IN THE DEAD WE DWELL

After a bit of a build up, Hooded Menace have finally unleashed their third full length album via Relapse Records. A double 12" gatefold affair on 'diehard (ie most limited)' orange vinyl, "Effigies Of Evil" certainly showcases a band with new gained access to a larger recording budget, most evident in the massively professional guitar sound, but I wouldn't say that the larger chunk of cash is necessarily a positive thing. Don't let me dissuade you, this is a fantastic record and easily their best stuff since "Fulfil The Curse", but unlike that first album and it's massive guitar crunch made possible in part to the jagged, rougher recording, the total wall of noise I hoped for and even expected with this album is lacking a little. I think the general positioning of the guitars in the mix have a lot to do with what I am talking about. They're way down in there compared to previous efforts, not nearly loud enough. Perhaps engineer Mikko Saastamoinen had an idea to really highlight Lasse's massive vocals with this one instead. Speaking of which, if anyone doubted the lead man's ownership of the best death metal vocals in 15 years, surely said lack of confidence will be quashed here. World class. Fans of previous material shouldn't have any issue enjoying this, there are heaps of really catchy riffs and massive doom bits, but I do suspect that the same fans will notice what I am talking about.

Early folk who were willing to pony up some extra cash were also gifted with this extra 7", "Necrotic Monuments", containing two bonus tracks. Two covers here, originals of which can be credited to Eternal Darkness and Witchfinder General, from what I can tell these songs come from the same sessions as the new full length, though the recording duties have been solely credited to Lasse. And I don't think I am imagining it, but the problem I observed with the album isn't as evident on this slab. Same colour as the LP's and limited to 500 (I think?) copies.

HARD WAY

More fucking demo tapes. This time, the new demo from Virginia's Violent Outburst thanks to Tension Head Records. From what I've read, this comes from various members from other known acts including Wasted Time and Double Negative. Raw, fast, burly East Coast hardcore. Someone said online recently that there's elements of a Discharge kind of style going on here too, and I can certainly hear that in the recording approach. Fans of other bands that utilise the 'Violent' label in their names will likely enjoy this.

CHICOS MUERTOS

Newish demo here from Spain's Altercado Espiritual. Pure Boston '83 here that carries a cool Spanish vibe (mostly because of the lyrics in Spanish). Relatively good recording for a demo of such nature and some rather creative artwork. New EP due soon that I should be able to post about it in the coming weeks. From what I've been told, parties responsible here are also handling a Spanish edition of the Sick People demo,  one of the tapes that I was responsible for last year.

FAKE SCUM

Here's a new demo tape that's managed to drum up a reasonable amount of talk recently. Stoic Violence from California play a relatively noisy brand of outsider punk akin to a handful of Cali bands of old. There's also a stark east coast flavour going on here too. By no means amazing, this rough little three song presentation does a good enough job at presenting this new band and their style.
 

HALF PAST DEATH

Another recent acquisition and another tape, the debut demo tape from Boston's MFP. Grabbed this a few weeks ago on the recent Static Shock Records distro order. Ripping hardcore from the States. New EP due on Painkiller soon.
   

RIGHT NOW

Second EP "The Void" from Cali's Zero Progress. Clear vinyl, Piledriver Records. Ironically, with this new music they have progressed somewhat with their sound. Where their last EP utilised a pretty rounded, bouncy style akin to the Lockin' Out vibe, this material adds a pretty heavy dose of a more straight up, no frills, less gimmicky hardcore. It still maintains that east coast vibe that they've used from the start, but here they're certainly going for a more serious approach.  It's better than their old stuff too.

BAD CULTURE

Try and count all of the genuine USHC styled bands coming out of the UK at the moment and I dare say you'd struggle to use all 10 fingers on both hands. Of that number though, just about every single one of them is pulling off a pretty on point, accurate approach. Case in point today; The Flex from Leeds with their demo tape. Now these guys are picking up a bit of attention at the moment with American tape label, Bleeding Edges having just produced a new edition of this demo, but this tape to my knowledge has been out for a few months at least now. This version here is from the band produced dub from earlier in the year. Boston is the flavour here and it's rich at to say the least. Mid to fast paced jams with a gruff vocalist out front groaning about the various societal and social quandaries that he obviously feels at odds with. The recording is what helps this thing along really. Just a good, simple, genuine sounding production sans any silly bells and whistles. A solid sound that makes the stomp bits good! I suspect this band will cop a good amount of hype over the next 12 months.

