Skull Fucked

funeral bitch

2012-01-30T21:36:00.002+10:00

Master are a largely unrecognised first wave American death metal band from Chicago. I first posted about these guys (in a different incarnation) at the end of November with my rant about the Deathstrike "Fuckin Death" LP reissue on Dark Decent Records. Late last year Doomentia Records from the Czech Republic decided to reissue their debut s/t LP in a press of 500 copies in total. Mine's on clear wax, and from what I can tell this was the only variation of the press.

As always with Doomentia, presented here is an absolute A class package. To start- a brilliant, thick gatefold sleeve, foil stamped with the original artwork of the bands stark red logo on a black background.

Inside the shiny gloss sleeve is this matt page glued directly to the card sleeve. Containing various liner notes and lyrics, it's something I haven't seen before, and had it not been done properly I think it could have turned out pretty messy. No such luck here though. Very good job.

Not to be confused with the bands earlier, 1985 'unreleased' s/t LP (that saw an official release on From Beyond Productions in 2003), this album was originally unleashed by Nuclear Blast Records back in 1990. These guys have always been somewhat overlooked by the wider death metal scene in favour of bands like Autopsy and Morbid Angel and I think I can speculate as to why. By the time 1990 and this album rolled around, albums like "Altars Of Madness", "Severed Survival" and "Slowly We Rot" had already more or less defined a new world of massively heavy American death metal. The wider scene had now been exposed to Master with this new album, but at that point it was nothing ground breaking. Little did most know that five years earlier their actual first LP helped influence all of those widely known bands via a leaked tape version that saw minimal rounds. One could make the argument that had that first album actually seen a larger scale release in '85, Master would most likely be a household name along with a lot of those Floridan greats. Such is life.

a dead issue

2012-01-23T11:49:00.000+10:00

Wormrot post part II. Their new LP, "Dirge". As with my post about "Abuse" last week, I've again snagged the most limited colour in yellow of 200 copies with absolutely no trouble. It is beyond me how a band of this total quality isn't selling out first presses of their records, especially now since Earache Records is pressing their stuff. 28 tracks of relentless grindcore bashed out in the space of about 20 minutes. It doesn't really get better than this in terms of modern grindcore.

As with their last long player, recording qualities here are of pristine mark. Where it differs from "Abuse" slightly is just the general cleanliness of it. Not that it detracts one bit in listenability compared to previous material but it is every so marginally tidier in the mixing and mastering departments than the older stuff. Attribute this I suppose to the introduction of new engineer, a fellow named Ah Boy. Actual song quality here is totally on par with anything else of theirs though- plenty of creative riffs and constructions, and perfect amounts of grind offset by slower bits and thrash riffs. It's astounding to me how a band can continue to pump out great ideas like this without sounding stale and repetitive.

Photo bomber.

Someone bring these guys to Australia already.

black mass

2012-01-22T09:14:00.001+10:00

I posted about Gehenna's "Land Of Sodom" EP a few days ago, and with that same order from A389 Records I also received this platter; the "Practitioners Of Fell Sorcery" MLP from Anaheim's Gravehill. Ox Blood wax as the label describes it, six tracks of death metal heavily influenced by Hellhammer (obviously; the bands name is actually ripped from that of Hellhammer themselves, Gravehill was their first, largely unknown incarnation).

This was originally released as a demo tape of 50 copies back in 2001 by members of various Socal punk and metal circles, most notably Mike of Gehenna. The story more or less goes that the band was formed when Gehenna was in somewhat of a rut. Here he again handles all vocal duties so I suspect fans of Gehenna will be able to enjoy this just for that fact alone, his chords are such a distinctive part of that bands attack, and they boarder so many early Euro metal approaches anyway.

After the original release of this demo the band split for various reasons. It was reissued in the mid 2000's (I think on tape, but I'm not too sure), and then they reformed with one original member in 2007. Vocals handled by another fellow, and chasing a much more thrashy sound with a cleaner recording style, they've released a handful of stuff since including two LP's. I wouldn't argue that the newer stuff is terrible, but it's not as good as this more simplistic demo. Come 2011 A389 were granted the rights to reissue it on vinyl, the format it certainly deserves.

Very good metal. Track down the song "Necrosummoner" for proof. The mid paced chug, pounding guitar, and Mike's distorted/delayed vocals make it such an intense five minutes. Worth the cost of the LP, just for this song alone.

the abduction diary

2012-01-21T16:41:00.001+10:00

I've managed to make a few posts about Dublin's Drainland over the last year or so. Today's fodder comes in the form of their new split LP with fellow Countrymen, Trenches. Black vinyl of what I assume may the larger edition of the press, but I haven't looked into it enough to really know if alternate colours do exist. Released by Graanrepubliek. Recently acquired via trade with Jamie for an LP from a popular Australian band.

On offer here is a pretty tried method of down tempo and sludgy influenced hardcore from both bands. Three songs from Drainland that easily dominate the rest of their catalogue in many differing qualities; the recording is their best yet, Jamie's vocals are certainly at their peak in terms of low end and 'manliness' and all three tracks are just really well constructed, especially the opener, "Stairs".

Trenches contribution, a single track by the name of "Vaccine" is a longer number, pushing into the + 10 minute arena. Noticeably similar in style to that of the general Drainland feel; slow, sludgy and dark and with more of a modern hardcore feel in the recording style. Obviously this song progresses through a number of tempo changes and directions with it's length, and I haven't heard any other material of theirs, so I have no idea whether this is a typical Trenches track. I like it though.

Overall it's a pretty bare bones layout and presentation. Two colours dominate the presentation as you can see. Nothing more to it. Being the kind of nerd that I am I do find this a little boring, but judging by what I know about the bands, I'm kind of guessing that this is the aesthetic that they were going for.

Drainland have a few more releases lined up for this year as far as I know. A split with Enabler is up for pre order now at Halo Of Flies Records, and a another split with Crows is due soon too.

i am your tormentor

2012-01-17T18:38:00.004+10:00

We all know who Gehenna are at this stage, I'd hope so anyway, they've existed for a solid 18 years at this point, but I wouldn't blame most people who aren't farmiliar with their EP from 2007, "Land Of Sodom". Since my introduction to the band around the same time the EP always seemed rather elusive and unknown in general. For a long time even, MP3's were impossible to find, just like the hard version itself. Having never been an absolute Gehenna fanatic, it's never been an issue that's really bothered me a huge amount, but I was always curious about it. Last year A389 decided to reissue the 7" in a wider press packaged together with the CD version of the bands album "Upon The Gravehill" from 2003, and renamed "Land Of Sodom II". Here's the white edition of the release. Not sure of the numbers.

So upon inspection of the liner notes, it more or less turns out that the first press of this EP has always been a tough find plainly because the guy who released it was a bit of a flake and basically did a shitty job running his label, Hit The Deck Records. So there's the explanation. Cool. To differentiate with this new version, Dom and A389 have made some minor alterations with this version. From what I can tell (though this is somewhat of a guess, as I have no hard copy of the original to reference, just some stuff I've found online), there's been some remastering to the tracks, and the song names have been altered ever so slightly. As has the artwork. Where the cover of the original bared the bands logo and EP title at the top, this new press is presented with the same original cover, but minus the header. I have no idea what the backside of the old press looked like, but here we get the "UTGH" cover.

So as I mentioned, included here is the "UTGH" CD, as from what I can tell, the album never got a CD release, just wax. It's mounted in the gatefold sleeve. One problem, and it's not even a massive one as I don't listen to CD's at all really, but mine is wedged harder in the sleeve than a tick in a rednecks armpit. It literally will not budge. My girlfriend mistakingly, slightly ripped the corner of the sleeve trying to pull it out. Damn it. Because of this, I can't tell you much more about the music on it, but if my internet research is correct, included on the CD, you also get a digital version of the EP running before the original LP itself.

So after such a period of curiosity, how does this EP way up to the rest of the bands material? It's arguably their roughest recording. Mike's vocals sound the raspiest out of their entire catalogue, and the music is mixed fairly messily. Those unfamiliar with the band and their history could forgivably confuse this for a demo recording. Comparable to their LP's and even their earlier 7" "The Birth Of Vengeance", it's hardly a typical Gehenna release in this respect, but the music presented is more or less what you'd expect from the band. Hateful metallic hardcore heavily influenced by both first wave proto, and second wave black metal bands.

operation grindcore

2012-01-16T20:26:00.006+10:00

As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my year end post for 2011, Wormrot is a band that I've slept on for way too long. I mean, WAY too long. I'm really surprised that I hadn't bothered to give these guys a proper shot earlier, as this LP of theirs, their first, "Abuse" along with their latest on Earache Records (which I will be posting about in the coming fortnight), are two of the most interesting, well written and well executed grindcore records that I've listened to in the last five years, if not more. This press of red wax was released in 2009 by German label TVG Records, numbers in an edition of 110 copies, and to my surprise remains in it's first pressing and is readily available in places like eBay and the like. Music of this quality should be long sold out, or at least in subsequent editions, but no, this record remains criminally under rated. Further proof that the majority of the international punk scene sits on its own taste.

Perhaps foolishly, I've never paid much attention to bands from South East Asia, and certainly idiotically I will admit that I know nothing about any kind of scene from the region either. From Singapore, the music that Wormrot have produced with Abuse rivals anything coming out of the USA or Europe at the moment. Taking obvious cues from all of the classics, these guys omit a very blatant modern American sound ala Insect Warfare and Magrudergrind with this LP, implementing a modern recording style with extreme metal leanings. Short, simplistic songs built around heaps of very catchy riffs and creative ideas, underpinned with some brilliant grind drumming and churning vocals that switch between grunts, growls and screams and would easily rival in brilliance those of the two previously mentioned bands.

What makes this album cooler is the fact that pretty much every facet of it was handled by the band themselves. On top of the obvious credit of writing and playing all of the material, the bands singer Ari also handled all of the mixing and mastering and the art and layout too. Housed in a regular sleeve, also included with the vinyl are the insert with all relevant notes, and this large poster of his cover art.

I can't rave on enough about this band. Both LP's have been on constant repeat at my house for weeks now. They have a handful of other releases under their collective belts in the form of a few EP's and split recordings, most of which are proving a little more elusive than the two LP's. If you would like to donate the aforementioned material to the the Skull Fucked cause, I would be more than grateful.

stab nation rising

2012-01-15T08:34:00.001+10:00

It occurred to me the other day that I haven't posted about an American band since the end of November. Continuing this little trend, today's post fodder is about the new 7" from London's Stab. Following a demo tape early in 2011, Quality Control Records recently pressed this more limited green press, and as far as I know you can also get it on black.

As I've mentioned in the past these guys do a very good rendition of the early UK fast hardcore bands like Ripcord and Heresy. Everything about this EP ticks those Ripcord boxes; the guitar tone, the vocal style, the drum frenzy and the recording style. It couldn't get better.

Housed in a simple printed disco sleeve that matches the centre labels, it's a little simplistic and to be honest a bit boring. I definitely would have preferred some kind of proper sleeve and insert with better artwork. You can't have it all though, still a great EP.

gloat

2012-01-14T15:58:00.005+10:00

Very much so the subject of reasonable amount of hype at the moment among the local scene, Shackles have just unleashed their debut 7", "Maunder". Pressed by Arrest Records, this green variation is the more limited run of 100 (or possibly something like 96, I can't remember). A wider press on black also exists. Seminal PV inspired heavy hardcore from Byron Bay, these guys play a very good interpretation of the heavier, moshier style of hardcore popularised by American bands like Mind Eraser and the like, though with less blasts and more of a focus on heavy breaks. This would have to be the best example of an Australian attempt at this music for at least three years, in my opinion anyway.

If there's any gripe I have with this release, it's the recording style. Don't get me wrong, I really like how heavy this thing sounds, I just can't quite ignore the fact that there are definitely parts that sound very 'doctored'. There are certainly more than a few occasions when a blast sounds triggered, or the beginning or end of a song sounds like it's been blatantly chopped off digitally. It's not a massive problem, but it's certainly a detrimental factor. Just come across as a little amateur sounding. I think i'd prefer more of a live sounding recording.

For those playing at home, Shackles are the fellows for whom I released a tape a few months back. Of the four songs on that tape, two of them see another release here, amongst an additional nine tracks from the same recording session.

Included in the glued card sleeve are two inserts, one with this photo of Mark that includes liner notes and thanks list, and a second with the lyrics.

Overall this is a fantastic record and will certainly be a favourite of mine for 2012. The band have just recorded another handful of songs to be included on an unnamed release that they tracked with the same fellow who recorded this stuff. I hope it sounds a little less perfect. One of my favourite Australian bands.

the chaos dimension

2012-01-11T21:42:00.003+10:00

Already this year I've made a couple mentions of this new Irish band. I speak obviously of ZOM and their debut demo tape. This is the first (and now sold out) edition of 100 copies. Invictus Productions is the responsible party and a second edition is apparently due within the next few weeks.
Now while this is a new tape, I wouldn't go as far to say that this is a 'new' band. They've been a unit for at least five months now, and as I've mentioned prior, this is more or less just the fantastic Crowd Control minus a couple members. At least, I think that's what it is anyway.
So this band is a three piece, one count of guitarist, one count of drummer and one count of bassist. From what I can make through the heavily reverbed vocals, and based from a live video I have seen, both the bassist and guitarist handle vocal duties. If I am correct, based off those same assumptions, main vocals are in fact handled by Andy, the old CC vocalist. Through the massive amounts of reverb and delay, I'm almost positive that that's him screaming.
Have I actually mentioned what the style of music going on here is yet? Based on the majority of the content of that last CC record, to these ears the most natural progression for these guys would have to be some kind of early 90's death metal revivalism, and that's what going on here. Heavy comparisons to a lot of those semi technical American bands ala Massacre and similar. The band also go as far as to list Canada's Blasphemy as influence, and I'd quickly make that comparison also. Heaps of tremolo picking and the like. For the record, they also lift a prominent Autopsy riff here too, though I'm not sure how intentional it was. As for CC devotees, I doubt you'll be disappointed. While I'm sure the band wish not to rest on the notoriety gained with that band, there is more than a few riffs and ideas that would have easily been at home on that last LP.
Pretty relieved that this demo turned out as good as it has. I did have my slight doubts, but this one manages to tick just about every box that I had set for this release. Really excited to hear what they do next.

age of affliction

2012-01-10T18:31:00.003+10:00

Along with yesterday's Violent Reaction demo, Nate threw in for free this copy of the Unholy Majesty demo from last year. Not overly familiar with this band, but I know they're loosely associated with Rot In Hell and the seminal Holy Terror scene. What we've got here is a pretty faithful 90's Cleveland metallic hardcore interprettion. It's got all the ear marks of the genre that you'd expect. Metal riffs and melodic leads, solos, crunch and mosh bits. As far as I know they have something to do with A389 records too (the label is either pressing or has pressed a new 7" for them, or something along those lines).

disputed attitude

2012-01-09T19:12:00.002+10:00

Here's one from 2011 that I've just received this week, the debut demo from Violent Reaction out of Liverpool. I think this was limited to an English press on the Hemlock 13 label of 100 copies, and a subsequent edition on some Yankee label of an unknown (to me anyway) number. One of the better demos of last year certainly. Gruff, antisocial hardcore.
So as I mentioned, Hemlock 13 released this one. For reference that's the label run by Nate, the old singer of Rot In Hell. Said label did a handful of rather limited RIH releases during his tenure with the band. Stuff I'd like to get my hands on, but not pay an arm and a leg for.
All the music here was written and recorded by one fellow by the name of Tom Pimlott. I'm not sure if there is a live incarnation of this band, but I'd be willing to bet that there is. This would be mayhem in a small room.
New 7" due out within the next few weeks on Quality Control Records, the label that's just pressed the Stab and the Death Evocation 7"s. Label is certainly developing a quality reputation fast. Sorry.

cosmic winds

2012-01-03T22:16:00.003+10:00

ZOM are a new death metal band from Ireland. Members of Crowd Control, so obviously I am pretty excited. Their demo tape officially went up for pre order last week at Invictus Productions, but a lot of people have been saying that it's now sold out. I dunno. I got my copy. Give an order a go.

Cvlt Nation, with the help of Jamie Grimes started streaming said demo online tonight. You should also give that a go, as it's a bit good.

