Thursday, May 31, 2012
self abuse
I didn't grab anything on record store day this year because to be honest most of the bands and labels I get a kick out of don't normally bother to do anything for said occassion. I also kind of think that RSD is a dumb excuse for hipster dick bags to show everyone how many 'vinyls' they bought etc etc. Whatever, scepticism will be the death of me. I managed to pick this up from a mate after the fact though. You may be aware that this repress of the classic "Pick Your King" EP from none other than Poison Idea has been selling at a reasonable profit to the flipper for the last few weeks in places like eBay but Marcus at The Endless Quest was good enough to let me have it for base retail plus the postage from the UK. Thank you pal. Clear vinyl of 1000 copies. TKO Records.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
can't slam
All of the tapes mentioned in this previous post (new Shackles tape, Menace To Society demo, second edition of the Nazi Dentist demo) are now available to buy from me via mail order or in person. I'm interested in trades and wholesale also. The bands also have copies. Please send me an email for more information.
demented aggression
As mentioned previously I'm running low on free time lately and this blog suffers as a result. A solution I've decided on is to more or less keep the writing to a lower amount and just get these photos out there. I really don't feel like writing massive posts for the 38 drafts I have lined up. Who are you kidding, you're not here to listen to my dribble anyway, you want pretty pictures.
Anyway, here's the new Cannibal Corpse LP "Torture". I don't give a fuck what people think about this band these days. This album rips. This band can do no wrong. Black wax of I'm sure a massive press thanks to Metal Blade Records.
Monday, May 21, 2012
weaponized
Real life is a drag. Lately it certainly seems that I have little time for anything else except working for an income. Hence the zero activity on this blog. Not likely to change for a while soon either, though I have a large amount of stuff I'd like to post about. One other contributing factor to my business lately would also be the following three tapes on Delayed Response:
Shackles- "Dissolve To Nothing" Cassette
Seven new tracks of heavy, blasting, metallic hardcore from Byron Bay’s finest exponents of drear and dissolution. 100 pro duplicated copies with screen printed cassettes. OUT MAY 25th.
Delayed Response 11:
Menace To Society- Demo Tape
Gruff and gnarly, rough and tumble hardcore from Brisbane that takes massive cues from the early Boston and NYHC greats. Rather large tip of the cap to the current Toronto crew too. 100 copies in total, 29 hand numbered cassettes sold recently at the bands first show, with the remaining 71 regular versions with slightly differing inserts still to come. One of the best demos of 2012 in my humble opinion. OUT SOON (within the next fortnight).
Nazi Dentist- Demo Tape
Second dub. Another 50 copies. Virtually identical to the first edition, differentiated by adhesive labelled cassette bodies. OUT JUNE 2nd.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
my rules
Of the many reissues and discog type releases that have occurred within the last 18 months, the Void collection long player from last year would have to be the more certain for any proper punk record collector to own I suppose. Like yesterdays posts subject I was a little slow getting my hands on this one due mainly to dumb postage costs, but I managed eventually. Dischord Records dug up a bunch of random Void stuff and put it on here; various tracks from various sessions from an early part of the bands life. Black vinyl of which the whole press was aligned from what I can tell. Regular (amazing) cover, though a couple different record release covers were also created.
The first twenty tracks were originally recorded and then never officially released because of the relatively 'demoish' sound I suspect. With that in mind these songs are certainly more than listenable. A good majority of these songs also reappeared with better recordings later on more widely recognised releases, but there's a few dotted about that I hadn't heard before. The next ten are all songs from the recording sessions that contributed songs to the "Flex Your Head" comp and what eventually ended up being the "Condensed Flesh" 7", though they're unmastered versions so they sound a bit different. The next two are outtakes from the Faith split sessions, both songs that reappeared on other releases with vastly different recordings. To cap it off Dischord have given us two live tracks, both with a pretty energetic feel. Weiffenbach certainly sounds like he's got his maniac turned up to 10 here.
End of the day there isn't a whole pile of brand new music going on here, but there's a heap of alternate recordings and the like. I think this whole thing is pretty much worth it just for the cover anyway.
The first twenty tracks were originally recorded and then never officially released because of the relatively 'demoish' sound I suspect. With that in mind these songs are certainly more than listenable. A good majority of these songs also reappeared with better recordings later on more widely recognised releases, but there's a few dotted about that I hadn't heard before. The next ten are all songs from the recording sessions that contributed songs to the "Flex Your Head" comp and what eventually ended up being the "Condensed Flesh" 7", though they're unmastered versions so they sound a bit different. The next two are outtakes from the Faith split sessions, both songs that reappeared on other releases with vastly different recordings. To cap it off Dischord have given us two live tracks, both with a pretty energetic feel. Weiffenbach certainly sounds like he's got his maniac turned up to 10 here.
End of the day there isn't a whole pile of brand new music going on here, but there's a heap of alternate recordings and the like. I think this whole thing is pretty much worth it just for the cover anyway.Wednesday, May 9, 2012
fist itch
Though this new long player of theirs has been out now for a good six months or more, I haven't posted about Sweden's U.X. Vileheads since January last year. When I first heard about their new "Hardcore XI" LP it had already been out for around six weeks or so, and then postage for it to be sent here to me in Australia was a heap so I didn't bother grabbing it immediately. The recent order from Crucial Response to procure a handful of stuff (some of which I've posted about recently) allowed me to get my hands on this finally. Black wax pressed by My Vag and Adult Crash Records.
