Despise You / Agoraphobic Nosebleed

The ultimate meeting of power violence purveyors and new jack grind modernists/defenders of the faith, this lil' bruiser features each band totally destroying it for 16 minutes. The end result is just over half-an-hour of gloriously short, fast, loud extremity. Despise You's tunes keep things concise (shortest is "Repeat Until You Fall," at 15 seconds), inner-city punked-out ("Seven Funerals") and grind-y ("Two or Ten Faces?"), all with that power violence groove to it. Closer "Cedar Ave. (Was the Best Place to Watch People Ascend to Heaven)" is an awesome, drawn-out, Grief-esque sludge trawl. It's been a decade since the band released anything new, but these 18 songs are so good you'd never know it. Drum machine grinders Agoraphobic Nosebleed start their songs off sludgy, with "Half Dead" having a bit of a Crowbar flair to it. But their second song, "As Bad As it Is," brings their familiar grind to the table, and starts off with a clever lyrical tip of the hat to the old power violence scene. "Ungrateful" combines the grind, groove and swirling oddness the band do best, and "Possession" flirts with the crossover sound they've been exploring as of late. This is a very cool, diverse and energizing split from two bands that obviously have a life-long love for the loud.