ZOM

the wizard

2012-01-01T09:55:00.001+10:00

Another day, another Black Sabbath classic. This time, the debut s/t LP. Black vinyl of some unknown number of some unknown millionth repress. Warner Bros. I'm more or less just ticking of essentials at this point. Couple more to go.

what you don't know

2011-12-31T15:42:00.004+10:00

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Sick People, Downpour and Shackles will be heading out on a bit of an East Coast tour in January. For said tour Sick People will have for sale some new shirts, and along with the purchase of one of these shirts you'll get a free jam room tape. Three new songs with an extremely rough recording, it' no wonder they're free with a shirt. This is Delayed Response #7. I won't have any personally to sell, so if you want one, I guess you'll probably have to make it to one of the bands shows. Yo.

life becomes a desert around you

2011-12-31T09:47:00.004+10:00

After 19 months of waiting I've recieved the Rot In Hell/Integrity split double 7". I think most who read this blog should know the story with the delay of this EP, so I won't bitch any further. A few variants were pressed by Thirty Days Of Nights Records. From what I've read on a few other chaps blogs, there exists this standard press of 500 on a green and blue smudge, along with a more limited black version of 100 and then a band variant on white vinyl of 100. When I initially ordered this 7" back in something like February of 2010 I missed the black version by possibly no more than 20 minutes from what I can tell.
Anyway, though this is a relatively old recording in the scheme of the actual RIH discography, this marks the final recorded output by the original RIH line up. Future releases will feature a new singer and new guitarist. Two songs feature here on the one side of the first record, the first "Erebus" is a pretty standard fare RIH number, jumps back and forth between slower and higher tempos, features a lot of good leads over a heavy crunch, all pinned down by fantastic holy terror styled vocals. The second track "Life Becomes A Desert Around You" is another one of those folky acoustic numbers much like the last one they did on the split with Horders. Minus the cool singing.
Flip the record and you get two Integrity songs. Again, much like a heap of their more recent output, though I read somewhere that these aren't overly new and have seen some kind of official release somewhere else in the last 18 months or so.
Now the second platter is where things get slightly different. The A side of the record consists of Dwid speaking in a low tone over a noisy, 'eery' backing soundtrack. I can't really make out what he's saying but I gather it's some kind of narration. The B side is much the same, beginning with a short acoustic piece that progresses into more noise and what sounds like some sample of a military style 2 way radio transmission.
I heard somewhere at some point that this record was so heavily delayed because of this included booklet that you get. A gatefold sleeve houses the two records, along with this fixed, glossy booklet that contains various artworks drawn by Dwid. I think that the art here is supposed to tie in with Dwids narration on the second 7".

Also in the package comes a handful or stickers and a cloth patch.

Eh, I don't really think it was worth the wait regardless of how epic the packaging is. Good enough though just for RIH.

revel in flesh

2011-12-30T17:33:00.002+10:00

Proud new addition to the Skull Fucked tape collection in the form of this original edition of the "Only Shreds Remain" demo from the mighty Nihilist. Self released back in 1989. That's the year I started primary school. Bare bones presentation, but I guess that these things really only served to really spread the bands name back then. Just to get the music into circulation. Nothing more.
Now this might not be the best of the three proper tapes that this band did before they signed to Earache Records and got massive with the new name, but out of just about all of the late 80's/early 90's Swedish death demos from that trading scene, "Only Shreds Remain" is a total genre classic. My absolute favourite Nihilist/Entombed song can be found here too. I plan to chase down the other two Nihilist tapes over time as well.

wheels of confusion

2011-12-29T18:00:00.004+10:00

Another 'Sabbath LP. This one's a reissue from 2008 I think. Bought brand new though, in the shrink wrap still. "Vol. 4". Standard (not gatefold) sleeve. Black platter. Nems Records.

2011

2011-12-24T07:40:00.022+10:00

Photo from Long Exposure.

Obligatory 'best of' list for 2011. As with previous years posts, I've broken it down into categories. As also with previous years, none of these are in any kind of order. I had a heap of pictures included originally but it looked all shit because of the differing sizes etc, so I’ve made it pretty bare bones.

LP's

Scapegoat- s/t

This record probably didn't end up being as good as just about everyone expected it to be (or maybe as much as I did); I'll listen to just about their entire back catalogue before I spin this, but it's still a fantastic fast hardcore record. It's obvious that they made some kind of conscious decision to move away from their blatant Crossed Out rip off when they began piecing this record together. What's good is how they managed to retain a total old feel with the recording, without having it sound dated.

Disma- "Towards The Megalith"

I haven’t yet had the chance to post about this monstrosity of an album, as I missed the original release, but I’m really impressed with this New Jersey bands effort. This comes from a handful of guys with notable history’s, most worthy of a mention on this blog I suppose, Daryl of Citizen’s Arrest/Taste Of Fear/Funebrarum etc. Pure down tuned, death metal paranoia. I slept on this band for far too long. Probably the heaviest thing I've heard this year. I will make a proper post about vinyl at some point.

Rot In Hell- "Hallways Of The Always"

You people know what I think about this band. A shining example of good metallic hardcore floating atop (for the most part) a sea of holy terror shit. Nobody can touch these guys, not even Dwid and co. A new singer and new guitarist this year marks (hopefully) a sign of good things to come. A small handful of releases are earmarked.

Autopsy- "Macabre Eternal"

An obvious return to the throne of death metal, it amazes me that guys of this age and history are still so blatantly capable of producing totally knock out, gut wrenching death metal. Most bands just can’t touch this. 20+ years and still killing

Wormrot- "Dirge

Another band that I slept of for way too long, Singapore’s Wormrot have probably produced one of the best grindcore records of the last 5 years with their sophomore effort. I had mp3’s of theirs floating around on my computer for months before I properly discovered them, but as what happens with plenty of bands that I should be familiar with, they simply got lost in the sheer massive amount of new music I’m constantly chasing down. It was inevitable that I would eventually develop some kind of interest in these guys though. The most creative and interesting grind since Insect Warfare’s side on their split with Carcass Grinder. Essential.

Soul Swallower- s/t

Bit of a sleeper here in that I think just about everyone thought this band was done when they first announced that this LP was happening. Beyond categorization, this album draws from so many influences on such a wide scale. Fans of everything from modern hardcore to early 80’s first wave black metal could probably find some kind of interest in this. I doubt that I need to delve much further than that.

Boston Strangler- s/t

I don't think that this is actually out just yet, but the mp3's have been floating around for a while now, and they're pretty cool. Not as good as the demo though. I may be putting this in next years list.

Tear Gas - "The Way Of All Flesh"

Home town heroes (kind of). I enjoyed their demo and initial 7" more, but this is none the less the best example of an Australian band playing old style Japanese hardcore.

EP's

Bone Sickness- s/t

I know I said that these were not in any particular order earlier, but I have made an exception for the first two records in this EP category. The debut Bone Sickness single would just about be my number 1 release outright of 2011. I suppose what I like most about the Autopsy style of American death metal (and what I like in a lot of early Swedish death too for that matter), is the obvious, simple punk influence in a heap of the riffs and structures. And that’s what makes Bone Sickness, and this EP so fucking good. For all intent and purpose this IS a pure fucking death metal record, but I can’t see this not entertaining even the most rigid of punk fans.

Vile Intent- "Regression To The Mean"

I don’t think that I have repeatedly spun any other 7” this year as much as I have this record. Over and over and over. Truly impressive. What’s to say? It’s simplistic powerviolence from Canada, but it’s just done so well. Heavy riffs, deadly ring outs, crazy blasts, groaned vocals. It doesn’t sound overly impressive in text, but I can’t get enough of this EP.

No Tolerance- "No Tolerance, No Remorse"

Borderline 2012, I doubt I’ll actually receive this record in the mail until early January, but I have actually ordered and paid for it, and other people are already spinning their platters so this just makes it. In whole not as good as their demo, but the best song they’ve written can be found here. No bullshit Boston hardcore from the nu scene. Now you know.

Corpsessed- "The Dagger And The Chalice"

Finland’s finest right here doing what they do best; playing Finnish death metal. Heavily comparable to Disma’s LP, these guys haven’t seen half the hype of that band and I don’t know why. This is better. The day I first played the opening riff on the opening intro I was hooked. Heaviest of the heavy?

Internal Rot- s/t

The Bosses of Melbourne grind debut with a blistering display of downright chaos. Until that Wormrot LP came along this was slated as my number 1 grind release of the year. It’s not too far behind.

Suburbanite- s/t

Top of the Youth Attack pile is New York’s Suburbanite with this 7” of fast, punchy hardcore. I heard that this is the singer from Aerosols new band and I must say that this is his best vocal performance so far. What I probably like most about this EP is the fantastic recording. Clear without sounding over produced with all the right scum in all the right places. Catchy stuff.

Get Destroyed- "Shut In"

I’ve raved on and on about this band over the last two years or so, and for good reason. EP number 3 for the band marks probably their heaviest and most slick recording. Thick, downtuned guitars backed with punchy drumming and the best PV styled vocals in modern hardcore. I prefer their prior 7”, but this is still a brilliant release. New LP in 2012.

Waste Management- "Power Abuse"

Easily the most on point example of rehash Boston hardcore. So many catchy riffs and hard breaks. I hate writing stuff about bands that really don’t need any kind of introduction. This is hardcore.

Stab- s/t

Another one of those borderline releases. I've paid for mine, but I doubt I'll get it until next year.

Death Evocation- s/t

Hardest opening riff of 2011 goes to the first song on this EP. Total thrash/crust mayhem from England/Boston. Not to be fucked with.

Tremors- "Island Songs"

One of the best demos of 2010 went to this London unit and their debut 7" barley misses a more in depth post here. Classy recording for a powerful, thrashy hardcore band.

Impalers- s/t

Some musicians have it, some don't. Obviously Chris of Impalers/Mammoth Grinder/Hatred Surge has it. Better than their demo, this is the coolest incarnation of Discharge I've ever heard.

Put To Death- s/t

It's beyond me how Chris Corry manages to perfect everything he has anything to with musically. What he and Alex Hughes have created here is pure later era Infest tribute. Everything here wreaks of that last LP that that band did.

Splits/Comps

Hatred Surge/Mammoth Grinder split LP

An utterly unhealthy obsession with both of these bands cements this release as my favourite split of the year. Some of the best stuff from both bands.

Brutal Supremacy comp 2x7"

Not even going to bother writing about this one. You know what I think.

Mindsnare/Ringworm split 7"

In retrospect this split probably isn't as great as I originally lauded. Mindsnare have some much better songs and the Ringworm tracks are boring. It's a bit of a shame really; had the decision been made to include that preview Mindsnare track, this could have been fucking great, as that song is one of Mindsnare's best. Still a cool split.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed/Despise You split LP

As I stated when I originally posted about this record, i've never been much of a fan of Ag Nosebleed and i'm still not. Despise You are a great band though, and this is a brilliant return to form for them.

Demos/Tapes

Shit Weather- Demo Tape

Awesome hardcore/PV demo from Melbournes purveyors of pain. Actual world class punk. I expect cool things from this band.

Sick People- "No Excuse" Demo Tape

Am I up my own arse for including a demo in this list that I released myself? Too bad. Brisbane hardcore at it's best.

Stab- Demo Tape

Straight outta London comes Stab with this handful of tracks totally dedicated to the loving memory of Ripcord and (good era) Heresy.

Mammon- "Demiurge" Demo CD

As far as I know this would be rated as a demo. Three songs all exceeding the 5 minute mark. Many influences including punk, doom death and black. Great band, great release.

Burn The Hostages- Demo CD

Refreshing change of pace for the Australian scene comes in the form of this 2 track demonstration of Eyehategod styled doomed out metal from Melbourne's Burn The Hostages. Members of other notable local acts. Not to be missed.

Shackles- "Preliminary Harm" Tape

Again, my release, but I don't care. Best Australian metallic PV/mosh interpretation of 2011.

Violent Reaction- Demo Tape

More brilliant English hardcore in the form of this new tape from Violent Reaction. Again, I haven't received mine yet, but it's in the mail.

Downpour- Demo Tape

So proud to have something to with this demo. What a band.

ZOM- Demo Tape

Again, borderline 2012. Death metal from some of the guys from Crowd Control.

God Harvest- Demo Tape

Probably the coolest example of Nasum styled grindcore coming from the US at the moment. New releases slotted for 2012.

maunder

2011-12-17T08:23:00.008+10:00

You've probably noticed the lack of posting over the last month. This is mainly a result of the combination of a few things; a) the inherent lack of quality releases over the last little while; b) me becoming an ultra tight arse with my cash since I got back from the UK and; c) an obvious lack of time to get any actual blogging done. A new job role and raise at work has me doing 60 hour weeks. I do a have a small handful of records due in the mail (Master LP reissues, new Painkiller releases, Nihilist demo tape, Gehenna related stuff amongst others), a couple of which are over due, so expect some more posting after the new year hopefully. I'm probably going to start posting about existing parts of my collection too, as the vast majority of it has never seen time on this blog. I also plan to bang out one of those year end lists in the first week of January.

In the meantime, here's a couple things worthy of note.

I recently did a run of tapes for the Byron Bay metallic PV inspired unit SHAKL∑S. Arrest Records Australia is now running pre orders for the bands debut 7", "Maunder". It's due early next month. The band is so great on all fronts, give it a go here.

January will also see an entire East Coast tour by three bands that I've worked with in the last year. Sick People, Downpour and SHAKL∑S will be doing a run of shows from Byron Bay all the way down to Melbourne. Mayhem kicks of January 12th and runs through till January 22nd. Here's a link to the facebook page for the tour. I may be attending this entire leg if I can swing time off work. Come and say hi, and then I'll punch you in the face.

ripping flesh

2011-12-05T17:40:00.001+10:00

Tape post part 2: Death metal. First up, the 2010 demo tape "Infernal Blasphemies" from Dutch freaks, Entrapment. Two tracks of very faithful Swedish styled death metal plus a Nihilist cover. One certainly couldn't be blamed for mistaking this as material from that infant Swedish tape trading scene. On point metal released by Detest Records. I did read somewhere at some point earlier this year that they have a new 7" due very soon. I can't remember details, but I think it'l be something to keep an ear out for.
Next up, the first demo from Finland's Swallowed, "Epitaph Of Nauseation". The debut release from Detest Records, since this thing was originally released back in 2008 the band have intentionally progressed their sound into a much darker, occult, downtuned kind of vibe, but with this tape the band were certainly having a good crack at a much more simplistic American death metal ala Autopsy and maybe even Master. Wouldn't you know it, they do a pretty on point rendition of an Autopsy song here too. I guess the two highlights here for me are the really rough recording and the vocalists prefect style. So many great early Autopsy similarities. Track this demo down and give it a listen and you'll know what I am talking about.
And today's final post subject, the demo tape from Victoria's Doomed Beast. I recently picked this up in a trade with my mate Berkay. The name says it mostly, epic doom metal cross bred with some NWOBHM vibes. Three tracks. Very clean and professional package from Abysmal Sounds.

slow death

2011-12-04T08:52:00.001+10:00

A sturdy backlog of tapes leads me to today's post. First up is the second demo from Melbourne's Kicked In. These guys play a pretty ragged take on rough Boston Hardcore I suppose, but without the real macho sentiments. They've copped a bit of flak from a few people for various reasons, but I really like this stuff. A few of the tracks here make a reappearance after the first demo and to be honest I preferred that recording over this tape, but from what I can tell, this one seems to have gone down better with general hardcore public.
Never Right from Sydney seem to be reasonably popular at the moment. For those internationals concerned, this marks something like the 4th or 5th band from (former Deadstare frontman) Brett Eberhard in the last few years. This is vastly different from that band though, much more along the lines of popularised NYHC vibes. I think I heard these guys compared to Think I Care at some point too and I guess I can see the similarities. I'm not hugely excited about this demo though, just comes across as relatively standard stuff.
This is the Suburban Rage demo "Square One". Not too sure about all the details of this band, but I know they're fronted by a German fellow who is mutual friends with some people I know. I think they're from Sydney too. They play a really cool take on the late 80's Rev Records vibe. Similar recording, and sound in general. Hard NYHC. Pretty cool little tape. This is the special 'Edge Day Release' version (yes, we Aussies had an edge day show this year) with a red cassette. A few other colours exist as well.
And last but not least, the new demo tape from Sydney's Sick Society. Really cool, gruff hardcore, these guys have been compared a few times to earlier Violent Minds, and I am positive that these parallels have been drawn entirely due to Ben Coyle's vocal style on display. Very similar. The music is somewhat different though, certainly baring a few similarities, but generally just much more bouncy and hooky. On a side note, since this demo was recorded, my mate Sick Rick (of Sick People) has joined ranks as vocalist so Ben can concentrate on other duties within the band (guitar I think). Not sure if they plan to record with Rick, but it would be cool if they did, his style would suit this music perfectly. Released by Thomo and his label Rain On The Parade, mine is numbered 22/50.

paranoid

2011-12-03T14:37:00.006+10:00

With all of the hype at the moment that's associated with the recent reformation of the original Black Sabbath line up, and the news of a brand spanking album and related world tour next year, it looks like my local record store has decided to cash in and load in copies of reissues of the bands first four classics. I grabbed just "Paranoid", but I might go back for s/t depending on whether my finances permit. Black wax of I'm assuming some innumerable amount with a gatefold sleeve. Standard fare for a major I guess. Nice n clean.
I doubt very much that I need to go into any kind of detail in describing this album? Geez I hope not anyway. Pretty much the only 'Sabbath record that I can listen to from beginning to end in one sitting without getting bored. Sometimes I spin it over twice. What a platter.
Regardless of how people feel about the reformation of the band, I still think it will be very interesting to see how this new material will turn out.

progression disintegration

2011-11-28T21:20:00.003+10:00

A few weeks back one of my posts partially centred around the Floridan grind unit Cellgraft, and at the time I said that I would be posting about them again in the future. Well, the time is here with their EP entitled "Deception Schematic". This is on clear wax. I think an alternate press of green is also floating around. I bought this from the Financial Ruin webstore, but this was pressed by No Reprieve Records.
So from what I can gather, this is the bands debut EP following a demo tape and cassette EP. The material on here is focused noticeably more on the low end than the bulk of their other recordings. I'd put it more down to the mastering as opposed to any kind of intentional change but I may be wrong. The songs are generally less 'hooky' and focused much more on pure, brutal grind as well, something which I think kind of detracts from the EP as a whole, as the songs really do start to blend into each other. With that said though, this is a good listen, probably just not as good as their "External Habitation" cassette.

the truth

2011-11-26T17:31:00.004+10:00

Deathstrike hail from the early American death metal scene. This could more or less be regarded as 'first wave death metal' I suppose. Fronted by Paul Speckmann, he created this band during a short lull in the forward motion of his semi established band, Chicago's Master. If you know anything about more underrated American death metal, you'll be aware that this band more or less morphed into the permanent rendition of Master and went on to release a shitload of really fantastic death metal classics over the years. This is a batch of their primary recordings entitled "Fuckin' Death". A lot of these tracks re-appeared as Master songs down the track, hence, they are pretty much regarded by most as Master demo's. Originally recorded and released in small circulation around the mid 80's, one could easily argue that this collection of music was a major catalyst to the American death metal movement of the late 80's/early 90's. The recordings are relatively primitive, and perhaps that's a big part of their charm. Basic, raw metal, that stands up to music of the same era like Bathory, Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost with ease.
So following a vinyl release back in the early 90's by Nuclear Blast Records, this year American label Dark Descent Records has decided to reissue this demo as a 12". A few variations exist; three separate colourways in gold, grey and black, divided amongst two different coloured sleeves; gold and grey orientated. I've got the less limited black wax with a gold sleeve.
And with the LP the label has decided to include a bonus 7" with unheard rehearsal tracks from around the same era.
Doomentia Records out of the Czech Republic has recently reissued a heap of the Master stuff, of which a couple I will be posting about in the coming weeks.

cvlt nation mixtape

2011-11-22T20:37:00.005+10:00

I recently curated an all Australian hardcore punk compilation/mixtape type deal for the American site Cvlt Nation and it went live for free download today. 23 bands from a reasonably wide perspective. Some lesser known stuff, some obvious inclusions and a few unreleased tracks. Check it out.

