Zombie Hate Brigade

Zombie Hate Brigade's self-titled debut from 2008 wallowed in a massive, sludge-choked groove that owed as much to (surprise, surprise) Rob Zombie as it did to grindcore pioneers like Carcass and current grind champs Pig Destroyer. But the band's sophomore release, Hideous Beyond Belief With a Craving for Human Flesh, has raised the bar — by cranking up the fear. Zombie Hate Brigade had a fun, lumbering, B-movie feel, but Hideous is agile and lean; the vocals sound less human, blastbeats pop out of nowhere, and the riffs still have fresh meat stuck to them. Besides being more precise and inventive than its predecessor, Hideous has shorter, sharper, more shocking songs — and they're all the scarier because of it. Beware: Zombie Hate Brigade is beginning to run faster.