I’ve been covering a lot of ‘nice’ music recently. You know, the kind that you can happily play even with your aging grandmother nearby. All this post-rock stuff is all very well and good, but sometimes the only way to really connect with an album is to have it scream at your face and tear your bollocks off. In a metaphorical sense of course. So, I’ve decided to knock together a list of albums that are so vehemently pissed off that they’d make Hitler seem like he was having a chat to the neighbours during his speeches. Be warned – this music will bite.

Botch – We Are the Romans

Without a doubt this is one of the first albums I thought of when coming up with this topic. What can be said about this album that hasn’t been said before? It single-handedly revolutionised the meaning of what hardcore could be, and even went so far as to stick a finger up to genres all together, instead just existing as a mind-numbing assault on the senses. Opener ‘To Our Friends In the Great White North’ is as powerful and adrenaline pumping no matter how much you live to it, and the incredible production means every instrument, including Dave Verellen’s throat blistering scream. It’s awe inspiring stuff.

Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come

Rage Against the Machine might be rolling in millions of dollars now, but the only true greats of the politcal protest bands was Refused. Scathing hardcore punk that systematically blew away any expectations of what to expect to come out of Sweden, they’re best known for the blisteringly volatile ‘New Noise’ but should be even better known for the album it featured on. Dennis Lyxzén’s piercing vocal delivery and the no frills shreds of guitars gave credibility and power to the voices that screamed “We want the airwaves back!” What a fucking travesty it is then, that bands like Paramore even attempt to capture some of that violence in shabby, depressing cover stints.

Gojira – From Mars to Sirius

I’ve been hearing a lot about Gojira’s recently released latest effort ‘The Way of All Flesh’, most of it positive, all of it claiming it one of the most incessantly heavy albums to have come out in a while. But, seeing as I’m yet to hear it yet, I’ll give ‘The Way of All Flesh’s predecessor a mention. Scary, angry, murderous French men scream their guts out and tell us all how the world is set to crash and burn due to all manner of ecological fuck ups on man’s behalf. It’s an album that really horrified me on my first listen, and I’m still not overwhelmingly sold on it just because there are very few times when I find myself in the mood for the soundtrack to a dying planet. But make no bones about it – Gojira take the image of hippies to a whole new world…

Zozobra – Bird of Prey

This side project of cult-like figures Caleb Scofield and Aaron Harris has been an interesting outlet for them both. Bird of Prey follows up 2007’s Harmonic Tremors with an absolute beast of a roar, kicking things off right from the start with the soul-crushing ‘Emanate’. From then on it’s like a wall of heavy, clever noise that never lets up, a far cry from the more experimental tracks on their debut. ‘Heavy With Shadows’ is a song title that pretty much sums itself up, whilst throughout it all Scofield’s ridiculously wrathful shout rumbles over everything. Whilst it is pretty much an album made out of one sound, the moments of brief experiment include the bass intro of ‘In Jet Streams’ which sounds deliciously dirty. Bird of Prey is a crushingly brilliant album, sounding like a totem pole being thrown at your face. If you like it heavy, get this album.

Converge – Jane Doe

How could I not put Converge on here? Jane Doe is widely touted as one of the best records in the rock/metal sphere and is it any wonder? Precision perfect musicianship, a beefy, punch to the face sort of sound and razor sharp riffs and vocals that cut into your head like Hannibal Lecter. It’s scary and yet the anger is so energetic and condensed that it can’t help but stun you into holding your attention, grabbing you by your ears and dragging you through shattered glass and vinegar. Wholly colossal, and still yet to be really matched for it’s sheer sense of power, Converge recorded a monster here.

Of course, there are loads more I could mention. I haven’t even listed some of my favourites, such as Rosetta and Isis, so there might even be another follow up feature in the near future. Until then, enjoy the noise!