Polite Society Blacklist

Formed in 2006, New Orleans supergroup Arson Anthem have been assaulting listeners with their music since the release of their self-titled EP in 2008. Comprised of vocalist Mike Williams (EyeHateGod, Outlaw Order), guitarist Phil Anselmo (Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual), bassist Colin Yeo (Ponykiller), and drummer Hank Williams III (Superjoint Ritual, Assjack), Arson Anthem play straightforward, crusty, pissed off, grind punk with elements of sludge and classic hardcore thrown in for good measure. After losing his home and most of his belongings to Hurricane Katrina, Mike Williams moved into an apartment owned by Anselmo. The two began spending their spare time listening to Anselmo's record collection, and remembering a time when bands like Discharge, Sheer Terror, and Negative Approach ruled the world. Forming more out of a necessity to vent frustration than a desire to make new music, Arson Anthem began to take shape. After recruiting Hank to play drums and Colin to play bass, the band spent three days in Anselmo's Lousiana studio, Nodferatu's Lair, in February of 2006 recording their debut EP. Released on Anslemo's Housecore Records label in 2008, the EP is an eleven minute long masterpiece of unforgiving, blisteringly fast hardcore that starts off strong and never lets up until the last seconds of the final track have ticked away. Slated for an October 2010 release, the band's debut full-length, Insecurity Notoriety, finds Arson Anthem delivering more of the same. The production is low-fi and raw, the vocals are gruff and caustic, and the guitars scream at levels that are near painful. The packaging is low-budget and unpolished, and the attitude is intense and nostalgic, which is exactly what the band was aiming for. In a world where everything in the DIY metal underground has become watered down and exploited to the point of nausea, Arson Anthem provide a refreshing shot of adrenaline to a musical landscape in desperate need of resuscitation.

Download: Arson Anthem - Arson Anthem EP (2008)

Download: Arson Anthem - Insecurity Notoriety (2010)

The Claw

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Acid Tiger are rock/punk hybrid, featuring drummer Ben Koller (Converge/United Nations) and guitarist Lukas Previn (United Nations/Thursday/The A.K.A.s). Infusing raunchy punk with white knuckle rhythms reminiscent of Grand Funk Railroad, Acid Tiger make music that you can dance, drink, fuck, and fight to. Rounded out by vocalist J. Rattlesnake (The Goddamn Rattlesnake) and bassist Adam Wentworth (Bloodhorse), the band is truly best described as a hybrid, taking elements from its member's collective outfits, without sounding like any particular one at the same time. On their self-titled debut, released through Deathwish Music, the band effortlessly melds together their wide variety of influences, ripping through the album's seven songs with an energetic swagger that defines Acid Tiger as a truly unique and diverse animal.

Download: Acid Tiger - S/T (2010)

Slugs In A Salt Circle

Formed in 2004 by former members of Will Haven and Oddman, Sacramento, California's Abominable Iron Sloth have masterminded their sound into a devastatingly heavy mix of sludge, doom, and hardcore. Described by lead vocalist and guitarist Justin Godfrey as, "Old nihilistic punk mixed with doom" AIS are a Molotov cocktail of a band, ready to incinerate your eardrums and leave you in the burn unit at your local ER. The band creates this sound with a relatively minimal approach, fusing filthy guitars, primal drum pounding, and unnerving vocals that convey true horror. Originally featuring three former members of Will Haven (Jeff Irwin, Mitch Wheeler, and Mike Martin), Abominable Iron Sloth is now comprised of Godfrey, bassist Aubrey Debauchery, and drummer Andre Sanabria. After releasing their self-titled debut on Goodfellow Records in 2006, the band developed a cult following and signed to Black Market Activities to release their sophomore effort, "The Id Will Overcome" in April of 2010.

Download: Abominable Iron Sloth - S/T (2006)

Download: Abominable Iron Sloth - The Id Will Overcome (2010)

Tower Of The Elephant

Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Akimbo was founded in 1995 when bass player and vocalist Jon Weisnewski and drummer Nat Damm met in their high school gym class. Sharing a love for DC hardcore and punk, the two quickly became fast friends. Since playing their first show on Halloween night in 1998, Akimbo have had no less than 11 guitarists, finally settling on Aaron Walters in 2006. After opening for Melvins and punk icon Jello Biafra in 2005, the band was approached by Biafra and signed to his label, Alternative Tentacles, to release 2006's "Forging Steel And Laying Stone". Also released on Alternative Tentacles was the band's first album with Walters on guitar, 2007's "Navigating The Bronze". In late 2007, Akimbo played a show opening for Converge and Neurosis, and was asked by Neurosis frontman Steve Von Till to join his label, Neurot Recordings. In October of 2008 the band released their most critically acclaimed album to date, "Jersey Shores", a concept album inspired by a series of mysterious shark attacks that occurred on the beaches of New Jersey in 1916.  Showing a substantial deviation from the style of their earlier recordings, "Jersey Shores" offers spiraling, melodic lines intertwined with crushing, drop-tuned chugging, the end result of which is a post-hardcore masterpiece. With a discography that channels everything from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to Converge and Melvins, Akimbo are a band quickly on the rise in the metal underground, and a great addition to any music fan's collection.

