A Soul Full of Holes

This post begins a triple thrash threat of sorts, that will unravel between posts over the next couple of weeks.  Showcased will be three bands that fall into the subgenre I can't seem to get enough of.  I'm referring, of course to the dark, Scandinavian stuff.  All three bands have either been posted before, or referenced repeatedly throughout this blog.  As you can see, Acursed is the first band, and many of you know them from the black pall their two LPs draped upon the unsuspecting world; which brings me to the main motivation for this post-- it seems that the days of collection/discography CDs have come to a near dead end. This blog can be of some use in this respect.  Under the assumption that you have or can easily find the band's full lengths (I recommend starting there), I've ripped and collected all of the EPs and splits that I own to supplement those. If you're new to the band, I would point you in the direction of the Fallout split LP as a starter.  There isn't much more to say about Acursed that I haven't said already.  They're dark, heavy, fast, and refreshingly more complex than much of the boring raw punk rehash going on out there.

Acursed/Last Warning split 7" (Red Storm Rising, 1997)

Acursed- "A Fascist State... in Disguise" CDEP (Distortion, 1998)

Acursed/Victims split 7" (Putrid Filth Conspiracy, 1999)










Related Re-uploads:
Acursed/Bonds of Trust split 7"
Fallout/Acursed split LP
Fallout/Last Warning split 7"

Get a cheap copy of the band's second LP here

Requested Re-uploads:
Jeniger LP
Filthkick 7"
Inflicted/Segue split LP
Quarantine discography (?)
Depressor - 2 x 7", 7", splits.

Screaming at the Wind- Receive No Replies

Greetings from after the blogapocalypse.    The bustling marketplace of free music exchange has quickly taken on the eerie quiet of an Anasazi cliff dwelling. Transmissions have been weak and infrequent, as has motivation. Impulses to post come but then go before I can see a rip through to completion.  I'm fighting through this as much as I can, but surrender may be imminent.  Until I quit these ruins for good, I have at least a few posts I'd like to unload on you (a few sneak peaks are listed below).  For one, I've been wanting some decent rips of the two Abc Weapons records, and I figured why not share with all (three) of you.  When I first posted about these Aussies, I used some stolen rips.  But the ones below are homemade and hopefully of at least passable quality.  In case you haven't heard, The Weapons were a project with Schifosi/Pre-Pisschrist members and played that good ol' dark crusty hardcore made famous by Tragedy, and honed and refined by bands like The Holy Mountain, Muga, Jeniger, Ambulance, etc.  Like these bands, Abc Weapons kept their guitars tuned for maximum despair-induction, used only semi-melodic guitar leads, and avoided the pitfalls that make some neo-crust bands a bit irritating (screamy vocals, dramatic guitar dissonance...).  The "Process of Decay" 12" is one of the finer examples of this style, while the "Bitter End" 7" has enough shining moments and riveting blast-beats to make up for its slightly less stellar songwriting.  You can hear some samples from the unreleased "Excessum" 12" at the band's myspace page, and you can pick up the vinyl pieces posted below here and there about the web.

Abc Weapons- "Process of Decay" 12" and "Bitter End" 7" (Endless Blockades and Global Warning Records respectively).

Upcoming posts: Tragatelo 12", Memento Mori discography, Lost Goat, any requests?



Recent Re-ups:
Zygote- "89-91" LP
Acursed/Bonds of Trust Split 7"

In Piss We Crust

No type of noise has such an equal chance of being either super boring or super powerful as d-beat hardcore.  These days, I'm generally steered away from terms like raw punk, d-beat, kang, mangel, crasher crust, etc. due to the plague of overabundance.  But, there will always be bands than shine through the grey blur of two tone covers, and catch my waning attention.  Pisschrist is easily the shiniest for me.  These former members of Schifosi, Abc Weapons, and Far Left Limit mastered this style to such a degree I wouldn't be surprised if a hundred bands come out in the next decade with names starting with Piss-. With the small hope that you all don't already have all the band's splits, I've ripped them for whomever's interested.  The band assembled an impressive, international army of rawness to take the b-sides, enough to charge you hair without adhesives for a month at least.

Pisschrist (Australia) split 7"s with Appäratus (Malaysia), Framtid (Japan), and Kvoteringen (Sweden) (on Yellow Dog, H:G Fact, and Endless Blockades Records respectively)






Recent Re-ups:

Multi-Facet/Sheephead split 7"
Tonka 7" plus Tonka and Unherd related comps

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)

Violent Incendiary Distortion Monster

I feel like something fast today. Nailed Down circa 1995-97 fits that criterion. The obvious Lärm and Infest influence is observed in vicious collaboration with menacing Bostonian hardcore qualities and noisy Japanese amplification (made even more apparent by the band's choice of bands to cover: Negative FX, Kuro, and Confuse). "Violent Distortion" is an early example of the band's work before their sound changed a bit. On vinyl it was released as a 10" by a bunch of French labels, and Profane Existence Far East released it on 3" CD. What you get in the folder below are 320 rips of the CD with graphics from both versions of the release.

