It’s Monday and Mondays suck, so let’s grind it out with a marriage of Crowhurst’s noise remixing some Bandit grind.
For those of you staying safe and in quarantine I suppose it’s not the absolute worst of times if you’re a cranky ass who practices social distancing like I do on a non-pandemic basis. Nevertheless, stay safe…for the most part. See, as things in the U.S. descend further and further into chaos and we’re getting ready to watch people garrote each other over the last roll of toilet paper, now could not be a better time to abide by that “noise not music” motto that grindcore has so aptly adopted.
For those that are unfamiliar with the bands, Philadelphia, PA’s Bandit plays a fast, punchy, straightforward strain of grindcore. Urgent and raw sounding, releases like Warsaw have a place in any grind-head’s collection. And if they’re not there already, make sure to pick them up sooner rather than later.
Noise/experimental merchants Crowhurst of Los Angeles, CA are also a band you might have heard. They have their hand in a lot of genres. Originally beginning as a one-man band by Jay Gambit, the band has rounded out more members since their inception. Their output has been anything but small and their manipulation here is anything but friendly.
Bulldozer is seven Bandit tracks taken straight to the noise gods and split into digital ribbons. Those that like the much, much, much noisier side of grindcore that’s basically crossed into harsh noise territory, this is for you. “Organ Grinder” opens things up and it sounds like the bowels of hell are right here, collapsing the earth beneath our feet and staring us straight in the eyes. The track is thick and murky. The instruments are there buried beneath some filthy noise. It’s almost sludge sounding as it lumbers towards its end.
“Neglect” follows it, and I think that when people hear about noise much but haven’t much explored its territory, this is probably what they’re thinking. The hiss and peel of static that sounds like it’s stripping wallpaper and decorates the entire track. Meanwhile, “Nothing and No One” dials that back a little bit, but it makes the track sound more chaotic as the screams sound like they’re coming from a stretched-out face in slow motion. Look, it’s a horror show in the best way. The speed of the underlying track speeds up then slows down again but only ever so slightly.
“Miserable Disgrace” is almost the most grindcore sounding track but as the track makes its jump to blast things get glitchy and monstrous before falling into “Mitigate”, which might be the closest this thing comes to channelling Merzbow taking on some thundering doom. The piece is slower but so thick and sludged-out it almost sounds like a tar waterfall until descending into maybe the cleanest feedback on the album. Maybe.
“False Friends” starts out like Bandit is trying on raw black metal that’s getting hitched with some power electronics. It’s tinny and its aim is pain. The final offering “Pig Roast” follows in a similar fashion with a wetter sound and plenty of feedback. It’s a great way to close the short, albeit intense remix session out.
Crowhurst did a killer job making some of Bandit’s insane grindcore an uncomfortable show of insanity. This is more noise than grind and damn is it good. For those of you feeling chaotic during these trying times, this is for you. It won’t alleviate anything, but maybe you’ll hear some of that insanity bottled amongst these tracks. Stay safe. Stay in. Maybe use the time to be creative. Make a noise remix of a record you love if you’re feeling bored. But definitely get grinding on this.
Bandit Bandcamp
