Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Pimp Of Satan

The second Gob-related noise installment for this week is this classic Satan's Pimp Records comp, "Accidental Death Through Misadventure & Mayhem" (Vol 2). In the S'sP tradition, we're treated to six tracks by six heavy and whacked-out noise rock bands. At high volumes, this comp can be endlessly entertaining! Even if you don't enjoy this genre, at least download it for the intermittent chuckles you'll get by having the name Jackwacker listed on your i-pod (if you have one).

Tracks:

1. Pachinko- "Sideshow"
2. Gob- "Tough Cookie"
3. Jackwacker- "Thighmaster"
4. Exit- "Oxidize"
5. Designer- "Pissing In My Bed"
6. Bhang Dextro- "L.T.A.T.W."

Experience the misadventure HERE

Monday, September 29, 2008

Adolescent Girls Engaging In Heavy Petting


Did you really think I'd go too long without a Gob post? Really, though, this split EP with fellow Reno-ites, Loadstar, is of interest only for the true Gob fans. As a very early outing, the band hadn't yet discovered its musical inner demon, and their lack of edge and aggression is all too noticeable. The saturation of feedback and such is in plain earshot, but it only begins to foreshadow the behemoth they would unleash on their later splits and LP. I wish I could say that Loadstar add something extraordinary to this platter. They play a quirky, guitarless form of rock with semi-spoken vocals and a trumpet. Interesting, but not remarkable. This pee-pee colored EP came with a bunch of wacky DIY style inserts which I've scanned for your amusement. File this one under Gob completism.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Song Of The Week: "Sore For Days"

I could have chosen any track from Gasp's opus, "Drome Triler of Puzzle Zoo People," for this week's song, but I decided to go with the track by which I first came to know this twisted ensemble. "Sore For Days" is the title track to Gasp's demo, but I first heard it on the "Cry Now, Cry Later Vol. 4" 2 x 7" comp. I always eagerly anticipated its thick opening feedback and creepy opening voice sample more so than the onslaught of any other track on that comp. This is saying a lot considering Gasp shared it with the likes of Spazz, Crudos, Halfman, Noothgrush, Charles Bronson, and Detestation. It also, along with Noothgrush's track ("Gage"), afforded me my first hit of eye/mind-opening sludge (prior to that, my musical repertoire ranged from fast to really fast). So what you get this week is Gasp in its more primitive form. The structure is a little more predictable than their later tracks, but the bone-rattling discord and hair-erecting coldness is ever-present, not to mention the suffocating power. Gasp fucked up my musical world permanently, and I can't thank them enough for it.

You can probably find this comp in its entirety on several blogs, as well as Gasp's singles collection "An Earwig's Guide to Travelling."

"Sore For Days"

"Sore For Days" (Ripped from the demo for that "authentic" cassette experience-- thanks to whomever I downloaded this from!)

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Like A Bow-Staff Through The Head

Bands from Norway tend to rock hard, and in this respect, Kort Prosess is extremely Norwegian! The 7" depicted above is perhaps their heaviest and most unrelenting release (Heart First Records, 1994?). The thick metal guitars, the pounding drums, the low guttural vocals... this is some powerful hardcore! To break things up, the band throws in some great semi-melodic picking and so forth, but not quite as much as on their other efforts. I can't recommend enough this EP, nor anything else Kort Prosess ever released (check out their other 7" here and their double 7" here).

Bow-Staff penetration point

Thursday, September 25, 2008

"Trees of the mind- Collapse!"

This is another one for the completists, so if you don't already have this... Here's the semi-bootlegged Neanderthal/Blatant Yobs split. It's "semi" legitimate because it does have an address printed on it and was released with an issue of Ox fanzine. It seems, though, that Wood was severely miffed by the use of these two Neanderthal songs ("Mind Eraser" and "Brain Tourniquet") for this EP (there are no labels or inserts either, which certainly contributes to the bootleggedness of it all). So unfortunately there's nothing new here from the mighty post-Infest, pre-MITB, Neanderthal, but hell, if you don't have these tracks... get 'em! Blatant Yobs are a bit of a mismatch, and with a better guitar sound might actually have been good. However, the silly lyrics and Fischer-Price sound quality on the gits decreases whatever appeal their brand of rocked-out hardcore may have had. Like I said, this one's for the completists and the morbidly curious...