You'll also find rips of ND's "Honour and Glory" 8" flexi (Six Weeks Recs). The tracks are similar to "VD" but slightly less vicious, and a couple of raw live tracks are tacked on to the end. I did my best with the rip quality considering it's a flexi.

CD Cover:

Download both records here

Everything I Hate About Hardcore

Christ, where did this week go? Faster the better, I guess. A nice 7" is always good for when a post is in order, but time is scarce; so let's get started-- rumor has it that Far Left Limit had (a) future member(s) of Pisschrist in its line up. However, expect no abrasive d-beat on this split. Instead these Aussies plow through 5 tracks of political hardcore American style that are over before you know it. The brevity is disheartening, but it can be redeemed by playing the tracks again for an equally awesome experience, or by checking out Deadstare. These guys played grindcore and were not ashamed of it. Furious, metallic, blazing fast... it's grindcore, people. Get more information about Deadstare as well as their discography here.

Far Left Limit/Deadstare Split 7" (The last Deadstare track had some kind of bump in the wax, creating a low-rider with hydraulics effect with my turn table arm. I did what I could to remedy this).

Song of the Week: "Drowning In The Aftermath" (Schifosi)

Coming out of a 3 year, late-nineties bender of straight His Hero Is Gone, I needed something to keep me going, and keep the edge off. This and my unreconciled need for more bands like Unhinged led me to a little known Australian band called Schifosi, specifically to "Ill Winds From Outopia." The abrasive character of the vocals and Swedish-style drumming were smoothed over by the dark, malty guitar leads with the insidious after-effect of both satisfaction and craving. The year or so after this discovery is a bit of a blur, until "Half Lit World" came out. There are only four tracks on this one, but even after the great final 12" was released, I consider this 7" to be the band's finest achievement. "Law Is Freedom" and "Drowning In The Aftermath" are still my two favorite songs by the band, but after binging on both, "Drowning's" forceful build-ups and excellent songwriting put it in the #1 spot.

"Drowning In The Aftermath" by Schifosi (from the "Half Lit World" 7")

Big Fat Bag O' Splits!

Splits are always a great way to learn about new and obscure bands, but how about a grab-bag full of them? That's what we're dealing in today- a series of split 7"s I've run across recently and wanted to share. You probably haven't heard most of these bands, so unlike a real grab-bag, I offer some descriptions to either dissuade or entice:

The first split in the bag is from a couple of awesome Polish bands. You may recall Stupor from their split with Harum Scarum posted somewhere below. They play more of that thick and intense crust, like a more raw and heavy Post Regiment, while their partners, Verrecke play one long Amebix-meets-Counterblast dirge. It's as good as it sounds.

The name Spider Cunts kept coming up in blurbs about the lineage of Burning Kitchen (one of my favorite punk bands), so it was high time to check them out. What they deliver on this split is four obnoxious songs, mainly about getting wasted. The slamming drums, simple and catchy riffs, harsh vocals... I'm thinking a more obnoxious and punk Sin 34? Sure. Obnoxious is definitely the word here.

Oh, and The Dregs rage hard too. I don't know why I thought I'd dislike them; I actually ended up a fan. Nicely distorted guitars and screamed and wailed vocals that don't get monotonous like some bands' do. The hardcore attack and street punk sensibilities are reminiscent of Filth, but I wouldn't get too carried away with that comparison.

Finally we get to the international pairing of Yokel and Pisspoor. I hadn't heard of Australia's Yokel, and was impressed by their four well-played and vicious crust blasters. The vocals (especially the female member's) are scathing as hell. Granted, nothing originally is going on here, but it won't matter as you scream along, railing against genocide and greed!

Austin's Pisspoor offered some pretty good tracks on the "El Guapo" comp and their split LP, but there's something about these tracks that show a hitting of a stride. A band like this can only be successful if their anger comes across genuine and abundant, and really, that's exactly what this is-- unadulterated rage that's both punishing and cathartic.

