It’s been 10 years since I last heard former Neuraxis vocalist Maynard Moore’s voice on CD, and even after a long hiatus from the underground his snarls, growls and shrieks are as powerful as they’ve ever been, but then again what else would you expect from someone who was taught how to bark by Lord Worm?

Maynard’s new act, The Plasmarifle, is rounded out by two members of death metal artists Withdraw and two members from screamo hardcore band One Step Forward. The music these five artists create is among the craziest and angriest technical assaults I’ve heard.

The music on their debut recording, The Apocalypse Called In Sick… Can I Take A Message? is comparable to acts like Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Zao and Beneath The Massacre and can be best described as chaotic technical death grindcore. The songs are short, fast and angry, and listening to the album is like sticking your ear up to a hive of angry bees. There are tons of time changes, breakdowns and weird screechy guitar tones one would expect from a Montreal based band.

Unfortunately, with such a short recording it’s hard to get a grasp of what the band is all about, but from what I’ve heard I like… I think. This is one of those albums that you listen to and 9 minutes later it’s over and you have to go back and listen to it again because you’re not sure what you just heard, then you listen to it again after that, and again, and again. I must have listened to this material a dozen or more times so far and I’m still as bewildered now as I was after the first time I heard it.

If you’re into loud angry crazy technical grindcore with the growls, snarls and shrieks of an inhuman beast, then you’ve definitely got to check out The Apocalypse Called In Sick… Can I Take A Message? I’d definitely like to hear more from The Plasmarifle… I think! Check it out, it’ll fuck with your head!



Written By: Teufel