CVLT NATION

crypt infester

2011-11-21T18:13:00.003+10:00

Earlier in the year I made a brief post about a brilliant new Finnish death metal band that goes by the name of Corpsessed. Finally after a good six months or more their debut MLP, "The Dagger And The Chalice" has finally been given the vinyl treatment in certainly deserves. Blame the fellow at Dark Descent Records out of the USA for this abomination. resented here on a kind of smokey grey vinyl of 100, black wax also exists.
To use the Finnish death metal description would be a reasonably accurate description. Brooding, slower tempo'd, low end death metal is the name of the game here and it's more or less the best example of the style that I've heard in the last few years. A massive recording, hugely guttural vocals, booming guitars, perfect drums. Forget the scummy, punk leanings of the Autopsy crowd, or the hooky, melodic leanings of the Swedish bunch, this is pure, dark, death metal and will just about be one of my top five of 2011. You can't go past this album at all.

spirit of youth

2011-11-19T18:10:00.005+10:00

An original press of this album is a record I've been wanting to get my hands on for years now. Just seems like a record that has always eluded me for one reason or another. I speak of the "Breakaway" MLP from New York's (2nd) finest, Straight Ahead. This is a questionable bootleg that's more or less known as the 'fan club press'. 500 pressed on black 7" with Breakaway on the A as well as the bands tracks from the "End The Warzone" compilation 7" on the B. Shoddy, sloppy sleeve and bare bones layout. Better than nothing though. Someone supply me with any version of the original.

tooth & claw

2011-11-14T19:45:00.001+10:00

Here's a band that's kind of just popped out of relatively nothing and managed to build a good amount of excitement quickly. Idylls from Brisbane play a reasonably faithful take on spastic, noisy hardcore. They go on record to list off bands like Converge and Agents Of Abhorrence as influence. I'd immediately compare them to the former, the latter, not so much. This is their debut EP, "Amps For God/Plague Hell" 7". Black vinyl of some limited amount like 150. Pressed by Brisbane label Monolith Records.
So yeah as I said, Converge parallels are blatantly obvious. But for once they're interesting for a band of this style. What's different here is the low gain, heavy tone thing. I'm no muso so I don't know if that's the correct term to use, but in a nutshell, they're using a soft, non heavy/distorted tone coupled with the standard heavy structure and idea. With the recording/mix/mastering style that the bands guitarist Chris has used here, it works really well. Something a bit different from this city.
Very simplistic package. Plain sleeve with one side printed, and this small insert with all relevant notes etc. Artwork by an entity named Rainbath Visual, whom I'd never heard of before, but it turns out they've worked with some pretty well known groups including Wolves In The Throne Room and Deafheaven. Further research leads me to the name Reuben Sawyer if that means anything to you.
For a debut released with just about no notice, this is a great effort. They embarked on a pretty big east coat tour to support this thing a few weeks back, and they apparently have a double LP lined up for early next year, so I guess it's clear that these guys are not here to fuck around.

one day

2011-11-13T13:06:00.002+10:00

Just shy of two months ago I posted about the tour version of the new Mindsnare/Ringworm split 7". Well here's the normal version from Resist Records and A389 Records. Unlucky I guess in that I again landed this green variation as opposed to the purple press, but you can't win 'em all I guess. Anyone who's willing to trade should contact me.
So as most should have heard at this point, the sleeve acts as a mini comic with art and shading all handled by The Human Furnace. While the storyline is relatively pointless, the penmenship is outstanding and a nice touch.
I mentioned in the previous post about how the Ringworm tracks must have been recorded in a separate session to their new LP from this year, "Scars", mainly due to how different they sound from that LP's content. As it turns out, the tracks are credited to have been laid down back in 2005. Baring more than a few similarities to the material on the bands LP from that year "Justice Replaced By Revenge", I'm assuming that these were left overs from their time in the studio then.

shit for brains

2011-11-12T15:34:00.003+10:00

For whatever reason RSR has decided to press the Extortion/Rupture split 5" again. The last press on white is still widely available, so I don't really understand the motivation for this new red edition other than what skeptics will immediately describe as obvious reasons. I doubt I disagree. How far can this go? Over the years I've posted about each press as it's come about, here's my post about the first edition from nearly exactly three years ago.

armchair critic

2011-11-02T18:57:00.007+10:00

So as some readers may have noticed, I've developed a healthy interest lately in a good share of the mid to late 80's UK fast punk/grind scene. Following in today's post is in my opinion one of the best records to come from this era of music, the debut EP from the south-west's Ripcord, "The Damage Is Done". Now this is a recent 25th anniversary repress by a label that I'd never heard of prior, Boss Tuneage. Black vinyl of some number that I'm unaware of. This was originally pressed in 1986 as a flexi by the bands own label, Raging Records, following a handful of demo tapes. The band went on to do a few more releases after this one, including another tape, a couple of LP's, a live record, and another EP.
Their entire catalogue is absolutely top notch, fast, thrashy hardcore, heavily influenced by a lot of the east coast American scene of the same time. From one angle, this could have come out of Boston in the mid 80's without sounding out of place at all, but at the same time it manages to retain a totally unique, obviously English sound. They even went as far as to record covers of SSD and Siege songs near the mid point of their collective career and surprisingly neither cover is mangled at all. Quite tasteful actually. I do find it hard making a proper decision about which release of theirs is my total favourite, it largely depends on whatever mood I am in, but usually I'm pretty biased with this 7", just for the opening riff in the opening track alone. I've never been one for lyrics revolving around political or animal welfare issues like the content of this song, but it's a total blinder of a track, and easily the best of all of their work. Brian Birchell's amazing vocal style is displayed perfectly here when he wring's out his vocal chords as far as he can.
Regular fold out sleeve with the lyrics and notes on the inside, but also included is this slightly smaller insert with the same layout in Japanese. I've never seen an OG copy of this EP, so I have no idea if this little feature was part of said OG or not. I'm betting it was though. I bet someone who reads this knows?

flesh revelation

2011-11-01T17:59:00.001+10:00

Just over a month ago I posted about that compilation LP from Canada, "City Limits", and in said post mentioned this great new(ish) PV styled band Purity Control. After I first heard their contribution to that comp I went about seeking out the rest of their catalogue. By way of the VLV forum I was lucky enough to get into contact with one of the guys in the band, Brandon, who was kind enough to send me both or their demos (two extra copies of the latest one for Brisbane heads who are interested in their own copy) and a shirt. Not sure of the numbers, but I do know that the first one is now sold out, and I suspect I got the last copies of the second.
13 tracks spread over both releases, with the newest tape there's a noticeable progression on from the blatantly obvious PV styles prominent on the first demo, into a straighter, noisier, more streamlined hardcore approach. Rest assured this is still rooted in stop/start hardcore, but the band seem to have grown a little beyond the shameless Crossed Out worship into a more individualised unit. The replacement of their original drummer and the addition of a second guitarist may or may not have something to do with this also.
Again, with that progression in mind, their contribution to that recent Canadian compilation saw them again morphing further from the approach used with the songs on these demos, to produce a slightly more metal approach, evident with the intense thrash riffing in the second half of their song. Take note though, that that was only one song and hardly a good example of a concrete direction that the band is taking. I'm really curious to see what they do with future releases.
Speaking of future releases, word was getting around earlier in the year that Colohan would possibly be releasing an EP with his label. I've heard nothing since, but I suspect this could still happen. I hope something happens, both of these demos rule.

weapon abuse

2011-10-31T17:32:00.000+10:00

I'm going to list a handful of similarities that todays post fodder possesses with yesterday's blogging. Here's the new split 7" between Ireland's Drainland and Florida's Cellgraft. Black wax. The following list may seem totally irrelevant in your mind, but to me it works. a)- It's been pressed again by Superfi Records out of the UK (in conjunction with IFB Records and De Graanrepubliek Records). b)- It came in the same package as the TEB/PHT split. c)- Both records use the imagery of a piggy as part of their layouts/themes. d)- Both are certainly going to battle it out for my personal favourite for artwork in a record in 2011. e)- In the last six months or so have I begun to speak regularly to members of one band on each record. f)- Said members are also very good mates from way back, totally unbeknown to me until recently. g)- Both records are comprised of bands that hail from differing countries. It all makes sense in my head at least.

I've already posted about Drainland on here in the last year. Downtuned, aggro hardcore from Dublin. Their two tracks here aren't totally dissimilar to a lot of their previous music, most obvious though is the improvement of one of the singers, Jamie's vocals. He sounds a lot more in control of his pipes these days and comfortable with his approach. Due virtually to this very fact alone, the two songs here come across as more entertaining to listen to than the stuff from their debut MLP and split with Grinding Halt. To me anyway. I'd try to make comparisons to other great bands but I'd more than likely get it wrong. Just think of a reasonably modern sounding, dark, down-tuned hardcore band.
I've never taken a massive interest in Cellgraft. I did post very briefly about their demo mid last year, but for whatever reason they've just never grabbed my interest like a lot of other modern grind bands have in the last five years. Aware of this fact, I kind of feel a little stupid, because their half of this split is pretty great. They'd quickly be compared to greats like Excruciating Terror, and even early Napalm Death I think, and as with most of todays good grindcore bands, i'd immediately parallel them to Insect Warfare. Maybe it's goofy, but that band almost seems like the benchmark for modern grindcore these days. Heavy, metallic production, dominant shorter song structures, loud, grunted vocals offset with lots of high end stuff, relentless blast beats, and the odd peppering of some cool groove based breaks. And with that blueprint, the band has run wild here. This would easily represent their cleanest and heaviest recording to date, and I don't doubt that fans of any of the bands I just mentioned would turn their nose up at these seven songs. Expect more posts about this band in the approaching weeks.
So as I mentioned, here's a contender for artwork of 2011 and I doubt I need to explain why to most readers. For once we've escaped a stock standard drawing or photo of a dead guy or a skull. I'm certainly no horror or gore freak, but I do find myself fascinated by this photo for whatever reason.

qabalistic zero

2011-10-30T11:52:00.005+10:00

Here lies the new split 7" between two of North America's noisier exponents of hardcore punk, Toronto's The Endless Blockade and Washington State's Pig Heart Transplant. 500 copies pressed by Superfi Records out of the UK, with, as Andrew from TEB so charmingly states, 'six panels of meat baby action'. Artwork by none other than the folks at Feeding, and it's arguably their best work to date. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything that they've done that I prefer. I will admit though that the sentiment is probably largely realised due to the fact that the screen print job put together by The Print Project is absolutely top notch (edit- not The Print Project, it was in fact printed by Heavy Rock Screen Print). The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was the stark smell of the rich ink and the feel of the premium quality matte card stock. Here's a record that evokes more than just the senses of sight and sound. This package could possibly be my favourite of the year.
So if you don't know by now you probably live under a boulder, but this more or less represents the final recorded output by The Endless Blockade. Recorded back in 2009, there's two songs on offer here, the first, this posts namesake, could probably be interpreted by most as a somewhat 'conventional' TEB song, being largely comprised of the standard guitar, drum, and vocal attack. The song is more of a grower though as it plods along at a reasonably consistent mid/slower pace. For over four minutes it rummages through various progressions, as Andrews patented noise effects gradually build momentum in the background, before it seamlessly rolls into the second track, "Your Curse", a complete noise track with randomly screamed vocals. I don't pretent to be this bands number one fan, nor to I know their entire catalogue front to back, but this seems like the most fitting Eulogy.

This post represents only the second time that I've ever had the chance to post about Pig Heart Transplant, the first being my post about their collaborative live LP with Iron Lung and Walls last year. The majority of this bands earlier work is very hard to come by as most of it was only ever released in very short runs. Coupled with the fact that I am not the biggest fan of dedicated noise/drone approaches like this, it means that I would never bother to grab PHT records unless they were literally within my grasp. What's to say here? Comprised most notably by Jon Kortland of Iron Lung/Feeding, their side of this split showcases just under five minutes of ambient, dark, random noise. Electronics, feedback, discordant drums and guitar. Gruff, belched vocals. Comparative to what previous PHT material I am familiar with, this isn't really at all removed from that stuff. I suspect established fans won't at all be disappointed.
If only more bands and labels were geared for releasing more premium quality packages like this. I really doubt that this splits sleeve and artwork will be topped this year.

foreign job lot

2011-10-29T15:30:00.002+10:00

Bridge 9 Records just did a second press of their reissue of the Antidote 7". It's on clear vinyl of an undisclosed number. Read my original post about the reissue here.

paths of glory

2011-10-29T11:32:00.000+10:00

Remember about six weeks ago when I posted about the Converge/Drop Dead split 7" and I bitched about how the original copy I purchased from Deathwish Inc never showed up? Well, it arrived yesterday, three months later. Red and black smudge vinyl.

no alibi

2011-10-27T17:33:00.001+10:00

It's been a great year for 7"s. And one couldn't be blamed for attributing part of that greatness to the debut Tremors EP, "Island Songs". Rough, abrasive hardcore punk straight out of London. Thanks to The Essence Records, I scored a pre order edition of 100 on red vinyl.
So I think the story with this band is pretty well told by now. The singer used to front that NYHC styled band Dirty Money; the bassist is an Australian ex-pat, formerly of a handful of great bands; Six Feet Under Records is pressing an American edition of this EP before the end of the year. I think most would be familiar with these facts by now, and if you're not, why not?
What's on offer here is a reasonably smooth continuation on from the demo. The recording is much the same as that former release- messy around the edges, fast, no real bullshit, catchy (even hooky) riffs and creative constructions. Just very well written and executed hardcore. The singers unique approach certainly defines the bands sound too, and it couldn't be more apparent here.

Number 77 of 100.

Like I said, gret year for EP's. Certain top tenner for 2011.

planning is easy

2011-10-26T17:46:00.002+10:00

I've definitely said some overly kind things about Northern California's Punch on this blog in the past. Chalk that previous enthusiasm up to a few things, most likely having just come away from the bands live show. I'll admit that they have one of the best live sets going of any modern hardcore band. I'll also admit that their last LP was pretty good. Perhaps not as good as I suggested in my post about it, but yeah, good, maybe even a little better than just good, but not great. And in true form, again, this, their new EP, "Nothing Lasts" is good. Blue vinyl. Pressed with the help of 625 Thrash, Deathwish and Discos Huelga Records.
So I can enjoy this band. I actually like the female vocals. I'm really fond of the blast beats and the general style of the songs. I'm also pretty into the recording style too. Rough in all the right places. But something about the band rubs me up the wrong way kind of. Like there's something that I genuinely don't like about them as a unit. Maybe it's their hipster, self important, pretentious lyrics, maybe it's their trendy fixed gear bike hats. Maybe it's even their denim jackets, I'm not too sure. I can't put my finger right on it, but I can't get into them as much as a lot of my friends seem to be able to, and as much as know I probably should. With that said though, this new 7" is just as good as much of their previous catalogue.

