BANK ROLL

Shrapnel- Demo Tape (New Instinct Records)
British Edition, 2014

The absolute tidal wave of powerful UKHC continues with this demo tape from Shrapnel. It's just been issued by Moshers Delight in the US but this is the English edition from New Instinct Records. Where the bulk of this current breed of British stuff has centred around a stark Boston '82/UK Oi! vibe for the last 18 months or so, certainly kick-started by bands like Violent Reaction and The Flex, this tape oozes mid/late 80's NYHC ala Breakdown. It's heavy and nasty, and the recording teeters on blown out just like the '87 Demo'. There hasn't been a more on-point rendition of this particular kind of knuckle dragging hardcore in years from anywhere, let alone from the UK. Might be worth pointing out that this band is comprised of members of VxR and The Flex.

BATTERY

Metallica- Master Of Puppets (Universal Music Group)
European Reissue, 2008
Black Vinyl /??

I think most people around my age (born in the early 80's) could say that some of their earliest exposure to Heavy Metal was via Metallica. My earliest memories of anything remotely heavy were of some of the film clips from the Black album playing on a local video clip show. Though I was always familiar with this portion of their career as a result, my real interest in more popular metal didn't come about until years later via Pantera and "The Great Southern Trendkill". From there I explored the heavier and more evil end of the spectrum like Slayer and early Sepultura, and then American and European Death Metal. Metallica was just something I never paid any attention to, probably because I came up in a period when nearly every older, experienced metalhead that I met would write them off as a result of any work of theirs that followed "And Justice For All...". I'd taken a light interest in that album (and a much stronger one in the last few years), but nothing before it even came onto my radar.
Though I'm certainly still no fiend, I've taken some time to explore the bands Burton era albums in the last few years, probably more so as a bit of task then as a genuine vested interest. From what I can gather, the general consensus amongst the wider metal community is that "Ride The Lightning" is the bands crowning work, though of the first three, I'd have to say that that album is their weakest. This one is my favourite- "Master Of Puppets".
As stupid as it may sound with what I've just said in mind, I feel that no proper metal record collection should be without this bands earliest work, if just from a cataloguing point of view. It's an OCD thing I have with collecting and probably why I made myself explore their music, so I wouldn't feel stupid dropping cash on their product. This is a 2008 Universal Records reissue of the album on black vinyl. At least, I think it is anyway. This bands entire catalogue has been re-issued and re-pressed so many times over the years that it's hard to keep track, even with the help of Discogs. I doubt I need to explain though, influential, thrashing metal glory, this pressing being pretty faithful to the original.

CRANK TEETH

In Disgust/SFN- Split 7" (Drugged Conscience Records)
First Pressing, 2014
Black Vinyl /600

Sometimes the faithful must wait, and never more so has that been the case than with the In Disgust/SFN split EP. A good solid two years of planning went into the release of this 7", and from what I've read, plenty of hurtles were encountered along the way. Pressed by Drugged Conscience with some kind of help from IFB Records, this EP was originally announced initially in 2012 (possibly even late 2011?) before In Disgust broke up the first time. It was also also originally supposed to be released as a two sided 5" but for whatever reason it ended as this one sided 7".
Four tracks in less than 2 minutes from In Disgust of the usual ExT peppered Californian Grindcore, sure to please any fan of the bands previous work. The biggest difference from older material being that Ramirez handles the vocals on all of the tracks as opposed to Gomes usual main contribution. The best thing about their side is the viciously 'slow' track in the middle of the bunch. Information is scarce but I'm sure that these songs were recorded during the sessions for the split LP with PLF. Maybe someone out there can tell me, but I think these guys have broken up again? There doesn't seem to be much word of anything happening.
SFN handle their side in much the same manner, three tracks in less than 2 minutes, all of which should please fans of down trodden Powerviolence ala Crossed Out/the bands previous works. I've never been the hugest of fans, but this is pretty solid stuff.

WHEN YOUR GENITALS SEEP UP INTO YOUR FACE

Doubled Over/Hemdale- Split 7" (Fat Ass Records)
First Pressing, 2014
Black Vinyl /??

Melbourne's blast beat merchants Doubled Over had been notably dormant for a number of years, perhaps even totally dispatched until recently reforming to make a contribution to this split 7" with Cleveland grind stalwarts, Hemdale. Perhaps naively, Hemdale aren't a band that I had ever been familiar with before this record came about, but research shows a 20 year history of demos, split release and the like, and talk of an ill fated LP that never saw the light of day. They play a pretty solid blend of no frills grind, generally the kind that I am normally most fond of. Perhaps I need to track down this bands other stuff. Doubled Over strike back with their style of obtrusive, straight forward grind. Guttural bellows dominate the mix, and as always Christoph's percussion is world class. Lineage and influence of course can be traced back to bands like Excruciating Terror and perhaps even their split mates here. Pressed by Fat Ass Records.

