Excellent. I've been hoping that the recent spate of EPs from The Catalyst would be collected onto a single disc so I could finally tote 'em around. The Richmond punx play an awesome mix of spacey psychedelic hardcore and pummeling Karp/Nirvana sludge rock, and if you haven't already glommed onto their vinyl releases, this disc is a perfect place to start. The thirteen track disc compiles the songs from the Marianas Trench 12" EP, their split 7" with Brainworms and the split 12" with Mass Movement of the Moth, and all of the songs were remastered for this CD.

First released as an eye-popping silkscreened 12", the Marianas Trench EP is a new slab of psychedelic hardcore thuggery from The Catalyst, the Richmond band that has been blowing me away with their awesome mix of early Sub Pop sonics and thrashy tripped-out hardcore ever since their Hospital Visit EP first slugged my ears. Marianas Trench follows up their split LP with Mass Movement Of The Moth and features four new jams on the a-side, "This Bike Is A Gravity Bong", "Kyle Vs. Robocop", "Proceed With Caution", and "Attention Defecit Distortion". Harsh screamed vocals, deep death metal roars, manic mathy hardcore riffing and sludgy detuned dirge, way-catchy pop riffs and trippy psych guitar shredding. A thunderous conglom of early Nirvana and Karp and Melvins, Screaming Trees and ferociously crusty thrash and Mudhoney, brooding post-hardcore instrumental passages and super adrenalized n' bludgeoning noise rock. Psychedelic and crushing, insanely catchy and noisy, and one of my favorite bands around.

ALso featured are the three jams from the split 7" with Brainworms, "Born With A Buzz", "Dunna Nanunna" and "Song Without Words". Lotsa fastpaced crusty thrash this time around, all blasting drums and dueling snarled invectives, but in total Catalyst style the raging 'core collides with psychedelic guitar noise that continues to remind me of a thrashed out, crusty mashup of Karp, Screaming Trees, and raging hardcore punk.

Highly recommended!