Blast Worship: Controlled Existence

Photo: Controlled Existence Facebook page

Where they from? The Czech Republic, specifically Prague, a city known for it’s beautiful architecture

What do they sound like? Think Oakland-sounding crusty grind but with actual, super-tight blast beats instead of sloppy, uptempo D-beats.

Why the hype? I recently came across a video of Assück playing in Detroit in 1998 which sent me down a wormhole of searching for live grindcore videos on the interwebs. I happened upon a video of this particular group playing the most recent edition of Obscene Extreme Fest, held in their native Czech Republic. I did not have high expectations—European grindcore is very hit or miss for me personally—but I  must say I was pleasantly surprised (and floored) by what this band does. I feel the same way about this band as I did in 2012 when I first heard the Netherland’s Dead Instrument: it boggles my mind that they can pack such relentless velocity along with ACTUAL, MEMORABLE RIFFS THAT DON’T SUCK. It’s amazing that I can hum along to some of these songs, even during the blast parts. Also, everything is covered in just the right amount of filth, the guitars and vocals especially, making them one of the rare bands that both guitar nerds and crusts will probably agree on.

Latest release: A split with Days of Desolation from 2014. I’ve been pretty much obsessively listening to these three songs the past few weeks and they’re pretty much embedded in my brain at this point.

Favorite track: “Glory Of The Church”. Honestly, just listen to the whole album, it’s like 5 minutes:

Find Controlled Existence on Bandcamp!