Today We Ride

Flipping through the myriads of black and white covered crust records can be daunting. Which holds the hidden treasure? And which of them are just stale d-beat? My advice-- don't pass up on El Monte, California's Mala Sangre. These guys play stench-core that could easily last multiple rounds in a cage match with Hellshock or Stormcrow. They're still around and gigging, and hopefully will release some more great tunes in the future. For now, enjoy their dirty, crusty two song 7", "Ride The Wind..."

"Ride The Wind" by Mala Sangre (released in an edition of 450 copies by Threat To Existence Records)

Hide The Sun

Some more haunting melodies here to usher you into to the fall. Dimlaia got compared to Neurosis, etc. a lot, but I suspect that was due to a lack of any truly similar band to compare them to. In addition to the creeping pace of their music, Dimlaia's sound is defined by gorgeously tenuous guitar lines that seem to break apart at a mere gust of wind, and which afterward reconverge only to crumble again. It only takes a listen or two to know that this cycle is carefully orchestrated, although it gives the impression of randomness or improvisation. Overlaying the arrangements is an ambient shroud of autumnal melancholia, which should be ventured cautiously by those prone to moodiness. The band also avoids the trap many heavy bands these days fall in of getting too indulgent with their song lengths. "Hide The Sun" is an excellent example, packing in an epic's worth of power into a mere three minutes, and allowing the music to do most of the communicating.

"Hide The Sun"

Dimlaia featured Carl Auge (original bassist for HHIG) who also painted the art used for the cover (as well as the cover for their split 10"). Life Is Abuse Records still has copies of the Dimlaia CD as well as the Drain The Sky EP (ex-Dimlaia). The above mp3 was ripped from the Stonehenge Records vinyl version of the album.

Saints From Hell

Open Revölt's 6 song LP, and you're greeted by the band member's photos. Here they pose in a forest, the Drummer and Bass player donning some serious metal spikes and panda-faces collectively, and chainmail and bullet sashes respectively. Oh yeah, they both brandish sabers too. Then there's the guitar/vocals guy standing on the shore of the lake, but looking like he just got back from a Battle of Disarm show. At first you might think these guys are not yet sure what they want to be, until you hear the first riff. Then it becomes clear: we're in old-school, stench-ass crust territory! The tempos crawl and the guitar chugs along at a nightmarishly hypnotic pace, and if it weren't for those simple yet kick-ass riffs, I'd say the songs were a bit too long and undynamic. They pull it off damn well, though, especially on side A, and certainly with help of the double bass drums which bring a bubbling-under-the-surface intensity to the tracks. Check it out if you're a fan of Axegrinder, later Amebix, or Coffins. Only 500 of these were pressed on Awesome Moshpower Records (the Japanese have such a way with words!). The label also points out (correctly) that there were a lot of pops/clicks on this pressing. I deleted as many as I could, but could only do so much.

"Gate Of Holocaust"

You might be able to get a CD-r with live and demo stuff here.

We Descend As Dreams

As autumn drops down on us, we initiate a series of Songs Of The Week in tune with this time of dimming light. I wanted to save this one, the darkest, for the cusp of winter. But I've always discouraged listening to really depressing music during that season, and I just snapped out of one of those the-world-fuckin-sucks kind of moods, so this one is perfect for today. The spotlight this week is on The Gault's "The Shore Becomes The Enemy." Few bands have succeeded in making pure human despair so palatable, or in the case of this composition, sublimely beautiful. Having connections to black metal legends, Weakling, the BM card must be pulled, but it's the gothy, progressive aspects of this band that drive the ship. Be patient. At 12 1/2 half minutes, this journey is a far cry from the punk blasts our attention spans crave. But despair of this purity takes time and a careful hand to evoke.

"The Shore Becomes The Enemy" by The Gault (ripped from vinyl for that crackle-of-dry-leaves-under-foot experience).


