Undergrind Metal

Stabat Mater Northern Heritage – 2009  Heavier and darker than his other projects, Stabat Mater is Mikko diving into the desolate lands of funeral doom. The album kicks off with crushing chuggs, which evolve into incredibly dirty sludge riffs. The production is very lofi, giving the guitars that beautiful crunch, and giving power to the deep, rythmic bellowing of the lower strings. Any attempts at melody are beaten by the overbearing chuggs, and when all hope seems lost, synths come into play. Synths are notoriously hard to get right in metal, as often cheapening the entire sound for just a couple of seconds is enough to sour an album. Genres such as funeral doom are more forgiving, and Mikko allows himself some electronic experimentation, which ends up being a great addition to the personality of the album. Long, droning, high-pitched synth notes give breathing space and a distant glimmer of hope. It's actually nice to hear the guitars and synths to play off of e...

Grime Live – Oct. 2017 The air is heavy, the lights are dim, and the conversations skittle away, hiding in the corners as Grime takes to the stage. Eyes up and hair down, I knew we were in for something good. Grime, the italian sludge act, released their first album in 2013 on the well-known Mordgrimm records. They might be the best-named band I can think of – the unclean buzz of the strings and damp mix of instruments give off a filthy, pock-marked sound, the kind you'd hear from scraping a sewer floor. I didn't know of them until their 2015 record, Circle of Molesters, but they're the kind of band who can do no wrong. The first note hit, and the bass shook me in unholy ways. After staggering a few steps back, I looked up at the stage and saw some of the best lighting since Messuggah. A white backdrop, searchlight-style movement carving the silhouettes of Grime into my retina. Marco, lead guitar, was spectacular in his theatrics. Doubling over in rage and p...