I'll leave you with that. Good EP.

take it down

2011-10-25T19:58:00.004+10:00

Major Damage from Richmond play a pretty obvious take on 80's Boston hardcore ala the greats (SSD, Neg FX, Impact Unit etc). This is a one man project from the guy in Direct Control and Government warning and this is the bands first outing via 7". S/T EP on black vinyl thanks to Even Worse Records. Bought this off a friend based purely on his good word alone. I'd never heard of the band before and I'll admit that I'm not disappointed.
Now with that in mind, this is nothing ground breaking, or even fantastic at all really. Just solid, rough hardcore. Spot on recording qualities, perfect structures, great tones etc. Just about every nail has been hammered with this EP so it automatically gets the thumbs up. It's just not amazing and barely warrants more than a single listen really. I mean this is upwards in quality tenfold compared to a lot of the records that have been released this year, but there's no real spark in the songs of the same intensity as similar recordings like this that have come about over the last 18 months. Compared to things like the demos from The Stranglah, Reckless Aggression, and even Skrapyard, this pales. Maybe I'll spin it twice though.

Worth the 10 bones you'll hand over, and maybe a little more.

coma

2011-10-14T19:53:00.003+10:00

In last night's post I mentioned that I won that record along with something else. This was the something else. The limited orange variation of the Chaos In Tejas cover for the latest Extortion record, the "Get Fucked" 5". Black wax, Regurgitated Semen Records. I did originally post about the red variation of this this cover a few months ago, but at the time I was totally unaware that there also existed this orange version. I was more than annoyed when I heard of it's existence, as most would know about me, Extortion records are by crutch. Why? Because man will always be man.

I think that's a '28' of 100.

All I really need at this point is the transparency cover of the demo 7", and those elusive gold and silver release covers of the split 5" with Rupture from a couple years ago. Based on what Rohan told me, something like five or six copies of the gold version exist, while it's something like 20 of the silver.

seizure at the circus

2011-10-13T22:22:00.006+10:00

Here's a bit of a gem that I've had filed away in the back of my head under 'get eventually' for a few years now, the Infest/Pissed Happy Children split. Now this is the 7" repress version from 2000. This split was originally pressed as an 8" flexi back in 1989. It was Slap A Ham Records #1. Perhaps fittingly, this version is touted as SAH #1.5. Unsure of the numbers, but I know that this blue variation was a mail order edition only.
I kind of hope that any explanation that I give of this record is presumedly a waste of time, as most should know the story with what's on offer here. PHC was Eric Wood's band pre everything. While they ran a more similar vein to that of Infest and the like, fast and gruff, you can still definitely hear a heap of early Neanderthal and MITB isms in their infancy. Wood sounds remarkably younger with this band than with his later stuff, and that iconic MITB bass tone is ever present. Infest, is/was well... Infest. Duh.

What's on offer here is live music from each band. The Infest side consists of tracks pulled from the demo, "Mankind" EP and "Slave" LP. The recordings are of a very reasonable quality for this era of recording abilities, better than I expected it to be. The PHC songs are pretty rough sounding. Only three cuts, originally from their s/t LP.

I won this for the handsome price of $17. I guess being a repress, it's not going to fetch the same asking price that the original flexi does, but at least I can play this one without fear of ruining it. Postage wise, when coupled with another record that I won from this seller (to be blogged about later), things weren't too shabby.

it's a M.A.N.S. world!

2011-10-12T18:46:00.002+10:00

I think the general consensus when it comes to best era Napalm Death lays with either "Scum" or this, their second LP from 1988 "From Enslavement To Obliteration". Personally, this one's my pick, and here it is. Earache #8, black vinyl. Secured via eBay for a modest buy it now price. So much influence was spawned with this album, just about every great modern grind band would openly admit to taking direct influence from this album in particular. You just can't argue it at all.
Obviously Scum more or less spawned grindcore, but this LP cemented the genre indefinitely, and truly displayed the band firmly settling on an idea and an approach, even if they did progress on from this style pretty quickly with the following material. One could argue that with 'Enslavement, Harris certainly hit his peak in the drumming department, the centre piece that undeniably powered the band. The recording here is obviously cleaner too, more succinct, and more together, a luxury that was afforded to the band with the Earache deal.

skateboard bikini wax

2011-10-11T16:50:00.007+10:00

Eddie Brock from Baltimore play a pretty rugged brand of powerviolence heavily reminiscent of "Trapped Inside" era Lack Of Interest, I think I am most so reminded of that band because of the singers vocal style here. Burly, throaty and powerful. This is their debut s/t 7" thanks to Photobooth Records. Pre order of yellow/green of 80 copies. Obi strip too.
What differs from the aforementioned influences is a few things. First, the recording is noticeably cleaner and what you would call more 'modern' sounding. Just generally neater and tidier. With the modern tone comes a slightly more accessible style in general too. Blast beats and sudden tempo shifts are prominent still, but they're coupled with many more bouncy riffs and mosh parts etc. To me with this style it almost seems like a natural progression for the genre
I doubt fans of the modern state of this style of music will be disappointed with this. It possesses all the elements to please a reasonably wide fan base. I can see the more purist types being less than satisfied with this though, but I guess it comes down to personal interpretation. Take it or leave it, it's worth the $7.

peasant dance

2011-10-10T20:44:00.005+10:00

This new LP, "Blasts Of Lunacy" from Canada's Omegas has been out now for a few months at least, but I've only managed to pick it up in the last fortnight. There's a reason for that I suppose. I downloaded the digital of it a few months back when it first came out, and to be honest I just wasn't as impressed by it as I was with the majority of their earlier stuff. This is a band that's built a relatively strong following based a lot on what I believe to be hype. I don't know, maybe I'm missing the point? I've tried countless times, over and over to try and get into this album, trying to see the draw card that I am obviously missing. Many people who's opinions I trust are raving about this album, but I just don't get it. Anyway, this was originally released in small numbers by Parts Unknown Records months ago. Painkiller stocked a minimal amount, but as far as I know it was more or less non existent to Australians. This press came up in the RevHQ store a few weeks ago. Some kind of murky, purple/red vinyl.
Trying to analyse further why I can't appreciate this one like a shit tonne of other people seem to be able to, I put it down to a few things. First up, it's an LP. With such a crystal recording like this one, all of the songs certainly start to blend into each other really quickly. That's two points really too I guess; compared to the older stuff, this stuff is big budget sounding, and I can't handle it. Another factor; the songs just aren't as interesting as previous works. Maybe that has something to do with my interpretation of the recording though, but yeah, nothing jumps out at me like the stuff on the "Sonic Order" EP, or the mix tapes for that matter.

With all that said though, there is absolutely nothing inherently terrible about this, there's just nothing fantastic either. Middle of the road.

annoyance

2011-10-09T21:38:00.004+10:00

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last week, I have been busy with a couple of things, including this; Delayed Response #6. This the new SHACKLΣS cassette, "Preliminary Harm". Three previously released tracks, given a new breath of life with a far superior recording, and a brand new song that will be on the upcoming 7", "Maunder", hopefully before then end of the year. Fans of heavy, metallic hardcore with mosh bits and blast beats rejoice, this tape has it in droves. 50 copies, Brisbanites, I will have 10 at the Edge Day show this weekend, Mark and the band will have the rest at their next shows, including their approaching Sydney jaunts.

the day man lost

2011-10-04T17:08:00.004+10:00

New 7" from Sweden's Bombs Of Hades thanks to the ever mighty Detest Records. Black vinyl 0f 450, there's also a pressing of white of 150 copies.
They're from Sweden so you can more or less guess the sound they're going for. Not far from that traditional Swedish sound at all, though not quite as rough as I usually like it. This doesn't really stray far from their more recent efforts though, and it's well worth the attention. One of the better bands amongst the Detest stables at the moment, and one of the better death metal bands coming out of modern Sweden for that matter too.
I wish there was more to show and say about the layout, but as is the story with so many modern death metal 7" releases, it's just a simply black folded sleeve with some white print artwork of the more macabre influence. All relevant info (no lyrics) on the back. What you see is what you get.

axe to the head

2011-10-02T22:28:00.003+10:00

Local bands. Last Night.

inner incineration

2011-09-30T21:51:00.000+10:00

The early 90's was certainly death metal's heyday and a time when a lot of bigger grindcore bands experimented with the genre. Of these cases, probably the most notable was the early(ish) years of Napalm Death. Ask a lot of people today and they'll tell you that some of the best Napalm Death stuff is when they were playing with the style. I'll quickly argue that point though, you can never go past the grinding perfection of "From Enslavement To Obliteration". Anyway, this is their third full length from 1990, "Harmony Corruption". Earache Records #19. Original pressing on black wax that I recently acquired at the same time as winning the Left Hand Path LP.
With my previous argument in mind, I still do enjoy this album, even if the a-typical, muddy, thick Scott Burns death metal production fucks with the real quality of it. Apart from a few of the obvious stalwarts, I really don't think that the American Death metal sound is that good, and it's a widely known fact that this album was obviously more of a step sideways than forward for the English troupe at this stage. They further experimented with this sound for a few more years, and then tread the waters of a slightly more radio friendly approach, before returning to the traditional grind sound. The last two albums are good examples of this, fantastic.

This LP marked the debut of now long running vocalist Mr. Mark Greenway, who's style at this stage in 2011 is certainly the iconic Napalm Death sound. It's like pizza and pepsi; you don't do one without the other, ever.

the knot

2011-09-29T21:35:00.001+10:00

Much to the confusion of a few of my friends, I've never been a fan of New York's Most Precious Blood. They've always come across as a little too polished for me, and apart from the mighty Trial, that typical 90's sound has never really resonated that well within my tastes. Their demo though, and more importantly, it's first song, the initial version of "The Knot", have always been favourites of mine. This is a vinyl pressing of said demo from 2000, put to wax earlier this year by Trip Machine Laboratories. What the label describes as clear/black haze vinyl of 300 copies. There are two other variants as well.
Tom Sheenan's vocals always appealed to me a lot more than those of Rob Fusco, though with that in mind, Indecision have never really been my thing either. It's just this demo that managed to grab me when I first heard it years ago. The roughness of it, and the urgency in Sheenan's delivery have always managed to grab a hold of my interests somehow. The structure and technique displayed in "The Knot" always grabbed me as interesting too, and I have a feeling that's because it was a song that I heard in the formative years of my developing interest in hardcore.
Like I said, it's a release that I had completely forgotten about, and I would never make any effort to chase this one down and pay big bucks, but for a stock price, it's certainly a record that's worthy of it's place in my collection.

humanity jihad

2011-09-28T18:05:00.002+10:00

Here's a couple records by a band that's shrouded in a certain level of mystery (mysterious guy hardcore?). A while back A389 Records started talking about some kind of super group consisting of members of a few holy terror big wigs. Kill Life as they are known feature members of Integrity, Crass and Magrudergrind amongst others and have just released this new flexi through that label entitled D.E.A. (Dead End America). Subject to a reasonable amount of hype no doubt generated by the label, this is a red flexi of 150 copies. Black was also pressed.
So as you may or may not know this single has been touted as Kill Life featuring Mike IV on vocals. His inclusion was more or less the main reason why I grabbed it, though, I wouldn't say that this is a bad release otherwise. Not at all comparable to Mike's EyeHateGod, it's not really definable at all. If I have to make comparisons I'll initially describe them as some sort of PV inspired unit, but the recording doesn't really lend itself to that style at all, and there's no real obvious PV structures or anything. End of the day I'd say that this is just rough, messy punk.
And this is their split with a band called 33, released last year by All The Way Alive Records. Again, shrouded in mystery, details about this record and 33 are more or less non existent. Grabbed it from A389 at the same time as I grabbed the flexi. Purple vinyl.
This Kill Life recording is vastly different to the new one. For one thing, Mike IV has no involvement with the band here, vocals are handled by Dwid. He sounds really good here too. Three songs that span under two minutes, I'd certainly describe these songs as that of a PV influence. The recording is much cleaner and far more in line with that style too. The last song is a bit of a hoot. It's just a slow, dirgy PV instrumental, lined with feedback and ring outs and a fantastic sample of the phone call involving that famous chimp attach from a few years ago. I do giggle, I'm probably going to hell.
33 play a fast, gruff style of hardcore with some rocky bits. Unfamiliar (to me anyway) surnames are credited and it's noted that this was recorded in England last year, so I assume that this is a band from that country. I know absolutely nothing more though. They remind me very vaguely of that cool band from California, Ramparts. Similar recording and approach.

bigger problems

2011-09-27T17:55:00.001+10:00

Following a demo and a s/t 7", and then a vinyl pressing of the demo, this is the debut LP, "Every Actual State Is Corrupt" from Boston's Brain Killer. Gatefold sleeve with black wax, pressed by Deranged Records.
Out of the US at the moment, I'd say that these guys more or less lead the pack when it comes to good interpretations of that late 80's Japanese crust sound ala bands like Bastard and the like. This LP takes on a noticeably more live sound than the previous efforts, and in doing so comes out displaying a more early 80's USHC vibe. I put it down mostly to the singers more noticeable Yankee accent shining through with this recording. Not as gruff and throaty as the earlier stuff. All the staples of what I mentioned are there though. Short and fast structures, built around an obvious d-beat. Basic chord progessions with the odd epic lead thrown in every now and then. Rough recording. Gruff, throaty vox. Similar grim/dark imagery in the actual packaging of the record. Slightly anarcho/political tendencies. They don't at all really hide their influences, though they have made this album a little more of their own.

social slasher

2011-09-26T19:15:00.001+10:00

Here's that recent Canadian Comp LP that was released by High Anxiety and No Idea Records, "City Limits: Down And Out In Toronto and Montreal". I don't often buy comps for the pure fact that most modern ones a crap, and all the old ones cost an arm and a leg to buy. This on the other hand is a fucking great showcase of a heap of bands from the cities in the title and well worthy the 20 bones I handed over for it. Blue smudge vinyl, of what I suspect is that cheap mix variety.
All up there is 24 songs on offer here, all of the rough, older sounding variety. There's a handful of bands on here that I am pretty into, there's some I've never really liked, and then there's some that I hadn't heard of before this album. Of the latter, my favourites would have to be Snake Pit and Purity Control. The Snake Pit offering "Justice" is a fast paced number based around a very basic chord. Running in at about 1:30 it varies in pace and finishes off with a cool little half break. The best thing about the song is the vocalists style and the way he grunts through the last few seconds of the song. After I heard this song I went and found some more stuff by these guys, but I have to say that none of it is as good as this song.

Having never heard a thing about this Purity Control band, based on their one song on here I more or less figured these guys to be of the more metallic, thrashy end of the spectrum. Their song "Sex Life" is a fast, riffy number dominated by a heavily reverbed, dual vocal style. It's gruff and relentless. The other material of their's that I've found though (2 demo tapes) is much rougher and aligns itself a lot more with 90's PV sensibilities. It's pretty good stuff, but differs greatly to their song here.
Of the rest of the music here, my favourites would have to be the offerings by post humous Bad Choice- "Angry Americans", surprisingly the track from Mr. Colohan and Mature Situations- "Yoga Predator", the Brutal Knights track- "Bad Choice", "False Truths" by Urban Blight, Vile Intent's "Jumper", "Corrosion" from Brazen Hell, and The Omegas song "Social Slasher". Most of those I suppose would have been predicted, but I wouldn't have bought this comp otherwise.
Once again Canada, and more to the point, Toronto proves why it's a super power when it comes to on point, angry hardcore. The best of the North?

supposed to rot

2011-09-25T15:11:00.002+10:00

I almost feel weird having to write any kind of essay about the following band and record. Along with early Morbid angel, this album is undoubtedly the most influential death metal album of all time. I speak of course about the debut Entombed LP from 1990, "Left Hand Path". Where would modern metal be without this album? I don't even want to think about it. In a single year this masterpiece defined an entire scene and style, and created a springboard for hundreds of imitators. This IS Swedish metal of death. Nothing comes close, nothing ever will. A recent acquisition via eBay, this is an original pressing on black wax. Earache Records #21.
Like I said in my post about the recent Nihilist reissue a couple of weeks back, I find it a little tricky actually saying that I am a fan of early Entombed when 90% of this album was written when the band were still producing and playing music under that first banner. Obviously this album brought the band to the masses, and of course this recording is the more widely regarded one, but you can't go past the charm of those Nihilist demos. Given enough proper thought though, I think that the clearer, more precise recording present on this release is vastly superior, and the very fact that this album represented the first time that all of these fantastic songs were available together in the one place really cemented Entombed as the rightful torch bearers in terms of the definition of the Swedish death metal sound. Nihilist is good when I am in the mood. "Left Hand Path" is fucking great every single time I spin it.
I wish there was more to really showcase with the packaging of this album, but as is the case with every early Earache release, there's not too much to it really. Simple, glossy sleeve (it's note worthy that this one I have is more or less in near mint condition), basic black and white insert with liner notes etc, and stock standard Earache badging on the actual vinyl centre label. Superior and iconic artwork by Dan Seagrave though, that I could look at forever.
You just simply cannot go past this album in terms of formative, classic death metal. The simple, hooky melodic structures, the iconic buzz saw guitar tone, LG's pure death metal growl. One thing that tuns me off of the majority of the popularised American approach is the overly technical proficiency in the guitar work, the use of triggered drums, and the general attitude of a lot of those early guys. Most notably in the case of Trey Azagthoth and Morbid Angel. It got to the point with that band where it was more or less just about being the best and nothing less. What I like about Entombed and the Swedish style is the more organic feel to the writing and recording. There's a much more punk feel to this album than the other big acts (more than likely why my favourite American band is Autopsy I might add too), and a much more humble, timeless feel in turn.

blood brew

2011-09-24T10:27:00.001+10:00

Grind from Sydney is today's post subject. The band is Beer Corpse, and this is their debut 7", "Keg Nuts" thanks to Give Praise Records. Amber vinyl. Fitting.
What ou get here isn't typical at all of the American record label. This is extreme metal tinged grindcore, similar to a lot of those older 90's goregrind bands. Bands that I know nothing about really. Down tuned guitars recorded roughly, layered with a single tone, very guttural, low vocal belch that is occasionally broken up with some scummy sounding high ends. It's remarkably similar to very early Blood Duster for all of these reasons. If you haven't guessed already, lyrical content is humorously based around drinking beer and getting drunk etc, hence the fitting amber vinyl.

