Band – Haggus
Album – Destination Extinction
Country of Origin – USA
Genre – Mincecore
Release Date – June 20, 2025
Label – Tankcrimes Records
Author – wendy venus
You might be asking; what the fuck is mincecore? Well, mincecore has been a relatively quiet subgenre since the cave people discovered öügh-ing, unga bunga riffs and blast beats. That is all to say— since the dawn of Siege, Repulsion, and, of course, Napalm fucking Death. You see, it’s more than just a “genre” but more like a musical lifestyle of sorts that’s no different than say being a street punk or a crust punk.
The earliest pioneers of mincecore, Agathocles, were influenced by those early grindcore and powerviolence bands. They took grindcore and stripped it back down to how it started, an offshoot of crust punk and death metal without all the sexist, homophobic lyrics happening in grindcore at the time (of which is still a problem to this day but that’s for another time). Throughout the years since Agathocles started there’ve been numerous mincecore bands that have come and gone such as Archagathus, Unholy Grave, Rot and many, many more.
Amongst the rising names within mincecore is your favorite mincecore band’s favorite mincecore band, Haggus. Started in 2014 by guitarist and vocalist Hambone, it has turned into a whirlwind of a decade. Very quickly gaining notoriety through the underground music scene, Haggus has been such a constant force that it’s shocking that on their newest album, aptly titled, “Destination Extinction,” it doesn’t feel like a road wearied veterans, but rather new and young upstarts ready to give the music world a swift kick in the ass.
There’s many, many ways to describe “Destination Extinction” but to stick with the first full feeling this album gave is, at least what feels like, to be true to the intentions that Hambone and co. have set out for, a cocktail of molly and adderall washed down with Four Loko (the original mind you). This release, much like Haggus, refuses to be contained and from the opening seconds of Rotting Off all the way to the end of Grotesque Reflection, DE is unrelenting as it is fun. It doesn’t stay safe and isn’t afraid to throw shit into the blender and then come out with music so entrancing that when it finishes you feel incredibly hungover and the only cure is “Destination Extinction.”
“Destination Extinction” is the definition of contained chaos. Haggus are road veterans— they have been together for 10 years and Hambone has stated that “Destination Extinction” is a play on words since they’re goal is to play literally all over and anywhere in the world without slowing down or stopping. For long time fans of Haggus, “Destination Extinction” is what you need and want it to be plus some. The riffs are tighter and more furious than ever before, enough blast beats to take out all future pounding headaches and pitch shifted vocals that center the chaos. There’s also plenty of surprises that Haggus put into “Destination Extinction” that give it their own flair.
The true heart and core of any grindcore and subsequently mincecore band comes down to their attitude and how it shows up in their lyrics. What is meant here is, these genres have very strong roots in the punk scene and while some bands show it more than others, more times than not you can tell how good a grind band is based on their lyrical content. Haggus really shines here because of their punk background. Between opening fist raiser, Rotting Off, which also gives off that punk ‘n’ roll vibe ala mincecore, and the stage-diving-mosh-inducing closer, Grotesque Reflection, there’s plenty to be drinking beers with the homies to all the while you’re standing around and shooting the shit to all the while a police precinct is burning down. Do You Love Mincecore? is the modern Sex and Violence for mince freaks (Tupa tup then tup some more/First grind, then some gore/Tupa take my pain away/Who needs a brain anyway?/Do you love Mincecore?/Because I fucking love Mincecore?). Whereas songs like Malignant Boomer gives the middle finger to the system and all those that uphold it (Broken system, broken country/Wages lower, expenses higher/Broken system, fuck this country).
With such a fiery album and a strong promotional release, it would be no surprise to see Haggus blow up and take the mincecore scene with them. “Destination Extinction” is full of partying and fuck-the-system attitude that it will be used as a future Recession Indicator. The summer has begun and so has the MincecoRevolution.
Do you love mincecore? Because I fucking love mincecore.
