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Tartarean Desire
- When I listen to
grindcore and it’s good, then there’s nothing that I like more. This
Australian band released a primitive grind recording. It reaches
different spectrums of the genre. At times during the album it sounds as
if it was recorded back in 1988, when Napalm Death released From
Enslavement to Obliteration. Yes, Halo of Knives is that
manic…..although they spread it out throughout the eleven songs. The
production is raw, as is the band. They take from different influences;
but for the most part, the best part: Halo of Knives sound tight,
cohesive, and brutal. Their material doesn’t prove anything
revolutionary though. They were solely out to rip your head apart. The
bass player really shines on this recording, while the guitars lead this
album along.
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- Eleven songs in near
fourteen minutes, this is true old school grind. Song ten “Bury me at
makeout creek” leads into some tripped out finish. Makes you want to
hear more from these guys. I’m sure that if they continued, their sound
would have matured. Halo of Knives were together as a band for one year
back in 2003, and recorded this before they disbanded. To end off the
album is a cover of Napalm Death’s “The Kill”. Trust me, it kills!! 8/10
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Vomit the Soul
- With this MCD, HALO OF
KNIVES comes with a crushing piece of real Grind Core!! I never heard
about this band before, and I just know some members are also playing
into the great HAILSTONES KILL 200. Well, “Eat God” is about fast,
crushing and frenetic Grind Core, delivering 11 tracks for 13 minutes of
fucking raging madness!! The first band that came to my mind listening
to this recording was NAPALM DEATH during the “Scum” and “From
Enslavement…” era. Some rare modern parts can remind of NASUM and
similar bands, but old NAPALM DEATH remains the main influence of the
band, and it’s finally logical the release is ended by a cover of “The
Kill”! Well, nothing more to add, “eat God” is about real and relentless
Grind Core, furious and honest… right in your face!! BUY OR DIE!!!
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Burning Misery
- Fuck haha, was
just talking with a good friend of me about good grindcore bands and
what do I got here? Yeah some fucking grindcore what else! But what I
got in from Grindhead records can be added in the list among other big
grindcore bands. Halo Of Knives is a sick and full of madness gindcore
band with the usual short tracks and a small amount of lyrics. Based in
Australia and with 4 guys that let us enjoy their great shit that is
recorded 3 years ago, so the booklet says.
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- Grindhead
records is the place, for all you grindcore freaks. This is one of the
labels that you need to check out. These guys are bringing tons of
hellish grindcore, cheers for that brothers!!! On this disk are 11
tracks that gives me the feeling to stand up and destroy my fucking
neighbours house. Great fucking shit this is!!!!! This band has put a
cover of the track "Condensed Flesh" originally played by Void. And
fuck, just when I got my self into this album it's finished, like a good
grindcore band should do their shit! Too bad there are only eleven
tracks on this awesome disk cause I can listen for days to this kind of
shit. All the tracks are worth listen to and if it is finished then push
the fucking play button again! A great end of this disk with the last
track called "The End", yep that a cover of the legendary Napalm Death.
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Raw Nerve Promotions
- I've been averaging
about 3/4 hours sleep a night now for a while and first on the review
pile after another very short sleep is this, the very aptly named ban
Halo of Knives, and this is exactly what this is on my brain right now.
A very sharp crust / hardcore flurry of noise is emitted by this Aussie
4 piece that is bound to get fans of Yacopsae, Nasum and any of the old
slap-a-ham roster's blood bubbling. Before I know it, this is on track 6
and the whole thing whizzes past like they have a train to catch, or
people to kill, or politicians to decapitate.
Not amazingly tight in the rush but good enough to be a necessary
purchase if you like your straightforward, ragingly, crust grind with
distorted mid to high shrieks, plenty of blastbeats and cool sounding
chords in the slower parts. Nice.
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Thrash Pit
- For those of you not
in the know, Halo of Knives is a Aussie grind outfit based in Perth whom
disbanded with little fanfare in 2003. The extremely D.I.Y. folks at
Grindhead Records love their Australian grind, and decided to put this
eleven song LP out on record for us. There are some very talented bands
on that label, and so naturally I was pretty psyched for this release;
in fact, I was downright stoked. The reason for my initial anticipation
stems from the fact that this CD had to be very wicked to be released
three years after the band that made it broke up.
"All Too Human" starts with a crusty note that wavers before exploding
into full-on, blasting grind, the classic kind that Napalm did before
going all mid-tempo on us for a while there. This song is pretty
interesting, as it see-saws between that blistering insanity and
chugging, patient groove, the kind I feel makes grind especially brutal.
"A Piercing Gaze" is a quick kick to the groin, just pure grind. Some
nice palm-mutes rear their ugly heads, and there are lots of splashing
cymbals.
"Watch the Red Devils Burn" inhabits an inferno of blazing, furious
grind, and is probably the best cut on the whole album, what with the
rolling bass lines and churning maelstrom of slicing guitars. "Between
the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" kicks off with a really sweet riff, but
by now it is apparent that the songs are trapped in a formula of quick
intro riff, blasting drums, dirty rock groove, and back again. In fact,
the album almost universally conforms to this idea.
"Condensed Flesh" is next, and this song is a spot-on cover (spastic
drum rolls and all) from infamous grind patriarchs Void. "Intifada and
the Politic of Revenge" has some sinister, slow, melancholy builds which
lead into crusty, break-neck grind 'n roll. "Going Out on a High Note"
is so short and simplistic blasting (a mere 19 seconds) it is actually
my least favourite track, and not a high note at all in my opinion.
"Mask of Sanity" has some really Napalm splattered riffs going for it,
great stuff. In fact, this stuff definitely recalls say Scum or Utopia
Banished a bit, more likely the scum end of things, where Napalm Death
were younger and faster than at any other time.
"Moods Like a Guillotine" is all over the place, kind of like a
point-blank shotgun victim's facial matter. "Bury Me at Makeout Creek"
has a sweet name, but by now the CD has begun to run into itself, and is
getting a tad old. "The Kill" is a short, sweet cover of about
twenty-four seconds, the likes of which you Napalm Death fans out there
will remember as being first recorded for the landmark Scum album I
previously mentioned. 7/10.
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