"Indigenous" is the latest outing from Greek death/grinders Straighthate (on Blast Beat Mailmurder), which puts forth 12 tracks of the band's continually progressing outbursts in about 40 minutes. There are definitely still plenty of relentlessly blasting drumbeats and blazing tremolo picking riffs backing vocals that shift from burly growls to strained, snarling screams (and everything in between) – as well as thick, at times subtly melodic death metal riffs and loads of churning dissonance and winding layering that's somewhat reminiscent of Napalm Death circa "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" – but there's a lot of variety tucked away beneath the surface. As a whole it's a consistent and focused album where most of the compositions keep things fairly short and to the point, relying on a strong sense of groove – both in terms of the speed and the occasional presence of some "moshy" breakdowns. There are a few fucking outstanding moments, though – such as the rare energetic bursts of more overt melody or some oddly droning/noisy lead lines… and just check out those eerie acoustic guitars that pop up out of nowhere during "Higher"!? Awesome. The recording's a tad on the muddy side, but that's not an issue – just suggestive that there's room for improvement on some level. That density keeps things punchy and in your face without obscuring any of the intricacies of the more involved riffing or the vocals – which actually have a lot of really nice texture and audible strain that makes them sound genuinely ripping. The disc is then housed in a slick looking glossy digipack with some mildly abstracted landscape photos that do sort of tie-in to the general tone of the socio-politically oriented lyrics that tackle religion, the status quo, and a general sense of doom regarding the prospects of the future. Good stuff. This is certainly the band's strongest work to date, and continues to point to bigger and better things to come, so I'll always be curious to see how everything transpires…

Straighthate "Stench of Immortality"
Straighthate "Higher"

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if Blast Beat Mailmurder has any significant distribution here in the US, and I can't locate any distros selling their releases, so definitely contact the label directly via MySpace if you'd like to get your hands on this disc. These dudes deserve much more attention over here, so hopefully the strengths of this album can start to make things happen in that regard!

More raging Greek grindcore from Blast Beat Mailmurder comes in the form of "Bureau of Disgust", the sophomore full-length from Into the Gore. Recorded back in 2003 but not released until sometime last year, this is also – quite sadly – the band's final release, as their co-founding guitarist/vocalist Michael-Alexander Xidas died in a motorcycle accident in the summer of 2005. Given such an intense and unfortunate end for the band, I think it's very cool that this material was still given a proper posthumous release, as these 17 tracks offer up about 33 scorching minutes of ferocious material that could firmly stand alongside most any such traditionally-based grindcore albums of the last decade (though a little more "oomph" to the recording wouldn't have hurt). No song tops three minutes and they basically rip through loads of textbook shifts between forceful growls and searing high-pitched screams over hammering, speedy blasts and churning midpaced breaks. On rare occasion they'll spice things up with a vague hint of melody or perhaps a noisier and more borderline chaotic burst, but for the most part they follow the tried and true path – and they do it just fine. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? The disc is housed in a simple little die-cut sleeve (which allows the CD face to show through the front cover) printed in dark brown ink on muddy orange/brown stock with a matte finish. No lyrics are included, but despite what the band name might insinuate I get the impression that most of the lyrical content probably deals with socio-political topics – as is generally the case for all of the best that grindcore has to offer. Not too shabby, my friends… not too shabby. A damn shame they had to go out on such a tragic note…

Into the Gore "Kick 41"
Into the Gore "The Sculptured Disparity"

As stated above, I'd recommend contacting the label through MySpace to check on ordering information. If you like what you hear, please do show your support with a purchase, as a lot of labels wouldn't have the decency to move forward with a release after a band has broken up like this, and such behavior should be backed and respected on all levels.