In the early 1990's the music world was sort of turned upside down. There was the mainstream grunge obsession in Seattle, the Floridian death metal scene, and the Norwegian black metal explosion, but what had been the two huge long lived cultural centers in America were almost hung out to dry. New York and SoCal had used up their hardcore bands and the current trends seemed to be happening everywhere but the two cities. Even Texas had Pantera rising to popularize the snoozefest excuse for metal that would become groove metal. SoCal, not to be beaten, gave us the spectacle of powerviolence in these trying times. Granted there were less than a dozen bands that filled this niche, but the movement would go onto to blaze a trail in brutality and agression in the American extreme music scene.
Around the time the band called it quits, they put all their eggs into one little CD/LP basket along with some live songs to top it all off. The compilation starts off with some of their earlier work from the first EP in all its raw unpolished glory and then plays a series of live songs which honestly sound like they have better quality than the first seven songs. The vocals are more traditional hardcore shouts and yelling than grind-like screeching which is always a plus in my book. Then comes the next EP and the live renditions of some of those. Starting to see a trend? I hope so. The quality gets better and better with each passing series, and all the songs show off the reasons powerviolence was so beloved by its tiny following. All the constant tempo shifts and absurd timing breakdowns are on full display with unmatched aggression and anger.
My favorite tracks are Hacked into Chunks, Farmer Hitler John, In the Name of Stupidity, and Modern Moses. In all honesty though, there's no low point here or time to catch your breath. It's just the band giving you all their angst and concerns as fast as humanly possible. So if you're in a rush, but wanna listen to some music along the way, pick up some powerviolence and this is just as good a start as any.
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