To Show You How Much You Meant

I got delayed again, but this series of splits is happening for real this time.  The first two will be more deliberate; the others a bit more random, but no less awesome.  First off, the indestructible and unstoppable Despise You/Suppression split 7" is being reposted for two reasons: Roman requested it (dude, sorry for the delay... again) and because it's got be one of my top five powerviolence/grind records of all time.  Don't ask me about the other four-- it would take some hair-pulling deliberation to work that out.  This one requires no such ordeal.  When I first posted it a few years ago, I probably ripped it at a crap bit rate, so here it is again, with graphics and all.

The Despise You/Suppression split 7" (Slap-a-Ham Records, 1996)

Recent Re-up:

Never Healed/Violent Minds split 7"

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)

Song of the Week: "They Divide" (SSR)

Judging from the quietness around here, I suspect that everyone's summer has started off great. I hope that's the case. Mine has as well, but after just coming off of Mount Whitney everything seems so little and insignificant, including blogging. I'm trying real hard to snap out of it. Inspiration for the SOTW wasn't coming through for me either, so in these cases I throw out a song from a new record you may like...

SSR (Sedition Sub Rosa) was a huge hit at FE headquarters after I picked up their LP and EP on the strength of their myspace playlist. These Richmond, Virginians are the genuine article and play fairly noisy '80's Japanese meets Scandinavian hardcore punk. Not "Confuse" noisy, but there's a deliberate lo-fi quality that adds authenticity to the sound. Like their influences, they've mastered the art of using simple riffs that stick with you, and in addition add some catchy, semi-melodic guitar leads once in while to keep their records on your turn table indefinitely. Certainly a band to look out for, although their "Orwellian Future" 7" and self-titled LP are already admirable accomplishments. "They Divide" comes from their 7" and although the tempo is much slower than most of their tracks (which are more 'd-beat' in speed), it does wonders in capturing the eerie, dystopian feel the record's title foreshadows, and it's a real crusher!

"They Divide" by SSR

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

This split is about what you'd expect from Bovine Records, Cattle Press, and Agoraphobic Nosebleed. Cattle Press bring the evil slow and heavy, and include a reworked version of "Splint" (IabhorHer). Agoraphobic Nosebleed are in their prime and serve up 17 furious originals and a Voivod cover. Yeah, it's that friggin good!


Here. (@ 320 kbps)

Update: The files have been re-uploaded. If you couldn't download it before, here's "Information." Thanks Strangeranger!

I'm thinking I should post the Cattle Press 7" next...

Song Of The Week: "A Little Change Could Go A Long Ways" (City Of Caterpillar)

City Of Caterpillar was another Richmond band that shook my foundations upon first listen. The long song titles, long track lengths, and odd band name might strike you as pure pretentious bull-stein, but if you kick your patience into overdrive, you'll be rewarded with a sonic bildungsroman of magisterial proportions. The more developed and epic of their tracks lead the listener onto a winding, curving path of enchanting dream and jarring nightmare-- a slightly unnerving realm scored by hypnotic lullabies interspersed with suffocating layers of distorted mayhem. COC seriously destroyed all the boundaries created by labels with the sheer power of their songs, and brilliance of their playing. I won't go into who the members are or what bands they play(ed) in; COC did an impressive enough job making a name for themselves with a series of EPs and their mind-blowing LP. Give "A Little Change Could Go A Long Way" a chance when you're feeling patient. The build-up at the beginning is gradual as heck, but both the journey and the pay-off are well worth your time.

"A Little Change..." (128 kbps)

"A Little Change..." (320/Mediafire)

God's Chosen People

Would anyone else like to join Strangeranger and me on a pensive amble down memory lane? My musical diet of the 1990's consisted of a weird Smörgåsbord of bay area pop punk, European crust, US powerviolence, and whacked out, screamy DIY bands like the ones on the "God's Chosen People" comp. In fact, "G'sCP" was one of the earliest bits of exposure I had to the avant nuttiness of the whole HeartattaCk-Old Glory-Gravity situation. I still love half the bands on this thing, and lucky for me, they're mainly the bands whose tracks were collected later in some form or another. Yep... lots of memories, and the love and abuse I've given to this comp over the years is evident in the condition of the vinyl. I cheated a little on a couple of tracks and just ripped them from discography CD's; but the whole imbroglio of naked, flailing bodies and disenfranchised, idealistic minds is still here, both in the tunes and within the pages of the stunning booklet.