Amazing insert poster of a one Mr. Ivan Milat in his plyaground. Excellent.

Hardly comparable I know, but this is no Internal Rot, but it's cool none the less.

aggro

2011-09-23T17:55:00.001+10:00

Here's a record that I have probably slept on for a bit too long, the "English Terror Boys" EP from Durham, England's Search And Destroy. Not to be confused with the current band out of Melbourne with the same name, this is nasty, gruff skinhead hardcore ala Negative Approach and the like. Shit's all over the Australian band. This was pressed five years ago by Marcus at The Endless Quest Records. If that name sounds familiar to you, then it should. Marcus is responsible for the long running record collecting blog of the same name. Certainly an influence on me as a blogger originally, his blog more or less gradually turned into what it is today after he kind of lost interest in the label in it's original form. The label is back now though, with the release of a 7" by a band that goes by the name of Hope Defeated. This new band is worlds apart from Search And Destroy though, I suspect fans of Bane (and similar 90's hardcore) will probably dig.
An English ex-pat mate of mine living here in Brisbane recently got his hands on a handful of these to sell, hence my acquisition of the EP. Kind of a lucky score I guess in the fact that I was planning to grab one directly off Marcus for full postage costs. Obviously with Kieren getting a small lot to sell cut down on postage for me.
Very clean, hand numbered package with expected nasty artwork for a release of this nature. Red dust sleeve, hand numbered. Having been reading Marcus' blog for years now, learning about his tastes and what he expects in record presentation, I wouldn't expect anything less than perfection from his work. Top notch.

product of environment

2011-09-22T18:05:00.000+10:00

Sea Of Shit out of Chicago recently had their demo pressed to wax by none other than Mr. Jamie Grimes of Suburban Mayhem Records out of Ireland. I heard that he'd sold all of them already which surprised me a little. I have a few copies left if anyone wants one. Great, grimey powerviolence with a slight fastcore approach. Black vinyl, unsure of the numbers. Can't be too many though if they're already all gone.
What's to say? Nasty, downtuned hardcore comparable to the more crusty end of the spectrum. Fast to very fast structures injected with blast beats and punctuated by a double vocal approach of a combination of strewn out laboured styles and a second, more low end friendly grunt. It has it's moments.
They also did a split with a band called Socially Retarded which I think is a better release as a whole. SOS are noticeably more urgent with that recording, and SR aren't half bad either.

I think I read somewhere that these guys broke up, but I may be wrong. Too bad, cool band.

no paradise for the damned

2011-09-21T19:05:00.000+10:00

A little while back I posted about my score in the Despise You "PCP Scapegoat" 7". That was made possibly after a fellow named Carlos emailed me with a list of stuff he was selling. In the same transaction I also grabbed the Nasum/Abstain split 7". Pressed by Yellow Dog Records back in 1997, this is "The Black Illusions" 7" on black wax. Not sure of alternate pressings.
I bought this based on the quality of the majority of the Nasum catalgue. Based around a dual vocal attack, you can't go wrong with the vast majority of the bands stuff. From the earlier material right through to the "Shift" LP, all of it is pretty shit hot. Over the course of the bands life they managed to obtain more 'cleaner' recordings gradually too which did nothing but make them more exciting. In my opinion there's a lot of their sound floating around in quite a few of today's modern grind bands. This EP marked something like their 7th or 8th recorded release and it's a perfect example of the earlier stuff. Noisy grind with a semi muffled recording. Such a recording manages to really exemplify their crust roots too. As their recordings progressed, the cleaner sounds started to lend to a much more metal feel. I do prefer the later stuff, but this is eight great songs regardless.
Abstain from California on a similar note also play a dense style of nifty grind/crust on this split. The recording qualities are arguably quite similar to that of the Nasum contribution and they also utilises a dual vocal front line. They certainly hit their stride when they opt for the full blast/grind attack, something which they manage to do a fair bit on this split. To be honest I'm struggling to decide which band I prefer with this release.

every day

2011-09-20T18:35:00.000+10:00

The last record I need to post about from Youth Attack and their recent(ish) update, this is the latest Vile Gash single, "Deluded". Clear and black smudge vinyl, YA has black vinyl of 500 listed on the website as the pressing, and a photo to back, with no details about this one what so ever, so I have no idea what's going on.
Three songs of shit smeared, noisy hardcore, I actually really like this band and their brand of rough, fast punk. Their second 7", this one is notably shorter than the first their first foray into the disc realm, with only three brief bursts. Obviously rougher than that EP as well, this one has been touted as more or less a lead up to their upcoming LP which is due before the end of the year.
Of the three YA 7"s which arrived in my mail box this week, this one boasts the least tidy packaging, comprised of merely a glued sleeve, and inside the vinyl in a black dust sleeve. No insert as all relevant notes are printed on the back side. Even with this simplistic arrangement though, it still comes across as mega classy, with nice thick card, and a very clean looking piece of vinyl.

Very keen for the LP, this band hasn't done any wrong yet.

heads will roll

2011-09-19T18:05:00.005+10:00

Here's the reissue of the first 7" from The Ropes. I posted about their first demo tape a few weeks back, but if you missed it, this is just The Repos playing a slightly newer style of rough hardcore. It's slower, it's dirtier. I'm not sure on the details of the original press, but this new Youth Attack version is of 500 copies. Once again, sold out. Red wax. Fantastic cover. They put it on a shirt too, cool.
So as I mentioned in Saturday's post about the Suburbanite EP, YA certainly have that knack for producing fantastic packages. This one is a custom, four fold envelope style thing, closed with a YA logo sticker. When I first opened it I worried that if I peeled the sticker it would either tear or take a bit of the sleeve with it, but the glue was light enough to just lift off the sleeve easily, and it closes back and sticks too.

Black inner dust sleeve.

45 hole.

Included is this 16 page, glossy paper booklet of various artwork by a fellow named Will Boone. Various notes and credits also included.
I dunno, I'm not too crazy about this band. Comes across as a very typical YA band. Noisy and boring. I'd never chase this on eBay, but I'm happy to pay stock price from it straight from the label. The packaging is worth the $10 alone.

twist and burn

2011-09-18T11:17:00.006+10:00

Ringworm are in town as part of their national Australian tour and I managed to see them a couple of nights ago in a warehouse that fits only 150 people. It was quite an experience. They played "Numb/Blind To Faith" and it made my night. They're making their way around with Australia's premier exponents of metallic hardcore mayhem, Mindsnare. This is the second time the bands have made this tour and to help celebrate, each group has produced two songs each to contribute to this new split 7". From what I saw at the merch table, two alternate colours have been pressed, this clear/off green (coke bottle?) variant, and a purple version that I didn't bother grabbing. Probably should have bought that one too, but I'm trying to cut down on unessential wax purchases. Blame Dom and A389 Records and our own Graham at Resist Records for this one.
So this cover is a tour version with the official version to be released soon via each label. 160 copies only for tour, Dom said on the A389 website that the only reason it happened like this is because the proper covers weren't ready in time for these shows. I suspect that the real version will be launched in the coming fortnight with the new A389 update.

Each label has their logo on the sleeve, but up until this point I was totally unaware that Resist had anything to do with this record as Graham hasn't uttered a word anywhere of his involvement. Dom has been talking it up for more than six months on the other hand though, so I kind of thought it would just be an A389 deal. I little naive though I guess, Resist has fingers in every pie.
So as I mentioned, two songs from each band, all of which would be considered reasonably standard fare respectively. The Ringworm numbers are both fast metallic pieces with the obvious crunch and metal leads. The production is noticeably cleaner sounding than anything on the new album too, so I suspect this was recorded in a separate session. I remember reading somewhere that this record was due earlier in the year but was delayed so Ringworm could record the new LP, so it's more than likely that these songs were committed to analogue before the stuff on "Scars".

From what I can gather, Mindsnare originally recorded three songs during the sessions for this release, two of which have seen a release here, the third seeing the light of day via that annual digital compilation that A389 did earlier this year. With a sigh of relief, these songs see the band returning to that iconic metallic crunch typified on their 2004 LP "The Death". To be honest, I believe that the pick of the lot is the song on the compilation, "Final Call", as opposed to the two included on the wax, but all three are mainstay 'Snare numbers and manage to cast a massive shadow over the entire Australian hardcore scene.
I've never had a proper chance to post about Mindsnare vinyl on this blog, it's been that long since their last release, so I've never had the opportunity to test the waters on what non Australians think about these guys. As a result I am rather curious. In my opinion (and it's the opinion of just about every single other Australian hardcore fan, no matter what little sub scene they like to associate with), this is world class hardcore, and I've always been curious as to why these guys haven't managed to create more waves abroad. Everything about this band is totally on point, I can't see why people in America or anywhere else for that matter wouldn't love them. Perhaps I'm not seeing the bigger picture though, Human Furnace did manage to sing every word to just about every song for the entire set. Maybe everyone knows about them? For the uninitiated, get your hands on "Hanged, Chocked, Wrists Slit", "The Death", the s/t 7" (otherwise known as the Gasman 7"), and perhaps on a lesser note, their LP from 2007 "Disturb The Hive". The latter was good, but was botched by a less chunky mix and master, and in the long run it just hasn't translated to that 'classic' status of the other mentioned releases.

Here's a vid from their opening with "Bulldozed" from the other night. Iconic Australian song.

grateful nation

2011-09-17T21:43:00.005+10:00

As much crap as Youth Attack Records and associated bands tend to cop from the more 'faithful' of the hardcore elite in today's current scene, the label does tend to put out the odd fantastic record every now and then. It's hard to argue with the quality in the packaging of just about everything the label has something to with as well, and the following post fodder is the perfect case to both points. Here's the new and debut s/t 7" from New York's Suburbanite. White wax of 500 copies, sold out.
As the label puts it, packaged with a custom tri-fold sleeve with a built in envelope for the record. Really nice thick, matte card. The record has a 45 hole with a 45 wedge, the first time I've bought an EP with a 45 wedge for a good four years or so. A-typical, bleak artwork that you'd expect from the Youth Attack alumni. Grey scale and grim, it's fitting, well thought out and it works the way it should.
I like to think that these guys take their name from the White Cross song, and really it's more than likely that that is the fact. Like that band, this is just great, fast, thrashy hardcore with an obvious, updated, modern recording. The snappiness in the drums and guitars is what makes this 7" so good, and the vocals from the guy that used to sing for The Aerosols is like the cherry on the cake. Though I'd never actually compare this music to anything like that, there's nothing sweet about Suburbanite.

Seven tracks, four faster numbers that never break the 40 second mark, and another three slightly slower songs that all exceed the minute mark, just barely. I can certainly see how some may interpret this as a bunch of noise that all kind of blends in together, everything here bares a similar structure and style, but with a little enthusiasm and some effort (not much, it's very simple hardcore), I think most believers could get something out of this. I'm getting a lot, such a good record.

year of skulls

2011-09-15T06:13:00.001+10:00

Newish metal/hardcore band out of Arizona, this is the debut EP "Decade Of Dust" from Tuscon's Hellhorse. Red and black split 7", pressed by Twelve Gauge Records earlier in the year. I've had this for a good three months or so now, but just haven't had the time to post about it. If there's going to be any kind of award for coolest record title this year, then I'd have to nominate these guys.
Touted as part of some new wave of black metal/crust/d-beat coming about at the moment, I suppose such descriptions aren't entirely off the mark. If the opening track/intro is anything to go by though, I'd sooner describe these guys as some 80's thrash rehash before anything else. Heavy comparisons to a lot of that era's great in this one track alone. Sadly these 57 seconds would have to be the highlight of the entire release, as it's a gradual decline in quality for the remaining seven songs. Not to say that this 7" is a terrible presentation, but it's nothing overly inspired either. Just middle of the road metal influenced hardcore that dabbles lightly in melody and crust vibes, then throws some weak hardcore vocals over the top. I really think I'd be a great deal more into this if the vocals held a little more meat in the low end, but sadly they don't. Reminds me of Black Breath to an extent for the same reasons really.
Infant recording from a band in it's earlier stages, I plan to keep my eye on these guys if just in hope that the vocals morph into something a little more hectic and ballsy. Something that has happened with other bands in the past.

hospital bed

2011-09-14T06:09:00.002+10:00

The second Just Urbain record that Texas' 540 Records has released, this is the reissue of the "Everybody Loves" EP originally pressed in a run of something like 200 copies back in 1980. I've explained it before, but for the uninformed, Just Urbain were a first wave KBD styled punk group from my home town of Brisbane. Formed, played, and disbanded long before I even existed, what I really know about these guys and this style of music in general is minimal at best, and if you follow a few links you'll be able to find a better description and story about the band from the mouth of the bands drummer, David Holliday himself.

desolate ways

2011-09-13T06:06:00.001+10:00

It's perhaps dangerous to admit that I have never been a massive Morbid Angel fan regardless of their influence in the death metal world over the last 20+ years. With that in mind though, I can appreciate quality when it's due and their first two records are certainly sought after items for me, and when a friend offers his copy of the "Blessed Are The Sick" original LP for a steal, I don't turn down the offer. Black vinyl from 1991, Earache Records #31.
In terms of influential American death metal in it's infancy, I do clearly rate Autopsy before these guys, I just prefer the more punk/less precise sound of that band, but you can't deny the quality in the utter technical proficiency of this band and this album. This LP and "Altars Of Madness" spawned an entire genre and when you think about it's long term influence, it's fair to say that this style of music's lasting legacy would be the most prevalent these days in more modern extreme metal. Listen to the ideas and the execution in the fret work. Listen to the kick drums and percussion in general, Pete Sandoval was a a bit of a machine.

Too band about that new album, repulsive. Someone sell me "AOM" for a reasonable price.

final verdict

2011-09-12T21:39:00.003+10:00

Sick People now have a blog. Follow.

weight

2011-09-12T06:08:00.001+10:00

Here's a record that's more or less snuck on me completely unannounced, the debut s/t 7" from Death Evocation based out of England. This is on blue wax of 100 copies. The remainder of the press is on black. Unsure of the numbers there, but the pressing is somewhat larger from what I have heard. Point the finger of blame at Quality Control Records out of the UK for this one.
Disregard any pre conceived notions that you may have developed over of the name of the band. These guys don't play Swedish death metal. What you get here is three tracks of very faithful and on point 80's thrash metal by way of Slayer. Fast and unforgiving, the opening riff on the opening track "Relentless" would have to be one of the coolest thrash riffs that I have heard in a very long time. Constantly stuck in my head. This bands selling point is that all vocals are handled by a female. Such a feature draws heavy comparisons to mid 80's Birmingham thrash unit Sacrilege, and to be honest it's a remarkably close resemblance. Geographical similarities obviously help to cement such parallels. Another point of note here is that members of this band come from across two continents, not just the UK; the basic story is that a few guys from the greater Boston scene made a trek to the the old land to record this with some natives. Someone told me it was members of Mind Eraser, Ampere and Rival Mob amongst others. I wouldn't be able to tell you just who though, as everything here is credited to satirically named members.
Simple packaging in this glued, card stock sleeve with all relevant notes and lyrics printed on the back cover. No insert and no inner dust sleeve for the record itself.
What a surpirse. One of the best releases of this year, even if I had to adjust to the female vocals at first.

wet cough

2011-09-11T10:58:00.007+10:00

Earlier in the year Iron Lung toured down this way and this is the result, the Australian tour tape that they've just put out, "I Hate You Motherfuckers". Limited to 150 copies, this one sold out really quick. Iron Lung Records. Pro dubbed and screened cassette.
Three separate sets from three cities, Newcastle, Sydney and Adelaide, disappointingly Brisbane isn't represented here. Bummer, it was a great set. Content here isn't overly removed from that night though. On point, tight sets by the guys, consisting of mostly newer material, with the suitable peppering of shit talk, crowd baiting and general awkwardness between songs. The sound quality in the actual recording of the sets isn't the most fantastic, and the B side is actually the Sydney and Adelaide recordings playing at the same time (yes that's correct, Sydney in your left ear and Adelaide in your right ear simultaneously), but you get what you pay for I suppose. Iron Lung Heads shouldn't be dissapointed. Just listen to the Newcastle set alone and that's good enough.
Throughout the three sessions the set list varies slightly with the edition and subtraction of various tracks. Nothing gets repetitive though which is a good thing and the songs that do see repeated slots are generally the better Iron Lung songs anyway. Sets are relatively short, but in the grand scheme of Iron Lung music you could argue that these set lengths are very appropriate.Personally I am hanging out really hard for a new Iron Lung full length. No word has been uttered at all about anything of the sort, and Jensen and Jon seem so busy with their numerous other musical endeavours, so who knows what's in the pipeline, but while their more recent efforts have been entertaining to an extent, nothing gets my blood pumping like the A-side of "Sexless//No Sex". Who knows, maybe soon? It's been long enough.

runaway

2011-09-10T10:08:00.004+10:00

I've found that generally when I'm really excited about a new record, I'll get photos of it and post about it within a few days of receiving. Not to say that I haven't been at least interested in this 7", but I've had this thing for at least six weeks now, and to be honest, I'd more or less completely forgotten about it. Anyway, this is that newish split 7" from Converge and Drop Dead. My copy is a mucky dark green and black smudge of who knows how many. Touted as self released by the bands, there is an Armageddon Label logo on the back. Not sure about the details of that label really. You could probably unofficially chalk this up to Deathwish Inc too.
One song from each band, the Converge number, "Runaway" is quite a good song surprisingly. It's fast and rough in the right places, built largely around a d-beat that's injected with cool blast beats here and there. The only part that's a let down is the totally out of place guitar noodling bits that Ballou utilises in each chorus. Some Converge heads that I have talked with love it, but I can't stand it. Prevents a 'good' song from being a 'great song'. The blast beats are very cool though.

