Traditional thrashin' grind with a few twists and turns thrown in for what-the-hell-ever, Guantanamo Bay City Rollers deliver the curses with a side of slander and a shot of fuck you. For those who remember bands like mid-millenials Stolen Youth and Slackjaw the band is extra fancy slurpin' sauce 'cause there's members from those bands in there, as well as legends Space Bong, among others. This is music for the sleep over murders or the cross ville drunken' rampage, with such classics as "If You're So Anal, Why Do You Act Like A Cunt" and "Into The Crypt Of Rays" blending the juice into a nominal three day bender, though like any good hardcore worth it's weight in amphetamines, the complete disc comes in at exactly 27 minutes in length. Just long enough to smoke a good blunt or kill a six pack of lager. If your balls are blistered enough, or the cootch dryin' like a fish on a river rock, you gotta have this 8 song "EP", simply because it is what it is. These Aussies are the real deal, and probably don't care if you like them or not, which makes it all that much more alluring. Contact: http://www.grindheadrecords.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/theguantanamobaycityrolers

Building nice and slow off of "Luoto" you are not as much slapped in the face as spun into a tapestry where the sounds pay attention to crisp, curt melodic finesse while a darker visage lurks just beyond the horizon. This type of metal seems to only come from Europe, and it always has. There is the odd American progressive melodic death metal success, some big, but your bulk of bands come from overseas. You can hear the European sound clearly in numbers like "In The Rim", which exudes the type of teutonic feel personified by more northern bands. Finnish bands usually have a type of reservation which gives a hint of mystery, and OMNIUM GATHERUM are all about that spirit. I have heard this band before, long ago, and they have gathered the experience of age yet kept some of their original fire, so this album is not just "another record." This band began in the golden age of Finnish Dark Metal and as you listen to the album you realize they still hold their crown as well as the rest. When they bring it home, like on "Formidable" you can feel the deeper emotions of the band and the music, it is rather sweeping, and driving at the same time. The disc deserves play on a high end system where you can bring out the lows; overall the band and their recording partners did a nice job in the mix; the album in it's entirety it is a satisfying listen. A few times the band does seems to be trying for singles material, managing to still show the band's chops and that the singer has more than one register. I'd trade those more lighter numbers for something blazing, but then too this is the band's music and showcase of their talent, I am but the listener. I do however, recommend this for the serious melodic metal collector, it does not disappoint. Buy Beyond Here!

Massive riffage and heavy grinding brings it all home and has, at times, moments of seer greatness. Third cut Bland is like a train running off the tracks wide open heading towards a tank of primed nitro ready to explode! There's not extra horseshit to the song, just a blistering cut with all the heavy metal trimmings. The following number Vomisa goes from ripping thrash to progressive interlude to full out assault within the span of a few minutes. From the beginning of the disc bassist and vocalist Retch Bile lives up to his name, tight low end on the wood with razor blade screams that can't really be called vocals cast head crushing blows into the senses, you have no choice but to accept the depths of abyss you have been cast into. It simply does not let up throughout the entire seven. That's the way things are done when you want pure devastation; you keep pounding till you break the fuckers down! Both Jason Fuller and Paul Fox as mixer and masterer deliver the goods with fine aplum, as blood stains on cement bricks might awaken the sheeple! The production and end result retain full spectrum without low end nor mid range distortion, something many bands of this genre are plagued with, either none or over produced. Over-all the package is a fine piece of work, a collector's item. Contact - Grindhead Records : http://www.grindheadrecords.com

Smooth like fresh shine, Jeff has a country boy twang which gives his heritage away. As does not overdoing it with complex arrangements accompanied nor an over indulgence with the horns Title cut has the makings of a regional hit, and throughout the disc excellent playing and musician ship abounds. There's plenty of acoustic pickin' matched with Jeff's working man recitals, making for a good 'ol down home story tellin' session, with something extra you catch each play through. Cut 4 Lithium Lover spells out a scene we've all been party to if you've been around long enough, the beautiful mess who relies upon the 'scripts to stay half way sane yet still at times can be crazy as a bat. Jeff's method of song-n-tell makes it sound like it's an every day thing, nothing out of the usual, and he makes you believe it too, no questions asked. While not wide farring nor over whelming, Jeff & his band, plus a little help from some friends, makes it all seem like a motorcycle ride through the country side, kicked back, relaxing, and enjoying the ride as you reflect through the verses of songs on just how multi-faceted life can be. He hits the mark with songs about the differences in generations (Generation Confrontation) and home town history realizations (The Real Me). Over all, a nice variation on the country scene. Contact: https://www.facebook.com/JeffRogersBand

More to meets the eye here on a disc which focuses on the prophecies of 2012, both those we thought were coming, those which are yet to manifest and a future of uncertainty and sheer insanity. The music is borderline grindcore with definite thrashing death and black metal colorations. A time or two the influences are stark and clear, other times the winding up raging of the compositions reminds you of a translucent apocalypse while the kids sit wide eyed and drugged in front of the video game screens. The band harkens back to 1995, when guitarist and vocalist Cathaoir began using Phasmatis as the working name for his new solo project focusing on extreme metal. Over the next three years he built a following through the internet and recorded a few more sides before hooking up with additional memebrs to form a full band in the early millenium. The band appeared to be destined for blackened glory yet soon there unraveled for member's health and time reasons. Cathaoir soldiered on for the next decade in many extreme metal projects, before hooking up with SaviorSelf to kick the blast beats into peridition and the 2012 concept album was born. Released in the spring of 2013, the labum is a virtual treasure chest of full on death, with courses on high velocity shredding and depths-of-the-bowels vocal tortching. For extremem metal collectors, The True Phasmatis 2012 is a gem. Look for a live album featuring this latest album and music from Cathaoir's 18 years in the metal trenches coming in 2014. Contact: http://www.phasmatis.ancientrecords.us, http://www.facebook.com/thetruephasmatis, thetruephasmatis@ancientrecords.us