brutal supremacy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.