this EP holds a great deal of sentimental importance to me. my friend introduced me to tool around 2017-2018 through their early works, undertow and opiate among them. sweat instantly became my favorite tool track and remained that way for a few years. when i copped a 12" pressing of it at a record store, it became not only my first physical tool record but my first vinyl period, kickstarting a collection now 5+ years and 50+ albums strong! the first brick in what would become a truly ... read more

when considering iconic albums that represent entire genres--as i'd argue helmet's meantime does with alternative metal--i think this record gets underrated. think of the treatment other legendary metal tomes receive. sure, it's a cult classic, but despite its absurdly wide-reaching influence over of all sorts of metal and hardcore, millions wouldn't be able to recognize helmet's name alongside the korns and machine heads of the world. just how the cookie crumbles, i guess. still, their ... read more

people seem hesitant to recognize dogman as metal, instead opting to label it hard rock or Grunge Influenced Alternative Prog Rock or whatever, but to me this is straight alt-metal. i know our standards for heaviness have grown over time, but like 85% of the guitars on this LP are as heavy or heavier than sabbath and zeppelin...it's metal. melodic and fairly straight-ahead, but plenty of metal fills that niche--this is pretty much just basic rockin' heavy metal with alternative flavor, and ... read more

if jarhead fertilizer's band name and logo lead you to believe product of my environment is some kinda crusty sludgy hardcore album, you're in for a surprise! it's actually on the death metal spectrum--and it gets brutal (even slammy at times). but it's also extremely kinetic in its ability to shift from midtempo death metal to uptempo deathgrind, and it retains a good amount of hardcore DNA, distinguishing this group from swathes of death metal acts who lack identity. their debut is incredibly ... read more

this is my preferred way of taking in baby flag--one of the most essential punk comps ever imo. the pre-rollins black flag EPs are all great, so smashing em together into a concise, 25 minute package is a perfect recipe for a brilliant full-length. sprinkle in an extra tune here and there and you have a record that's every bit as vital as damaged. i wrote reviews for nervous breakdown, jealous again and six pack so i'm not about to conjure a college level dissertation on black flag's early ... read more

after ron reyes left black flag for the second time, dez cadena stepped in and provided what may be the best pre-rollins vocal performance of any black flag shouter. maybe that has something to do with his voice sounding the closest to henry's, and the fact that this tracklist is probably the best of their early EP's definitely helps; three classics, straight up. six pack is obviously one of the band's signature songs, and while i do prefer the version on damaged, this song in 1981 was one of ... read more

ripped straight from the wikipedia:

"Spurred on by the reception to their first release, the EP Nervous Breakdown, Black Flag entered the studio in late 1979 with new drummer Robo and original singer Keith Morris to begin recording their first LP. Basic tracks for all of the songs were cut live in the studio with Morris singing temporary vocal parts. Almost without warning, however, according to bassist Chuck Dukowski, Morris 'smashed his records and guitar and walked out screaming for a ... read more

malicious, unstable, hate-yourself sludge. that's what i was in the mood for tonight and that's what secret cutter played on their 2014 S/T debut. hailing from bethlehem, pennsylvania (gutter420 fact: the city in which i went to high school :P), they may just be my favorite metal band i've heard from the lehigh valley*! i wouldn't describe their sound as the absolute scuzziest of the scuzziest--we ARE talking about sludge here--but they are undeniably quite filthy and they sound absolutely ... read more

wrote a more in depth review of this sweet thang on my main account:

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/user/notbuzzzila/album/631106-3d-country/

i think i'm gonna stop omitting certain punk records from gutter420 review consideration on the basis of extremity--punk is punk and punk is my shit, so i don't wanna miss out on the chance to discuss some of my less abrasive favorites, such as this sophomore LP by NYC art punk band geese. in short, don't let overzealous haters fool u: 3D country's ... read more

god, it's pretty hot down here...

