Really struggling to muster the energy to put more than a few cohesive sentences together tonight, so I'll keep it brief. Early 80's Boston hardcore reborn with flourishes of early oi thrown in for good measure. Burly, gruff, pissed off. Worth all the attention it's been garnering from the greater hardcore scene this year.
Those familiar with the early 90's Swedish death clique will be aware that the two new songs on offer here mark the bands first new material in around 18 years. These two tracks more or less pick up exactly where the the "Splenium For Nyktophobia" LP finished up; melodic, catchy, riffy, simplistic death metal. Being a 2012 affair, obviously the band have had access to a somewhat updated recording environment and as a result these songs are very loud and mammothly heavy. With the blatantly melodic nature of this style of metal, with all of these catchy leads and rhythms I can certainly see this band being the one that opens up the more traditional metal world to the younger metalcore scene. Not to say that something like that will happen, but if there was going to be any band that would do it this year, it's Uncanny. Very comparable to bands like Black Breath, Unearth and even Parkway Drive.
As has been well documented by a number of other online sources since this records initial release around six weeks ago, the band have managed to produce a pretty rounded and well executed piece of early 90's styled Swedish Death Metal here. "Sentenced To Life" takes massive cues from later Dismember and "Clandestine" era Entombed. Over the course of their career they've made a relatively gradual progression from somewhat rocky, Motorhead inspired metal/punk to what they're doing now. It's a logical graduation and seems to work well.
A very on-point recording by Kurt Ballou certainly gives this thing a good portion of power. The band now fully embrace the classic Sunlight Studio buzz saw guitar sound that seems so popular amongst a heap of current punk orientated metal bands currently and Kurt has really exploited the approach here. In my opinion it's virtually cardinal sin to not be a Northern European band and tune your axe to this sound, but they seem to manage it so well here that they score a reprieve. For the most part the songs on offer tread a much more streamlined path, more focused on pure Death Metal riffery and less of the larger rounded sounding stuff. A heap of the songs barley exceed the three minute mark too which differs somewhat from previous material resulting in a more listenable experience for those with attention spans that have been forever ruined by hardcore punk. My only gripe really with this band (as I have mentioned in the past too) is the singers comparatively weak vocals when paired with the wall of sound that is the music. Metal like this needs a guttural sounding, acid gargling mad man up front where this guys pipes sound like they would obviously work better fronting some kind of generic fast hardcore band. That's not to say that he does a bad job, but I'm just so used to hearing the deep end of someone like LG Petrov when listening to tunes of this ilk. A small gripe.
I can't really get into Hirs a huge amount. Simply, they're a two man grindcore unit. One count of cross dressing frontman and one count of guitarist. Both backed up by a programmed drum track live. Not sure who programs the tracks, I'd hope that both guys have a hand in it. No bassist.
I really like Shit Weather. One of the better bands this country has produced in the last few years. Dark, dirgy hardcore with blast beats, I guess comparative to some form of PV. They did a demo last year that sounded quite similar to the music here. Rough recording with a singer that engages with a slightly higher pitch approach. What makes the band good is how seamlessly they manage to work some really cool groove styled slower bits into their faster paced bits and blasts. I heard that this may be the last stuff that they're doing for a while . Not sure why they'd want to go on a break after only releasing a demo and split, all I can muster is perhaps some more negative motives, which worries me because I really think these guys are sick. I hope they don't split permanently.
From what I can tell it's a pretty faithful boot in terms of packaging and layout etc. I've never actually seen an OG version but people who know have informed me so. As far as I know the front and back covers are actually just direct photocopies of the real edition, but they're pretty god ones as you'd never noticed unless it was pointed out.
Two new songs from Suffering Mind that mark the introduction of new singer Radek. As I've mentioned recently I prefer his pipes to previous vocalists Ula's. They tread a pretty predictable grindcore path; deep guttural groans offset with high pitch screams, but his advantage is in the power he is able to throw behind them. Ula developed a pretty strong approach over the course of her tenure with the band, but she certainly lacked some of the power that gets me excited about aggressive vocals, especially in the high end department. While Radek falls short ever so slightly compared to some of his more recent contemporaries, he still packs quite a wallop. The recording here would arguably signal the bands most precise so far too. Clean enough to set the idea without getting all studio prefect or anything. Listening to these two songs gets me really excited to hear more from these guys with the new member.
Protestant may not be the band you would expect to feature on a split with a band like Suffering Mind. The two times that I've posted about them in the past have been about records of theirs that certainly conveyed a more traditional form of metallic hardcore akin to the holy terror clique or similar. I quickly compare them to the American Catharsis often. Their offerings here vary though. The first song employs a pretty standard Protestant vibe. Fast hardcore with melodic leads, gruff vocals and a slower bit. The second track is where the band seem to experiment a bit more. Now I'm no Protestant encyclopaedia, but to my knowledge this is the shortest song they've ever written, clocking in at around 30-40 seconds. It's built around a simple riff and a blast beat that runs the backbone, offset by two vocal tracks, one by the regular singer (from what I can gather) and a second, more high pitched guy. It ends in a pretty ignorant mosh bit, short and sweet. Both songs also employ a relatively rough recording compared to a lot of their previous stuff.
