Graf Orlock

Los Angeles' Graf Orlock have one-upped themselves, times infinity: their Doombox EP is housed in a fold-out cardboard boombox facsimile from the '80s and also includes a CD with the new material, plus the band's last three albums: the Destination Time trilogy. Despite the fact that no band could ever, in a million years, beat this concept, Doombox is categorically crushing. Famous for their aptly titled cinema-grind, Gorlock marries movie snippets ― for this release, the theme is urban conflict, Menace II Society-style ― to neck-snapping grindcore, like a head-on collision between Killwhitneydead and Pig Destroyer. Kick-started by a Christopher Walken quote from 1990's King of New York, "Arrested at Lunch" is a furious, two-minute maelstrom of Brutal Truth-isms and bellowed high/low dual vocals. A choice quote from Christian Bale in 2005's Harsh Times prefaces the incensed "Job Hunt," featuring catchy breakdowns, while "South Central" mixes Burnt by the Sun-esque hardcore and huge Converge-esque choruses, guaranteed to incite moshers to arm-flailing frenzies. "Watts 1993, the Week Before Graduation" sports a snippet of techno beats in between bouts of throat-shredding groove-punk. The fact that all of the band's lyrics are taken directly from the sampled movies' dialogue is just another reason why Doombox is an early contender for the year's best album, as there's much more to Graf Orlock than meets the ear.