Download: Akimbo - An Army Of Evil Robots Programmed for Human Destruction (1999)

Download: Akimbo - Harshing Your Mellow (2001)

Download: Akimbo - Elephantine (2003)

Download: Akimbo - City Of The Stars (2004)

Download: Akimbo - Forging Steel And Laying Stone (2006)

Download: Akimbo - Navigating The Bronze (2008)

Download: Akimbo - Jersey Shores (2008)

*Note* All of the downloadable copies of Jersey Shores seem to have vanished. I can't find a good link to it anywhere. I'll keep looking for one, but in the meantime I would suggest buying it from iTunes.

Total Extinction

Combining the vicious d-beat of classic Discharge and searing early 90's death metal, Austin, Texas' Mammoth Grinder have been punishing listeners with their sound since 2005. While most of the trio's early work favors the band's hardcore/punk influences, later albums find the band showcasing their love of death metal, d-beat, sludge, and doom. Featuring guitar work that is technical and explosive, a pummeling rhythm section, and deep and menacing vocals, Mammoth Grinder have developed a sound that is as subtle as a shot to the head with a sledgehammer.

Download: Mammoth Grinder - Goes To College (Demo 2006)

Download: Mammoth Grinder - Rage And Ruin EP (2008)

Download: Mammoth Grinder - No Results EP (2008)

Download: Mammoth Grinder - Extinction Of Humanity (2009)

Eat The Witch

Although they are a fairly young band, Black Breath have built a cult following for themselves over the course of the last three years. Formed in 2007 by former members of bands like Shook Ones, Go It Alone, and Blue Monday (among others), the band began as "a crossover band with a joking spirit", writing songs with titles like, "Party Idea". In 2008, they recorded and released a four song, 12" EP titled Razor To Oblivion. With riffs reminiscent of first wave thrash, black, and death metal bands like Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, as well as an unmistakably hardcore punk undertone,  Razor To Oblivion proved to be a step in a much more serious direction. Raw, intense, and in your face, the EP created an immense amount of buzz for the band. After touring the US with Trap Them and Victims in support of Razor To Oblivion, Black Breath signed with Southern Lord Records in late 2009, and entered the studio with Kurt Ballou (Converge, Trap Them, Disfear) to record their debut full length, Heavy Breathing. Holed up in Ballou's God City Studios in Salem, Massachusetts, the band began to take their sound in an even heavier, darker direction. Released in 2010, Heavy Breathing retains the hardcore and punk elements of Razor To Oblivion, but the album's opening track "Black Sin (Spit On the Cross)" also proves the band's commitment to their Swedish death metal influence. Other songs on Heavy Breathing, such as "Children Of the Horn", showcase Black Breath's uncanny ability to create memorable songs with hooks and riffs that remain stuck in your head hours after you've finished assaulting your eardrums with their music.

Download: Black Breath - Razor To Oblivion (2008)

Download: Black Breath - Heavy Breathing (2010)

Invocation Of The Eternally Coiling Serpent

 I'm not going to sit here and type a big, long, boring paragraph about how influential and amazing Integrity are. I've never been a fan of hyperbole, so I'll just let their notoriety speak for itself. Founded in 1988, this Cleveland based hardcore powerhouse has been around long enough to witness the genre they helped spawn (metalcore) become a watered-down parody of itself, complete with petty depressed teenagers and adults that take themselves too seriously. In an attempt to steer the genre back in the right direction, Integrity have given us The Blackest Curse.  The album starts off strong with "The Process Of Illumination", and the songs seemingly get heavier as they go with tracks like "Through The Shadows Of Forever", and the blazingly fast "Simulacra". Things get a little more experimental just after the halfway point, as three of the later tracks favor vocalist Dwid Hellion's side project Roses Never Fade. Some of these songs may take more than a few listens to warm up to, but I think that overall, The Blackest Curse is a decent album, and definitely a must-have for anyone who is a long time fan. I've also posted a link to Holy Terror,  a website where the band themselves have posted a large chunk of their discography for free download,  I suppose in an effort to take back control of their art. Good for them, and good for you...

Download: Integrity - The Blackest Curse (2010)

Free Album Downloads: Classic Albums, Splits, EP's, Etc.