A Hardcore Mess

I picked up the "Japankore Omnibus Vol. 2" one-sided 12" comp mainly for the Sink track. But that's not the only reason I keep playing it. The Japankore imprint was the brainchild of Japanophile, Brian (of Drop Dead). For this installment, he had The Gaia assemble seven all-female bands from Japan (including themselves), and then tacked on a mix-gender upstart band called Melt Banana. Maybe you've heard of them. The result is quite a wonderful little mess.

Orfee, of Cephalochromoscope, was gracious enough to offer his scanning craftsmanship for the graphics. Some tech issues prevented him from re-ripping his copy, so I did my best to handle the audio. Thanks, brooooo! Be sure to go over to Cephscope and say Hi and download the Senseless Apocalypse CD.

The Omnibus

The Bands:

Earth Muthaz

Let's stop the gloom and doom for a quick moment to have some good wholesome fun! Don't The Gaia folks look like the kind of people you'd want to hang out with? Too bad you can't. The next best thing is to rock out to this high-energy 7" they put out in the mid nineties ("No. 1", Six Weeks Records). Don't worry, there are plenty of fast hardcore beats and riffs, and Gäna's vocals, from her deep from the diaphragm wails, to her warrior princess screams, may become your favorites of all time. Then you got the "gang" or "crew" style backup vocals, which for some reason sound better when done by women. These ladies add fun and rock 'n Roll to their hardcore in a way that doesn't seem forced. For a great way to start your Sunday...

Click here.



Repost Alert!!!

So it's back to the doom and gloom again. I've been wanting to re-rip and post Sink's "Sad But True" 7" for a while, and this seems like a great place to drop it. It's from the same era and country as Gaia, but it's non-stop menacing crust you'll receive from these pissed off women. Now you get it at 320 kbps, so you can enjoy the filthy crustiness in higher fidelity! The EP was originally released on MCR Records, but I ordered it many years ago from Sound Pollution, which unfortunately is closing its doors. It's the end of an era, but hopefully Ken Pollution will enjoy the time freed up by his retirement from record producing.

"Sad But True" @ 320

Leave Nothing Die !!!

I finally got my hooks on one of these! Since finding out about this great split between Sink and Hellnation (Sound Pollution, 1997), I have made it a little side mission to find one for cheap. So here it is. I believe this is the only other release Sink did other than their great 7". These four Japanese ladies have been brutalizing me for about eleven years, always finding some way back onto my turntable. This time they crush and grind us with three more raw, dark crust stampedes. Vocally, the band is more varied, throwing in some painful screams and yelps rather than the crusty barking prevalent on their other outing. No disappointments here! All three tracks kill-- especially "Life."

What needs to be said about Hellnation? If you're into grind or any fast hardcore, you probably have a ton of stuff by these Kentuckians. The split 7" format is the best way to enjoy this extremity of noise, primarily because the piercing vocals can be overbearing in too large a quantity. The band offers no fillers here. Nothing but the best Hellnationization! (they even flatter their split-mates with a cover of "Leave Nothing Die").

Download

Sink "Sad But True" 7"

"Sad But True" is a 5 song seven inch created by four angry young Japanese women who went by the name of Sink (MCR Company, 1995). The band stays fairly true to their country's punk roots, cranking out noisy and rather crusty hardcore that is as powerful as it is simple and raw. The vocals are gruff and agonized, and bring to mind the more gutteral grunts of Damad or Society Gang Rape. As should be anticipated from most Japanese records of this era, the insert supplies the listener with "Engrish" lyrics that waver between terribly charming and charmingly terrible. Overall, this is a really nice EP, and probably the only recording the band left behind (or is it?)

"Sad But True"