Nice. This self-titled affair from Chainsaw Safety Records is Deathcycle's first full-length, and what a promising introduction it is. 13 tracks of dark, furious hardcore/punk with hints of both sludgy and thrashy metal in just under a half-hour. This ain't run of the mill material at all, though. Sure, lyrical themes attacking religion, greed, corruption, etc. aren't uncommon, but the content's much more pointed and involved than most:

There's a million dead people that are never coming back. And if you look at our history, it goes on and on, wars that they create and we are the pawns…

And the songwriting? Impressive. From typical bouts of three-chord hardcore or sparsely D-beat styled rhythms they branch out into pulverizingly heavy blasts of rugged, thrashy riffing or even some chaotically dissonant textures on occasion, with a range of tempos that jumps from the slow and pounding to the grindingly quick. The end result is one that's not unfamiliar, but also never sounds generic or stale, and keeps things moving so constantly that there's no time for getting bored, which is awesome. Take some traditional hardcore, some crust punk, some grindcore, some power violence, smear it all together in a somehow cohesive fashion, and the result sounds a lot like this album… and it's fuckin' awesome.

Deathcycle "Take Your Life Back"
Deathcycle "Security/Slavery"

The layout on this thing totally rules as well. I love it. Nice, heavy recording, too. Highly recommended overall, so definitely pick this shit up. It's only $10 straight from the label:

@ Chainsaw Safety Records

Another debut full-length from Chainsaw Safety Records comes in the form of "The Fear, the Terror, the Horror" from The Horror (UK). 18 tracks, about 22 minutes, recorded in just 21 hours. Got it? Good. These cats blaze through a straightforward brand of raw, fast hardcore/punk with totally blown out vocal yells that sound pretty damn intense. I dig the fact that the lyrics are pissed and carry a serious message while still being able to hang onto some tactfully bitter sarcasm or what have you. I find myself wishing the recording were a touch more balanced since it feels like there's a lot of midrange happening that can be a little harsh on the ears in some respects (which causes clarity and some of the ripping vocal texture to be lost on occasion), but the material's fairly solid, and I could see this band doing some serious damage with minor tweaks. As with Deathcycle above there are a lot of different tempos at work herein, which definitely helps to keep things interesting and draw out some additional force during some fierce slow to midpaced runs here and there. But for the most part it's varying degrees of fast, furious, in your face hardcore/punk with no bullshit… and you can't complain about that, my friends.

The Horror "Still Hate Thatcher"
The Horror "Reunited Ripper"

Same deal, pick it up from the label for just $10 if you're down:

@ Chainsaw Safety Records