It may have taken extra innings, but we're ready to get back into it. I asked you who made the most persuasive arguments and here's who won the masses over:
Yes I know this wasn't actually Perpetual Strife's vote (actually, he voted the opposite way, but it was enough to get Shane Bywaters thinking:
"I'd totally die before I call Psyopus a grindcore band, but I'm totally enjoying this tom-foolery of fretboard silliness. Reminds me of one of my most hidden dirty secrets: I like Beneath the Massacre's first EP. Something about sterile sounding guitars flipping the fuckout. "
So Arp moves on.
Meanwhile, Will Hubbell got down with Desiccated Veins' reasoning:
"Huh, kind of a tough one. Dick Johnson definitely did his part to shepherd grind safely out of the '90s, and for better or worse, Borja taught us what meaty-as-fuck Discordance Axis riffs sound like. Maybe it's 'cause I'm guilty about sending one Rob Marton worshipper through already, or maybe it's because Fractured Theology is sounding really good right now, but I'm gonna vote Johnson."
So that means Johnson will live to fight another day.
So here's the opening frame of round two. Check out the reseeded brackets here. Here's this week's matchups. As always, you've got until Sunday to make your case.
The Old Guard
1. Olivo/Freeman (Repulsion) v. 4. Pintado (Terrorizer/Napalm Death/Resistant Culture)
Grind from the grave vs. the guy who went to his too soon.
The Innovators
1. Procopio/Baglino (Human Remains) v. 6. Papirmollen (Parlamentarisk Sodomi/PSUDOKU)
I think this might be the most fascinating of the bunch: the guys who pretty much invented grind weirdness vs. the guy who perfected it for the 21st century.
The Punks
1. Burda/McLachlan (Phobia) v. 6. Beau (Insect Warfare)
Classic California punky grind vs. classic sounding Texas punky grind.
The Technicians
1. Matsubara (Mortalized/GridLink/Hayaino Daisuki) v. 7. Rainwater (Noisear/Kill the Client)
You all broke my heart when Rainwater somehow beat Rob Marton (I forgive you). Can the up and coming underdog take it two impossible triumphs in a row by taking out Matsubara as well?
15 comments:
Pintado
This was very difficult, especially since I like Repulsion more. The deciding factor for me is what it should be: Pintado was a better guitarist and was able to meld punk and metal better, create more memorable riffs, and simply do a better job. There's not many Repulsion riffs you can remember but songs like "Corporation Pull in" pretty much set the course for bands like IW.
Papirmollen
I'll be honest in saying I don't know Human Remains that well, but Parlamentarisk Sodomi's just the right amount of innovation, change, and "what the fuck" that keeps me listening and not throwing the disc out the window.
Beau
No contest, Phobia's been an important force in grindcore, but Insect Warfare blew EVERYONE out of the water during their prime. Much of that was thanks to Beau's ability to trim the fat and write the perfect riffs for what the rest of the band was doing. Songs like "Self Termination," "Hydraphobia" (this one bugs me a lot as they don't know how to spell) and "Death to False Grind" epitomize this.
Matsubara
Has anyone ever put as many riffs in such a short amount of space without it sounding jarring or bad like Matsubara has? No.
For Marton's sake.
OK now this is really tough!There goes!:
Pintado( i completely agree with strife on that one)
Papirmollen even though i let luck decide on that.Both him and Procopio rule and know their deal.
Even though Insect warfare is a badass band phobia are veterans and have lots of memorable songs especially with the last 4 albums.BURDA played an important role on that so i vote for him.
Matsubara because he had the discordance axis style of playing(and also because i want to get revenge for Rob Marton not being in this list hahaha:))
Jim C.
1: The Repulsion dudes - no disrespect to Pintado, but I like Horrified more than anything Napalm did after FETO
2: Papirmøllen because the Psudoku album had some seriously crazy guitar playing and he's from my proud homeland
3: I'm thinking Insect Warfare, but I haven't actually heard Phobia so feel free to disregard my vote on this one
4: Matsubara because he has one of the coolest guitar styles ever in both Gridlink and Mortalized. I'm bummed that Marton was knocked out too, but at least I won't have to choose between Marton and Matsubara this way. That would be an impossible choice
Huzzah! I win the day!
Fuuck. These are ALL really hard to decide.
This one is way hard because I like both for different reasons. I went to the first post to re-read criteria and and I'm voting Pintado for best proselytizing the grind ethos.
I'm going with Papirmollen based on the extent of catalogue. Steve Procopio is fucking great no doubt, but I see Papirmollen as a better guitar player.
Really dude? Really? I have to choose.....Beau.....I hate you so much.
I think Dorian Rainwater writes fucking awesome songs but Takafumi Matsuraba is just a genetic guitar freak and wins on the skill challenge. He just blows my mind more.
Terrorizer
Human Remains
Insect Warfare
Noisear - sorry Matsubara :[
Pintado....i love napalm way more than repulsion
Papirmollen...his riffs are more interesting
Beau....i like IW way more
Rainwater...i find his riffs way more interesting and the fact that i hear a strong erik burke influence. honestly matsubara doesn't blow me away...at all
Repulsion. I have a hard time sitting through all of World Downfall, probably because it just sounds slower. No question about it, Terrorizer ripped, but I think Repulsion were better at getting into a song, making their point, and getting out. Plus, more songs stand out for me: "Slaughter of the Innocent, Driven to Insanity, Black Breath, Maggots in Your Coffin" the list goes on for me. I like "Fear of Napalm" and "Corporation Pull-In" as much as anybody else, but Repulsion are just that much better IMO.