By downloading this you are promising to buy the Neanderthal discography from Deep Six when it finally does come out.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Destroyer Of Towns!

Lana Dagales may be best known for their ferocious split LP with Iron Lung, but their debut EP is a real instant reputation builder too (Sounds of Betrayal, 1999 (pre-Putrid Filth Conspiracy ?)). That reputation would be the ability to play brutal as fuck grindcore/"powerviolence" with an assassin's precision. My only complaint? It's too short. The first time you play this mofo, you'll probably loop it three times in a row to make sure what you just heard was as intense as the initial impression it leaves. I did, and I'm a believer. One of the two members is in Brainoil, but Lana Dagales is more for the Hatred Surge and Iron Lung junkies. And, if you're at all turned off by their name, read this interview and it may change your tune. This 7" fucking shreds!!!

Get your new arsehole HERE

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Song of the Week: "Burden Of Hope"

From now on, (just about) every Sunday night will be song-of-the-week night. Each post will be a chance for me to throw out a single track (usually) that has been either meaningful to me over the years, or it may be a new standout that perks up my ears whenever it come out of the ol' speakers. I may once in a while take a bit of license in the type of music posted, so you never know what you might find here...

The first SOTW is the title track to Grail's album, "The Burden of Hope." The reason for posting?: It's absolutely gorgeous! Grails is known for blending ingredients from classic rock, "post rock," and different types of folk from around the world into a very ambient, unpredictable, and unique sonic delicacy. In "Burden of Hope," the band drops much of its usual subtlety and performs a heart wrenching, crescendoing drama that could be the story of lost soul overcoming despair, the first blades of grass rising through the thawing earth, or simply our daily battle of getting out of bed in the morning (if you can get your alarm clock to play this, imagine how triumphant your mornings would be!). All the musicians are awesome, but it's hard not to follow the drummer as he leads the composition with a bubbling sense of angst below the song's surface, then crashing violently to the climactic point, and finally lulling us into a transcendent calm. All this is done in a mere four minutes. I've experienced these four minutes countless times now, and each listen is as chilling and mind-blowing as the first.

Listen

Blinded By Your Vision

The Aversionline Blog just reposted Christdriver's monstrosity of a CD, so here's a companion piece-- the band's two song 7" (Profane Existence, 1995?). Armed with a frighteningly heavy, metallic guitar sound and a penchant for movie samples, these ex-Subvert players wail out a bleak and detached form of metal that takes its influence from doom metal and industrial music, but is neither. Having less room on this EP, the band keeps it fairly straight to the point, although the doomier, hypnotic "Sight" almost reaches the six minute mark. If you can handle the slow and heavy stuff, this band is crushingly good, but I recommend listening to the album first.

The 7" (320 kbps) You might be able to buy a copy here!

In update news, if you enjoy Enewetak and Burning Kitchen, go to the comment boxes for those posts to find some more free goodies!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Curious Guy is also a Generous Guy


We can thank Curious Guy of the prolific and compelling Phoenix Hairpins and System//Sabotage//Chaos blogs for ripping today's featured split between Japan's Deride and Singapore's Minus (Underground Warder Productions, 2000). Even with two blogs to manage, he still found the time to send this gem our way. What a guy!