I've never been a massive Drop Dead fan so I think I'd struggle to accurately describe their input here without annoying some fans of theirs. "Paths Of Glory" is a predominately fast track structured on a quick 1-2 1-2 beat. Relatively clean recording not dissimilar to that LP of theirs that Ballou recorded years back. The guys vocals come across a little more reserved here compared to that album, age may have something to do with it.

Here's the part that I use to bitch about Deathwish Inc as an online store. I am not too sure what has happened at Deathwish headquarters, I heard that they employed someone new to handle the processing of orders, but in the last 18 months I have experienced nothing but trouble with this label as a reliable source of vinyl nerdery. I originally ordered this split direct from them, only to have it never show up. Various emails did nothing to help, so I gave up and just grabbed this at my local store. Three other orders I have placed with the label in the last 18 months either never showed up, took a VERY long time to show up, or showed up minus items or the wrong items. Every time correspondence with the label was either sub par or non existent. In my opinion, a label of such repute and size should be putting a lot more effort into how it operates in this field. Okay, rant over.
In the better light you get a much better idea of this particular colourway. I think officially there were something like four separate colours pressed, something like that was announced anyway, but from what I've gathered from various blogs and forums over the last few months, because of the method used in the pressing of this split, the actual variations number in the high double digits, possibly more. Sucks to be a Converge collector. This one will do me just fine.

I read that Converge are writing for a new album now. I predict an early 2012 release. Maybe?

i fear

2011-09-06T16:46:00.001+10:00

Another great old band to come out of practically nowhere with some brand spanking new music is Boston legends Gang Green with this new single on Taang! Records, the "I Fear" 7". Black vinyl in a nice, simple, glossy sleeve.
'Wanna hear what Gang Green sounds like in 2011?' leads the current speal put together by Taang! to promote this record. My answer was undoubtedly 'yes', and to be honest I am surprised with the results. Well a little. Like a lot of these rehashings as of late, I did expect these guys to return to form with some actual hardcore reminiscent of the "Sold Out" days, so as to pander to the current crop of enthusiasts. In terms of the actual music here though, what they've coughed up isn't overly removed from a lot of their later material; heavy rock vibe with plenty of riffs and leads and loads of that typical, party guy Gang Green attitude. The lead track is introduced by a phone recording of what sounds like some coked up American woman abusing Chris Doherty over standing her up or something. It's amusing I guess. The song itself runs a totally slow paced tempo, largely revolving around a rolling tom drum beat, a simple riff, and a repeated crew vocal delivery of the songs namesake. Lyrics pertain to something along the lines of fearing a coming home late to the significant other. Certainly seems like an satirical take on the older dude's life. Flip the slab and it's a little more up beat, but again, it's ruled by a very rocky, 80's metal lead. Both songs get a pretty clean, modern styled recording, but it's by no means over polished like yesterday's post fodder. The end result is a really fun record and listening to these two songs make me realise just how similar that Detroit band RZL DZL is. Surely they've taken some kind of influence from Gang Green.
No real gripe here, other than the cheapish packaging that doesn't really seem that thought out. Generally as a rule, I don't approve of liner notes and the like printed on the back of the sleeve. That's what inserts are for. You don't get that here though, not even the lyrics are supplied. Bummer. For an old band making a come back though, this is very cool.

heresy on the monkey bars

2011-09-05T16:43:00.001+10:00

Out of this current resurgence of older hardcore bands reforming and releasing new music, this new Sheer Terror record, their EP entitled "Spite", would have to be one that has most grabbed my attention. You can't deny the (sheer) quality of alot of their old discography, so with no hesitation I grabbed this. Out of something like four different variations, this is the brown and black splatter edition of 1000 copies. Reaper Records.
I don't know whether I have actually detailed it on this blog before, but I have never been the kind that's heavy into the analysing of lyrics to the nth degree. One hardcore band that has always managed to capture my interest in this department however is Sheer Terror. I doubt I need to really tell you why, everyone know's that I'm talking about "Just Can't Hate Enough". What a song. So with initial inspection of this new EP, the first thing I did was get my hands on the lyrics sheet. More or less convinced that I'd be somewhat disappointed, I'm happy to say that the Rev. is in full effect here with some intelligent, hateful and working class verses. I mean really, of course he won't ever match "JCHE", but he's presented here a lengthy and complex platter of spiteful gripes that puts to shame a lot of today's modern day 'lyricists'.
In terms of actual music, what we get here is what would be perceived as pretty faithful Sheer Terror I suppose. Simple structures and riffs, nothing new. Heavy, crunchy, sharp guitar tone, as always. Bearer's trade mark snarl, thank you. The most immediately noticeable difference to me though is it's heavily modern day recording and mix. Massively appropriate for a label such as Reaper Records, fans of any modern day HARDcore bands (Terror, TUI etc) will lap this new music up whether they're familiar with old Sheer Terror or not. There though lie's this EP's weak point; it's likely that fans of the older material may be put off slightly (or even a lot) by the crispness of these new songs. It's certainly something that I will have to adjust to, maybe I won't at all. It's tricky at the moment.

Two new songs on the A side, and a cover on the B by some old band that I've never heard of that goes by the name of Old 97's. A quick google search uncovers that they're from Texas and that they play a style of music touted as 'alternative country', whatever that is, I don't have the inclination to look further. Two of my most hated terms when used to describe any kind of music. The song itself , "Salome", is a tricky number, introduced by a simple progressed power chord, it's a mid paced number, dominated by a clean singing Bearer. I've never been a fan of his clean vocals, and this song does nothing to alter my opinion in any way.
Thick cardboard, glued sleeve, with no(!) dust sleeve for the actual vinyl. Bit of a no no for a label of such stature I think. Lyrics and liner notes arrive by the way of this large fold out poster thing. Tidy package that you would more or less expect from Reaper.

caught in the gears

2011-09-04T16:55:00.004+10:00

No Faith are this new band from Massachusetts playing noisy/doomy/frantic hardcore. Members of Vaccine and other notable groups, this is another Killingsworth creation. This is their new tape, not actually referred to as a demo. 15 tracks that are to be appearing on a 12" vinyl version through Painkiller Records before the end of the year. This was sold recently at a handful of shows they did and I managed to grab it when they posted on VLV about a few left over copies. Sorted by Red Room Records.
Various people, including the band themselves, have described this as comparable to Vaccine but with more slow/doom bits. I'd say that the description wouldn't be far from the mark, this is practically Vaccine anyway, just with one different member. Matt McKeown's very nihilistic and hateful lyrics are as obvious as ever, as are his still very identifiable vocals, even under the layers of reverb and delay. The frenzied riffage apparent with practically 99% of the Vaccine stuff is very prominent here when the band decide to get loose too, and it's made very familiar by the similar tuning/recording style that they use. Obviously what sets this collective apart is the slow bits, the arguably more doomy/rough recording, and the bouts of noise and feedback that pop their heads up here and there. There's a couple outright tracks that are devoted totally to noise and drone.
The A side of this tape was released properly online by the band themselves back when I was in the UK. One note they made at that point was that the product they were previewing had yet to be mastered. Listening to this tape version though, I must say that this final product isn't vastly different to before. This version does possess a slightly lower low end, but that may just be down to the nature of the format, I'm not too sure. I did question how mastering could improve the mix at the time though, because it sounded pretty good then, as it does now. Maybe they decided that it was more than acceptable how it was, and that it didn't need too much work.

Simple packaging. Black, screened cassette, stock matte j card insert with a stapled paper booklet. Clean and tidy.

drowned

2011-09-03T15:08:00.003+10:00

So Southern Fraud Records have gone and reissued the Nihilist demos as one complete gatefold LP, packaged together with the Entombed demo as a 7" EP. 2000 copies were pressed in total, and I think the colourways were divided evenly in two of this gold press and a silver edition. I just grabbed the one version.
Very tidy package as you'd expect from Southern Lord, each record housed in it's own matt black dust sleeve, inside a silver coloured, glossy, printed jacket, inside the gatefold. Heavy.

The 7" sleeve is mounted directly onto the side of the 12" sleeve.

Sometimes it's tricky actually justifying being into 'early Entombed' when the vast majority of it was actually written when the band was still using the name Nihilist. I'd assume that most would know the story with this early stage of the band, but for the uninformed, basically Nihilist was 4/5 of Entombed, just with Johnny Hedlund on bass instead. Nicke Andersson (founding member) broke the original band up when his relationship with Johnny soured to reform as Entombed later on. Most of the first Entombed album, the "Left Hand Path" LP, is actually Nihilist material. Hedlund went on to form Unleashed and release several influential, arguably cleaner sounding albums with that band.
Gatefold sleeve that includes an expected collage of old, unseen photos of the band in live and various situations. Also included are liner notes by quite a few influential members of death metal history including Wannes from Asphyx, Anders from At The Gates, and Chris from Autopsy amongst many others. Well written and concise.
All four known Nihilist recordings are here, the "Drowned", "Premature Autopsy", and "Only Shreds Remain" demos and the other officially unreleased "Drowned" session songs, as well as the Entombed demo. 14 songs in total that all gradually progress in sound quality through each release. If you want to talk about classic, lo-fi death metal recordings, then go no further than these releases. Easily the best stuff to come out of this scene at this time.
Obviously there's nothing new here, but never having the chance to get my hands on hard copies of these demos any other way until now, this LP will certainly go down as a top ten of 2011 for me. You can't deny the total quality of this band.

instant collection

2011-09-03T15:03:00.001+10:00

swine control

2011-09-03T10:06:00.005+10:00

What I know about the following band in question is minimal at best, and what I really know about the style of music they're playing is probably even less. This is the new Krömosom LP on black vinyl, recently pressed by a handful of labels, including Hardcore Victim Records and Havoc Records. Japcore/d-beat/crust hardcore played by former members of a handful of bands, including Melbourne's Pisschrist. Similarities to that band shouldn't go unmentioned here. Fast, metallic crusty hardcore.
Following an extensive line up change since the last demo cassette, this new album see's the band recorded in a much more quality setting, without getting too clean or crisp for the style. Yeap's ungodly vocals would have to be the highlight of this LP, reverbed heavily, he sounds easily at his best here. With that said though, I was never a massive fan of his previous work with Pisschrist, there's clearly just a lot I don't really understand about that/this style of music.
Even though there's only eight songs on offer here that span barely 13 minutes, the similarity of nearly every track to one another by nature of their fast, relentless d-beat structures tend to bore me if I listen to more than a handful of them in one sitting. As a result, I don't normally get through and entire listening session of this record before I skip on to something else. Obviously I just don't really get it. For an Australian release though, this is quality and I'm happy to call it mine.

explosive aggressive

2011-09-03T09:45:00.004+10:00

Shackles are a great PV styled band from Byron Bay. They did a demo last year and they should have a 7" EP out before then end of this year. From the recording sessions for said record, they've been kind enough to donate five cuts for a future Delayed Response cassette release. Tentative title for the tape is "Preliminary Hurt". I don't actually have the music yet, but I hope to have it ready in about a month for their show in Byron with Downpour and Sick People.

pacification attempt

2011-08-31T19:16:00.001+10:00

It's hard to deny the influence and quality of the majority of the Despise You discography. It's everywhere in today's crust/PV scene in everything from writing and recording styles specifically, right down to imagery, artwork and the like. Recently procured for a total steal thanks to a fellow named Carlos, here's their debut s/t EP, otherwise known as the "PCP Scapegoat" 7". Black vinyl, and a split release between Pessimiser and Theologian Records back in 1995, this has never really been a record I have been desperate to get my hands on, but out of all of the band's catalogue, this and the split with Stapled Shut were Despise You number one's for me. When it's offered to me for fuck all too, I don't really say no.
Attempting to actually bother describing the differences between most of the DxY release schedule since this record is actually kind of pointless. It all runs a very similar theme and style; fast blasts broken up with mid paced bursts here and there. Dual male and female vocals. Muffled recordings. It's the same across the board, the only thing that really changes between releases is the sound quality and (minor) style differences in the recordings approaches themselves. Most of it pretty good, but as I hinted, this and the split with Stapled Shut (and the new split with ANB) are the best.
Pretty happy to score this record in such a hassle free transaction. You can't beat that intro "EURGH" into the tremolo riffing on "Pig Mindset".

god has vanished

2011-08-30T23:04:00.005+10:00

Not a massive amount to say about the following record really. A split 7" with two European death metal bands. Nominon from Sweden and Exorcism from Germany. "Morbid Tunes Of Death". Deathstrike Records, black wax of 800. I'd never heard either of these bands before two weeks ago. Not the most of conventional ways of getting into new music, I was prompted to check out both bands after constantly seeing the cover of this record popping up in my regular Swedeath eBay searches. There's alot of bands records that I regularly see the same way, but I was really interested in the cover so I thought I'd give it a go.
The two Exorcism tracks are cool. Lo-fi death metal with a pretty heavy late 80's vibe. High(ish) pitched vocals over the top of mid to fast paced riffage. From what I can find, they've also released a demo and contributed material to a few other split records.
Easily the better material on offer here is the single Nominon song, "Black Chapel". Active since the late 90's, alot of their stuff is comparable to early Unleashed and the like. With a handful of subsequent releases under their belts, this is the demo version of the song that featured on their LP from 2007, "Terra Necrosis". The majority of this bands catalogue, especially their later material, runs a reasonably clean course in terms of recording qualities, including the album version of this song. This demo version though, is far grittier and rougher and in my opinion far superior for it. It may also have something to do with that fact that this was the first version that I heard, as often is the case in situations like this. I won't analyse it though, if you like rough death metal, then you'd probably prefer this version. It's like the difference between Nihilist and Entombed, though I'm not arguing that I prefer Nihilist, you can't beat the recording on LHP.
I doubt i'd ever hunt for this record if I had to, but for the stock price I paid I am happy to own music by these two bands. The Nominon contribution especially- very cool song. The artwork is a catch too.

you're wrong

2011-08-28T21:38:00.004+10:00

Before I went on holiday I did a tape for Brisbane's Shock Value. Their third or fourth release proper, this one was called "The Palace". Tonight Crispy, the bands guitarist asked me to upload the digital version of it for him as he didn't actually have his own, and aware that it's long sold out, I've decided to link it on this blog. Fans of the the early Boston greats might like this. I think these guys in particular may be an acquired taste. Locals get it. Maybe you will? The tracks are in wav format in a zip file. If it doesn't work, tell me.