I've never listened to Human Remains, but Parlamentarisk Sodomi gets my vote because of this song: http://youtu.be/mbUeyw1ig98
Phobia vs. Insect Warfare - no contest. Insect Warfare.
Subvert the Dominant Paradigm did the opposite of grow on me. I guess it shrunk on me? Like a cool shirt you put in the wash that came out fitting uncomfortably and with washed-out colors.
I dislike Gridlink, a lot. I can't stand the weedly-wees. It doesn't sound like grind to me at all. There's no "friction" in their music. It all sounds too nice, too smooth. No struggle, no soul. Matsubara is obviously a well-practiced guitarist, but not a great grind songwriter.
So the last vote I'll give to Rainwater because the DxAx covers on the first Noisear records are pretty sick.
I'd actually also like to say that Insect Warfare should totally be added to the dirty baker's dozen. Either added to the list or in place of ANb or S.O.B. But this is a whole other conversation...
Repulsion
Procopio
Beau
Matsubara
Votes that do not match this selection should be disqualified and their owners imprisoned.
j
actually, will... if you cast your mind back to the halcyon days of 2010, this whole bracketology shtick was a way to determine who would qualify for the next generation of baker's dozen.
The Old Guard
My vote's got to go to Olivo/Freeman for this one. Jesse Pintado's riffs were more complex and paved the way for a lot of bands I love, but Repulsion riffs have such a classic, dirty ferocity to them that I can't help but credit them with shaping grind on a fundamental level. I also second William Hubbell on the fact that Repulsion are just faster. World Downfall is absolutely classic, but has always been only a handful of gradations higher than death metal on the speediness scale to me.
The Innovators
To me, this one's a question of approach. Do I vote for the Human Remains guys because they're wildly creative and left a breadcrumb trail for many of the genre's most creative practitioners to follow that they're still plucking morsels from to this day, or Papirmollen for his ability to work with both of the genre's best aspects (fast, agressive, punked-out simplicity with Parlimentarisk Sodomi, and its science-fictional, creative weirdo tendencies in PSUDOKU) with equal success? While I'll agree both Papirmollen projects rule, and that he's an important force for grind's continued growth, Human Remains riffs are just such a mine of creativity that a snub to those two would be one injustice too many. On a side note, the fact that Steve Procopio is still going at full force with his work as Matsubara's extra set of hands in Gridlink is pretty damned commendable, and his live chops seal the deal: dude's just an incredibly high-caliber musician.
The Punks
Beau all the way. His blink-and-it's-gone approach (right down to his reticence to be a grind lifer, in direct contrast to the scene pass Phobia get just for being around forever) is beautiful for its simplicity of purpose: get in, destroy as much a possible and get out. Because of the surface simplicity and other similarly unadorned aspects of the band (the lyrics, and occasional lack thereof, for instance) the real importance of IW in re-energizing an occasionally flagging millenium.
The Technicians
Takafumi Matsubara. The man is so inhuman I sometimes question whether H.R. Giger played some role in his creation. Rainwater just can't match the precision, refinement and sheer "Holy fuck, seriously?" of his playing, both on record and in a live setting. If this one goes into a tiebreaker, I'm going to be pissed for not offering a more convincing argument in Matsubara's favor, but the difference is so pronounced (love you too Dorian, don't worry) that it just seems superfluous. If you're having trouble deciding, just compare live footage of the two side-by-side. Dorian is an excellent player, but Takafumi is up in whatever level is beyond excellent.
1. Repulsin
Could have flipped a coin for this one. But I listen to Horrified just that bit more than World Downfall.
2.Human Remains
Papirollen might be awesome but Human REmains is still totally unique and as groundbreaking today as it was back then.
3. Insect Warfare
Better riffs.
4. Rainwater
Both awesome, both totally mad but Dorian's more versitile. Plus Rob Marton should be here now so Rainwater win the comeptition by defaul for me.
Pintado all the way!
Id go with Procopio even though Papirmillen is awesome.TOugh choice there!
I cant believe Burda has got only a vote!Man he is more focused in grinding riffs than Beau!He stays true to the punk tempos of the old school but has progressed it in a very unique way!He also go so many albums behind him.Beau has only 1 album.Cant say if he could nail it the same after 2-3 more albums.
Matsubara destroys!
PS:how can Rob Marton and mieszko be eliminated??????????James from Greece
The Old Guard: Pintado
The Innovators: Papirmollen
The Punks: Beau
The Technicians: Fuck, this is the hardest choice. I adore Noisear/Kill the Client, but they cannot compete with the consistently catchy, eerie, perfect riffs courtesy of Matsubara. Matsubara gets the vote!
old gaurd: Pintado, i'm not the biggest fan of either but i like terrorizer the most out of these bands.
innovators: Human Remains, again, not my favorite band on either side, but i listen to human remains more
Punks: phobia may have been around forever kicking out quality albums, but insect warfare...they're insect fucking warfare and they'll get my vote anytime.
Technicians: Dorian Rainwater is a fucking incredible guitar player, and i'm slowly starting to lose intrest in Matsubara's riffs. so, rainwater get's my vote here.
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