Song Of The Week: "In The Red" (Zygote)

"In The Red" is a ghoulishly bouncy number by a band I can honestly say I cannot live without. But what else can one expect from 3/4 of the Amebix line up and the bass player of The Smartpils, Bad Influence, and (later) Cross Stitched Eyes? The "89-91" collection was my first exposure, but when I picked up "A Wind of Knives," track three seemed to coat the inside of my veins with a dark nepenthe of post-crust phantasmagoria. Infectious and strangely familiar, but ultimately in a class of its own, Zygote's work has been a bit polarizing to some potential fans. Many nay-sayers will still insist on comparing them to their previous band, but they really are two very different animals. I won't spend too much time trying to convince the unimpressed; Zygoted seems to be one of those "gut instinct"-type bands.

"In The Red" by Zygote from the "A Wind Of Knives" CD

O Thrower Of Feces

Muckspreader, also known as that band Spider was in after Zygote & Amebix, was a short-lived crust band and its output shows it. Besides the four songs on the 10" posted here, they released a 7" and did a Subhumans cover on a tribute comp. Other than that, I'm unaware of any other output (please comment if you're of a more enlightened bent). The band stays out of the rut of crust redundancy by absorbing and interpreting the styles of all the great UK bands of their recent past: Axegrinder, Deviated Instinct, Spine Wrench, Filthkick, Zygote, Amebix... maybe a little Bad Influence (?...I know, they're Belgian). The 10" compiles a pretty wide array of sounds: a slow chunky crust dirge ("Muckspreader"), a mid-paced punk ditty ("Browner"), a galloping thrash attack ("Original Sin"), and a sludgy throw-back rocker ("No Stranger To The Knives"). Quite an interesting ride...

The 10" (This EP is in pretty bad shape, so sorry about the noise...)

Repost: Zygote "89-91"

Long ago, I posted Zygote's "89-91" LP which collects their demo and five live tracks. By default, I ripped it at 128 kbps, not knowing exactly what I was doing (as if I do now, right?) So here it is again, ripped at 256 with overall better sound quality and the lyric sheet included. If you don't know Zygote, read here. Also, for similar music, go here, here, here, and here.

"89-91" (Re-ripped @ 256)

I'll be re-ripping other old posts as the weeks carry on; if you have any requests, don't hesitate to comment.

Song Of The Week: "Drink And Be Merry" (Amebix)

Yesterday I celebrated (suffered) another birthday. There are a rare few out there who still meet this annual aging rite with an unending, childlike enthusiasm, even after they've reached the big 3-o and beyond. I can't say I'm one of them, exactly. For me these days, the B-day is a pretty bitter-sweet affair, and for the Song Of The Week I've chosen a crusty ditty that's as emotionally ambivalent as I am about seeing another year pass. With "Drink And Be Merry," