In December 2021, I saw my first show since COVID-19 at Comet Ping Pong in north Washington, DC. Though I went for Caveman Cult, I left with a hell of an impression from a combative grindcore band named Deliriant Nerve. Birthed from the region’s incredibly strong extreme metal and punk scenes, Deliriant Nerve is a true fusion of both genres. Their debut Uncontrollable Ascension is an EP in the way only grindcore can do: nine tracks, 12 minutes, all fury. There’s breakdowns galore and rhythmic order in chaos with excellent drumming that weaves in and out of its own grooves. The band even finds enough energy to put in a minute-long noise outro into which the deathiest track on the album fades into feedback. Tracks get almost mathy, but that’s what happens when you’re blitzing through lightning-fast chord and tempo changes… how do these guys find time to breathe? There’s no cramming ideas into tracks, they just happen to be that multifarious – Deliriant Nerve makes all forty-eight seconds of “Vice” into erupting controlled chaos with no sloppiness whatsoever. Special shout-out to the bass guitarist, who is wonderfully unafraid to assert himself and adds a distinct sense of groove on “Shrapnel Spiral” and “Mouth Full of Eyes”.

Uncontrollable Ascension by Deliriant Nerve