It’s Monday and Mondays suck, so let’s grind it out with A Grindcore Christmas Volume 1.
What better way to get into the final stretch of the season than to fully immerse yourself in a noisy, claustrophobic, chaotic world of Christmas-themed grindcore, noisecore, and electronics. It’s almost like you’re actually out there in the stores. Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. Maybe.
A Grindcore Christmas Volume 1 comes via J. Randall’s (Agoraphobic Nosebleed, SEAL Team 666) label Grindcore Karaoke, Robo! Robotica, Grind Thieves Intl and is presented by Grindcore Cinema. And it is one of four volumes, in case you need to really get your grind on this Christmas.
And though this is called A Grindcore Christmas there’s more to it than that. Take opener “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Remix” by Ryan Page. It’s not a grindcore song. It’s a slowed down, distorted remix of the Bing Crosby version. And you know what? It’s a helluva opener. It opens up the compilation to creepiness and chaos. Which is interesting because following that, the sleigh bells hit, the guns load, and James Doesn’t Exist blasts on.
There’s a definite Christmas spirit to the album, if nothing else in song title track after track. Hell, hearing Clark’s Santa rant from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation twice should be enough to trip anyone into the spirit. Sure there’s cynicism, but there’s laughs to be had too.
It’s a loud trip. Of course, the tracks aren’t balanced volume-wise, and what was trying to stab your eardrum with a candy cane one minute will sound like it’s playing through a blizzard the next. It’s disarming but the jolly tunes keep flowing. And the bulk of the tracks are grindcore. ANb brings a track the A Joyful Noise Decibel Flexi. Meanwhile, bands like Bastards, Fetal Demise and Unnatrual Selection bring the more straightforward grind, raw and fast. Kusari Gama Kill fires off with a noisegrind/industrial slab.
The other stuff falls more to noisecore/noisegrind/power electronics/e-grind. I know, I know, Santa really brought the goods in 2011. Pow Pow Slam contributes a video game-like piece, while M.O.S.E.S. and Stress Orphan bring the noise. CLAWZ feat. p.Wrecks is actually a hip-hop track with a noised up background.
There’s a surprisingly small amount of cover songs. When I first heard this years ago that threw me a bit. A Beautiful Lotus distort and take on “Blue Christmas” while The Circulatory System remix “Joy to the World.” And of course, there’s the aforementioned Ryan Page track.
If you’re done with the same old, same old A Grindcore Christmas Volume 1 is a shot of egg nog and a tab of LSD. It grinds up the holiday and sets the tree on fire. There’s a fine assortment of bands on here and it’s not just one note blasts. It’s music to wreck the halls to.
Spreading holiday cheer here.
