drowned

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

swine control

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.