Nick Millevoi and Dead Neanderthals, Dietary Restrictions

Until now I did not know Dead Neanderthals, a Dutch free jazz duo of Otto Kokkee on sax and Rene Aquarius on drums. Guitarist Nick Millevoi I most certainly do know, a free electric guitarist who does well by reveling in skronky anarchy. Type his name in the search box above for what I have reviewed of his here.

The three did a European tour in 2013. They are captured live in DIY sound in Berlin on the EP Dietary Restrictions, which was available as a cassette that is apparently sold out, but you can get a DL at Bandcamp.

This is full-out free anarchy with honks, squeals, tumbling drums, feedback and super-skronk guitar aggression. It may give some folks a headache. But if you are like me it is an out extreme you can very much appreciate if you put yourself in the mood.

There's 30 minutes of grand intensity here, just enough for the hard-core enthusiast to bang the head with.

It's not for the timid ear! But it IS very over-the-top in a nice way.

Greeley Estates: No Rain, No Rainbow

Death metal, thrashmetal, grindcore, speed metal, it's all been around for 20 years or so and the newer bands can be more sophisticated (if that's the right word?) than their forebears.

Greeley Estates and I believe the latest album (from this year), No Rain, No Rainbow (Tragic Hero 90059) give you the exorcist vocals, true, and the low-tuned guitars playing doomsday motifs, the drums wildly double-bassing, and they do that completely in the idiom. But there are other elements creeping in, other musical elements and some pretty complicated instrumental elements.

This is no easy music to play. Whether you like it depends I suppose on a predisposition to appreciate the onslaught of energy and noise-ish sound the music consistently provides. This is definitely one of the better bands doing this kind of thing right now. They are musical about it all. That's what counts.