This double-CD release on New York’s Alone Records commemorates Usurp Synapse’s entire catalog, including material not released whatsoever (rehearsals from a failed Indiana-shaped record with Mara’akate), compilations, and their only “real” album, an 11-song CD (which is practically an EP in length). Fans of the band will no doubt have most, if not all of the songs on here. However, if they don’t have one of the pieces of the Usurp Synapse puzzle, it will be very hard to find at this point, so the discography will no doubt come in handy. For those not familiar with the band, they will no doubt be hard for most to swallow. Mixing a spastic edge akin to the Locust with the grindcore brutality of some of the other San Diego bands, such as Honeywell or Heroin, Usurp Synapse always seemed to be out of place pounding out emo-violence in the Midwest. And with song titles like “Reach Out and Touch Me with That Emo Hand,” “Robocop as a Fragrance,” and “Talk to Tucker,” it’s quite obvious that their sense of humor surely alienated even more people. Occasionally the band would do something more experimental, but for the most part, they’re full-on, in your face, and break-your-nose hardcore. No doubt a band who busted their ass and recorded and toured as much as Usurp Synapse deserve a discography, however, their lack of melody and their overwhelming sheer brutality keeps them from being in the same field as scene-mates like Saetia or Ten Grand. – Kurt Morris