The stuff here more or less continues right on from where the earlier EP's left off; catchy, fast DC styled hardcore. Extreme similarities to a heap of that early Washington crew all thrown together over the course of eleven tracks. The main difference with this LP would be the recording qualities; certainly rougher than what they presented on the "Catch 22" EP.
As with their previous material I really think that "Hardcore XI" and the band in general are both really underrated and I question so much why they don't get more attention. Total on point 80's USHC revival made perfectly.
The stuff here more or less continues right on from where the earlier EP's left off; catchy, fast DC styled hardcore. Extreme similarities to a heap of that early Washington crew all thrown together over the course of eleven tracks. The main difference with this LP would be the recording qualities; certainly rougher than what they presented on the "Catch 22" EP.
As with their previous material I really think that "Hardcore XI" and the band in general are both really underrated and I question so much why they don't get more attention. Total on point 80's USHC revival made perfectly.Tuesday, May 8, 2012
never healed
Never had a chance to post about Nottingham's Heresy on here before now. There's a couple original records of theirs that I would like to eventually obtain and then chat about but this discog LP will do for now. This one is called "1985-87" and compiles the earlier part of the bands life. Subsequent discog LP's followed that collected remaining material. Boss Tuneage pressed this three times between 2005 and 2010, this orange platter is part of the third press and limited to 350 copies.
Collected here is an unreleased demo, their "Never Healed" EP (originally released as a flexi on Earache Records), their later "Thanks" EP and a couple of random tracks that never saw the light of day. These releases form only the early part of the bands collective career, but due mainly to the inclusion of "Never Healed", out of the three discog LP's that occurred, this one would arguably be the best. No frills, relentless, fast hardcore from a scene and time that spawned other greats like Ripcord and Napalm Death.
Collected here is an unreleased demo, their "Never Healed" EP (originally released as a flexi on Earache Records), their later "Thanks" EP and a couple of random tracks that never saw the light of day. These releases form only the early part of the bands collective career, but due mainly to the inclusion of "Never Healed", out of the three discog LP's that occurred, this one would arguably be the best. No frills, relentless, fast hardcore from a scene and time that spawned other greats like Ripcord and Napalm Death.
Heresy are often credited as playing an important roll in the early stages of the development of grindcore and I suppose I would agree. One could argue that obviously Napalm Death were the real purveyors of the genre originally though. For the better part, the vast majority of Heresy's later catalogue suffered quite a bit due to factors like bad recording qualities and just plain shitty songs, but this early stuff was fantastic.
Monday, May 7, 2012
wolf hybrid men
In terms of genuine hardcore releases of 2012, behind the Boston Strangler LP, this new album "The Last Pagans" by Norway's Shipwrecked would have to be one of the most hyped so far. Crucial Response Records are to blame and my copy is on clear vinyl.
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.
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.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
the path of flesh
Keeping up with the relentless stream of vinyl and CD releases that Dark Descent Records out of Colorado continues to unleash upon the wider metal public is becoming increasingly harder and harder to manage. So much going on all of the time. One recent release from the label though that stood out to me like dogs balls is this new 7" single from Sweden's Uncanny, "The Path Of Flesh". This white version was of the more limited, possibly restricted to 100 copies though I can't be certain. The remainder of the press exists on black.
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.
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.
Hopefully this release is a hint that there is more coming up soon. As is stands this EP will certainly go down as part of my top releases for this year. So fucking good. Someone sell me the LP for a not so retarded eBay price.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
endless corpse
New LP from current Southern Lord hype beast Black Breath, their "Sentenced To Life" LP on black vinyl. I've posted fondly a number of times about this band in the past, this time around though I've been a little more hesitant to come to the party, in part due just to the amount of sheer excitement generated around this release. It's been a little off putting.
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.
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.
Certainly the bands best work so far.
Friday, May 4, 2012
toothless
Hirs from Philadelphia recently toured here with locals Shit Weather in tow for most of it. I think they were supposed to have this 7" for sale during said tour but I don't remember seeing it on the merch table. This is the split EP between the two bands on black wax pressed by One Brick Today. Not sure of the numbers.
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.
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.Thursday, May 3, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
you suffer
With yesterday's announcement of the upcoming Converge/Napalm Death split 7" I figure this post is in order. Picked this up a few weeks ago in a bulk order from the Crucial Response Records distro. A bootleg copy of the debut Napalm Death LP, "Scum". Black vinyl.
I've had the picture disc version of this record for a few years now, and I've wanted a proper sleeve version for longer. I happened to stumble across this boot version while making an order for some other records from Crucial Response so I figured it would be good enough. Literally two days after I ordered and paid for this though those recent official Earache reissues were announced. In retrospect I probably should have grabbed one but at the time I wasn't into the idea. Whatever.
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.
I've had the picture disc version of this record for a few years now, and I've wanted a proper sleeve version for longer. I happened to stumble across this boot version while making an order for some other records from Crucial Response so I figured it would be good enough. Literally two days after I ordered and paid for this though those recent official Earache reissues were announced. In retrospect I probably should have grabbed one but at the time I wasn't into the idea. Whatever.
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.
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