Here

Bands & Tracks:

Pride From The Depths: Orchid & Pig Destroyer

I'm a little under-motivated and hung over, but I said this would be a week of splits so, damn it, I'm seeing it through to the end! I'll make this quick since both Orchid and Pig Destroyer don't require too much of a jaw-wagging intro, and these tracks can be purchased in CD from here and here. I believe this was the first vinyl output by either of these bands; you get three tracks from the Massachusetts chaos hustlers, and eight from the mighty post-Enemy Soil/Anal Cunt grind machine from when one Scott Evans was still on drums. "Scans" and such are included.

And, whether this is a significant day for you or just another square on the calendar... happy New Year to you anyway!

The Split

Destroy The South!?

Maybe we should keep Southern traditions intact after all, since that region harvests some damn fine bands! Four of them are gathered here on this early release by the great At A Loss Recordings, "Destroying Southern Tradition." Compilations are probably not high on your download priority list (assuming you have such a thing), so I'll just show you the track list and let you decide:

Here

Murder Is A Viable Option

A big thanks to R'nR Steve who reintroduced me to Enemy Soil by hooking me up with the their semi-discography, "Smashes The State." I hadn't listened to these grindcore "legends" since they were still a band, and I have now seen the error in my judgement. I won't post the double CD, because it's still extremely available. However, I did find the band's split with Japan's Desperate Corruption for cheap, and am more than happy to rip it for the rest of you grind-heads. Enemy Soil recorded their three tracks with only two members, Richard playing all the instruments and Doshu doing lead vocals. The signature power, bitterness, and suffocating heaviness of ES's later work is written all over these songs. As most of you know, members of the band formed/joined a bunch of noteworthy bands like The Index, Pig Destroyer, Drugs Of Faith, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, etc. Desperate Corruption were not as prolific, releasing only a series demos and a few splits (as far as I know). These dudes definitely practiced their scales and listened to a ton of Napalm Death. Both songs are impressive, but I couldn't say for sure what DS is about because no lyrics are supplied. All in all, this is a great split, and grindcore bands that consider the bass a superfluous instrument might think twice after hearing these tracks.

Download

One Nation Under GOB

This double post concludes the GOB series (for now). The download link below conveniently combines two classic, rare, noisy compilations, starting with "Mandatory Marathon" (Amendment Records, 1999?). A comp. that boasts multiple tracks from Charles Bronson, Capitalist Casualties, The Gaia, Palatka, GOB, and Laceration should require no encouragement for download. Two warnings though: 1. The sound quality is rather ass-like 2. There are several "joke" or "experimental" bands/projects on this one that are less than entertaining. Regardless, there's some rare noise here that you need.

Back Cover: Try not to go blind reading the track list








Also featured in the folder below is this Food Not Bombs benefit comp. Six Weeks Records put out in the late nineties. There's some good to great Reno bands, and some other semi-well-known bands like The Dread and Bristle. There's also a decent amount of variety (all within the boundaries of punk and hardcore) and you may find yourself liking the bands you haven't heard of. Nice little record!

Back Cover:

Download these comps HERE

Agobophobia: The Fear of GOB

And fear them you should! GOB are here to destroy everything you've ever held dear, including what you call "music." We continue this series dedicated to all things GOB with an incredible split by two amazing bands: Agoraphobic Nosebleed and, well, GOB. ANB have collected some pretty impressive credentials during their veteranship in the fast-as-hell grind/powerviolence saga. They mix the fast with the heavy is such a way as to produce pure whoop-ass! I also really enjoy their terse, axiomatic, nihilistic lyrical spew-- and I do quote from "Computer Lethargy" --"Aspire to reduce your world to a monitor screen. Finger fuck a keyboard into ecstasy. Fat nuts, dumpy butt-- Dilbert fleshed into being." You need these seven tracks badly!

This time we get three tracks from the nebulous and surreal monster that is GOB. There's one about a guy who's really hard to kill, another about white meat, and finally one about... GOB! I would say this is the band at its best, but I've never heard them otherwise!

Preview: I have handful of comps with GOB on them coming up... soon.


Get your punishment here

Back Cover

"Kamikaze Attacked Amerika/Yankee Bombed Hiroshima, Nagasaki" CD Comp.

Commenter dxb requested more CFDL, but sadly I don't have much. I do, however, have this amazing comp. CD on which they appear. Since I'm on this whole compilation kick, it seemed right to post it. As the title suggests, this CD contains almost 50/50 American and Japanese bands. When Sound Pollution and MCR let this thing out of the pen in 1996, it found a cozy place in my CD player for upwards of 15 or so months straight! I can't express what a great listen this one is, and to entice the skeptics, I'll supply a band list below (note: several bands contribute two tracks) with special annotation when (I feel it's) needed.