SHOCK VALUE - THE PALACE

serve no man

2011-08-28T20:45:00.004+10:00

The final piece of wax in my recent Painkiller Records batch is the non Painkiller Records 7", the s/t Put To Death EP put out by the Disposable Label. As most would know, this EP was put up in the PKR store at the same time as the rest of the batch with no warning prior. I had never heard of the existence of this release, or even this band at all, but news of it's collaborators was enough to pique my interest ten fold, and I think most fans of the bulk of the PKR roster would say much the same. Black vinyl of some unknown (to me) amount with a simple paper folded, black and white copied sleeve.
So if you haven't heard, this release has been credited to the expertise of Chris Cory of Mind Eraser/Boston hardcore elite and Alex Hughes of Austin's Hatred Surge. Rolls of each of the guys hasn't been divulged anywhere that I have read so far, but I would imagine that CC probably handled his usual roll of guitar, while Alex more than likely handled bass. Unaware if either is capable of playing drums, I'm not sure where that duty falls though. Vocals is another one I am a little confused about. Hughes normally takes care of business in that department, and I assumed he would here, but I'm not sure if it's actually him or not. It kind of sounds like him a little bit, but it's far from comparable to any of his previous works. This may well be the first time (to my knowledge) that CC has filled this role. Whoever it is, they do it well.
So maybe I should move onto what you actually get here? I think it could be reasonably open to interpretation, people I've talked with in the last few weeks didn't really get what exactly I was on about, but the first time a spun this EP, I was immediately reminded of later Infest, more precisely the "No Man's Slave" LP. Everything about this 7" reeks of said long player, the tinny guitar tone, the fast structures, the relatively clean, strummy riffs, the shouted vocals, the stark and confronting artwork, and the attitude in general. The band even openly admits to lifting lyrics from Infest (amongst other notables), and there's a very obvious reference in one of the tracks titles.
Easily the most faithful and on point Infest worship I have ever heard. This goes far beyond regular expectations, and it seems that once again, both of these guys have produced another absolute winner and grinner.

pray for water

2011-08-28T12:35:00.004+10:00

A steady build up of cassette releases over the last month and a bit leads me to the following post. First up, acquired yesterday after a good four months of hunting, the "Pray For Water" demo from Illinois' own doom merchants, Druids. Having come across MP3 versions of the tracks from this demo via the VLV board a while back, hopes of acquiring my own hard copy were starting to seem dim until Jamie Grimes (Suburban Mayhem Records/Drainland song writer/bloke that has hooked me up with many good scores over the last 12 months) offered to gift me with his own personal copy, sighting that he wasn't really into these guys at all. I proceeded to come to the conclusion that Jamie must be a mad man, because this demo is amazing. Equal parts early Neurosis and later Baroness, without succumbing to the wankiness of the latter, the guys tear through seven tracks of slow, hooky, heavy mess. From what I can tell, this was later reissued as a CD album, then they broke up.
Subject to a their fair share of hype at the moment are Melbourne's Shit Weather and this is their demo tape. Lo-fi, grinding filth, with loads of feedback, I'd quickly compare these guys to the current crop of more shitty sounding bands playing a harsh mix of grind and punk coming out of the USA at the moment. This would easily fit in on the YA! roster and such, though I doubt that the band would appreciate such a description. Regardless, this is the best demo of this style to come out Australia since the Extortion demo, and does nothing but prove that Melbourne continues to be the breeding grounds for fantastic bands who know how to write and play cool music. Expect more from this band with time.
Procured for the cost of nothing in the same package as the Druids tape from Mr. Grimes comes the Exploding Birds demo tape. Again, similar to that of Shit Weather; scummy grind/punk played by members of Ireland's Crowd Control from what I hear, Jamie thought I'd like this so he threw it in. Three tracks as I described with a long noise outro. I'd vaguely heard of these guys before I got this tape, but my knowledge of them is minimal at best. I'm not sure weather they're still active or not.
Brisbane's healthy crust scene continues to spawn more bands with the new Last Chaos demo tape, "Wild Men" being the latest example. Members of other noteworthy bands (namely dudes from Tear Gas), this tape is a platter of pure driving crust filth. Having seen them live a few times before I heard this cassette, I must admit that I am a tiny bit let down. I'm not digging the whiny, reverbed vocals too much, an aspect I hadn't really caught seeing them live.
And finally a recent acquisition via trade for a few Delayed Response units is the Jarhead Fertilizer demo tape. Having never heard their namesakes output I can't tell you how comparable they are, but I can tell you that it's very heavy, downtuned PV influenced metal. It has it's moments, but I can't get into the recording a heap, something that I hope will be addressed with future output of theirs.

post mortem perversion

2011-08-28T11:50:00.004+10:00

This record is probably going to end up being my top rated 7" for this year, followed very closely by a few others, namely the Get Destroyed 7". I'm having a hard time deciding actually. Finally I managed to get my hands on the new s/t EP by Washington State's Bone Sickness. 600 copies on black vinyl pressed by Belgium's Detest Records. Two tracks of low budget, American death metal. It doesn't get any better than these two songs. The best example of modern metal today.
Following a brilliant demo tape from last year, the guys have gone and recorded two brand new, noticeably higher quality songs of arguably very punk influenced Autopsy styled death metal. If you want a great modern incarnation of that early Autopsy sound, then go no further than this record. I've been totally flawed by the quality of these two tracks, there isn't a single bad thing about them. Fast, rough and angry. I'd go just about as far as to describe these two songs as on par with, if not better than the majority of the new Autopsy LP itself, that's how into this record I am. The recording is perfectly lean and heavy at the same time, it never gets bogged down or boring and it works perfectly to showcase Sam's absolutely BRILLIANT vocal range. Easily the highlight of this record, he seems to flawlessly switch between deathly lows and menacing highs all in the one breath. It's leaps and bounds from his performance on the demo, and really shelves these guys as one of the worlds premier death metal bands. If there's anything at all to slag off about this EP, it's the briefness of it all. Two songs over in barely five minutes, constantly having to flip the 7" between songs gets annoying at times. Need more metal.
This record has been out for a while now, but I'm just posting about it due to some massive delays with the label. To sum things up, I ordered this 7" from Detest Records directly, along with records by Miasmal and a few others. They never showed though, and after some very delayed responses from Jerry at the label, I decided just to order it from Dark Decent out of the USA. I'm kind of hoping that the package from Detest still turns up, but it's not looking hopeful. Kinda bummed, I spent a good chunk of money with that order.

An interview I read with the band earlier this year hinted at a new LP to follow this 7" in the latter parts of 2011, if not early 2012. Now I've heard nothing recently from either the Bone Sickness or Detest camps, but if said LP does materialise and it's along the lines of the recording of this EP, then it could quite possibly be the metal album of the decade. I cannot get over how good this record is.

moral panic

2011-08-23T23:00:00.003+10:00

This is an LP that has been a long time in the making. Following their demo, then 7", then tour cassette, and then the stuff on the Brutal Supremacy comp, finally Scapegoat's s/t album has been pressed. With countless delays over a good 18 months in mind, I think alot of people thought this wouldn't happen at all, myself included, but yeah, here it is. AGAIN, I'm posting about the larger edition of black wax as opposed to the limited colour. Painkiller Records.
Recorded by Will Killingsworth nearly 18 months ago, arguably there's more of a crust vibe going on here as opposed to the blatant Crossed Out worship of their earlier material. What's immediately noticeable is the new guitar tone that the band is playing with. Now as I have mentioned many times before, I am no guitarist so I have no idea if it's a different tuning or if the Mike is just playing different sounds himself, but I think most will agree with me in what I am talking about. Not as much low end in the tone. Another big difference is the general faster pace of most of the material compared to any of the older music. Much more consistently up tempo, not nearly as many slow bits. It's almost at the point where you'd stop labelling this as powerviolence now. A few songs from earlier works have been revisited; a couple of songs from the tour tape, and the outro on this LP was originally used as the intro on the first demo tape.
Pretty simplistic layout that suits the release perfectly, I heard that a good chunk of the delay in this LP came down to the art.
A heap of people (alot of whom I wouldn't expect to like these guys normally) have been singing the praises of this album, and it is a very good release, but it's certainly not the bands best stuff, and I'll even go and say that it's not the highlight of this new Painkiller batch (Soul Swallower is). Regardless, it's a great album, and legions of bands would kill to be able to write music like this.

too much unity

2011-08-22T22:22:00.005+10:00

In recent times I have realised how little modern kind of more 'straight up' hardcore I listen to. Put it down to the fact that there just aren't that many good bands doing the style justice, at all. Of the current crop, by far for me, Waste Management do it the best. I think there would be quite a few people that would argue that fact in favour of either The Omegas or Boston Strangler, but to me, if you're talking about a perfect rendition of early 80's USHC, then these guys are the best bet, and this, their second EP, "Power Abuse" cements it totally. Another of the recent Painkiller Records batch, I actually managed to snag the limited blue vinyl this time, nice. Sweet cover by Kenny Fontaine, the bands drummer.
This was released as a tape last year, so the music has been floating around for a while now, but it's good to see it finally getting the vinyl treatment that it deserves. Obviously this format lends itself to a far superior sound quality, and there was a live set on the tape that you don't get here, but other than that, it's the same product.
I don't know, I don't really get the comparisons, but with this new music, alot of people have been likening these guys to certain Japanese hardcore bands of old. Granted I don't listen to alot of the stuff, but to me this just sounds like Boston '82. Attribute alot of that to Carm's vocal delivery of course, but it's got all of the hallmarks of what I talk about. Short songs built with simple chord progressions, alot of which are centered around breakdowns. Simple, nihilistic lyrics. Hollow snare drum sound etc. There are noticeable differences here though, mostly in the general pace of the thing. It's not quite as fast as the older material (though there are a few very fast "1-2-1-2" tracks), and the quick little snappy, Neg FX styled snare fills that were so predominant on the the last 7" are fewer in number. Really though, the differences aren't massive from before, and I struggle to understand the new comparison that this EP has brought the band. Who knows though, I may be way off?

Bottom line.

if you please

2011-08-20T12:37:00.011+10:00

Pretty sure most people who read this blog regularly or who know me know how fond I am of Get Destroyed from Arizona/California. Heavy PV is the order here and this is their massively delayed third 7" EP, "Shut In". For reasons I don't know it's been a good six months or more that this record has been waiting to get pressed. White vinyl limited to 100 copies, there's also a more common press on black wax. A handful of influential labels have had a hand in getting this pressed. Chalk it up to Give Praise Records, 625 Thrash, To Live A Lie Records and RSR. All great labels in their own right, I am curious as to why it takes four separate groups to press one 7". All four labels regularly press their own records, so I doubt it's a finance issue. Maybe I'm not the only one who thinks this band fucking rules, and they all just wanted a hand in it.
Out of the current crop of current Northern American PV influenced bands doing the rounds at the moment (and there is quite a few of them, alot of which I have posted about on this blog in the last twelve months), these guys and Scapegoat remain at the top of my favourites list. Blatant Crossed Out and No Comment comparisons aside, this is just straight forward, no bullshit hardcore. What sets these guys apart from alot of their peers is their unique ability to write some really original structures. Their fast bits are just that; FAST bits, not really that much to it, but they get really creative with the obligatory slow parts too. I'm no music 'reviewer' so I won't use stupidly arrogant words to describe what I mean, nor am I that good at really purveying what I am talking about on a base level, so it's hard for me to describe well. They just seem to be good at making shit sound INTERESTING, a feat that evidently seems to be getting harder and harder to achieve for most bands who take a stab at this genre as time rolls by.
Now with all of that praise in mind, I will be honest in saying that I did enjoy their previous 7", "Burnt Offerings" a little more than this. Those creative slow bits that I spoke about were a little more frequent. The recording qualities on said record were also noticeably rougher. Here there's less grime and slime, and the guitar tone is obviously a little heavier/downtuned (not sure if I am using the right terms, like I am no reviewer, I am also no guitarist). It's possible that the recording here just allows the guitar tune to really shine through properly though, but it's certainly the first thing I noticed when I laid this EP down on the turn table and gave it it's first spin.
With each release the guys have gradually experimented and progressed though different vocal approaches. Ben's main vocal stylings have always been the base through all three EP's, but with each one they've always thrown in different little touches here and there too. On "Burnt Offerings" it was the very Alex Hughes styled closed mouth vocal delivery. At one point I actually thought it was the Hatred Surge main man conspiring with the band, but when I interviewed Nik he informed me it was just a style that Ben tried out where he cups his hands over the mic ball and his mouth. One of the most most noticeable additions that you will probably hear with this EP is the really low, chesty, almost grunted vocal stylings that are thrown in a few times. It's reminiscent of some more obscure MITB stuff and it pops up on a couple songs. The other big one is the inclusion of some female vocals in a few places. These are the pipes of Grace Perry of Arizona local grind heathens Landmine Marathon. It's a welcome, tastefully applied touch that doesn't at all get annoying like some female vocals sometimes can.
Over the years this band has broken up only to reform a few times from what I can tell. This more or less comes as part of Nik moving out to San Diego or somewhere similar to study and the rest of them staying in Arizona I think. After the second EP they said they were done, then this new release was announced, only to be delayed for ages like I mentioned. Now in the last few weeks they have gone on record to say that they've written a handful of new songs that they hope to have included on a brand new LP next year. I shat when I read that. I hope it happens.

greed and disgust

2011-08-17T18:19:00.004+10:00

Back in late April/early May I posted about a promo tape that Boston's Soul Swallower had just released. That was a preview of this new s/t LP of theirs. As most of you would know this was part of the latest batch of releases that Painkiller Records just recently launched. As with the Brutal Supremacy Comp, I was hopeful that I'd get the limited colour of this (white), but it looks like I just missed by a bee's dick. Bummer. Black vinyl, again of an unknown amount, probably something around 800. I can't imagine they would have pressed more, especially since the last time they did an LP of this nature in the form of the Breathing Fire LP, they reportedly had trouble moving a large percentage of the press. Learn from your mistakes.
I think when this LP was originally announced on the Mind Eraser blog in September last year alot of people were surprised. After the original 7" from 2005/06 not much else happened in the Soul Swallower camp. I don't think they bothered with many shows, and obviously the members were otherwise occupied with their many other musical projects. Well it seems that they're doing at least a few shows this year so perhaps they're making more time for the band, and maybe they plan to write some fresh stuff, who knows. As some may have heard, most of the material here is older stuff that was written around the same time of the release of the 7".
So I have mentioned it before, but this is basically Mind Eraser rearranged. Well kind of, DFJ and Brendan just swapped duties. No listed Bass player though, but I wouldn't be surprised if Carms fills in on the live front. Where this differs to most ME stuff immediately noticeable is the obvious vocal duty arrangement. Brendan's higher end is vastly different to the approach of DFJ obviously, so that's one thing that changes it up a bit. CC experiments with alot of different fret work too. I've heard these guys compared t alot of 80's thrash/death metal and the like (Sodom, Venom etc) and I guess to an extent that comparison rings through here and there. Alot of tremolo riffing, and a good proportion of crazy picked leads for good measure. Initial impressions though might lead one to believe that this could more or less just be ME left overs (or vice versa depending on how you look at it), and I mean really, especially with alot of the later ME material in mind, this could well be.
Who knows whether this band will do more, this was certainly a surprise for quite a few. My only concern if this band were to become a little more 'active' would be if Mind Eraser output were to suffer as a result, as we all know I like that band quite a bit. It's been too long since they did a good full length (and I don't count "C/Uc", that was just two songs.

mad medicine

2011-08-14T15:57:00.002+10:00

I've noticed that when it comes to modern hardcore and punk, the majority of the stuff I enjoy is produced by a select number of bands and people that all seem to have some kind of link in one way or another. The Impalers are a good example of what I speak about. I don't listen to a massive amount of straight up d-beat styled crust punk. The odd band here and there, that's about it. The main reason I've come to enjoy this band I supposed is because the main person behind it all is Chris Ulsh of Mammoth Grinder and Hatred Surge. This is the bands debut s/t 7" on white vinyl, recently pressed by two entities, Todo Destruido and W Tapes. Total Discharge/Motorhead worship, out of all the music that I listen to that runs this vein, I dare say that this is the most faithful and focused of it all. Not sure of the pressing details with this record. I do know that alot of people seem to be freaking out on how to get their hands on it, though I had relatively zero trouble. I merely emailed Waldo at W Tapes, paid him and he sent one out quick smart. I have dealt with him before with the distro of the Impalers demo tape so that may have something to do with it.
Pressed recently for a handful of shows that band played around the time of Chaos In Tejas, this thing is somewhat limited in numbers I think, though I haven't heard an exact amount. Plans were being made to press a second run for wider distribution, but I never actually heard if that happened or not. It's possible that it has and that this record is a product of the rumoured press. It would explain why I had no trouble getting it I guess.
Alot of people got excited about that demo, and for good reason. Perfect sound for a demo of it's nature. This recording takes it up a total notch though. The recording is crystal clear without sounding overdone, and Chris' vocals are easily at their peak of anything that he has done. This beats any of his work on Mammoth Grinder and anything else. Mad man.
Worth your pennies. I heard that they had split, then I heard the contrary somewhere else. I hope they haven't. I hope they record a full length.

brutal supremacy

2011-08-13T17:48:00.015+10:00

You knew this post would happen eventually. It may be something like 18 months or more in the making, but you knew this day would come. The fabled "Brutal Supremacy" 4 way split/comp double 7" is finally in my sweaty hands. Four bands that I am rather fond of together on the one release. Now, as I have said numerous times, I insisted on, perhaps foolishly, checking the Painkiller Records website multiple times daily for months leading up to the release of this record, and delay after delay just did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. And as I expected, there is absolutely no disappointment here. I ordered this within hours of it's launch, soon enough I thought to get my hands on the coloured vinyl version. Not soon enough it would seem though. From what I can gather from numerous conversations I've observed on various forums, I didn't miss out by much, quite possibly even a few orders. I guess I'm kind of bummed but what's the big deal? It's still a fantastic package, even if I normally hate releases of this nature. Black vinyl of an unknown amount, probably around 1000 or something. I should mention that I ordered this a few weeks before I left for the UK, but it only arrived this week, heavily delayed (again) by the late running covers for the Waste Management 7" that I grabbed in the same order.

