CONTROLLED EXISTENCE // MINDFUCK

Nothing reinforces my affinity for face melting grind/crust like spending a few days away and then returning to the genre, fully caffeinated. And I can't think of a return than Prague's CONTROLLED EXISTENCE - throaty anarcho/crust femme barks lead a relentless churning assault that barely leaves time for breath between songs. There's a guitar break near the end of "Krkavčia Matka" that is so perfectly executed, so fucking deadly...I swear I relistened to those few seconds ten times in rapid succession before finishing their side. Not to be outdone, Slovak grinders MINDFUCK live up to their name with harsh, raw, erratic bursts - the kind of shit that just puts you on edge. This is what I wanted, this is how I hoped to start my day. And one ten year old cassette packed with brutality took care of me. 

CONTROLLED EXISTENCE // MINDFUCK 

S.I.K.A. // BINGO

Raw and dirty thrashing punk from Slovakia's S.I.K.A. (who cranked out several splits aside from this one). Extremely chaotic noise/math/grind from Sweden's BINGO....like really fukkn out there music. Five from S.I.K.A. and seven from BINGO, this cassette served as a promo for an EP that wasn't yet released when I met the S.I.K.A. dudes on tour. Good tunes, very happy to pay them a repeat visit.

S.I.K.A. // BINGO 

ROXOR

There's something magical about breakneck hardcore, when it's full speed ahead from start to finish and you just know that the band is leaving everything they have on the floor because they can't possibly play any faster or any harder than they are. That is the feeling that I get from the first moment of ROXOR's 2008 demo - eleven tracks of lightning fast hardcore mania taking Eastern European punk and low end crust and making them both fly by at a pace that will leave you breathless. Their new LP is a total scorcher (as are all of their vinyl releases), but this first demo is a great place to get blown the fukk away until you grab the new shit. Seriously.

ROXOR