Worth it alone for the SM side, and just to add another 6" to my collection.
This would arguably be the bands last legitimate grind/thrash record, they began to go off on a bit of a tangent following this stuff, utilising more professional sounding recordings and less grind orientated styles. Here they're at their peak; maniacal, fast speedcore with the best (loudest/dirtiest) recording they managed to muster of all they're material and a vocalist that sounds like a rabid dog. I think some may disagree with me, but this is certainly they're best recorded stuff in my opinion.
Released officially on CD in Japan by Selfish Records, the label that had a hand in just about every Japanese classic, England's Rise Above obtained the rights to the European release and pressed they're own CD version and two vinyl editions in 1990. More or less exactly the same as the regular version, this tour press was identified with an inner sleeve scrawled with the tour dates of their romp across Europe that October. This Euro version also different from the Japanese one in that it contains the entirety of the "WTT" album on the A side plus "Thrash Night" 7" on the B.
Judging by their two offerings here, Neon Hole play a pretty cool, rough brand of grindcore influenced by the obvious picks. They employ what would probably be interpreted as some more basic power violence stop start tendencies as well. Knowing next to nothing about the band other than what information is presented here, and having heard nothing else of theirs either I can't really get a proper feel for them. I like these two songs though and will certainly make the effort to track down any other material of theirs.
The four songs Suffering Mind present would have to be some of their best recorded stuff. During my research of this band I've found that quality ebbs and flows quite a bit throughout their relatively lengthy discography. Count something like 10+ records that span various formats and sizes before this split, and another three afterwards, and to me it's obvious that as they've progressed noticeably since their inception. Over this time they've also certainly developed a more interesting writing style and Ula's vocals improve obviously. Every new record manages to present a far superior recording quality also, which is always an important factor with this style of music. In recent times the band have recruited a new vocalist in a fellow by the name of Radek, but in terms of 'Ula era' Suffering Mind this split along with two lathe cut records they did last year (a 2"and 3", very limited, no i'm not bullshitting) would easily be the best stuff of that period. I won't lie when I say that I prefer the new guy pipes, but that's a story for another time.
I almost feel like one of those dick head kids that fills out both of his arms with sleeve tattoos in less than a year when it come to this band. I've only been into them for a short while but I've already managed to amass a large chunk (ie the majority) of their releases, of which I hope to post about in the coming weeks. They've also got something like ten or more planned releases due in the coming months, most of which are on stupid formats and sizes. If all goes to plan, I'll be able to add a 4", and 8" to my collection to create an almost prefect sequence from 4" up to 12". All I'll need is an 11". It wouldn't surprise me if they decide to press that too. Someone hook me up with those previously mentioned 2" and 3" records please.
Regardless of Burt's often irritating 'clean' vocal bits, and where he, Dino and co. decided to take the band with later albums, every song on this LP is a brilliant display of relentless, crushing industrial influenced death metal. They were often described as a splice of mid era Napalm Death and Godflesh during this period and you can't really deny some similarities. For one, Burt sounded remarkably close to Barney Greenway during this era, and a heap of the electronic, mechanic sounds that they utilised were comparable to a pile of that good early Godflesh stuff. FF certainly cemented to an extent their own kind of sound though with that precise, triggered double kick that Raymond Herrera originally pioneered, a sound that they've continued to use throughout their career, numerous break ups and personnel shifts.
I haven't paid any kind of genuine attention to this band since "Obsolete" and I don't plan to soon, but this is a record that I've been meaning to add to my collection for quite a while. Massively underrated on a larger scale, to me this album was certainly the band at their peak and I really wish that they continued in this direction. 
Such is legend, I doubt (or at least hope) that I don't really have to go into depth explaining the origins and story behind this band and record. Originally recorded in '83 as a demo and then released as this piece of vinyl six years later by the label. Dickie Barret of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones started his frontman career yelling and groaning for this band.
To me this is easily one the best records to come out of this era of Boston Hardcore. Heavily comparable to Negative FX with those short, sharp songs built around 1-2-1-2 beats and snappy snare fills, often when I sit and think about what I would consider the epitome of Boston Hardcore I think of this band. Seven no bullshit tracks of fun, catchy hardcore.
The Flex Hardcore Discography suggests that this has been pressed a number of times over the years, but officially this thing has seen one edition of 1000 copies. I will admit that it's possible that subsequent pressings were made as mine, apart from one little stain, is in near flawless condition for a record that should be 23 years old.
