Mammoth Grinder / Hatred Surge - Split 12"

The long awaited split between Texas' Mammoth Grinder and Hatred Surge finally arrived today. I just love everything about this record. Two favorite bands of mine with new material, fucking great cover art and quality pressing. I've currently played it 5 times in a row tonight and can't get enough. Only problem is which band to file it under on the record shelf. I'm tempted to say this is the best Mammoth Grinder recording to date but I'll have to think about that a bit longer, definitely up there. This is the first Hatred Surge recording with new vocalist Rahi from Insect Warfare replacing Faiza. I always thought the dual male/female vocals on earlier HS records gave them a really intense sound and that's what drew me to them in the first place. Don't get me wrong, the new stuff still kills it, it's just a different beast now. At least I can still get my Faiza fix from Mindless.

The red vinyl was for the first 100 pre orders and 400 black copies were also pressed but it all sold out straight away. Keep your eyes peeled on Cyclopean Records for a second pressing coming soon. In the mean time you can listen to the whole record below.

Trapped In A Scene 12"

This is a power violence / hardcore compilation that came out a couple of years back on 625 Thrash Core and Give Praise Records. I don't usually buy compilations anymore but there's a lot of really good bands on here including Hatred Surge, Iron Lung and In Disgust. Each band has at least 2 tracks or more in a row so it feels kinda like listening to a bunch of 7"s without having to get up. Back when I was first getting into punk music, compilations and label samplers were the best way to hear new bands. I would buy every comp I could find and would usually end up liking a few bands enough to hunt down their records. This was before the internet, so you couldn't just download mp3s or check out a bands myspace.   Compilations still serve a purpose but they're just not as necessary as they were back then I guess. I think the vinyl of this was limited to 500 and it's out of print now but you can still get it on CD.