Ground
Where they from? New Jersey. Did you know that New Jersey served as a centralized hub for east coast war production for both World Wars The Millville Airport, which opened on August 2, 1941 (four months before the U.S. officially entered WWII) was described as “America’s First Defense Airport” because it was opened as a gunnery training area for fighter pilots. Over 1,500 pilots were trained for advanced aircraft fighting at the airport.
What do they sound like? Madball gone grind.
Why the hype? The band asked me not to write this, but god dammit, I’m gonna write it any way, because it’s the truth: I FUCKING LOVE THIS BAND. THEY ARE THE BEST BAND EVER, PERIOD. I’ve written about this band a lot and even included their last full-length, 2016’s Squalor, as my album of the year. No band better melds grindcore with ignorant beatdown like these Jersey bad boys and at this point I’ve become convinced that Mike Mayo was simply put on this earth to start mosh-pit fights with his music. Seriously, no other hardcore band even comes close to walloping your ass with the wall-to-wall breakdowns and two-steps that this band offers. Shit like this is what attracted me to heavy music in the first place.
Latest release? Mourn Innocence. This album dropped yesterday, so I haven’t been able to give it the usual 12,000 spins that I reserve for of this this band’s albums, but it definitely seems to be a continuation of the songs they offered on their four-way split they did last year with Toxicology, Skuz and Triple Cripple. It’s an encouraging sign to see a band you love actually try to evolve their sound rather than just release the same album over and over.
Ground seems to be moving slightly more towards overall velocity, with a heavier emphasis being placed on blast beat parts and windbreaker hardcore sprints. Mayo’s riffs here seem to overall be more polished and metallic and the band benefits greatly from the added bass presence of Michael “Top Gun” Thomas. The musicianship here is definitely the tightest this group has ever accomplished and should provide endless hours of entertainment for the whole family.
