A Dark Night of Shameless Abuse

Complications was a pariah mongrel of death rock and punk unleashed by members of Born Dead Icons, The Black Hand, etc. For me, this seemingly rare 7" evokes a heart-pumping pursuit of mysterious ends through a twilit dreamscape, all the while skirting along the edge of a nightmare but never quite lapsing into it. It's no doubt an exhilarating experience which can be enjoyed in a more fruitful and layered form on their LP, and which I hope you'll pick up from a distributor of your choice. Once the LP becomes harder to find, I'll just have to post that too.

Complications 7" (Feral Ward Records)

Starving with our Stomachs Full

Another commenter has prompted me to dust off yet another post from '08 which I've been wanting to polish up for a while anyway. Asebia would make a great bookend to another slab of cold Northern gloom posted recently, and I daresay these Copenhageners stabbed even deeper into humanity's diseased viscera. They then proceed to mop up the filth left by this ailing beast with its own entrails. The attack is swift like all great scandi-thrash, but the evil metallic flourishes and abundant tempo changes really lend Asebia a singular signature I've come to admire in them and similarly gifted bands like Konfrontation and Acursed. Below their LP has been re-ripped at 320 kbps, and I've included the minimal graphics of the layout. Apparently there was a cassette version of these 10 excellent tracks, but its production is a bit mysterious and its distribution a bit shoddy.

Asebia "Face of Civilization" LP (Plague Bearer Records)

Entropy Time Motherfucker

I thought I could get this up sooner, Roman; sorry for the wait. This is a re-post of the venom spewing classic, Suppression/Cripple Bastards split LP posted way back in '08. I first came to know the biomechanoid hate-generator known as Suppression from their split with Despise You circa 1996, and have since then continued to admire their caustic ejaculations with few interruptions. If Man is the Bastard and Crossed Out deliberately crashed their tour vans into a Guitar Center's amplifier department, these 13 tracks would be the ostensible result if it happened to be in Virginia. The sludge, the speed, the noise-- it's all there, in horrific abundance.

There's little that needs to be said about Italy's grindlords Cripple Bastards other than maybe some comments I've heard about some unenlightened things said by the singer (no details; not in the mood). Other than that, the 23 songs on their side are pretty raw renditions of tracks that would appear on the "Your Lies in Check" LP.

Suppression/Cripple Bastards split LP (Bovine Records... ripped at 320 kbps)

Skull Crushing 101

My love affair with The Conversions persists long after their demise, leading me to pursue a copy of their split 7" with iron tenacity. So here it is: three of their best tracks on this very rare platter, recorded with the same rawness as their 7". The sound The Conversions explored was not unlike the blueprint of eighties punk being reworked by ambitious engineering students armed with protractors and slide rulers and hopped up on coffee and Pixie Sticks- smart and angular, while still retaining a hefty impact at the gut level. This band will be sorely missed, and I hope you'll go find a copy of each of their 12"s, and maybe download the 7" and comp. track I posted long ago. As for Witches With Dicks, they have a tough act they're following, but I still enjoy the Lookout! Records throwback sound, huge Crimpshrine fan that I am. More contemporay analogues may include The Sainte Catherines and The Monikers. Catchiness, energy, a sense of humor... good stuff, just don't get me started on their band name.

The Conversions/Witches With Dicks Split 7" (It's Not A Phase, Dad Records, 2005)

The Redeadening

Same-Sex Dictator continue to document the escalation of the long-going interplanetary war the rest of us have been blind to as our attentions are affixed on expensive little bleeping toys and glowing screens. "From Beneath You It Devours" is the band's insanely brilliant first (hopefully not last) full length, which to untrained ears may sound not unlike both Yeti records mixed together at different intervals and at incorrect speeds. Further examination will find that these very original compositions are the score of a bipolar inner space opera, interpreting the role of a heretofore undiscovered, subterranean guerrilla force and their role in said conflict. Taken at face value or analyzed for subliminal content, these eight tracks are consistently and simultaneously engrossing, crushing, and ultimately not quite like anything else out there. I recommend this LP to anyone whose dendrites have remained reasonably intact even after all the deadening exposure to the aforementioned distraction instruments. Below I have provided the entire record for download, but I don't expect it to remain there long; there are forces out there beyond my control. Plus, I really want you to buy a copy (see links below).

Full link has been removed, but chew on these killer tracks and go buy a copy if you like 'em

Same-Sex Dictator (2 sample tracks)

Buy:

Robotic Empire

End Theory

Rumor has it, there will be a cassette release with a download code coming soon.

For a more accurate review of the band, see here.