On to the music: this time, Deride's tracks have a more burning spirits feel to them, but there's a bit less of that seizure-inducing punch and power evident on their Mangrove EP and the recent LP. No matter, though, because Deride completely kills, and anything they do is worth repeat listens on a loud volume setting. As far as Minus is concerned, this is my only exposure to them thus far, and possibly to any hardcore/crust band from Singapore. Minus's sound is (all-caps) RAW in it's crusty power and simplicity. There may be nothing new or dynamic about the band's approach, but there's a feeling of authenticity and genuine conviction that leaves an impact for sure.

Thanks again to Curious Guy (who ripped this disk at 256 kbps!). You're a real class-act in this hectic and congested blogotropolis!


Wednesday, September 17, 2008

"You can get out of here, if you haven't killed anybody..."

In case you don't have these six crushers, here's Enewetak's "Easy Rider Sessions Vol. 1" EP, revealing the band at its most "southern" (California?). Think Sleep's "Volume One"-era material, but more evil (ie. Eyehategod & Noothgrush!). The band's sound morphed at about three different points in its life, but the members seem very at home with these dirty sludge riffs. Lyrically, it's the usual topics: death, destruction, violence, and exploitation. One exception would be "It's A Small World After All," which, in no uncertain terms, bashes the idea of compensating descendants of slaves for the injustices against their ancestors. Oooo, controversy! I see their point, but I'm curious what spurred them to make a song about it. Anywho, this is a nice component to the sludge cannon, and for those who want more, check out Tafkata, another burly sludge beast formed by Enewetak personnel.

Here

Sunday, September 14, 2008

"To the west... the orange glow"

In 1995, I talked myself out of going to a show alone after my friend cut out on me. The show's line-up: Crudos, Man Is The Bastard, Gehenna, and Enewetak. Man, I suck. It was one of those decisions for which the regret has never subsided...

Of all the bands at that show, Enewetak are the probably the least recognizable, making them a great choice for a post. Enewetak must have seeped out of the same Godless chasm from which arose Rorschach, Gehenna, and Unruh. Are they metal? Hardcore? Metalcore? Who gives a fuck!? They completely destroyed! On their last full length, "Onward To Valhalla," (Crawlspace Records, 1997), Enewetak's songwriting reflects their disinterest in settling into comfortable genre expectations. Alternating between intricate, chunky metal picking, gargantuan sludge riffage, and occasional fits of blast-beat grind, the band never lets the listener lock into any particular groove for too long. A true edge-of-your-seat experience here, from one of the only great things to come out of Orange County, California.

Members of Enewetak went on to be in/are still in The Accident, Tafkata, The Touching Game, and Run. Dash. Sprint. "Onward" seems to be out of print, so here it is ripped at 320...

Onward

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Crazy Fucked Up Daily Live

The words "live" and "bootleg" don't foreshadow much in the way of sound quality. However, the difficulty in finding any release by elusive thrash punks, CFDL, makes this live one-sided 12" quite a catch. Recorded on December 13, 1993, the 12 tracks herein reveal a young CFDL playing their guts out with only moments of massive feedback as reprieves from the raw thrashing turmoil. Some of their classics appear, including "Tofu Song" and "Religion Make Unhappy," a few of which were not yet released at the time of this recording (I assume... and yes, they play their version of Siege's "Conform"!). This is cool piece of CFDL history, which I hope someone else out there will enjoy.

Click

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

"Make Sure The Machine Is On When God Is Calling"


Every once in a while I seek comfort in a little melody, and this would be one of those days. Today's reason for singing is a split LP between Goatboy and Drunk. Ontario, Canada's GB start it off with a heaping 13 tracks of impassioned idealism in the form of melodic hardcore. Present on each track is a nice mix of snottiness and sincerity, which tends to remind me of fellow Northerners I Spy and Propaghandi, as well as other similar and obscure bands like The Krupted Peasant Farmerz and Quadiliacha. I didn't realize how long Goatboy has been around, but their discography cites their first sign of recorded life at 1990. I couldn't really say at this point if they're still active...

