Washington, DC-bred, Brooklyn-based Magrudergrind have recently partnered up with Relapse and just released their third album, II, following a six-year break. The new record features 15 blistering cuts of their extreme, angst-filled combination of grindcore, powerviolence and punk. As vocalist Avi Kulawy tells Exclaim!, II picks up where their 2009 self-titled album left off.
"We kind of wanted to follow the lineage of our self-titled record, hence the name II. The whole idea is that record really defined who we are as a band," he explains. "We have [2007 album] Rehashed and a whole catalogue of 7-inches and splits that came before this, and that was really a manifestation of the current band, of what we've really developed into and how we've grown. And I think this new record really follows that lineage, within the writing and musical style."
Although II is Magrudergrind's third full-length, Kulawy says that the band went through a rebirth of sorts. "You know, I started the band when I was 16 and I was always influenced by fastcore and powerviolence; as we matured, we went more towards the traditional grindcore route. And I think by the time we reached the self-titled record, we had really figured out that this is what we sound like."
Magrudergrind have been pushing the boundaries of grindcore since their 2002 inception, and II features some fresh and modern components. "It's definitely a different variety for us," Kulawy says. "I think there are elements on this record that are not straight-forward grindcore."
Following such a long hiatus, Kulawy simply says having a new release coming out is exciting. "The band was kind of on the back burner for us, we put our personal lives on the front for a while. We did shows here and there, but we didn't really do any extensive touring. But we love playing this style of music, we love seeing the world and travelling, so we're really excited to finally have something out there again."
Check out the video for album track "Sacrificial Hire" below.
"We kind of wanted to follow the lineage of our self-titled record, hence the name II. The whole idea is that record really defined who we are as a band," he explains. "We have [2007 album] Rehashed and a whole catalogue of 7-inches and splits that came before this, and that was really a manifestation of the current band, of what we've really developed into and how we've grown. And I think this new record really follows that lineage, within the writing and musical style."
Although II is Magrudergrind's third full-length, Kulawy says that the band went through a rebirth of sorts. "You know, I started the band when I was 16 and I was always influenced by fastcore and powerviolence; as we matured, we went more towards the traditional grindcore route. And I think by the time we reached the self-titled record, we had really figured out that this is what we sound like."
Magrudergrind have been pushing the boundaries of grindcore since their 2002 inception, and II features some fresh and modern components. "It's definitely a different variety for us," Kulawy says. "I think there are elements on this record that are not straight-forward grindcore."
Following such a long hiatus, Kulawy simply says having a new release coming out is exciting. "The band was kind of on the back burner for us, we put our personal lives on the front for a while. We did shows here and there, but we didn't really do any extensive touring. But we love playing this style of music, we love seeing the world and travelling, so we're really excited to finally have something out there again."
Check out the video for album track "Sacrificial Hire" below.