Free Flush Vol 1
Carcassbomb from Noob Heavy here, but on Toilet Ov Hell, with a single purpose. Everyone loves free shit, so here’s a bunch of it, but get this… it’s not shit. All these albums are name your own price on Bandcamp and they’re all chunky new releases that I’ve personally vetted for quality. (Which was a harrowing experience involving a lot of eyesores.) The result is this emporium of pay what you want releases without any of the bedroom recordings or dungeon synth; no demos, no singles, instrumentals or promos. Just some good EPs and LPs. You can either pay nothing and download the MP3s (Or sweet sweet FLAC), or you can just pop a dollar in there to add them to your collection for cred… or you can pay more if you want to support the band. There are options, much like with the genres here.
There’s a moderated Facebook group dedicated to posting similar albums, many of which will show up from there in the future.
Noob Heavy is the site I’m from. Thanks to Toilet Ov Hell for having my shit.
Zyclops – Inheritance Of Ash
Jan 31, 2020
Sludge metal from Texas
Artwork by Ryan Pankratz
I’ve listened to this one a lot in the last week and I can’t believe it’s a debut EP and it’s free; it’s top quality American sludge. There’s a strong audio thesis behind it and a fleshed-out aesthetic. It will crush you; it will move you and it will disorientate you with its noise worship. It’s haunted AND cursed. The vocals are some of the best I’ve heard in a while, there’s a lot of variety across the tracks that so many similar bands just lack. Zyclops go the extra mile to bring a huge sound that will claw its way into your stomach.
Fakecivil – Resistensi Musik Bejat
Feb 1, 2020
Thrash metal from Indonesia
Artwork by Riandy Karuniawan
Politically-fueled thrash metal with social commentary-fueled lyrics, yeah we’ve heard that before but I promise it’s awesome this time. It’s not the typical western banter, this one is about the violations of Indonesian police, military and government. Serious matters call for, uh, really psychedelic album art and epic guitar solos. The vocals are aggressive and acidic, not the watery kind your uncles share on Twitter. Gotta love the track “Polishit”. The album art is really cool, if mainly for its aesthetic background of floating objects that could just as easily go on a synth or vaporwave album cover.
Haemic – Forum Galactica
Feb 12, 2020
Symphonic death/black from Hungary
Artwork by Jakhangir Zeynalov
Energy! We need energy now and this album is full of it. Many may be put off by “symphonic” but I don’t care, it’s a lot of fun that bridges a weird gap between progressive and technical death metal. It’s fast paced and there’s always something going on whether it’s dual vocal screaming, tech guitar riffs or equally technical sounding symphonics. Seriously, whoever programmed them did a bang-up job, it’s not super typical foreboding bullshit—it’s never a dull note. It’s 43 minutes of well-crafted metal from an experienced band. You can’t ask for anything more from them.
Azoth – Magnitude Of Extinction
Jan 5, 2020
Post Black Metal from Oregon
Featuring members of Sól and Vitriol, does that mean anything to you? It doesn’t mean much to me but damn this is a fine black metal album. It’s a dense sound that rewards the headphone experience, which for me is the only experience there is. It’s like a procedure that drills a hole in the side of your head but then there’s these moments of relief and perhaps even pleasure as the pus oozes out. It’s not supposed to be in there ya know. I forget black metal bands hate it when I joke around in my coverage of them, just check it out. It’s miles above the average amateur stuff the post-black genre churns out every week, there’s a big emphasis on traditional post-metal structure and instrumentation. It’s a good long distance album.
Amer – Unverheilt
Jan 8, 2020
Sludge/Hardcore from Austria
Abrasive yet poetic and melancholic. This is a great record crossing over styles of sludge and hardcore through a doomy lens to create compelling audio stories. It mostly caught my attention because of the cover; I really dig the pink and white aesthetic, especially when it’s dealing with sounds so heavy and serious. It’s all in German though which I don’t speak, but my friend Katha (@sym246) does and she said: “The lyrics are short, lined-up sentences about stress, fear and decadence in today’s time and a future that’s turning to the worse. They are angry, hopeless and depressing”. More than suitable for the sound.
Weight Bearer – Watch The Collapse
Jan 24, 2020
Metalcore/Melodic hardcore from United Kingdom
Bandcamp
This is a big full-length album with decent artwork and a highly serviceable sound that has all the makings of a successful album and yet here it is on Bandcamp for free without much support. A shame really, I very much enjoyed this one. It has the strengths of metalcore, in that they’ve ditched any notion of auto-tuned cleans and nu metal stuff, instead supplementing it with older hardcore roots and melodic hardcore flair in the vein of Defeater. Once you get past the typical anti-societal bravado there’s a tender emotional note at the heart of it all driven by the guitars. I found it very moving and entertaining.
Pick Axe Preacher – Extinction Theory
Feb 8, 2020
Thrashcore from Michigan
This is just a lot of fun, or it could be very serious based on the lyrical content, I guess it depends on how threatened you feel about the reptilian overlords in your day to day. Self-described as a “Progressive Hardcore Thrash Metal Band” pretty much sums it up, if you don’t want to find out what that sounds like then I don’t want to know what you sound like. Expect some King Parrot-level thrash and grind with themes about various conspiracies and bizarre ideas. Well worth investigating every aspect of their debut release.
Mestizo – Nuestro Legado
Jan 29, 2020
Progressive Death/Groove from Costa Rica
Another sublime LP that should have way more exposure. It’s a little djenty but in the best way possible, it doesn’t quite sound like anything else I’ve heard lately. There’s a good mix of ideas that come together seamlessly from low-tuned riffs to panic chords and a vocalist that sounds like he has the wettest throat in the industry. The prog aspects like clean vocals don’t take the centre stage or waste your time with long boring passages, they’re scattered throughout like little surprises that bring extra energy. The heaviness never really dips, it’s like watching a tank coming at you in the distance, it’s a constant ever-moving threat. It’s unstoppable riffage with an exotic touch.
Abu Ghraib – Enhanced Torture techniques 
Sept 16, 2019
Speed Grind from Australia
Artwork by Karl Dahmer
This insanely good grind album that was on all my end of year lists has just become Name Your Own Price. So now would be a good time to check out this trio if you haven’t, they’re a lot of fun. Very tongue in cheek but also pointed, it’s grindcore but its primary influence is Slayer. They’re a good band to follow if you like OC memes from bands and troll-like antics. Like most Aussie grind bands they love to talk shit, but not like most Aussie grind bands, they are playing Obscene Extreme Festival in Czech Republic this year. It’s like the Woodstock of Grind. A huge presence in the Australian underground that could definitely use the support to take things to the next level.
Comment below or post in the group if you know some good ‘name your own price’ albums.
