This split C20 from two new California hardcore bands came out on the first day of 2019, and I love the idea of Potion’s “Sentenced to Death in the High Court of Judith Sheindlin” leading into “David Blaine Trapped Under Ice Pt. 2” being the first thing someone hears in the new year. Because oh boy, the A side of this tape is one of the most viciously intense grind I have heard in a while. The impossibly shrill vocals are like a dying animal, presumably being killed by whatever the fuck is making the contorting, dizzying electronic sounds that form Potion’s instrumental backbone (member Hunter Peterson is only credited with guitar, bass, and keyboards, so there must be some Ichirou Agata level craziness going on). The drums are just as brutal as everything else, all slamming double bass and furious blasts, until a sample from what sounds suspiciously like an episode of Xavier: Renegade Angel abruptly leads into Car Made of Glass’s side. Which—surprise!— is just as heavy. Here we get some (relatively) more straightforward grind-violence, frequently interrupted by bizarre interludes. The drums on the B side, both the way they’re played and how they’re recorded, are the driving force behind the insanity. Unfortunately, both bands end up relying way too much on samples, to the point where the flow is just disrupted, but everything else is so crazy I almost just don’t care.

Both Potion’s and Car Made of Glass’s sides can be downloaded from their Bandcamp pages, and a preorder for the actual tape release can be found here.