A Channel of Static Gray

It's opportunities like this where I'm glad I stuck with this blogging nonsense. Today's split 12" features two fairly obscure bands that I already liked, it seems pretty rare, it was cheap and in great condition, and, most importantly, it kicks a fierce amount of ass! Prior to this split with Segue, I only knew Manitowoc, Wisconsin's Inflicted from their split with Ojorojo. That's a whopping three minutes of music, but they left their mark. I remember them sounding a lot like the nineties Bay Area HC I worship often, and these five tracks continue that, but for some reason this time they seem more New Mexican. Dark and slow meets fast and angry in a contest I find myself comparing to Neurosis, Logical Nonsense, Dead and Gone, and Eldopa. This is solid, world-class hardcore that deserves much more attention.

Segue is a bit more of a protean beast. Between the grooves is a nightmare journey of noise, Bremen-style grind/hardcore, and heavy Neurosis-esque mood-crust. I took a chance on these bug-obsessed Minnesotans a while back with their first 10" and loved it. This is more of the same despair-ridden ugliness, mingling with blades of gray melody that keep the tracks from collapsing on themselves. Certainly a sweet find for fans of Mörser, Dimlaia, and Christdriver. If/when I verify that they're out of print, I'll post the band's first two releases. Their second 10" is still available from Trujaca Fala.


The Inflicted/Segue split 12"

For All You Media Parasites

This'll probably be the last Decrepit post on this site, but it's a real humdinger. Be sure to track down their CD released in Poland which collects all their work. On tonight's featured disk they team up with Seattle grinders, Cephlatripe. Decrepit are a great example of a band that broke no new ground, but made excellent use of the land they roamed. Those vocals are most certainly Decrepit's badge of distinction- like a Tasmanian devil hooked up to a car battery. They're in rare form on their side, and fire out a Disrupt cover to seal the deal. Now, as mentioned before, Cephlatripe play grindcore. You should know what that sounds like. It comes with all the usual trimmings of heavy, metallic guitars, dual vocals, blast beats, etc, but with nice start/stop precision and lots of intensity. If you really need a reference point I'll go ahead and throw out the Assück comparison, or maybe an obscure one like to their fellow Northwesterners, Blight. More info about this band would be nice to come along. Meantime, enjoy the noise...

Decrepit/Cephlatripe Split 7" (Extortion Records)

Song Of The Week: "Écarté du Lucre" (Amanda Woodward)

With all this nostalgic talk and posting of French bands, it's about time I posted a more recent favorite from this little niche. Amanda Woodward is a band that would potentially lose points with me at the outset: their music is neither fast nor heavy, and their band name is a person's full name (Charles Bronson is an exception. Maybe Bruce Campbell...). But in songs like "Écarté du Lucre," redemption comes by way of the ornate mating dance of the dueling guitars that build into those jarring yet somber chord bursts this band seems to revel in. Really it's the dueling guitars that make many of AW's songs memorable, and the gorgeousness of those present in this track set it apart from most of the bands own discography. Whether you're comfortable calling it hardcore or not, it's still beautiful and angry stuff, not to be missed by those of you with a fairly liquid definition of the genre. I saw them once live, and they seemed like very humble and good people (and of course, great musicians. Too bad the crowd was a bunch of unappreciative wet rags). Many of the members are in Aussitot Mort now, but I'm not sure if AW is still playing music.

"Écarté Du Lucre" by Amanda Woodward (from the "Pleine de Grace" 7")

No More Shit Society

I've at last reunited with this nineties treasure after parting with it years ago. I probably sold it during a brief deluded state where I was convinced I had "outgrown" crust. While not much into CDs, the need to atone for my arrogance has brought "Cathode Ray Coma" back into my collection and perhaps the main contents of it right into yours. Much of what made Discharge and ENT great is lovingly retrofitted into this blazing fast crust odyssey. The advent of Leigh's vocals and more varied and interesting song writing make "CRC" a noticeably more exhilarating listening experience than say, the material from the split LP. "Extensive Slaughter" and "Shit Society" are total classics in my personal cannon if you need a place to start. In addition, this CD version has the tracks from the "The Waste and the Greed" 7" as well as the EOW side of their split with Dischange.

