MASSGRAV, Still the Kings (2012, Selfmadegod)

The skull:
Looks like a really good drawing of a really good photo of a really good skull. It’s big and bold and extremely proud to be a big dumb skull. Probably a product of the band not really sure what to depict in relation to the album title. This is crusty thrashing grindcore sort of stuff, and Massgrav is not the kind of band that would depict themselves on thrones with crowns on their heads or any sort of thing like that. The triangle behind the skull gives an added symmetry to the design, maybe suggesting “pyramid power” (remember that?), maybe not.

The music:
Crust punk and grindcore are obnoxious forms of extreme music, but there’s a thick dividing wall between obnoxious in the jokey sense and obnoxious in the “this is absurdly fast and heavy” sense. Massgrav fit into the latter compartment, firing off short round after short round of angry, belligerent, inspired crust/grind. Like a punkier, thrashier Nasum, maybe. Simple, serious and to the point, like the skullwork on the cover.
— Friar Wagner