Exhumed, Vitriol, Escuela Grind, Castrator

Exhumed marks three decades of South Bay (Area) goregrind with career-high LP To the Dead, a death metal song dump by ex-band members summating the quartet’s maniac extremity. Even so, ladies’ night at Come & Take It Live may prove a coup. Even though dark Pacific Northwest queen Hulder dropped off the package, New England metallic hardcore breakouts Escuela Grind and international all-women OSDM ascendants Castrator will shriek in her stead. – Raoul Hernandez