Sleeve folds out into this six panel black and white piece.

With the other side being this poster.

The Hatred Surge contribution would have to be my favourite on the whole comp. Four tracks of grinding mayhem. From the same recording sessions as the stuff from the split with Mammoth Grinder, I think part of the delay in the release of this record was due to these tracks. I heard that somewhere anyway, but there's got to be something more, as the MG split surfaced at the beginning of the year and we're just seeing this now. Now, when I posted about that split I spoke about how fond I was of the HS contribution to that record and how it was my favourite stuff of theirs so far due mainly to the excellent recording, and the inclusion of Rahi as full time vocalist. Much could be said for these four songs. First impression is that they're slower in nature to most of the bands older stuff, mostly of the mid paced variety with very fast blasts thrown in at different intervals. The first song "Brutal Tyranny" is a great example of what I'm talking about: it's a reasonably slow song with simple riffing that progresses gradually, until the last 15 seconds or so when it explodes into a crazy grind chord with Rahi just continuously grunting over the top. When you think about it, it's a very simple idea, yet extremely effective. Another high point of the comp would be their last contribution, "Brutal Supremacy". Again for the majority of the song, it runs a very slow pace, arguably some of the slowest stuff the band has done, until the last 40 seconds or so where it runs a handful of different tempo progressions, all built around simple riffing. It's probably my second favourite HS song now, second to their song "Pressures" on the "Trapped In A Scene" comp LP. These guys have certainly come into their own now as a full unit as opposed to just a one man show.
I guess the Mind Eraser portion of the comp was what I was looking forward to the most. I doubt I need to really explain why to regular readers. Pretty much my favourite modern/current band. Now these tracks may fall just behind the Hatred Surge songs in terms of pure gut wrenchablility, but in their own right they are certainly in a league of their own. Most bands just CAN'T write music like this. What's interesting to me the most about these new tracks is that three of them were written by Brendan (drums), not CC. As far as I know Chris has always handled (at least) most of the basics of the construction of ME tracks, this is the first time on any of their recordings they have bothered to actually credit individuals within the band. Brendan also handled lyrics for the first two songs, as well as a large chunk of vocals on the opener "Brutal Supremacy", a contribution which certainly adds a new dimension to the average ME song and juxtaposes brilliantly with the regular stylings of DFJ's low end. While Brendan's three songs are of the much faster variety, virtually grind with slower bits thrown in, as is typical with alot of later ME, CC's song "Graveyard" is a slower affair that's introduced with a rumbling bass rhythm that progresses into some faster matter. It's alot more reminiscent of early ME. Thinking about how ME of the last few years has certainly as a whole been alot faster in nature, I'm now questioning how much input Brendan (or other members of the band for that matter) has had in the building of songs.
Of all the contributions on the comp, Iron Lung's piece is probably the least entertaining to me. Now as per the track listing on the back cover, there is actually three songs here, all three with the name "Brutal Supremacy". This could easily just be one longer piece though, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was written as just that. There is a noticeable gap between the first two numbers, but after repeated listens, I can't make the jump from 2 to 3. All that really defines the three songs are the tempo changes, but as we all should know with IL, tempo changes, sometimes multiple ones within a single song, are a very regular thing. Who know's what the band's intention was, it doesn't really matter. It's a rougher recording here compared to the better IL material, perhaps why I'm not as into it as I am with most of their stuff. There's certainly no instant gratification going on here like what I get from all the other music on offer. Perhaps with more attention though, I'll begin to be able to appreciate these songs how the band probably intended. On a side note, there's an Iron Lung live in Australia tape being released before the end of the month through their own label entitled "I Hate You Mother Fuckers". Nice.
And the Scapegoat portion. This side of the comp puts to rest a little bit of confusion in my head that I have mentioned on this blog before. All of these tracks from this recording were originally brought to my attention by a friend nearly three years ago. Not sure of how he found them, but he linked me to a download page from the Painkiller site that would otherwise be invisible to regular search engines and the like, unless you had the specific URL. Like some kind of secret file sharing address. I'm no IT guy so I don't know how common this kind of thing is, but I doubt it's irregular. Anyway, I listened to these (at the time) untitled songs over and over again for a good chunk of 2009/10, the whole time without knowledge of song names etc. It's good to finally know the deal. At one point a reliable source made mention that they were eventually going to make it onto a planned second 7" on Painkiller, but as time passed that record just never surfaced. Then this comp was announced. Until I actually laid ears on this record though, I didn't know whether these would be those same songs. Well, yeah, they are, though they have been remastered to add an appropriate layer of filth and grime that suits the band perfectly. From the session though, two songs have been omitted, the Anti Cimex cover, which was officially released on their winter tour tape from last year, and a long, slow, untitled instrumental with a very cool groove based riff, that hasn't seen any kind of proper release at all. Who knows, it probably won't now. Fans of the bands demo and first 7" will notice an arguably more 'up beat' approach to these songs, but they still retain that defined Scapegoat feel. I will be posting about their new LP in the coming week too, which possesses an even more up beat approach again, though out of everything they've done now, which spans across a good half decade, this is my favourite Scapegoat material.

In terms of record nerdism in twenty eleven (apart from maybe the Get Destroyed 7", the Mindsnare/Ringworm split 7", if that happens this year, and an official vinyl release of the Corpsessed EP), this release cements that it's all downhill from here. Thanks Painkiller.

muzzle

2011-08-13T09:58:00.004+10:00

I don't know a huge amount about Montreal's Vile Intent, other than that they play furious powerviolence influenced by the standards. This is the follow up to last years "Shadow Of The Skull", the "Regression To The Mean" 7". Diseased Audio Records pressed something like 375 copies on black wax.
This is their best stuff to date. Better than the last 7", and the demo, and the tour tape they did. Six tracks of gruff hardcore, the A side is consistent of stop/start tempos with more of an emphasis on the ring outs during slow bits than the last record. Flip it, and it's a four minute instrumental that rips pretty hard on Infest songs of the same nature. Nearly half of it is feedback too, I like that.
Clean, tidy, matte packaging that uses pretty obviously grim and dark artwork courtest of Mr. Chris Colohan. Wouldn't really expect much else from a band of this nature, and why would I anyway? Suits them to a tee. Great band.

paper houses

2011-08-09T23:33:00.004+10:00

Kowloon Walled City are a bunch of guys whose vinyl I've been wanting to get a hold of for a while now. I first heard them around 18 months ago or so via some kind of online outlet, I don't remember, possibly their own website. It's been a busy 18 months, and with that business I kind of lost track of this band for a little bit.

One of my local records stores is closing down, and over the last few weeks they've been having a massive sale. I missed the first couple of weeks of said sale though due to my little trip abroad (I hope all the people I know in the UK are okay considering the current circumstances by the way) so I kind of assumed that I would have missed out on most of the good stuff. Last week I was in town so I dropped in. It's a little weird walking into that place now, it's virtually a shell of the previous store, to an extent, it's a little sad, even if the place was always full of hipster wankers. Anyway, amongst the shelves of pretty much nothing, I managed to stumble upon this Kowloon Walled City LP, "Gambling On The Richter Scale". This was pressed by The Perpetual Motion Machine back in 2009. This is the first press of what's described as clear vinyl. The photos make it look grey or white or something and that's because it's a very opaque kind of clear. Good thick wax.
These guys play a pretty sturdy brand of low end, broody doom, heavily reminiscent of some of the better moments brought to us by bands like Neurosis and the like. Part in due to the somewhat clean production, I'm also reminded at times of some of the slower moments that Converge have written in more recent times as well. This could easily be a band that would record with someone like Kurt Ballou. The main problem I have with this band (and many bands trying this style) is the vocalists weak approach. Now, when I say weak, I'm not really saying that he can't yell, he can. I just wish his bark was a little more intense, had more low end, made him sound like he was about to rip off your fucken head. It does work though, I just wish for more sometimes.
With the LP version came this free CD edition too. The artwork runs much the same theme, with some slightly altered colours.So as you've read, I bought this at my local's closing down sale. It cost me half the regular price of $26. I doubt I would have bought it had it been the full price (I'm trying to cut down on the amount of shit I buy and keep it to the essentials), but it's certainly worth the $13.

simple future

2011-08-07T09:01:00.006+10:00

Not that many good bands come out of Brisbane. The list has grown slightly in the last 18 months or so, but generally, this city is a bit of a wasteland when it comes to interesting hardcore. Tear Gas were originally spawned here, though since then, nearly half of the band has moved to Melbourne. They're still a band none the less, they just play less often, obviously. I remember their first show when they were still undecided on their name proper, and when Neil would paint his face with a blue stripe across his eyes (something like that anyway, it's been a few years). Back then they were called both Tear Gas and Vaccine, as in they hadn't decided yet and people around town were referring to them as both names. This was a good year, maybe more before the Bostonian Vaccine band had released their ripping demo tape. When the guys decided to go with Tear Gas Neil told me it was because another band from the States had decided to use Vaccine. Not sure if Neil was talking about the mentioned Yankees or not.

From the word go this band was the most hyped in town, due mainly to the fact that nearly all of the guys had been in, or were still part of some other notable Brisbane acts. That and the fact that the bands frontman, Neil is/was (he moved south) reluctantly the unofficial godfather/big daddy (for lack of a much better word) of the Brisbane crust fuelled scene, and everyone loves him. The first show was mental, and every single time I've seen them since it's been much the same story.

This is their new LP of burning spirits hardcore, "The Way Of All Flesh" on black vinyl thanks to Hardcore Victim Records. A perfect progression from the last 7" and the demo before that, this could possibly go down as the best Australian release of 2011, though we still have five months left, so lets not get ahead of ourselves.
Artwork and layout from this city's and country's premier penman, Murdoch Stafford. He manages to outdo himself every time.
Now I don't pretend to listen to a massive amount of this kind of hardcore. I like Bastard and a few others and that's about it. I'll tell you what I hear though; a predominate amount of songs structured around a fast d-beat, with plenty of metallic melody, heaps of leads from both Will and Geordie, and a nasty snarl from Neil backed a few times by some crew style vocals. Most of the tracks hover around the two minute mark or slightly less and the production/mix is top notch and probably the best the band has used so far. There's a handful of songs that I haven't heard before, but they have used some stuff from the demo, and also some live favourites that hadn't seen the recorded light of day until now.
As far as I know, this LP was supposed to be available on their recent tour of the USA and jaunt at Chaos In Tejas, but as is the same old story, pressing issues at the plant fucked with those plans. It's out now as you can see though, and unlike the last 7", I have a feeling that this record will be more widely available. Well alot more so than that EP anyway.
I think most of these songs were written and recorded before Neil and Lee moved to Melbourne. I have no idea of their collaboration schedule now with such a massive amount of land between them, I just hope they keep it together. Amazing live band, and better recorded.

wyverns keep

2011-08-04T00:15:00.003+10:00

I Exist are a band that has certainly experienced a massive amount of popularity over the last 18 months. Of course, if you're Australian you probably are aware of the fact. This is their brand new album, "II: The Broken Passage". Resist Records. Murky kind of green and brown vinyl. As far as I know this is the pre order, more limited pressing, though I can't be sure, I can't find any information anywhere.
One of the first times I posted about these Canberra dirt balls, it was about their first LP, "I: A Turn For The Worse". Back then I think I made it quite clear how 'on the fence' I was about them at the time. If you're unfamiliar with these guys, they play a brand of hardcore that experiments moderately with some obvious sludge influences. Aaron, the bands main song writer and founder has a taste in music that you could fairly describe as that of the metal fan. He's made it obvious of his fondness for everything from Iron Monkey to Acid Witch to Eyehategod. And he's gone on record (like he really needs to though, the influences are somewhat obvious) many times about what he's trying to do with the band. I liked that first album. When I spoke of it though, alot of my post was centred around how I wanted it to be more sludge. While Aaron and co did experiment with it, they just didn't use it enough in my opinion. Too many hardcore structures, not enough riffs. I kind of thought that they would grow out of it. They haven't. If anything, this album panders more to the average Australian hardcore kid. The production is noticeably cleaner, the songs are slicker and more streamlined and there has been an obvious drop in the amount of massive riffs and slower, longer tracks. Apart from one or two great songs (this posts namesake being one of them), this album is a bit of a let down for me. I liked the grit of the first album.
It had to be expected though I suppose. With the bands step up to Resist Records, one would assume that they've got a bigger crowd to please, and maybe a bit more pressure to move the units. I would have thought that their relentless national touring would have been enough to please the hordes though, it's got them this far already.
Artwork is notably more boring with this one too. I loved Glenno's work on the older stuff. This comes across as a little safe, maybe boring and even generic. But perhaps I'm missing the point?I'm kind of hoping that Aaron just has a massive mental breakdown and starts writing huge, dirgy, dirty music, cause this is just too clean.

short straw

2011-08-01T22:22:00.003+10:00

Everyone's been raving on about this LP, the debut Dead Language s/t album. This is on black vinyl, pressed by Iron Lung Records. I doubt at this point that I really need to explain this band? Members of a handful of great band playing blast ridden hardcore.
So basically this is just Iron Lung with Andy from No Comment on vocals plus a couple other guys from notable background filling the blanks. A few months back the band released a really good preview track that managed to build a bit of hype, but I've been a little disappointed with this album as a whole. Don't get me wrong, most bands work their entire lifespans to create music like this, but this just doesn't match up to most of the other music that these guys have created over the years (and decades). I'll listen to "Downsided", or "Sexless//No Sex" any day before I spin this.
Reading over my post, I realise that I sound really neg about this LP. I do like it, I just don't like it as much as I thought and hoped I would, or as much as associated releases.

sinner's bleed

2011-07-31T09:48:00.008+10:00

Entombed "Clandestine" on black vinyl. Earache Records. What's to say? Possibly the greatest death metal LP of all time? Certainly arguable, and I have a hard time really trying to decide which I prefer, this or "Left Hand Path". If you want to talk superior production and the two best songs the band has written, then look no further. As a whole though, LHP is the more 'rounded' choice I suppose. Regardless, this is an album that I have wanted for a long time, and eBay secured it for something like $50 plus shipping. Not cheap I know, but it's never really going to get cheaper than that for this album.
Pressed in '91, I have no idea if the entire pressing was of this 'limited' embossed sleeve or not. Neither do I know how big the actual pressing was, but being an Earache release, I'd dare say that limited probably translates to something like a few thousand.

Embossed band logo and album title. Tried to get the best photos that I could.

With so many classic albums being reissued lately, and knowledgable of how much this thing regularly fetches on the collector market, I think it's about time that this one saw a repressing.

And the accompanying 7" single for the album that was released prior, "Crawl". Two songs here, the lead track, and a song that as far as I know hasn't appeared anywhere else, "Forsaken". The title track is a different recording to the "Clandestine" LP version, with vocals on both tracks handled by a fellow by the name of Ovar Säfström, who only recorded with the band for this single's sessions. A 12" version of this single also exists, with a third track, "Bitter Loss", a song that originally appeared on "LHP" but was subsequently re-recorded with Ovar. To be honest, the vocalist line up in this bands formative years can get quite confusing, as it seems that the duties were handled by a range of different guys who all managed to sound VERY similar. Though he's not credited, the bands drummer/main songwriter at the time, Nicke Andersson apparently handled all the screaming on the Clandestine LP. Had I not read this, I would never have guessed as he sounds amazingly similar to LG Petrov.

This was purchased on eBay for something like $20, though it's 12" counterpart regularly sells for upwards of $60, a gap I can't quite fathom properly, especially when there's only one extra track and identical artwork.

anxiety onset

2011-07-28T20:45:00.002+10:00

The second last Mammoth Grinder tape that I needed was this cassette version of their MLP from 2009, "Extinction Of Humanity". As far as I know, this was sold on the tour for the album and possibly online in the Ghosthunt store around the same time.

Black print on a black cassette.

I was contacted by a good guy by the name of Andres who was willing to sell this to me. I think he reads this blog. Either that or he saw my HYE trade list.

Someone sell me the "Rage And Ruin" tape, that's the last one that I need.

So while talking with Andres, it came up that his bands new demo was doing the rounds. I hand't heard of them before and he offered to throw it in. This is the Seeds Of Rape demo, the limited mail order edition I was told.
Crushing powerviolence from Las Vegas. Since initially talking with Andres, a good amount of chit chat has surfaced around this band. I expect more in the next 12 months. Not keen on the name though.

So as far as I know, what makes this the mail order version is this x-ray insert...

And this little cut out medical slip.

I get the impression that the mail order portions were of 20. Mine's numbered as you can see. From what I can tell the rest were sold at shows and the like. As far as I know it's sold out now too.