Download a sack o' splits

Song Of The Week: "Girls On The Fiddle" (Mutiny)

Like some other weeks in the past, last week turned out to be a tribute to female fronted bands (not to be confused with full frontal female...). We're past the point where we need to have a parade every time a woman does something, but we can't ignore the lopsidedness of the male to female ratio in punk/hardcore. Hell, most of the blogs to your right are run by menfolk; any lady visitors out there? Anyway, working with teenagers, I get annoyed when I see the young ladies slipping into the expected gender roles. I'm reassured, though, when I see women in hardcore and metal-- the hope being that it will encourage girls to pick up instruments and stop regarding such an activity as "unfeminine." Which brings us to tonight's rollicking number, "Girls On The Fiddle" by my favorite Irish folk-punk band from Australia, Mutiny. It's possibly my favorite song by them, from my favorite album, "Rum Rebellion." Mutiny is a mixed gender band, but it's the ladies who dominate on this one, completely tearing up the fiddle, vocals, and I believe the bass. Whether you like this little sub genre or think it's played out, I recommend giving Mutiny a chance. And if you dare compare them to Flogging Molly, I'll be forced to break this bottle of Jamison over yer head!


"Girls On The Fiddle"

... which is Spanish for "The Guapo"

Apparently, the El Guapo Comp was a real pain in the ass to assemble and release, and well, it was only slightly easier to rip it! Regardless of these ripping complications (read more below), I felt that this comp was such a classic (for me at least) that I simply must post it. Being an early 625 "Productions" release, the conclusion seems foregone that several, if not all the post-Plutocracy bands will be represented (Spazz, No Less...). The line-up in general is...
intimidating! Many of the who's who of mid-nineties "powerviolence" are in attendance, at varying levels of quality. I've spun this thing so many times since its release, a note on the sound quality may be in order.

Disclaimers: First of all, according to Hirax Max, pressing number one had shitty mastering (my copy-- pressing number one). Second, I was not always as near-retentive as I am now regarding my records. This one has been a casualty of neglect and it shows in the fuzz and crackle; not to mention the giant scratch which makes the first three tracks a little hard to listen to, and which led me to delete one between-song audio sample (many apologies). For the most part, though, this is one hell of a noisy comp, and sound quality isn't a huge factor. The final issue is the track tagging. The band SBC supposedly has five tracks, but it wasn't clear how they are divided. I decided just to combine them into one giant track. With regard to No Less's track, I had to guess at the title. And finally, for the track that appears between Pisspoor's and Ansojuan's, I just assumed (perhaps wrongly) that it was an unlisted Pisspoor track and tagged it as such. There's always a glimmer of hope that someone out there is more astute than me at this (comments are more than welcome).

So here it is... around 40 headache-inducers conveniently assembled for your listening joy/agony/hilarity.


Here

Part 2: D.P.P.S & Nailed Down

Our second installment brings us back to Japan with DPPS. These psychos play a screaming mad, high energy grind/hardcore that is as tightly played as it is energetic. These ragers win the match on this split because they kick ass, and for reasons I'll explain below. Once again, sorry about the "Japanese Title" thing.

It has been said on another blog that Austraila's Nailed Down didn't release anything great since their 3" CD. This may indeed be the case. The tracks on this record are alright, but they have a certain listless, sloppy feel to them that led to ND losing some listeners. The band is obviously excited by eighties Japanese and Swedish hardcore as can be witnessed in their distortion, raw simplicity, and "pidgin" English song titles (eg. "Grand Order of Confuse Assasin"). The best track is a cover song (Mob 47), which is usually a fairly bad sign.

Download It

More 7" Comps That Don't Suck Vol.8: "Shadows of a Decaying Future"

As foretold, this is a compilation with some more Fallout tracks. I'm not sure when exactly the "Shadows of a Decaying Future" (Dry Retch Records) EP was released, but all the tracks were recorded around 1999. Only 1000 hand-numbered copies were pressed, but you may be able to get one still from the label or the always incredible Hardcore Holocaust. Although I got this one because of Fallout, the other bands won me over too. Nihilist are also from Australia, and drop three simple smoked-out crust/grind tracks that nod to Disrupt, but have their own fun and "nihilistic" flavor. Invazija are like the Lithuanian Sin Dios, (the Lithuanian language seems perfect for this, somehow) and issue four tracks of anthemic and catchy political punk/hardcore. Finally, Finland's Irritate baffle listeners with their mincecore cum stoner/psyche track that unfortunately ends just when you're starting to feel it. In the end, this is a good comp, and most will find something they like on it. Buy it if you can, or listen below...

Download

Fallout/Last Warning Split 7"

When I posted the Acursed/Fallout split LP a while back, I was mainly jazzed about Acursed's tracks, as well as their recent LP. In revisiting that piece, I realized that Australia's Fallout is NOT a force to be ignored either! On their split with Last Warning (Putrid Filth Conspiracy, 2000?), Fallout hammer us with five more blows of Dystopia-infused California-style violence. The tracks delivered here are every bit as menacing as those on the other split, and are forged extra solid by some excellent, heavy-handed drumming. The next post may very well be a seven inch comp. with more noise from these guys, so stay tuned! Sweden's Last Warning may not be able to match their split-mates in power and songwriting, but they definitely hold their own, spewing a catchy barrage of grindcore/powerviolence with precision enough to keep the listener following along and grunting for more! Two great bands, one great label, 13 sonic offenses...