Excrement of War "Cathode Ray Coma" CD (Finn Records, ripped @ 256 kbps)

Song Of The Week: "Love Manifesto" (The Mr. T Experience)

Valentine's Day: cheap, manufactured, on-demand romance. Everybody knows it's lame, and no I'm not just bitter because I couldn't find a date or something. As a statement of rebellion, I post this SOTW the day after (okay, I was just the worst combination of busy and lazy) and I've chosen a comical love song. I was thinking about posting some crust song about biological warfare and such, but this song got stuck in my head as it often does. Now I pass this plague of a chorus onto you like that car blasting "Material Girl" that passes you by and ruins your mind for the rest of the day. The only thing Mr. T Experience was more self-conscious about beside their sappy-ness was their humor. Maybe their catchy-ness too which was like a chocolate dipped crack-rock wrapped in a flu virus.

"We'll make a date just to smash the state, just you and me..."

"Love Manifesto"

Riot In Your Ass

h100s is the musical equivalent of the explosive diarrhea brought on by a blurry night of cider and ramen binging in a city adoze from its own mediocrity. Too much cider and not enough ramen most likely. That, the raging riffs, and insane vocals should be enough to render the rest of this post unnecessary. But, just so you know, members were also in 9 Shocks Terror and Gordon Solie Motherfuckers; h100s also released two even more insane 7"s; this record is out of print after being released 3 times on 3 different labels (I think). If you find any copies of their releases, do yourself a favor and pick 'em up.

h100s "Dismantle" 12"

Phoque Aime All

I was on a whole French '90's hardcore kick, then it was brought to my attention that the "Le Garage" comp link was not working... perfect time for a French double (re)post. Sea Shepherd's vocals remind me a bit of Ivich and Vanilla, but musically we're looking at more straight forward and fast hardcore. In fact, until you see the layout of the booklet, there's not much more to connect these guys to the emotive cadre encircling their particular time and place (other than maybe the dolphin (?) voices between tracks). Rough and fast one moment, a bit groovy the next. Very cool band that probably only released comp tracks in addition to these six (hopefully I'm wrong and some nice commenter can help out). Speaking of comps...


... I posted this "Le Garage" comp what seems like years ago. It was pretty important to me back in the day as it had very early tracks from Finger Print and Ivich, who became favorites and continue to be such. There's also an early version of a Sea Shepherd track that's on the 7", a rager from Abolition, and 2 tracks from Human Alert that leave me a bit ambivalent. If you're a Finger Print fan and haven't heard "Docility," you may be in for a bit of a surprise.

The Sea Shepherd 7"

 "Le Garage 7" (re-ripped @ 320) HERE

SOTW: "The Game" (Shotmaker)

That's one tasty looking piece of asparagus. It's also the iconic cover of one of my all time favorite splits. Many great splits result in stalemates, but I have no problem saying that Shotmaker win this and then some. I am biased however... I own everything they ever released. But take note of that persistent and stubborn rolling thunder of a bass trying so hard to establish dominance over the grating nails-upon-chalkboard assault of the guitars, and see how both come out together in a unified hand-gesture of total defiance to categories. This is not a vegetable phallus, but a big middle finger to genres, preconceptions, and all potential and forthcoming judgment.

"The Game" by Shotmaker (from their split LP with Maximillan Colby)

A Punx Picnic On Industrie Strasse

This week has been a real pirate whore. Next week and this weekend, I'll shoot for diligence, but no guarantees there. After such a shit week, it's time for a couple of fun comps. Shit, the "Industrie Str. 23 96-97" comp has an exclusive Quarantine track, for fucksake! Throw in a possibly exclusive La Fraction number and a bunch of other nice Euro punk/crust/grind of the late nineties, and you have instant party! Lots of variety; seldom a dull moment...

"Industrie Str. 23" Comp.

And, I need your help with this one. Below is a silly 7" comp from a festival in Biel showcasing a cover song contest. I picked it up because of Lost and Skew Whiff, but my brain isn't working right this week. Do you recognize any of these covers?

"Schrott Bar" Comp

Song Of The Week: "In The Red" (Zygote)

"In The Red" is a ghoulishly bouncy number by a band I can honestly say I cannot live without. But what else can one expect from 3/4 of the Amebix line up and the bass player of The Smartpils, Bad Influence, and (later) Cross Stitched Eyes? The "89-91" collection was my first exposure, but when I picked up "A Wind of Knives," track three seemed to coat the inside of my veins with a dark nepenthe of post-crust phantasmagoria. Infectious and strangely familiar, but ultimately in a class of its own, Zygote's work has been a bit polarizing to some potential fans. Many nay-sayers will still insist on comparing them to their previous band, but they really are two very different animals. I won't spend too much time trying to convince the unimpressed; Zygoted seems to be one of those "gut instinct"-type bands.

"In The Red" by Zygote from the "A Wind Of Knives" CD