Corrupt Moral Altar are no strangers to this blog; any band that releases stuff on Bandcamp for free and gets praise from Napalm Death is going to end up on my radar. Mechanical Tides, their debut for Season of Mist, is where Wolverine Blues and Scum Converge (cough). Surprisingly adept at changing speeds, these guys sound as dangerous when they hit the brakes as when they're blasting out of control. And on the post-hardcore of "Admit Defeat" and "River Blind", they show they're capable more of than just pure destruction. [$9.99]
If anyone could be blamed for hardcore kids' current obsession with HM-2 pedals, it's Trap Them. On Blissfucker the band swings with the same Entombed-esque verve as before, except this time with an added emphasis on songwriting. The less is more approach serves them well on songs like "Gift and Gift Unsteady" and the closing track "Let Fall Each and Every Sedition Symptom". [$10]
Birmingham's Grimpen Mire come from the city where doom started, so I guess it's no surprise that they're one of the few bands doing it well. Their debut album A Plague Upon Your Houses is a commendable slice of sludgy doom, at times reminiscent of DoC faves Sea Bastard. The album is available as a "name your price" download.
The five songs on the new split EP by Edinburgh's Sectioned sound like Dillinger Escape Plan back when that was a good thing. On the other side of the split, fellow Scots Shudder counter the aggression with some lo fi shoegazing. An unlikely pairing for sure. The split is available as a "name your price" download.