Listen

Acursed/Fallout Split LP

In celebration of the release of "Tunneln I Ljusets Slut," Acursed's excellent second LP, I figured this would be a good time to post the band's early and now out of print split LP with Fallout. On the back cover of the new LP, Acursed thanks only two bands: Discharge and His Hero Is Gone. This curt salute speaks volumes for the band's impact and sound, as indeed they play an earth-shaking brand of distortion-fraught scandi-crust layered with dark, melodic nuances. The 10 tracks on this split are even more uncompromising and raw than the new record, and are underscored with a menacing bass presence that is absolutely devastating. In my mind, the body of work this band has produced thus far firmly places them into same echelon occupied by Kontrovers, Konfrontation, Martyrdod, etc. One member (Jon) is in also in both Sayyadina and Victims, a piece of intelligence that might prepare you for the assault. Acursed are a tough act to follow, but Fallout handle the task effortlessly. Based in Victoria, Australia, Fallout answer the secret wishes of hardcore fans worldwide with their lethal cocktail of Dystopia's metallic crunch and ascerbic vocal snarl, stirred sparingly with the speed and violence of Infest and Luzifers Mob. This description is no exaggeration! These Aussies really do supply the punishment, making it difficult to decide which side of this record is more enjoyable.

The Accursed/Fallout LP was released on Putrid Filth Conspiracy (aka the label that can do no fucking wrong!) in the early 2000's (although both bands recorded their material in 1998). As with all PFC releases, they never stay in print for long, so here are some rips...

The Split LP

Abc Weapons

Here's a ripping band to watch out for. Abc Weapons, from Melbourne, Australia, tear out a stomping aural affront that borrows generously from old Japanese hardcore, scandi-crust, and the Tragedy-inspired hardcore flooding the contemporary DIY circuit. The dark guitar melodies, compliments of current members of Schifosi, are what raise this band up from the crowd. What can I say? I can't get enough of the gloom and doom of the bands coming out these days, and Abc Weapons combines that depressing quality with an unusual amount of warmth and unstoppable energy. Upon checking the availability of their two releases (the self-titled 7" & "Process of Decay" 12"), I have come up short. No distros in the states are carrying them, and Endless Blockade's website was down. The 12" is stocked at Alerta Anti-Fascista if you live in Europe and are interested. The good news is that the band is putting out its first full length soon on Putrid Filth Conspiracy, and you can sample two of the tracks on their myspace page. Until the first two records are more widely available, I'll go ahead and post them below.

Download Abc Weapons' 7"

Download Abc Weapons' 12"

Schifosi - Half Lit World

I picked up Schifosi's "Ill Winds from Outopia" LP a couple of years ago based on a one-line description. It probably used words like "dark" and "crusty," and most likely compared them to Tragedy. They have since become one of my all time favorite hardcore bands. The description was mostly accurate. The guitars are a dark, layered, and melodic frenzy, supported by what can only be considered d-beat drumming. They may start with slow, haunting intros on some tracks, but once the punishment starts you can expect fast-paced hardcore the rest of the way. Most fans will cite the vocals as the biggest distinguishing factor. The vocalist (yes, it is a woman) belts out a unique, gutteral roar that edges toward grindcore. Some gruff male vocals enter the mix, but the lead vocals are the shit! All their records are outstanding, but one really stayed with me...

The "Half Lit World" 7" is perhaps my favorite collection of Schifosi songs. All four are ragers, and two of them ("Drowning in the Aftermath" and "Law is Freedom") are the best songs the band has produced (only an opinion!). This ep brought their sound to a new level of darkness, with good song writing, and a heightened poetic sense introduced into their lyrics. Really great stuff!

Schifosi are from Melbourne, Australia, and I believe are still active. Members also play in Pisschrist and Abc Weapons (post coming soon on these guys). Although Schifosi toured parts of the US a couple of years ago and have plenty of fans here, I still don't think enough people know about them. In the future, don't be surprised if you encounter similar dark, female fronted hardcore bands on this site.

Music:

Schifosi/Slackjaw EP (kick start my heart)
"Ill Winds from Outopia" LP (CD includes "Half Lit World" songs) (endless blockades)
"Half Lit World" EP (aborted society)
"Absentium Existence" 12" EP (alerta anti-fascista)

Mp3:
"Drowing in the Aftermath"

Web:
Myspace Tribute Page

Get Schifosi Records:

Profane Existence