Not a big fan of one-sided Lps, but Fuck Yoga has put out a couple of 'em and I gotta say, they're all pretty killer. For the label's diverse extreme/experimental hardcore compilation Freak Power, the blistering lineup of bands and the whole visual presentation (and inclusion of a small half-size zine) made it a must-get for me; it's been out for awhile, but I was never able to get enough to list until now. Freak Power has a similar vibe as the classic Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! - A Music War compilation, featuring a selection of exclusive tracks from some of the most vicious eardrum-destroyers in the current international grind/noise/hardcore/doom underground that includes the likes of Iron Lung, Crime Desire, De Novissimis, Nihilist Commando, Sete Star Sept, Hatred Surge, Wadge, Apartment 213 and a bunch more, each band offering up a single short track.

Some of the highlights include Burmese's "Dipped In Blood", a brutal blast of noise-damaged grind violence that kicks off the record, followed by Apartment 213's lethal power-violence assault; Japanese noisegrinders Sete Star Sept detonate another one of their vicious freeform blast-spasms, while Wadge delivers another bizarre Tiki-themed industrial grindcore offensive. Potop does a medley of Big Black's "Crack" and the Swans song "Freak", mashing them together into abject noisy sludge along the lines of their killer Channels Cd from a few years ago, and Iron Lung do their discordant Infest-gone-mathrock thing on "Hiroshima". Crime Desire rip through one of their occult-influenced hardcore jams, and bands like Brain Dead, Judas, Bud Junkees, Senata Fox, Warfair? and Monsters Of Pot all contribute short, violent tracks of chaotic hardcore, low-fi grindcore and noise-damaged thrash, while the blurr / noisecore contingent is represented by the appearance of Mikko Aspa's Nihilist Commando and Atentat Na Sluh. Irish sludgecore band De Novissimis crawl through a heap of drug-fueled nihilism and slow-mo crust, and weirdoes Makua Valley Blast Test produce an oddball mix of extreme hardcore and mangled prog on their track. All known corners of the extreme hardcore underground are explored.

The Freak Power zine that comes with the record features thirty-six black and white pages, consisting of interviews with Sete Star Sept, Steve Makita from Apartment 213, reviews of cult horror films written by Colin Tappe from Crime Desire, Burmese, an in-depth essay on Agust� Villaronga's 1987 art-house shocker In A Glass Cage written by film theorist Donato Totaro, and a Q&A with Andrew Nolan from The Endless Blockade / Column Of Heaven that, frankly, is worth picking up Freak Power up for alone. On black vinyl, limited to four hundred copies.