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Napalm Death Returns To Brixton With Crowbar

Over the course of metal music, there are tours with names that become as well known as the bands that spawned them themselves. Perhaps the most famous is Ozzfest (which, for those of you under twenty, was like a circus that treated the audience as clowns,) the abysmally named but wildly successful Lollapalooza which was created by Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell and featured a number of metal bands performing, and of course, the Family Values tour, a celebration of nu metal, mostly by bands who didn't want to be called nu metal.

In recent years, grindcore pioneers Napalm Death has joined those ranks with their Campaign For Musical Destruction tour, which by now has become a regular thing at this time of the year and brings together a plethora of extreme acts, from fellow grind favourites like Rotten Sound to death metal icons such as Immolation to thrashers like Warbringer. The actual name has been used by the band sporadically for decades but as a regular trek, it's become more of a staple this decade. Napalm Death has just completed the latest edition of this travelling explosion and this year, the European lineup included New Orleans masters Crowbar, East Coast grindcore band Full Of Hell and "bimboviolence" outfit Brat, also from NOLA and Metal Underground was lucky enough to be there for the London stop of the tour.

Just like last year, when the trek featured Pig Destroyer, Primitive Man and Wormrot, the Campaign For Musical Destruction made its London pitch in Brixton. Not at the Academy, thank the gods, but just down the road at Electric; a smaller venue that packs a great atmosphere. As always, fans could hardly wait to burst through the doors for this celebration of noise and first up to bat were New Orleans (relative) newcomers Brat. Although they've been around for five years now, their debut full length, "Social Grace," was only released a year ago and so people have had a little time to get their teeth into them now. Much like the 2023 tour openers Escuela Grind, much has been made about their image and therefore, whether or not they're actually grind or whatever, but personally, I'm all for it.

I would say maybe I'm in the minority for liking a bit of fun with my music, but the crowd in south London were clearly game too. They didn't have time for a lot of songs and vocalist Liz Selfish was recovering from an illness, but they went off like a sandstorm (which coincidentally was also their intro song,) causing havoc all over the venue with an excellent display of sonic violence that contained plenty of cuts from their debut, including "Ego Death," "Hesitation Wound" and "Human Offense." As the band practically tore apart their instruments, Selfish was entertaining (and confusing some of) the audience with manic facial expressions and dance moves that I couldn't dream of doing. For all the pink, the silliness and the pop samples, they're very much a hardcore band at heart, making a big noise with a grounded attitude. Though the clips of Britney Spears songs were somewhat funny, in truth, Brat doesn't need them. They have a brilliant stage presence that can win over any doubters willing to check them out, as I hope many will do when they return to London this Summer. More...

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Abated Mass Of Flesh Premiere Full-Album Stream

Nashville, Tennessee-based slamming brutal deathcore outfit Abated Mass Of Flesh premiere the full-album stream of the band's brand new EP "Rebirthing The Vile".

Check out now "Rebirthing The Vile" streaming in its entirety via YouTube below.

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Pathfinder Premiere New Single

Ontario, Canada-based deathcore outfit Pathfinder premiere a new single titled "Where the Current Ends", taken from their brand new EP of the same name.

Check out "Where the Current Ends" streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you now below.

Line-up: More...

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Orthodox Premieres “Searching For A Pulse” Video

Nashville, TN-based nü-metalcore outfit Orthodox have officially announced their upcoming studio album, “A Door Left Open”. Produced by Randy LeBoeuf (Jesus Piece, Kublai Khan TX), the record is set for release on June 06th via Century Media. Alongside this announcement, the band has unveiled the album’s latest single, “Searching For A Pulse”.

A press release described the meaning behind the album’s title as follows: More...

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