Japanese Title

The Kaibousitsu LP is an impenetrable black box. Do not attempt to figure out its inner workings; just listen joyfully to Crow (of the bands Crow and Death Comes Along) wail and croon psychotically over energetically played, darkish punk/hardcore rhythms. The other aspects of the enigma that we do know: The band's name was also a song by The Stalin and has been translated variously as dissection room or autopsy suite, the LP was released on the mighty H:G Fact label (their website is screwy as of late), and it was sold in the US for a pricey sum and appears to be sold out everywhere. I was all set to rip this thing, but my klutz-ass dropped it, taking a decent sized chunk off the outer edge. I ripped it anyway and replaced the truncated tracks with ones I downloaded from a nice soulseeker. Apologies in advance for that inconsistency of quality and for the lack of song titles.

Kaiboushitsu LP

Check out this post on the band's 7"

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"

Crow

The longevity and integrity of Japanese bands is truly to be marveled at. Bands of the past are rising again, left and right, often just as good or better than their previous incarnations. Crow is one of the best examples, and I think we can agree that anything they put their name on is worth having or at least downloading. The offering for today is a tour 7" put out by Prank in 2005. I believe only 500 of these were released. The material can be either looked upon as two tracks using very similar themes (musically and lyrically), or perhaps one continuous track in two parts. Side A starts the repetitive hypnotic riffing at an upbeat (punk) tempo, overlaid with unstructured lead guitar meanderings and repetitive, echoed vocals (by the way, I friggin' love the new Crow vocals!). Side AA (B) continues this format, but at a more frantic, paranoid, galloping pace. Although not the most dynamic songwriting, this disc is an interesting exercise, and worth a listen. (Note: Not surprisingly, members of Crow are in a weird Psyche band called Death Comes Along).

Destroy the Miserable Dominant HERE