SWALLOW

Caged Grave- Live Tape 2014 (Self Released)
First Edition, 2014
Orange Cassette 27/28

While I was away over the Xmas/New Years period Melbourne's Caged Grave came up to Brisbane to play. They were selling this self released live tape of 28 of theirs as part of the run. Obviously I missed out on my own copy as I wasn't around but Craigos was kind enough to keep a copy aside and send it up to me recently. Nice little short run cassette with three songs from the demo and a Deadstare cover. The band have a new EP due pretty soon, pressed on vinyl as a self release, while Operation Grindcore is handling a cassette issue for the North American market.

BAR SMASH

Kurb Stomp- Stomp The Druggies Tape (Self Released)
First Edition, 2012

I don't really remember how I got onto Kurb Stomp. I think this "Stomp The Druggies" demo tape of theirs may have been included in a Youth Attack update at some point in 2012 and I may have looked into the band from there, but I'm not sure. This would certainly be the kind of music you'd expect to see Youth Attack involved with these days; ignorant, scummy, stripped down hardcore. The four tracks here possess one of the most blown out, roughest recordings I've heard since the last Urban Blight EP and scrape in at around five minutes. I'd been chasing this tape for the better part of 12 months until one popped up on discogs from somewhere in Europe a few weeks ago. Lyrical content revolves mostly around ignorant, baiting straight edge lyrics, and though I'm not edge at all, I wish I was when listening to "SxE Streetfight". Good stuff.

THE DICKS HATE THE POLICE

The Dicks- Hate The Police 7" (1-2-3-4-Go! Records)
Reissue, 2012
Black Vinyl /200

It's only been very recently that I've taken interest in The Dicks. Having been involved with hardcore for a long enough period of time to have heard the bands name mentioned a few times over the years, it's almost embarrassing to say, but I just never bothered checking them out until this year. My interest was sparked when a friend of mine simply posted the youtube vid of this EP's title track "The Dicks Hate The Police" one afternoon on Facebook. Following that one preview I have been pretty hooked on this band and their brand of social outcast/weirdo/edgy hardcore punk.
Existing throughout the early 80's in Austin, Texas, this was the bands debut release, coming in before a live recorded split with The Big Boys and a couple of LP's. Indication of the bands prominence within the early Texan hardcore punk scene (and to a further extent, the 80's USHC scene in general) would be obvious when participating in a split with a band as influential as The Big Boys. Along with that band, The Dicks were/are the godfathers of punk in that region along with groups as well known as MDC and DRI. I almost feel that history hasn't been as kind to these guys as it has been to some of the other mentioned acts. This is a 2012 reissue of the "The Dicks Hate The Police" 7" pressed by 1-2-3-4-Go! Records, though it was originally pressed by the bands own imprint Radical Records. I'd go as far as saying that this is one of the best EP's to come out of the entire 80's American Hardcore scene just for the title track alone.

DRIFTING AWAY

I've been waiting for this record for the better part of four years now. An initial track, "Extinction"  from Shin To Shin first surfaced around that long ago on an A389 Records online sampler. Then later that year it ended up on the bands split 7" with Pulling Teeth. And now it sees another release on the bands debut s/t MLP pressed by A389. Since 2010, word would surface every 12 months or so of the impending release of this record and then nothing would happen. Well near the end of last year an official release was mentioned, and finally it has materialised in the last few weeks. It's been a topic on many blogs over the last few years, but for those who don't know, this is the sole work of Aaron Melnick, writing genius behind early Integrity, and far as I can tell he handles all duties except for drums, which are sorted by a guy named Bob. Fans of Melnick's previous efforts should find plenty of interest here. It's basically 90's style metallic hardcore with a slight Japanese feel, that can be attributed mostly to his uniquely burly vocal style and the reverb it's put under on a few of the tracks. Whether that was intentional or not may be debatable, but it's definitely something I hear. Every track is a lesson in well written, catchy stomping hardcore. I already knew this before I even heard any of the other tracks, but this will certainly be on of my absolute favourite records of 2014.

