The Fire That Conspires Against Us

Let me start by saying that blogging morale has been at an all time low.  An anticipated pay cut should spark some serious austerity measures here at FE headquarters, and the first budget casualty is, of course, vinyl purchases.  Then there's mediafire, which rages McCarthy-like in its pursuit to erroneously shut down the very users who bring the site its traffic.  My account was suspended after receiving a couple of demerits (school discipline terms both intentional and inadvertent), the offending straw being a Damnable Excite Zombies/Amen split that was somehow mistaken for a Dragonball Z© file!  I'm not going to fight it. Nor am I going to let this dampen my spirits any further.  I'm returning to 4-Shared, and while it makes you wait for your download, at least there aren't those ridiculous pop-ups giving zippyshare a shot at handling downloads.  The last few posts have been re-upped.  If there is/are any tunes you missed out on, contact me through comments or e-mail, and I'll re-up it/them for you. I'll keep the rest of this post upbeat, as I have good news, and yes, some freebies.

First, a generous lad, Ryan, offered high-quality CD rips of all three Institute releases, and being no fool, I took him up on it.  All three are available for download below, and he even included graphics.  I was also stoked to hear that Ryan has joined the ranks of us bloggers with an outlet specializing in hardcore/punk bands which employ cello and/or violin.  I've already discovered some kick-ass bands, and revisited some old favorites.  Make sure you head over and say hey, and maybe drop some requests.

Blog -- Crust With Strings

Institute CD Rips:

"Two Shadows"

"The Piano Player"

"13 Planets"

On to a request of our own: an anonymous blog buddy was looking for former Distraught rockers, Sangre de los Puercos, and I'm sorry I delayed this long (rough month).  While I like the overall noise SDLP make, and love their lyrics, something about the drums or drum production leaves me cold.  I don't know, maybe you'll like them more.  I do, however, have no objection to yet another related band, Endless Nightmare.  They're much more my speed, in that all out thrash attack of the vague Japanese and/or American variety.  Both Sangre 7"s and the Endless Nightmare 7" are in the link below.

Here

A long time ago, I did a post on the innovative and aggro hardcore band, Lesser of Two.  Well, a while back, they contacted me about how they posted some of their material for download.  Members are also in the amazing progressive metal band, Embers who are doing exciting things, and doing them often.  Check out both bands below.

Lesser of Two

Embers

Boredom and Disease

One of my top genres for summertime listening is good ol' dirty sludge.  Maybe it's the way it syncs with the pace of life; maybe it's my increased alcohol consumption.  In any case, NC's Seven Foot Spleen seemed right to post, but then again, I think anytime is a good time for them.  While the guitar tuneage and much of the pacing reeks of sludge, SFS are not locked into one mode, and like some of the best moments from Eyehategod and Mange, they often floor it to hardcore speeds.  Whether born from indecisiveness or a love for fusion and variety, the four tracks on the  "Boredom and Disease" 7" take the boredom right out of the title.  This genre and tempo crossover would continue in some members' next band, Hanging Rotten, which will be the subject of a future post.  Crusties, grinders, and hardcore kids alike should dig these guys, and for extra poops, I'm throwing in the band's split with Aussie hardcore madmen, Gacy's Place.

Download Seven Foot Spleen "Boredom and Disease" 7" (Fuck Inane Records, 1996) & the Seven Foot Spleen/Gacy's Place Split 7" (Spiral Objective Records, 1997)

Unsavory Secret Cloaked in Mystery

With tracks as long and complex as the life cycle of its namesake, Hellgrammite amble, trod, and ravage through mindscapes... well, unsavory, secret, and mysterious.  And, not unlike the fungus of the opening track's title, each of the four compositions on the "II" cassette are like deadly spores infecting the listener's brain, splitting sword-like through the cranium, revealing the tangled bramble-patch of the mind's sense of pleasure, euphoria, pain, and fear.  Black metal, doom, prog... these are all comfortable reference points, but like all art/music, it's not just what is present that matters, but the spaces between.  Whether those spaces take the form of bass-heavy drones, or echoey psychedelia, the violent times are all the more confusing and thrilling by contrast.  Hellgrammite is brought to you by one half of Same-Sex Dictator, and members of Forest Friends and ...Wind Swept Planes... The "II" tape is (possibly) available from End Theory Records, or contact the band.

Hellgrammite "II" Cassette (digital rips... 320)

** Special thanks to Justin for hooking up the tape and the WAV files (and for the awesome drumming)!