Bands (Japan)
Insane Youth - Heavy-handed hardcore- Japan meets NYC
Anti Authorize - D-beat Cookie Monster-Core!
Senseless Apocalypse - noise/grind at its finest... their 2 best tracks!
Disclose - Hey, it's Disclose!
Balzac - Japan's unabashed punk "Misfits"
Addiction - simple and catchy- 80's style
CFDL
Violent Pain - appropriately named
Bleed for Freedom - Rocked-out anthemic punk!

Bands (America)
Ottawa - Pre-.NEMA Tolkien grind. 3 Tracks from their split LP with Jihad
Final Warning - D-beat boot-stomp featuring the original singer from Nausea!
Suppression
Mankind? - Dirt influenced peace-punk-hardcore with squealy female vocalist
Spazz
Monster X - The first and only straight-edge grind band (!?!?)
Quadiliacha - Melodic, political punk/hardcore (Great for those who like Strike Anywhere but are ashamed to admit it)
Masskontroll - Portland's answer to Sweden

Download (192)

Waifle 10"

Waifle's LP "The Music Stops, The Man Dies" was a screamy, at times pretentious, outpouring of emotion. I admired the effort and heart the band put into it (the layout/packaging is amazing!), but the resulting tracks left me unmoved. Somewhere between that record and their "And the Blood Will Come Down Like a Curtain" 10" (Magister Ludi Recordings, 2000), something happened. It's as though the rough terrain of life was beginning to callous the skin of these young dreamers, and it became time to find a way to express their newfound burden of bitterness and despair. In finding their new skin, Waifle shed their need to be so obvious and preachy (no more of those self-righteous spoken parts), and opted for a much more despondent range of tones in their music. This a heavy record (which cannot be said about their earlier work) in the manner of both Policy of Three-type hardcore, as well as Acme/Systral-style metal, and when it comes to emotional power, these four songs are resplendent.

Much of Waifle's output is still available for very reasonable prices (see below). However, the insert for my copy of the 10" requests the bearer to make a tape of it for a friend, so I am posting rips from the vinyl. If you like it, though, the band is selling the CD for only four bucks and one distro still has copies of the 10".

Support:
Buy the CD here or here
Buy the 10" here

Download

.... to show how much you meant

Okay, here it is. While all the kids were chuckling it up to Spazz records, this little EP, much to the chagrin of my roommates, was a permanent fixture on my turntable (all right, so I was listening to a lot of Spazz, too...). This is Slap-A-Ham Records #26, and one of my favorite recs. that label ever belched forth. Suppression offer nothing new in comparison to the last record posted, which is a good thing. It's just more bass and noise obsessed grindcore delivered with vein-popping anger. Very therapeutic. Despise You were one of the greatest beasts whelped from the California "powerviolence" catastrophe. The distortion and drum production is enough to suffocate the heartiest grind freaks, but Alex and Leticia's vocals keep the overall sound within the boundaries of hardcore. The performance is tight and fierce, and I am convinced that this is the best collection of songs this band produced so far. That's right, I was elated to find out that the band is now/still active, if only at a moderate level (and they're actually playing shows which are advertised to the public!). Their amazing discography is available for purchase at their myspace site, as well as some other merch. Here are the rips from my warped old copy of the 7", but below are some links to CDs with more songs and better quality (support the bands!).

The Split

Buy their CDs:

Suppression

Despise You

The Cripple Bastards/Suppression Split LP

As '90's artifact number 1 billion, I present to you this split LP (Bovine Records, 1997) between Italian grindcore stalwarts, Cripple Bastards, and Virginian noise-violence misanthropes, Suppression. Unless you've been living in a cave lined with grindcore-free insulation, you know Cripple Bastards. For information about them, including lyrics, visit their excellent website. The 23 tracks they provide on this LP were supposedly some prime cuts from their "Your Lies In Check" album but with rougher production (which the band felt was more appropriate for their sound). "YLIC" is still available, but these versions are long out of print. CB's split-mates, Suppression, rival them with a sound that has been rightfully described as the illegitimate child of Crossed Out and Man Is The Bastard. The songs are simple, but formidable as fuck, alternating between slow, crushing, repetitive parts that are bursting at the seams with distortion and feedback, and ultra-brutal blast-beat stints matched in intensity only by the previously mentioned bands and perhaps Hatred Surge. These tracks are also included in Suppression's partial discography "9296" if you like what you hear and want more. I might be posting their 7" with Despise You next, but in the meantime: put your hand on the volume knob and prepare some ointment for your new asshole.

Cripple Bastards/Suppression LP