HATING LIFE

Swedish death metal elite Grave always sounded to me like they should have come from Finland. Sure they utilised that classic Sunlight sound but unlike brethren Entombed, Dismember and Carnage they never really succumbed to those melodic tendencies that really epitmoised that typical Swedish sound of the time. Maybe it had something to with the fact that they didn't originate from Stockholm like the majority of that scene spawned. Maybe it also had something to do with the fact that the vocal style of the bands main man Ola Lindgren always maintained it's own unique low end, unlike those of fellows like LG Petrov and Matti Kärki that always seemed to flirt with more tuneful tendencies. Whatever way you look at it, Grave were/are a great fucking band and probably the second best death metal band that the country ever produced. This is a 2011 reissue of their 1991 LP "Into The Grave" pressed by the mighty Century Media. Mine's on black vinyl, from what I can tell, this new press also consisted of a green variety.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Picked this one up at the same time as last night's post fodder. This is the second EP from Chicago's Manipulation, simply titled "2". Black vinyl on Sorry State Records. This originally came out in 2010, and was kind of on my "to get" list, if just to check the band out really. Their first 7" which I made a very brief post about back in 2010 didn't really get me massively excited, I think in part due to the thin sounding recording, so I always kind of hoped that this would be better. It is I guess. The mastering is much louder which makes it more interesting, but the band are still playing the same kind of flat, singular approach to outsider hardcore, akin to the majority of their label's roster. Take it or leave it I think, this would certainly please fans of a heap of Sorry State and No Way! records bands, maybe even some less wanky Youth Attack acts.

CAN'T BULLSHIT A BULLSHITTER

A recent pick up at a distro at a local show, this Much Worse EP, "Absolute Nightmare" wasn't a record that I was actually on the prowl for. I'd heard the name knocking about in various circles here and there but I hadn't really thought hard enough to bother chasing it down (much the same could be said for a handful of bands at the moment, just don't have the time to check out every single thing that I probably should). Glad I decided to pick this up. Based off the cover art alone, you couldn't be blamed for assuming this was some kind of new Youth Attack release, and to be honest, with the sound that these guys have captured with this EP, it would certainly slot in pretty easily with that label, but no, this comes about thanks to the ever consistent No Way! Records. Black wax. The basic wrap that these guys seem to get is of the Japanese hardcore variety, and I hear them biting that style a little here, but it certainly isn't an overwhelmingly obvious approach, and I'd much sooner compare this to some early 80's outsider USHC band before anything like Deathside or Bastard. As I've said before, I'm no Japcore purist though and maybe I'm missing something?

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

I've posted a couple of times about Repugnant. Flawless, classic Swedish death metal. Of all of their stuff I'd say that this record "Hecatomb" is their outright best material. Originally unleashed as a 7" back in 1999 by To The Death Records, to be followed in reissue as a 12" by Unveiling The Wicked the following year, those original version often sell for upwards of $100, a price that I have never been able to bring myself to pay. Luckily, Hammerheart Records decided to reissue the EP as a 12" again this year. Mine is on red wax, I think a clear version was pressed also. Compared to the bands brilliant full length, "Epitome Of Darkness", this thing is considerably rougher in nature. One song from here went on to be re-recorded for that album, but a couple of the other songs could arguably be their best material no contest, namely the track "Rapturous Genocide". That song didn't actually appear on the original 7" version, it was only introduced to the vinyl format via the first 12" reissue after it's first incarnation on their early "Spawn Of Pure Malevolence" demo tape. It's a fantastic song that progresses through various stages and styles. Plenty of blasts, plenty of tremolo picking. They also manage to include a Celtic Frost cover here too, and they pull it off surprisingly well. Very happy to finally own this one, though I'd love to get my hands on an original 7" version too.

PRETENDERS

I first read up about Wolfsblood out of Winnepeg in a recent issue of Counterfeit Garbage. The interview and general things that the guys from that rag had to say about the band were enough to stoke some kind of interest in me. To date they've only got two demo tapes under their collective belts, both of the gruff east coast ilk. Think a pretty obvious Boston assault peppered with quite a few get low, slam bits. The first tape, here, is somewhat accomplished, though the vocalists pipes come off a little weak, as does the recording. To be honest, had I come across the band at a stage when this was all they had kicking about, I doubt very much that I would have taken much of an interest in them.

It's all about their second demo tape. The loud, thick recording reminds me heaps of the Violent Minds "Riot" single, though it is a little bit cleaner than that record. The band experiment with more slower bits than VM too, but in general I'd certainly say that both bands bite similar styles. Based entirley off this recording, I am really hopeful that the band does more. Great hardcore.