BEYOND REDEMPTION

With most bands that I am very fond of I normally make the effort to get my hands on one copy of each of their records, even if I'm not necessarily fond of a particular album or two in their catalogue. This records acquisition would be an example of that attitude. In the grand scheme of things, All Our War's "Assassins In The House Of God" is a ridiculously superb example of crushing Metallic Hardcore fury, but it's probably the weakest album of their entire discography, hence why it's ended up being the last that I've brought into the collection. This record has been floating around on my want list for years now, and it's a cheap record to buy, I've just never had a good, affordable way of having it posted my way until the last fortnight.
Having not developed a proper interest in hardcore of this ilk until after the end of the 90's, I sometimes feel like I really missed this band in their proper heyday, and I would assume most of the older guys who were around during the release of the bands earlier works would agree. It's funny though how I feel that the LP that the band released after this one, "Into The Killing Fields" is easily their crowning work and the best album by any group of 2010. In fact I don't think any single album by any band has topped it since. I still spin it just about every single week. Wedge "Assassins..." then between that excellent last record and three genre defining LP's released between 1997 and 2003, and it's probably doomed from the very start. Like I said though, this is still a ferocious album, but when I feel like punching the face of God, I do it with "ITKF", "For Those Who Were Crucified", or "Condemned To Suffer" instead.
As disclosed, my interest in heavy hardcore hadn't properly developed until the beginning of the 2000's, and perhaps as a result my view of the majority of 90's hardcore is a little less than favourable. Apart from a few favourites here and there (the more obvious stuff- early Hatebreed, Buried Alive, early Biohazard, Turmoil, Ringworm, some Integrity etc) it all just seems like either horrendously executed metalcore (Disembodied), excruciatlingly overboard hyper PC bullshit (Trial [though I actually love their LP, whatever]), or a combination of the two (Earth Crisis). Though their first album suffered the same fate as the VAST majority of stuff committed to disc by any band throughout pretty much all of this decade, in a shitty shitty recording, All Out War are one of a very few bands that managed to escape all the trappings previously mentioned and just play demonic, brutal, heavy hardcore. It's been mentioned countless times by countless others, but to me, they're the only band whom A) has the balls to, and B) executes precisely the writing and playing of a perfect splice of Obituary, Slayer and Cro Mags. There is word of a new album due this year. I await the mayhem.

POETRY OF WORMS

Rot In Hell have certainly been quiet for the last little while, relative to their previous work schedule anyway. Psywarfare aren't a band that I have any prior experience with but a little research tells me that they've a solid discography that traces back to the mid 90's. This is their split LP pressed on white vinyl by Magic Bullet Records.
A slight departure for RIH, their three songs here experiment further with the acoustic, folk and noise arrangements first hinted at with their split with Horders and the limited "Studies In Emerald" tape. Again the bands guitarist and central composer, POI handles the clean sung vocal duties. I was really into their contribution to the Horders split, and this stuff is just as good. Psywarfare is the work of Dwid and is basically just a totally noise driven, power electronics soundscape. Hardly the kind of thing I am even vaguely familiar with, but it certainly sounds menacing played at maximum output on my stereo. I don't think the neigbours agree.

CHURCH BITCH

The s/t LP from Austin's Impalers probably should have made my 'best of' list for 2013, but for various reasons I just wasn't able to get my hands on a copy until recently. I've been paying MP3's of the record minimal attention since its release, but it wasn't until I could actually lay this record on the platter and play it at full volume that I realised just how excellent it is.
Thrashing d-beat punk pressed by 540 and Todo Destruido, featuring the identifiable vocals of Chris Ulsh, singer, guitarist and songwriter of popular Death Metal band Mammoth Grinder. From what I can gather, he may be the driving force behind this band as well.

MORE HUMAN THAN HUMAN

The first two CD's that my mother ever let my buy as a kid were Pantera's "The Great Southern Trendkill" and "Astro-Creep: 2000" by White Zombie. This LP is a record that I've wanted to get my hands on now for a few years, motivated mostly by nostalgic values. Originally pressed on release in 1995 by Geffen Records, I wasn't aware until this week that it had been repressed in 2012 by Music On Vinyl with licence from Geffen. Picked this off the back wall at my local record store, seen completely at random. Black wax is the wider press, accompanied by a 180g variety and a coloured version.
As dated as this album sounds in 2014, it's still a relatively solid performance from the band and the stuff of theirs that I'm most familiar with and fond of. I'm unsure of how correctly this version replicates the 1995 edition, but it is a shame that all of Rob Zombie's excellent full colour artwork that accompanied the CD version isn't available here.

TOASTED

The official release date for the first Shackles full length, "Forced To Regress" is today, though I received this in the mail from Resist Records near the beginning of the week. Limited blue wax of 100 copies. Certainly the hardest working band in Australian hardcore right now, these guys have built up an intimidating catalogue over the last two years and have toured relentlessly in support of it. It's not hard to see why Resist were interested in releasing their album. In terms of sound, this thing doesn't stray at all from the sound they've developed in the last 18 months- abhorrent, mosh peppered metallic PV of the loudest order. Mark's vocals are at their burliest, and the sound that engineer Chris Brownbill has captured would easily be the nastiest example of the band yet. I think this will please a lot of Australians.

HEAT DEATH

The last in the impressive catalogue of Boston's speed violence pushers Vaccine is this split 7" with sister band No Faith, pressed by Vinyl Rites. Perhaps a strong if predictable way to go out, Vaccine produce five tracks of uncompromised, break neck, bitter hardcore, exactly what you'd expect. This brings the bands entire recorded output up to about 20 minutes. Excellent.
From what I can tell No Faith is comprised of 3/4's of Vaccine. Their previous LP was extremely comparable to Vaccine in terms of sound and recording quality, with plenty of hasty blasts, though broken up with many more moments of plodding doom and electronic induced noise. Sharing lead singers certainly creates a very similar feel too. Their one track here though runs around five minutes and is comprised entirely of a sluggish, drab, noisy soundscape punctuated with a powerful riff and snarling vocals. Perhaps a polar opposite to that of their split mates. I guess that's the point.