FACEGRINDER - Galatic Grind Heavy Weights

Everytime I've seen FaceGrinder in the past year or so there is a new line up. Most notiably a new singer, guest singer or no singer at all. I did an interveiw with Ezwa (Guitar) a week before I saw FaceGrinder at the recent Sunday Slaughter show on Easter Sunday in Fremantle. They have Ben (ex-Wounded Pig) on vocals now and I can tell you, if you ever doubted Facegrinder they have become undisputed heavyweights in Australian grindcore. The 2 guitars and drums are a tight unit and deliver unrelenting extremes. Combined with Ben's brutal vocals and spitting madman theatrics,  I'd put the performance I saw on that Sunday up there with the best grindcore and death metal acts in the Galaxy. Ezwa assured me Ben is now A Permanent Mark on Facegrinder and I for one am glad about this. 

Sonic Furnace 2017 will be the next tme I get to see Facegrinder and I highly recommend you come check this out for yourselves. 
Here's the interview with Ezwa...


How have the shows been going interstate recently?

- Well weve not done a great deal honestly but the response is definitely getting better each time we head over east. Its a little depressing coming home once the shows are done haha.


Are there any great new or old bands that have really stood out in your recent travels?

- Oh man, all of them lol. Seminal Embalmment, Grudge and Disparo though were my favourite to see and im yet to see more awesome bands on further travels.


Any funny tour stories?

- A few that i probably wont share here haha, but I guess dutching out the hotel in Adelaide while watching Rick and Morty was good fun, to wake up the next morning to the cleaners spraying so much air freshener to rid the smell of weed.


I heard that you might be going overseas to play a festival later this year?

- Uhh, we did get an offer but financial status didnt really permit us and with what little time we had. I dont want to give away what it was because theres a chance we'll be going next year instead and Im sure Ill be more excited to talk about it then haha.


I really like the space themes you have throughout your artwork and video's. What is Space Grind? And what kinds of things are your songs generally about?

- Space. Generally grindcore is all anti-establishment, politics, whatever. I dont really care for any of that so I chose to write about the universe and what it holds. Its difficult as I have to study before I can write anything but I enjoy the challenge and the end result obviously.

What tunes do you have on high rotation at the moment?

- Odious Embowel, Anaal Nathrakh, Circle of Dead Children, Bjork, Soilant Green..


I've spent a bit of time going through your box of CD's at shows trying to figure out band names. You have your own label or distro?, whats it called and what kind of things are people likely to find there?

- Ungrateful Dead Promotions. Its mainly distro and event promotion, but I also release the Facegrinder albums, so I guess we do abit of everything but not on a large scale. We mainly deal with death Metal, Grindcore and Slam, but you can find other elements of music when available.


Will your stuff be availible at Sonic Furnace 2017 on the 3rd of June?

- Yes, hopefully i have some new stuff arrive by then also.


You sing in Nails of Imposision? Whats that band like? do you play guitar aswell or just sing? 

- I do, another Death Metal project from Perth. I only do vocals, the riffs are technical and way too crazy for my fingers haha.


What would be the ultimate band Facegrinder would like to share a stage with?

- Its hard to just pick one really but Id love to play with Insect Warfare, Circle of Dead Children or Wormed. I guess you could say they have been a massive inspiration to FxGx.


What can we expect when Facegrinder hit the stage at Sonic Furnace?

The equivalent of a star imploding.

See FaceGrinder at Babushka Leederville on June 03rd as part of the Sonic Furnace 2017 lineup.

ROUNDUP WEEDKILLER - Push it Real Good.

By Jackie Coffin.

For Claire Hodgson, an invitation to join crust doom band, Roundup Weedkiller meant an opportunity to explore her offensive side. 

“Caleb asked me if I wanted to try out for a witchy doom band,” said Hodgson.

“I was like fuck yes.” 

The doom crust genre is somewhat different to what Hodgson has done in her musical career so far, but she said that was part of the appeal.  

“Roundup Weedkiller is definitely a band that is discouraging of anything tame and in the box,” said Hodgson.  

“It’s taken me out of my comfort zone and that’s always welcome,” she said. 

Hodgson says the band started jamming in 2015, played their first live shows early 2016, with drummer Dee being responsible for most of the (offensive) material.  

“Salty-boy Porks or Dee.” 

“He writes guitar riffs and lyrics for the band,” said Hodgson.

“He’s a really sweet guy and a brilliant musician, and he has no limits whatsoever when it comes to being offensive,”

Lovers of the offensive, crust and doom alike, can catch the band as part of the Sonic Furnace – Extreme Mini Music Festival on June 3, at Babushka Leederville.   

Hodgson says Roundup Weedkiller is excited to be part of the show.

“Heck yeah, there’s going to be a shit tonne of bands, including some great acts from down south,”

“It’s going to be fucking massive.” 

