Viking's Choice: Magrudergrind, 'Regressive Agenda'

Grindcore is about the economy of extreme music; about cramming as much metallic insanity into one minute as possible. It's been six years since the last album by Magrudergrind, a Brooklyn-via-D.C. trio that knows how to make the guitar-drums-vocals format sound something like fireworks exploding in an aluminum trash can.

Where the group's 2009 self-titled debut gnashed wildly at blinding speed, the Kurt Ballou-produced II sounds bulkier and meaner: no silly movie samples between tracks, more buzzsaw hardcore grooves, and generally more pissed off all around. Here's the thrashy, D-beat-driven "Regressive Agenda."

II comes out Feb. 12 on Relapse.