i've seen a lot of people say that king gizzard doing metal is gimmicky, which...i dunno, just feels unfair. i know i'm biased cuz they're one of my favorite bands, but i simply don't see how someone can listen to their music and dismiss it as a mere gimmick, as if their catalog lacks depth. as if it somehow lacks in complexity, creativity, experimentation or passion...i guess that last one is as subjective as the rest of em, but i feel the passion in all ... read more

goated reviewer @xcomebackkid describes this EP as "caveman noise" and gee tee's bandcamp profile picture appears to be a caveman wielding a synthesizer ... could this simplified, fuck-off approach to punk be the punk analog of caveman death metal? if that sentence means anything at all to u seek mental health resources, but it's also true. i used to be opposed to synthesizers in punk, but at this point i'm starting to romanticize these cheap garage punk synths as #DIY #AF ... at ... read more

this collection of songs both new and old is the first full-length liquids LP i've heard from front to back, and as a summary of their different sounds, tendencies and ethos, it's a wonderful introduction. i'd already heard a handful of liquids tracks, and these ones did not disappoint. lonely days, my best friend (stab me in the back again), aint even done with the night, no shits no fucks / i'm numb, and rock n roll n die gotta be my favorites of the bunch. their midwestern sun-bleached, ... read more

liquids are an incredibly prolific band of punks hailing from the underground garage circuit of northwest indiana. the state of indiana has produced a ton of quality acts over the years, especially some obscure personal favorites from recent memory (any thlurm heads out there will know whats up + SHOUTS OUT THE SPACE COW GOAT COSMILK!), and it appears you could add this group to that list. i stumbled upon their massive catalog on bandcamp or RYM or somewhere not too long ago, and while i was ... read more

i plan on writing a full, in-depth review of this album on my "main" account (which i use less, but where i talk about all the music i don't here; https://www.albumoftheyear.org/user/notbuzzzila/ if u wish to follow <3), as well as a review of infest the rats' nest which has grown on me immensely since its release nearly four years ago. i wanna give petrodragonic apocalypse some more listens to really absorb before i write a book about it, but after my first few, i can easily say i ... read more

at times on memorrhage's self-titled LP, the band--or shit, it's one guy actually, uhh--Mr. Memorrhage sounds like a more hardcore-influenced slipknot. shades of mudvayne are also present in the rhythm section and occasional wacky time signatures (as well as various other nu metal groups of the late 90's and 2000's), but really, slipknot's 1999 debut is what i was most reminded of throughout this first memorrhage LP, and i mean that as an absolute compliment. that right there is a top 3 nu ... read more

file under: "i love this shit so much that i dedicate a sizable portion of my musical diet to jay worshippers who are all just tryna do what this guy mastered before he ever hit 30."

this melodic, hook-driven modern classic's spot within gutter420 jurisdiction is sorta loose (i initially started this account to review and catalog all manner of extreme/raw/underground guitar music united under the umbrellas of metal and punk), but it's undeniably a punk record, so i can review blood ... read more

doesn't take a genius to deduce what kind of raucous, irreverent punk these memphis teens cooked--and boy, did they cook. teenage hate, in all its soot-covered, scuzzy glory, sounds like the late 90's embodiment of early 80's hardcore. from the production to the attitude to the fear cover on track 3, the reatards clearly channeled punk legends whose work was released back when jay and his old band members were all just lil rugrats. it does also have a certain southern-fried flavor to it, though ... read more

i listened to frustrated message three times in a row today. that's something i almost never do, even with my absolute favorite albums, and i'd typically only listen to one of my all-time favorites with such frequency...but frustrated message by necrodead is not an all-time favorite of mine. it is, however, a pretty great cut of forgotten chilean OSDM, and it only goes for half an hour, thus why i was so comfortable letting it play...and play...and play once more. after all, i gave it this ... read more

one of the landmark demos in extreme metal history, blood upon the altar is phenomenal and every bit as essential as fallen angel of doom... it's absolutely bloodthirsty, ahead of its time in its brutality, yet rooted in old school traditions. the songs demoniac, weltering in blood and ritual also appeared on FAOD...'s tracklist a year later, but that's not to imply the rest of the demo wasn't cut from the same cloth; war metal, extreme metal's second coming and rapture, was blaring its horns. ... read more

aside from the fact that i could literally come up with the song title "the ancient forest whispers my name" in like 15 seconds, from the deepening gloom... by moosegut was pretty awesome. obvious second wave vibes, with a folksy bent. it's by no means the most brutal of black metals, but it is overwhelmingly distorted...crank that shit aaaaaall the way up, mr. gut! as one could infer by observing the cover art, moosegut's brand of pagan bm evokes sprawling north american forestry; ... read more