Thursday, July 31, 2008

Oh, The In/Humanity!

I was putting off doing this post, hoping to find a cheap copy of In/Humanity's split with Bonescratch first. Nope. Not happening. If anyone has a copy they want to sell me, the e-mail address is to the right. To my knowledge, In/Humanity did only three other splits, the diversity of their split-mates providing testimony as to how difficult it is to pinpoint and categorize In/Humanity's sound.

The first offering is, I believe, chronologically first as well. It's their split with fellow southerners, and modern sludge masters, Damad. Although I'm not the biggest fan of most early Damad, the songs herein are two of their most evil! It's great to hear such early material from these boys and girl, even though, as you can imagine, the production could be better (especially in the vocals). The track "Tinnitus" is an exclusive(?) and "Slow Heal II" is a variation on a theme the band would continue with on the "Rise and Fall" LP. Flip it over, and this time around, In/Humanity offer a very primitive version of their rackety and sardonic madness. Two noise tracks, two "music" tracks... definitely a sign of what was to come...

Back Cover


(Scroll down for download link)


In/Humanity shares this next split with fellow South Caroliners, Premonition. I picked this up when I saw In/Humanity in SD (with Huasipungo) around 1996, so the cover art and insert are a little different than some versions. Premonition play emotive, yet upbeat punk rock, sharing stylistic kinship with the more energetic moments of Car vs Driver, Policy of 3 and Still Life. I actually enjoy their approach to this style, but unfortunately their track on the Inchworm Food Not Bombs benefit comp is the only other output I know from this band. Leave a comment if you know where else to find Premonition stuff.

When I first heard the In/Humanity side, I wasn't sure at what speed to play these two tracks. Sure enough, the insert was no help; the band encourages us to play them at whatever speed we will! In keeping with this assertion, I have ripped them at both speeds. Believe it or not, they actually do sound fine either way! (Which means you get 3 versions of the song "Bud(d) Dwyer Superstar" in one download!)

Here's the (literally) cut and past insert In/Humanity included for this version of the EP. It was created from an actual '70's rock album sleeve. A little help in identifying the band would be much appreciated.



(Keep scrolling for download link)

Finally, as if you're ears and patience haven't been tested enough, here's the final installment: The In/Humanity/Half Life split. Half Life are from Japan, and play metal that fuses the better aspects of two different coasts (Japanese metal and NYC moshy stuff). Although not my usual cup 'o Joe, there's some pretty righteous metal picking going on here with traditional Japanese vocals. Only one song from Half Life on this one, unfortunately.

In/Humanity offer an original with an outstanding title, "Kill the Cop Inside," and a re-recorded version of "Budd Dwyer Superstar." Nice tracks, but still not as good as the band's later work.

Back Cover



Congratulations on making it this far. I didn't realize that these EP's (ripped at 320) would make for such a big file. This one's for the fans, though. It's near 100 MBs, so get your favorite beverage, put on your favorite In/Humanity or Damad LP, and....

Download
all three eps.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great explanation! I hadn't listened to this before, and the splits give a really nice sense of the range that In/Humanity was going for with their collaborations!

Batguano said...

Hey Paris, thanks for the comment I'm glad someone liked this post!

oldmantdr said...

Wow, this brings back memories.
I played guitar in Premonition- we actually did a 7" that came out 3 or 4 years after we recorded it, hence no one has heard it-
I can send links to our 7" and a few other comp tracks no one has ever heard if anyone is interested.
All the records are out of print now- none of us even have copies of anything past the first press of the split with In/Humanity.

If you look really closely at the cover of the Premonition side you can see that Chris Bickell has written Ozzy on the homeless dudes knuckles and drawn glasses on him as well.
I remember being upset about that at the time, but it is pretty funny now.
In/Humanity was a great band.
Cola SC Hardcore forever
(I wasn't around when they started calling it emo violence).

Batguano said...

Nice! Thanks for stopping by and filling in a too-long neglected gap! Whatever you can do to hook up some more Premonition material would be much appreciated (if it's not too much trouble).

I never noticed that about the cover art, but sure enough, there it is! Chris must be quite the prankster.

As far as "Emo violence" goes, I first heard that term applied to the band Ice 9 (don't know if you know them). As wacky as labels are, they do kinda give people a little indication of what to expect (but for some reason, in the states, people use labels to divide bands/genres... shame on us!).

Anyway, thanks again.

Lauradinosaur said...

i've been floating around your blog all night but after downloading this i really have to stop and say thanks...your downloads are so well presented and labeled with covers etc. you are making it so much easier to be geeky about things, with minimal effort! bonus! thank you for all the hard work.
however, the problem i'm having is leaving. i was all set for an early night, and now its 4.00am. i want to sleep but the early nineties hardcore compilations won't let me...

Lauradinosaur said...

i've been floating around your blog all night but after downloading this i really have to stop and say thanks...your downloads are so well presented and labeled with covers etc. you are making it so much easier to be geeky about things, with minimal effort! bonus! thank you for all the hard work.
however, the problem i'm having is leaving. i was all set for an early night, and now its 4.00am. i want to sleep but the early nineties hardcore compilations won't let me...

Lauradinosaur said...

i've been floating around your blog all night but after downloading this i really have to stop and say thanks...your downloads are so well presented and labeled with covers etc. you are making it so much easier to be geeky about things, with minimal effort! bonus! thank you for all the hard work.
however, the problem i'm having is leaving. i was all set for an early night, and now its 4.00am. i want to sleep but the early nineties hardcore compilations won't let me...

Lauradinosaur said...

i've been floating around your blog all night but after downloading this i really have to stop and say thanks...your downloads are so well presented and labeled with covers etc. you are making it so much easier to be geeky about things, with minimal effort! bonus! thank you for all the hard work.
however, the problem i'm having is leaving. i was all set for an early night, and now its 4.00am. i want to sleep but the early nineties hardcore compilations won't let me...

Lauradinosaur said...

i've been floating around your blog all night but after downloading this i really have to stop and say thanks...your downloads are so well presented and labeled with covers etc. you are making it so much easier to be geeky about things, with minimal effort! bonus! thank you for all the hard work.
however, the problem i'm having is leaving. i was all set for an early night, and now its 4.00am. i want to sleep but the early nineties hardcore compilations won't let me...

Lauradinosaur said...

Ah! too, too tired!
Apologies....

Batguano said...

He, he... whoa, how did that happen? Anyway, thanks, you're welcome and sorry for the compliment, the music/images, and for keeping you up (respectively). We're open 24 hours a day if you decide to come back for more!