Moving forward, Hodgson is to start writing lyrics for Dee’s new songs and says she’s well prepared to match the standard already set by the drummer.

“I have no issue with what’s going to happen next,” she laughed.  

“As women we are constantly told to repress our anger, so something like this is the perfect chance to show how capable we are: break the mould so to speak.” 

“It won’t even be hard,” said Hodgson.

Skavengers Daughter - Drone Worship and Medieval Tourture

I caught up with Adam Whiteman of Skavengers Daughter to find out what we are in for at Sonic Furnace - Extreme Music Mini Festival...

What are Skavengers Daughters main influences?

Main Influence wise I would definitely have to say SUNN O))) and Earth but the style we have also takes a lot of influences from artists like Merzbow, Coltrane and even Boris.

How did the band start?

The band originally started when my former writing partner William Brown (ex. Wrath of Fenrir, Dark Misanthropy, Septik Piggery) and I decided to have a jam. We are both into our drone doom and decided one day to have a jam. It was good fun and I originally wanted to work with him for my solo stuff but then we decided to create SKD instead.

Where does the band name come from?

The band name came from a medieval torture device known as the Scavengers Daughter where the victim was locked into a prayer position for extended periods of time until their organs began to fail. It was fitting at the time as how abrasive and monstrous the sound was that we were creating. Chock that one up to Will as well hahaha.

Drone and doom bands can be equipment nerds, you only have to look at people sharing the all the equipment stats and configurations that SUN O))) use on stage...What Kind of equipment does Skavengers Daughter use?

Currently the tone we get is done by have guitars tuned to drop A / B standard as it it large sounding and have a firm bottom end.
Our second guitarist James uses a LES Paul with alnico humbuckers and a Super Fuzz and I myself use a LP set up with a humbucker in the bridge and a P90 in the neck as well as a Stratocaster plus various delays and distortions to created a layered sound.Then Amplifier wise it's usually big tube amp heads as well as some combo amplifiers to add a bit of high end for rolling effects. The sound can be abrasive and yet beautiful at times.

Are there themes to songs or is it all for the drone?

Well a little bit of column A a little column B hahaha.
A lot of our songs are based on instrumental rhythmic repetition with roots steeped in Tibetan and Buddhist mantra it flows through you like being punched by the ocean. But lyrically a lot of the themes range from depression and suicide to bible passage. I feel that in some essence the slow rumbling of the universe coincides with the stories of man.
Also I like to play really loud and make people hate me hahaha.

Tell us about the bands line up? Who's in the band and do they have any other projects?

Our lineup can change at random due to the style of band but overall this is something that none of us really have done before.
Out of the current lineup James and I play in a stoner doom project called STONE who are making tracks to live work soon.
As well as James working as a DJ under the name James Business and I myself used to be in a group called PARASITICAL VIVISECTION.
Our vocalist currently writes music under the name Emortuus and has released several albums under his name. We do come from different backgrounds but in the end this is something we wanted to do and create something that was uniquely our own.

What has been the best moment for Skavengers Daughter so far?

...the best moment of SKD would definitely have to be the first show. We may have played to 3 people but in the end we finally took something that had been an idea and turned it into a reality.

Skavengers Daughter are releasing a recording especially for Sonic Furnace. You can get your copy at the show. Sonic Furnace - Extreme Music Mini Festival, June 03 at Babushka, Leederville WA. 

Heres a taste of what they do...

Sonic Furnace Extreme Music Mini-Festival 2017

When the cold sets in for the Perth winter, theres nothing like the warm comfort of a dark venue, standing amoungst smelly punks and uncouth extreme music fans.

Sonic Furnace Extreme Music Mini-Festival is the second of it's kind. It's vision is to show-case the truly underground music and extreme music of Western Australia. SF2017 is a very grindcore/deathgrind heavy lineup with FaceGrinder, Septic Piggery, and Fetus Fertilizer. This is contrasted with the extreme drone/doom noise of SKavengers Daughter, the sludgey down tuned rock of Magic Chicken Fudgetoe, hard edged noise/punk/borderline grind of Rabid Abbott.  No-Mind bring the power violence, and theres hardcore punk sounds from Pillar of Hope in the style of Circle Jerks or Black Flag. All being well, the yet TBA bands will bring other extreme elements of music to the festival. 

SF2017 features:

RABID ABBOTT

FACEGRINDER

NO-MIND

MAGIC CHICKEN FUDGE TOE

PILLAR OF HOPE

FETUS FERTILIZER

SKAVENGERS DAUGHTER

SEPTIC PIGGERY

+ 2 more bands TBA.

Sonic Furnace Extreme Music Mini-Festival 2017 is happening on 3rd of June, at Babushka Leederville.

Also chuck it in your events calendar on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/events/1856249251315914/ 

Stay tuned for more updates and band bio's in the coming weeks.

Cheers 

Paul

PS feel free to contact me if you want to set up a distro/record table, or if you have any ideas you'd like to contribute.