In February of this year the band Knives from Bilbao, Spain, released an explosive new record named Collapse. In advance of that release we featured its first single, “The Unknown“. With lyrics that expelled politically charged fury in blisteringly furious tones, that song melded punk cadences and bone-grinding riffs delivered with massive, chainsawing distortion, and coupled that with bursts of blaring melodic defiance and feverish bass outbursts, as well as a hellish breakdown.

That opening single truly was an electrifying discharge. But the balance of the tracks on Collapse proved to be equally thrilling, albeit in somewhat different ways. For example, the opener “Martyr” begins in soul-stricken and haunting fashion but then becomes a rain of megaton warheads, and then a fierce, galloping charge, and then a spasm of violence. It will give your spine a vigorous jolting, but also includes spit-fire soloing and the kind of rocketing, sky-high melodic riffing that gets hearts pounding.

And from there the band used Collapse to elaborate on their riveting brand of death/punk from one track to the next, bringing to bear one crusher after another, deploying humongously heavy chugs, incendiary leads, blood-spraying vocals, and gripping melodic accents (both grim and glorious) that keep the emotional intensity in the red zone.

Today it’s our pleasure to premiere a video for yet another song off Collapse, one entitled “Was It Worth It?“, which we hope will introduce still more listeners to Knive’s tumultuous talents. Continue reading »

Seventeen months ago I discovered the band Knives from Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. At that point there were three songs available for streaming from an album released later that year named The Blackest Noose, and I devoted some words of praise to them here at our site. Now I’m happy to report that Knives will be releasing a new EP next month year entitled Superiorem Status Spiritualitatis, and today we’re helping premiere a video for a song from the EP — “Pigs“.

“Pigs” is a bone-breaker and a soul-shaker, a death-and-roll juggernaut that melds the deep, concrete-cutting guitar tone of ancient Scandinavian death metal and the raw, jugular ripping fury and punishing rhythms of crust. It’s a track that’s bleak, black, and poisonous but also one that gets the head (and the rest of the body) moving. It may make also you want to smash things around you into small fragments. Continue reading »