Constant Hell Meld DIY Scuzz and Righteous Anger on Debut (Early Album Stream)

Grindcore artists on the Eastern Seaboard are taking the genre in exciting directions. Groups such as New York’s Chepang and Philadelphia’s Bandit have already released pulverizing albums this year, and now Pittsburgh’s Constant Hell, for some time a local mainstay, are here with an album that bottles the essence of their live show and refracts classic grind through 2023’s chaos.

Recorded live in the band’s practice space, Constant Hell sounds like it emerged dripping from the sewers. True to the genre in song length, the record sports numerous quick blitzes of sound that emerge from cocoons of feedback before receding back into fuzz, as on “Political Pig.” On the 11-second “Tear a Nazi in Two,” Constant Hell distill grindcore’s longstanding sense of righteous indignation, cleanly boiling down the three-piece’s sound into a fun-sized squall. The “Southside Party Grind” band clearly channel Pittsburgh’s blend of pugilism and winking irony—as a Steel City resident, one can practically hear the gags and howls of litter-strewn Carson Street in the background.

But this isn’t just a fun romp. Opener “Out of Life/Into the Casket” reads as more of a death metal screed, and closer “Last Words” is a two-minute mushroom cloud of squeals, metal-tinged riffs, and romping punk drumming. Tracks like this are as much Naked City as they are Napalm Death, blurring the line between grind, metal, and experimental music. Constant Hell may stay true to grindcore’s roots in form, but they also clearly are aiming at something grander on this first full-length release.

The band call this album “23 tracks of filthy and noisy grindcore that feel like waking up with a pounding headache soaked in your own piss and vomit while wrapped around the toilet of your local punk squat house.” Stream all of Constant Hell below, and good luck cleaning out your earholes afterward.

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Constant Hell releases July 15th independently via Bandcamp.