Nightfeeder - Cut All Of Your Face Off

I don't review a lot of hardcore stuff, but it is a genre I have loved dating back to the early/mid 80's in high school. Recently I found myself quite intrigued with this band called Nightfeeder. I picked up the 7" on Blackwater which had a bunch of bands I was really into already. I figured Nightfeeder would be a no-brainer based on how great the roster was. 

Nightfeeder plays an aggressive style of hardcore that reminded me a lot of my youthful days when I was picking up demo tapes from every band I could get my hands on. With members from Disrupt, Consume and Deathraid, there is certainly a lineage that ties back through the decades. Disrupt was founded in 1987 and seemed like the US' answer to Extreme Noise Terror while Deathraid and Consume ripped through the 2000's with a heavy dose of D-Beat influence made famous by Discharge.

Obviously Nightfeeder members have been around for a long time honing their craft, and it certainly shows on Cut All Of Your Face Off LP. It delivers a wall of sheer power and heightened aggression. It's like a bloodthirsty creature deprived of sustenance doing anything it can to satiate the hunger. While there is a lot of furious thrashing shaping this album, there is also diversity in the song structure. Nightfeeder find ways to insert tempo changes that often compliment the vocal style. At times the sound can feel like its pulled right from mid/later 80's crust punk era and other times fade into a more straight hardcore tune with "Amoral Minority" and "I'm a Letdown". Tracks like "The Reaper's Yield" and "Burial" fit nicely in stenchy crusty niche bands like Deviated Instinct and Doom dwelled in. Nightfeeder has been around long enough that their sound is not 100% derivative of the past. Sure there are influences that we can use a points of reference, but the sound that we hear on this album is an amalgamation of many sources, experiences and influence that most will appreciate. 

Cut All Of Your Face Off  LP is limited to 500.  There are eleven vicious tracks packed with plenty of oomph. A few tracks like "Burial" and "Hung By The Neck" were originally on the Rotten demo. Cut All Of Your Face Off sold out in a day or so. It's gone. Thankfully you can still listen on Bandcamp and probably Youtube as well. The packaging is top notch. This includes an insert complete with all of the grim lyrical content that tackles social issues like war and death and being a piece of garbage. The artwork and band logo are very eye-catching as well. Also a large sticker is included to slap on a window or street sign somewhere. Also of note. A very limited batch of Cut All Of Your Face Off came out a few months back with alternate silk-screened covers limited to 27 copies.

Nightfeeder's imagery and musical prowess captures a lot of what originally drew me into the hardcore punk scene. It was the counterculture, it is what connected me to like-minded others. It was subverting the pylons that stood in our way. I wish I was a teenager again loitering in record shops, delivering pizza while blasting Siege, Extreme Noise Terror, Heresy, Septic Death, Discharge etc etc. without a care in the world. Now I can blast Nightfeeder through my bluetooth on the way to my corporate career with a million things on my mind. Hahaha how things have changed, yet stayed the same. Well done Nightfeeder!!! 

Aug 18 2022