Read along with The Gault:

Black Becomes The Sunday

I just got this one recently, but had to share. Is it possible that World Burns To Death is getting even better? They've raged and pillaged through three incredible 12"s and a small archipelago of 7"s, and yet they continue to blow minds! This little two-banger has the great tracks, "The War Can Go On Forever" and "Black Becomes The Sun" and I believe it was released for the band's tour of Japan with Blowback. A thousand were pressed on H:G Fact Records, and if there are copies out there, they won't last long. I'm sure the tracks will appear on future releases, but unless the actual EPs are re-pressed, I'll keep these rips up. Being such a short record, I'll go ahead and include...



...the WBTD/Blowback split. And, what's this? Melody? Yes, World Burns To Death weaves in some tasteful melody in their track "Here A Dream Dies Everyday," making it both a surprise and one hell of a killer! If you grabbed their friend Blowback's LP last year (or was it this year?), you know that they are a Far-East force of unfuckwithableness! They've got the insane vocals and tightness bands from their native land are known for, and then some. A fantastic and exhausting little split.


Get both 7"s HERE

Q: Music? A: Noise!

You probably already have this one too, but I just couldn't take the chance. What really needs to be said about perhaps the meanest, noisiest Japanese crust-core band of recent times? The insanity lets up for about 15 seconds at the beginning of "Wargasm," but other than that it's 28 minutes of glorious torment. If you make it all the way through without a headache, you've passed the test (or your volume setting is too low).

Gloom "Vokusatsu, Seisin, Hatansha" LP (Crust War Records, 23 tracks, 320 kbps).

The Footprint On Your Soul

I didn't quite make this one on time for split week, but it's my blog, so I can do what I want! You should probably have this one already, and if you do you know that these two bands live up to their reputations. This was one of the first releases Crow did after reuniting, throwing down a Crucifix cover and a thrashy original that will eviscerate your very being. Artimus Pyle, while keeping a somewhat low profile, have knocked out tons of quality releases over the years, and here shatter all your hopes for a better world with three jabs of down-tuned, dream-smashing, hardcore drear. If it's not a classic already, it might as well be. Mangrove and Prank handled this one, but I doubt you can still get a copy from either. The latter might be good place to stock up on other releases by both bands, though.

The Crow/Artimus Pyle split 7"

Grieve Over Destiny

It's only fitting after a week of splits to post a song off of one. Exhale exploded onto the scene, throwing out some serious post-Burning Spirits chops, then swiftly exited the back door to musical oblivion. Or maybe not. Perhaps they're crouching out of sight, waiting for the right time for another attack. Two splits (with Skitkids and Diallo), a 7", a couple of comp tracks; not enough damn it.

"Grieve Over Destiny" by Exhale from the split with Diallo

You're On My...

...Shitlist is a band whose brilliance was brought to my attention through the miracle of blogging. With all the great, mediocre, and terrible crust released in the nineties/early 00's, it's nice to have some guidance to navigate it all. I have blog hommie, Shawn, to thank for holding the torch up to this band. Shitlist's pedigree, while impressive, only serves as a stylistic reference index, because their power is absolutely singular. I believe the band is related to Hail Of Rage, Inhaste, and possibly Decrepit. I apologize if I'm wrong; all of the music and info I take up daily is getting to be too much for the o'l Duder's head. But the nine tracks on this slab lay waste to much of the material from those other bands. The tightness, the unrelenting fury... unbelievable. Thanks again, Shawn.

If you're energy isn't completely sapped from Shitlist, Calloused offer another challenging aural workout. Blokes like me who'll never get enough Detestation and Pink Turds In Space will find a 10 track feast of obnoxiousness bursting through the grooves of side B. The collusion of these two bands is just pure crusty perfection. The CD version of it was been posted elsewhere, but I really wanted to have it here for personal reasons. The link below has the usual 320 kbps vinyl rips with complete scans...

