Cementing The Seams

I got a request for some more hardcore stuff on the site and I try to keep everyone's interests in mind, although it seemed to me like all I was writing about was hardcore. But that makes sense because its basically the large majority of what I've been listening to lately. I'm outdoing myself a little bit here though.

Before I'd ever listened to Graf Orlock I knew very little about them. I did know that they played some manner of hardcore music, I knew they were named after the vampire from Nosferatu, and also that they had totally rad t-shirts. As it turned out Graf Orlock are a grindcore band, who have created, and as far as I know, are the only band involved in the bizzare subgenre of "cinema-grind". In fact, "Destination Time: Today" is the final act in a trilogy of albums devoted to violence and the American Way, told through song and aided by intricately (not really) woven samples from 80's and 90's action films (most of which involve people being killed or killing people, although not exclusively, with firearms). The samples certainly give an obvious sense of theme and hint at structural narrative. Whatever the intent though, it is downright awesome and a lot of these songs chill me to the bone. With "Today", as opposed to the first two acts "Destination Time: Yesterday" and "...Tomorrow", Orlock take a bit of a more melodious approach, spending more time on breakdowns and guitar solos than is characteristic grindcore. They don't do it enough to take away from the base aesthetic, and I never get the feeling that I'm listening to a metal band. Anyway, suffice it to say that if you're familiar with Graf Orlock you should know what to expect with this release and be impressed with this slightly different, but climactic end to "Destination Time". If this is your first encounter with Graf Orlock, be prepared to have your shit rocked in one of the most entertaining ways possible. It also deserves note that this album has one of the most epic endings I've ever heard. As it should.

For fans of: Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Robotsaurus, The Terminator films

Graf Orlock on Myspace

Get it.

Still Available at Vitriol Records. Buy it guys.