still harness plenty of power. They generally stick with the one- to two-minute songs approach, though there are a couple of much longer, slower tracks herein that prove the band should slow things down and mix it up a little more often! There's not much more to say, really: This is the way grindcore was meant to be played.

Kill the Client "Bloodline"
Kill the Client "Decorated Dunce"

The band would likely be pleased to know that the corporation for which I work lost power this morning as I was listening to the track called "Illumination", of all things. Ha. But anyway, if you're down with the pure, unadulterated grind, buy it straight from the label, they run a killer distro with blazing fast service and super cheap prices to boot:

@ Willowtip

Neuraxis - Trilateral ProgressionCanada's Neuraxis has also returned with "Trilateral Progression", unleashing more of their technical death metal that strikes a damn fine blend between surprisingly brutal heaviness and snarling vocal growls with lots of forceful melodic tendencies and memorable songwriting tactics that keep the complexity up front without making it the focus. That is to say that there's very clearly a lot of technical aptitude involved here, but that's not the base of the material. One could even argue that there are some classic thrash and modern black metal riffs rearing their heads as well (check out "A Curative Struggle"), and I wouldn't be complaining were they to toss around a few more of those clean breaks either! I also like the fact that despite there being ample tempo changes, these guys really make energetic use of speed in a manner that doesn't feel tiresome or overbearing, which is no easy task. This is some of the band's most memorable work to date, for sure. The mix feels a little dominated by drums and vocals to me, so I find myself wishing that the guitars were running the show with a little more brightness to their presence, but my ears tend to adjust about 10 minutes in. I'm digging the artwork on this one, too.

Neuraxis "Shatter the Wisdom"
Neuraxis "A Curative Struggle"

Same story, make the grab straight from the label's online catalog:

@ Willowtip

Watchmaker - Erased From the Memory of ManWatchmaker's latest assault on the health of your eardrums, "Erased From the Memory of Man", was written and recorded in a mere two months this summer, resulting in 18 tracks (some of which run together) in about 26 minutes—which might as well be viewed as one single attack of raw, cacophonous thrash! This band just keeps getting more and more insane in terms of unloading a constant barrage of caustic thrash metal with indecipherable screams, squawks, and cackles galore. Seriously, we're talkin' some of the noisiest and most chaotic shit you're ever gonna find out there. Vocalist Brian Livoti is the fucking man all around, and I'll never forget that he hooked me up with a sweet old thrash metal compilation of Virginia/Maryland area bands called "All Thrashed Out and No Place to Go" years ago after I interviewed Watchmaker (I'll be posting that compilation sometime, too), and he's also responsible for the artwork displayed on the slick 12-panel foldout booklet here—where all of the printing was done with a light satin finish for added effect. Hail and kill!

Watchmaker "Irrevocable Change"
Watchmaker "Inescapable Melancholy"

Yep, you guessed it: If you need a little more pain and hate in your life, or just express your rage for all existence through demolishing your hearing, pick it up:

@ Willowtip

Crowpath - Red on ChromeThe first time I encountered the Swedish maniacs operating under the name of Crowpath was on their 5" vinyl EP released by Pillowscars Records, which is still the best thing I've heard from the band to date. But "Son of Sulphur" is indeed what I would call a little more focused than "Red on Chrome" in terms of exploring slightly longer songs and achieving a hint more sheer intensity and actual feeling within all that brute chaos and dissonant technicality. Admittedly these fellows are still a little nutty for my regular rotation in terms of songwriting and arrangements, but make no mistake, there are no doubt some fierce performances and plenty of raging riffs and killer midpaced dissonant breaks. I just can't help but still be a little put off by the sheer noisiness and all of the frenzied change-ups that fly around all over the place. This is a very solid effort that stands leagues above most such material from comparable acts, but for my money Crowpath has still yet to really maximize the destructive force that they collectively hold. Hell, the drummer's a fuckin' lunatic, though. There are some wicked fills and cymbal flare throughout these jams.

Crowpath "The Will to Burn"
Crowpath "Picked Clean"

If your ears survived the Watchmaker holocaust and are still hungry for more, this one should do the trick, and we all know that downloading instead of buying is for pussies, and Crowpath would most definitely not support such a thing:

@ Willowtip

Comments

  1. Am gonna get this. But am scared it’s short. Anyone know the play time on it?

    12.6.2005 | By regan

  2. I saw Neuraxis play a few weeks ago, and they turned out to be super nice guys who can play an awesome show.

    12.6.2005 | By Anonymous

  3. Willowtip is probably thee best place to order metal type stuff from.

    Kill the Client has a new drummer. He plays in Noisear(NM deathgrind)and the Phobia mcd(get up and kill). Good drummer, should be interesting to hear.

    12.6.2005 | By zach

  4. i fucking love the new watchmaker.

    12.7.2005 | By Anonymous

  5. After ‘Red On Chrome’, Crowpath just released one of the best of 2005 with ‘Son Of Sulphur’. The more violent parts of ‘Remission’-era Mastodon mixed with the dark, oppressive approach and crazy time signatures of ‘Obscura’-era Gorguts. Great live band too…

    12.7.2005 | By Anonymous

  6. how fitting your electricity goes off! bring down the machine!!

    -j

    12.8.2005 | By Anonymous

  7. Trilateral Progression is quite possibly the best album of the year!

    12.12.2005 | By broKeNbot

  8. Kill the Client and Neuraxis are touring with Strong Intention soon. I’m stoked.

    1.13.2006 | By Tyrone

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