The Shitlist/Calloused Split LP

Christ-o-nators

Another classic here, at least as far as my personal cannon is concerned. I love both bands, and it really isn't fair to either of them to attempt a description or an explanation of their importance and/or awesomeness. EC drop a couple of mid-period gems: "Petty Ways" and "Uncontrolable Urge" (a Devo cover. I can't say it's better than the original, but it's Econochrist covering Devo for Christsake!). I recognize The Detonator's "Day By Day" from the "Balls To You" LP (rough cut), but I'm not sure if the other two tracks ("Crime And Punishment" and "Angry Young Man") were released elsewhere. The Econochrist discography is probably available everywhere from Ebullition to Amazon, and The Detonators' "Balls To You"CD has been reissued and is also easy to find.

320 rips from the 3rd pressing, scans, yada yada...

Here.

Kiss The Goat

Here's a split LP that's done some seat time on my table since about 1995. It's a pretty vicious piece, beginning with Ottawa-- the Tolkien-worshipping grind monster started by members of Current, and future members of Dearborn SS, Nema, and Calvary. Cacophonous is the word here, like a crustier, rawer Brutal Truth. Now, upon listening to side B after some years, I've come to believe Jihad could really have benefited from a better guitar sound. The tracks consist of some rockin' mid-paced metallic hardcore and are pretty crushing once you get used to the flat production. Bands like Enewetak, Gehenna, and Unruh really took this style and fucked it up in a good way. Overall, this is a massive record that merits repeated and torturous listens. I'm not sure how long this link will be up as I just found out that Council Records will finally be reissuing the Ottawa 12" with remastered tracks!

Click it:

The Buttshits Split

It looks like we're embarking on another split week. This time, I'm posting whatever I want, regardless of how many times it's been posted or whether or not the tracks have been compiled on a discography. Yes, a true celebration of a truly punk format. When it comes to punk as fuck splits, it's hard to shake a stick at Filth and Submachine's manifesto of drunkenness and punkness, "This Is Why We Are The Drunks." These bands need no intro and no disclaimer-- listen and let the debauchery begin! Full scans, 320 kbps vinyl rips, bla bla...

The Submachine/Filth split 7"

I Just Want To Sing Your Name

To all the Yanks with the day off today... happy Labor Day! I'm not sure why early September was chosen for this; America has a pretty arbitrary way of scheduling holidays. Anyway, this calls for a SOTW from everyone's favorite "commie" folk hero, Woody Guthrie. "I Just Want To Sing Your Name" comes from the "Ballads Of Sacco And Vanzetti" record, and I think you can figure out what the topic of each song is from that title. I always found this song moving, and with this kind of music, that's all that matters.

"IJWTSYN"

Or

"IJWTSYN" (mediafire)

There's Always Someone Else

I could think of no better quickie-post for a Saturday than a Burning Kitchen 7"! I also can think of few punk bands with as much piss, sincerity and nonstop energy as this amazing Swedish band. The "Damn If You Do..." 10" is my favorite BK release, but "Consolidation" is now a close second. Give yourself plenty of space when you play this one, as insane, spastic dancing will surely ensue. More (all?) Burning Kitchen releases will be posted here as I find them...

Burning Kitchen "Consolidation" 7" (5 tracks, Communichaos Media/Bent Edge Records, 1999, 1000 pressed)

Dawnbreed 7 Inchers

Man, it took me a while to get this shit together. Sorry for the delay, but you know how things can get. Today's four-EP post chronicles the drastic evolution of Germany's Dawnbreed. The early EP and split with Switzerland's Mine see the band trying their hand at the screamy chaos their American counterparts like Frail and Honeywell were dabbling in (the Mine tracks are great; near the goodness of their LP if it weren't for the muddy production). Then I'm throwing in their track from the "Plot" comp because it shreds and it provides a good segue between the early stuff and the awesome, mid-period "Kiosk" LP. Finally we arrive at the more indie-rock Dawnbreed (or Dawnbreed 5?), sauntering right into the open arms of their future band, Monochrome. I still love the "Kiosk" material best, but the later tracks sound more than pleasing to these San Diego ears. The early ragers showcase a very talented young band, but I don't know about all that screaming. It tends to grate on the nerves.



4 Dawnbreed 7"s and a comp track