I dig Goatboy, but to be honest I bought this split because of Drunk-- a Norwegian rock-punk band of considerable brilliance, whose lineage branches off from such God-like entities as So Much Hate and Life...But How To Live It?. Sounding nothing like their forefather bands, Drunk's modus is a more refined form of rock, but the punk pulse cannot be subdued. Sometimes it remains below the surface, driving the slower tracks with a tense energy; but at other times ("Ransom"; "Murder") it runs the show, pushing the tempo into a punk rock frenzy, and arresting the listener with a crescendo of clean, driving guitars, salient vocal melodies, and poignantly perplexing lyrics. Being so used to rougher forms of rock, it took a while for me to adjust to the Drunk's medium. I'm glad I didn't give up, because it's pure genius! The band's exquisite (and sole) full length, "Company Tie," is widely available-- hopefully you will/have pick(ed) it up. And, if you haven't heard So Much Hate or Life... But How To Live It?, I don't know what else to say, but get thee hence and hence immediately! (You can also hear Drunk cover Leatherface's "Razorblades and Aspirin" here).

I wanted this LP to be ripped at 320 kbps, so I did, but it was ever so slightly too big. Therefore:



Sunday, September 7, 2008

Alive With Doubt

Labels and comparisons become pointless with bands like Niigata City's Deride. The energy on their F.T.L.E 7" (Mangrove Label, 1999) is explosive enough to blast away all hardcore barriers. I can imagine X-ed out youth crew kids, bestudded crusties, and all those between and around going ape-shit over this. Deride is hardcore, plain and simple, in all its glorious raw power. Years after the release of this 7", the band issued forth a mighty LP that continues the legacy. I'm not sure what else they've recorded, but I'd sure like to find out.

The F.T.L.E. 7"

Barrel-Aged Hardcore

The supposed death of hardcore doesn't seem to phase some folks. Take, for example, Violent Arrest, whose members, in the form of Ripcord, slammed the tomb door on the Reagan-Thatcher era with their own violent US-influence (but still uniquely UK) thrash. Their new band is certainly not some defeated, sad bastard ensemble either; it is, fortunately, a continuation of the Ripcord sound (minus some speed)-- straight-forward, defiant, infectious hardcore! These thrashers have been and still are the real thing. If you haven't heard Violent Arrest yet, this ten track 7" (Deranged Records) is as good a place to start as any. The tracks below were ripped from my copy of the EP, but if you go to the label site, you can order VA's CD containing everything they've released so far (including the EP), and/or pick up the vinyl of their excellent 12", or go to VA's Myspace page to get higher quality mp3s.

Link has been removed. This was a limited-time-only download. Check the links above and support the bands! (There's also a couple of tracks in the singingbox).

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Menses, Murderer, Animal, Give Head, Puke

Since getting the "Fucking Noise Terror" comp. many years ago, I'd been wanting to hear more material from manic Japanese thrash punk unit, Jack With Killer. I was successful in tracking down this "Counterattack From An Obscure H.C." EP (Six Weeks Records), but could use some help in finding more. Meanwhile, I'm happy to chew on these six sloppy, noisy punk jams, which occasionally break out into blast beat conniptions. Do I enjoy the little studio trick used to "enhance" many of the tracks? Not particularly. But it doesn't detract from the listening pleasure provided by a band that didn't forget to include FUN in the hardcore equation. For fans of Quill, The Fasts, Slight Slappers, Romantic Gorilla...



Back Cover


Monday, September 1, 2008

The Apocalypse Will Not Be Televised

Argeniz requested more grindcore, and even though the above cover looks a little fruity, this is grind! Senseless Apocalypse gave me one of my favorite live experiences, so I'm proud to present their first CD, "Senseless Stereotyped Idea" (H:G Fact, 1999). Here you'll receive 25 spankings of spazzed-out, multi-vocaled grind that never seems to get old. Well-played, with well-placed tempo shifts... this is how it should be done! After nine years, the band has finally issued another full length, and although I haven't heard it yet, I can safely assume that it cranks!

D/L "SSI"