Girl Scout Hand Grenade has three things going for it as a band, in my book:They're a death metal band with a kind of punkish rhythmicThey have a really cool nameThey have a chick lead singerThe band's motto is "We Are Goats in a Word Full of Sheep Metal."I mean comon. How killer is that? For some reason, I totally get wood when I see a chick singing death metal. When they're actually good at it? The big O comes.The band is from Michigan. You can see their MySpace at this link. They have a full album out and have been around long enough to establish that they aren't some garage band with a bunch of lame tunes for your wedding. Girl Scount Hand Grenade is pretty hard core and definitely loud. Some of their stuff is pretty boilerplate death/grind core, but lots of others jump out and say "mosh, f'er, mosh." Then I wish I hadn't cut my hair and try to spin it anyway.When you go to their page, try Birth of the Resistance for a cool song with some changeups and harsh thrashing. Try Raul Julia is ...

This is a band from Birmingham, Alabama that a friend of mine on Twitter (@BitterOldPunk) introduced me to. Not his kind of music, but definitely mine.Annexed Asylum is pure, hard-driving death metal. They have a great sound, similar to some of the harsher old Megadeth and a lot of the newer stuff from Mudvayne with a little dust of Prong and Death sprinkled on for good measure.Unlike some of the other bands I've reviewed here before, Annexed Asylum didn't have to grow on me. From the minute I visited their Myspace page and heard Combustion, I liked them. If you're politically-minded, like I am, check out Morbid Torture on that Myspace page and look at the pic that comes up to accompany the song. That's great shit right there.Anyway, if you're into hard core and serious death metal, this band rocks. Check out their stuff, buy their album, and go see them live if you're in 'Bama.Related posts: Girl Scout Hand Grenade The Agonist – Lullabies for the Dormant Mind The Isosceles Project

You know when you've hit the big time? When bands approach you to review their new EP, that's when. This band came to me and asked if I'd review their album. That, my friends, is star power and critical success. Or maybe they took a look at this website and said "Wow, this guy needs help" and threw me a bone. Either way, I was yet again introduced to a new and cool band thanks to the Internet.I've been listening to this album for a few days now, getting it down and feeling out the band's style. My first and continuing impression is that Life in Vacuum is very much like a modernized Dead Milkmen. Although, admittedly, with more musical ability--no offense to the Milkmen, one of my favorite teenage bands.Their lyrics are a little more thoughtful than the Milkmen, for sure. While their music isn't as technically advanced or as some of the progressive Prague bands like Tool or my recent favorite The Isosceles Project, it's not simplistic and lame either.In fact, one of the drawing points of this band, for me, is their continual use of change-ups and creative sound-effecting ...