MetalSucks

1. They’re called Pig Destroyer.

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Given his godly tenure with Pig Destroyer, I’d never question Scott Hull’s songwriting skill. Given his confidential government IT dayjob, it’d be inadvisable to criticize the dude anyway, lest I find myself the unwitting victim of extraordinary rendition to Uzbekistan. But it’s still a welcome surprise that for the first time in over a decade, Hull’s other grind band, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, has songs notable for something other than their brevity. ANb’s third full-length, Agorapocalypse, has nothing on 2003’s 3-inch, 100-track Altered States of America in terms of novelty. What it does have is groove, structure and listenability up the ass. I just listened to it three times in a row and it’s not even 9am. And my ass hurts.

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It’s only April and it’s already turning out to be an amazing year for grind – Napalm Death’s Time Waits for No Slave is the tits (read my review here), Brutal Truth’s Evolution Through Revolution kills (Satan Rosenbloom’s review coming soon), and we still have new music from Graf Orlock, Magrudergrind, and, knock on wood, Pig Destroyer to look forward to.

And, of course, there’s a new Agoraphobic Nosebleed album, Agorapocalypse, out on Relapse today. We’ll get to a review sooner or later, but for now you can judge for yourself – the entire album is streaming right here. Aside from the usual Scott Hull awesomeness, the band now counts Salome’s Kat as one of its three (!) vocalists.

Seriously, I love this fucking record. It’s just so snotty and brutal and… I can’t say enough good things about it. Please please please go check it out, and if you dig it, remember you can buy an actual copy as of right now.

-AR

I’ve been trying for some time to figure out a way to articulate the feelings the created by listening to Agoraphobic Nosebleed, and here’s the only thing I’ve been able to come up with: AFDUTKASD’NAS#*%^^^DLABDNAPFUQ!!!NSDFW.

Now that we’ve gotten that out the way: AN have a new album coming out April 14, Agorapocalypse, and have now given fans a first taste of the music from that album – new song “Agorapocalypse Now” is currently streaming on the group’s MySpace page.

In case you didn’t think the band could get any crazier than they already are, brace yourself: this song is pure chaos in music form. And little wonder: the band has added Salome front chick Kat to their ranks, which means they now have three, count ‘em three, vocalists. The song they released with Kat last year, “Home Invasion,” was fucking wicked (and is also streaming on AN’s MySpace page); based on this new track, I’d say we’re in for some fucking aural violence come April 14.

-AR

If you’re not familiar with Magrudergrind, it’s because media outlets (including this one) don’t give them enough coverage. But they have to be one of the best grind bands on the scene right now; 2007’s Rehashed was pretty fuckin’ good, but the three songs they contributed to Scott Hull’s This Comp Kills Fascists were even better.

The band has now signed with Willow Tip and are entering the studio to make a new album which will be engineered by Converge’s Kurt Ballou and mastered by The Inimitable Mr. Hull himself. Which means that along with the new Napalm Death album (and some new Pig Destroyer, pretty pretty please?), grind fans have least two albums in ‘09 that they know will be good.

-AR

Just yesterday I was complaining about a lack of decent grindcore thus far in ‘08, and now here comes the reunited Brutal Truth to tell me to sop my bellyachin’, punch me in the teeth, and spit on me when I’m down.

“Turmoil,” currently streaming on the band’s MySpace page, is one of four new songs the band recorded late last year, and will appear on This Comp Kills Fascists, an upcoming compilation (duh) that will be released on Relapse later this year. The album is being put together by Scott Hull of Pig Destroyer and Agoraphobic Nosebleed fame, and will feature some of our other favorite grind acts, including Total Fucking Destruction, the soon to be broken up Insect Warfare, and Deciblog faves Magrudergrind (If you don’t know Magrudergrind check out their contribution to the comp, “Burden,” here. Seriously. So fucking worth your time).

And now that I’ve been writing about it for a minute and listening to the new Brutal Truth and Magrudergrind tracks, I am suddenly very, very excited about this album. Yowza.

-AR

Scott Hull is the fuckin’ man dude. Aside from his God-like contributions to Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Anal Cunt (does this dude have a talent for being in bands with awesome names or what?), he also has some kind of top-secret government computer job, which probably means he’s reading this and ordering a wire tap on my phone even as I type this. Or, at the very least, that he’s the one responsible for hacking Metal Sludge. Scott Hull don’t suffer no Enuff Z’Nuff songs.

ANYWAYS, Lambgoat is now reporting that Hull has his first solo album, Requiem, coming out one June 10 in the US and June 16 everywhere else:

“According to Relapse, “Requiem sees Hull explore his long-time love for movies and cinema score in the form of a beautifully crafted piece of work’…

“Advance song titles from the album include: ‘Consequenze,’ ‘Visita all’ospedale,’ ‘Morte sul treno,’ and ‘Il funerale di Bonnie.’”

“Il funerale di Bonnie” is already the best song title I’ve heard all year. The other titles apparently translate to “Visit to the Hospital” and “Died on the Train,” which are, um, well, I dunno.

The audio samples currently avail on Hull’s MySpace page aren’t very grindy or even very metal at all – in fact, that hospital visit track kind of reminds me of a Tangerine Dream song – but I guess there’d be no point making a solo album if it was just gonna sound like Pig Destroyer without J.R. Hayes and Brian Harvey (and Blake Harrison, I suppose).

But here’s the really interesting part of this news: the cover art refers to the album as an “Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.” If Hull is making a movie to go with this music, I’ll pee myself.

-AR