As someone who came up in the 90s West Coast hardcore scene (see my post “5 Things I Miss About 90s Hardcore” for some especially ridiculous memories), I first came across Dave Astor when he was playing drums for Locust. I saw them back in 1995 with Man Is The Bastard at the Velvet Elvis in Seattle, and they blew me away. Back then, it was almost unheard of for hardcore kids with short hair to play blast beats, and while I kind of lost interest in them when they became The Locust, got scene hair and just generally became completely lame, they were definitely ahead of their time. Dave apparently agreed with me, because he quit to join the excellent Cattle Decapitation, then moved on to his current band Pathology.

Their new album on Victory just dropped, and it’s honestly one of the best straight-up, no-frills death metal records I’ve heard in a long time. With veterans like Dave and Matti Way (Disgorge, Liturgy, Cinerary) on board, their experience and craftsmanship really comes through. I know that 99% of MS readers will write it off because I like it, but this is one of the rare instances where they might actually be missing out on something they’d enjoy. It’s by far their best, combining melodic parts that somehow aren’t retarded with brutal slamz that will have you moshing around your room in seconds.

Dave is a man of few words, so I can’t say this is the most in-depth interview I’ve ever done, but he’s real nice and the Pathology record slaps, so pick it up on iTunes ASAP!

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Here’s the head-scratcher of the day: Ill Nino have signed with Victory Records. Not just for the release of their next album, either – but for merchandising and publishing, too.

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That Victory Records’ head honcho, Tony Brummel, is a scum bag isn’t news. But usually the man only makes enemies with young bands that don’t realize they’re about to take an eyeful of Brummel’s spunk. Now he’s fighting with other record label-types.

From our friend Bram Teitelman at Metal Insider:

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Just a little over a month ago, Bleeding Through lashed out at Trustkill Records for allegedly screwing them out of royalties; that conflicts seems to have been temporarily resolved, as Trustkill will release Bleeding Through’s new album, Declaration, September 30.

But now Throwdown vocalist Dave Peters is lashing out at Trustkill for nearly identical reasons (As an interesting side note, Bleeding Through front man Brandan Schieppati used to be a member of Throwdown). A guest column on Headbanger’s Blog reads in part:

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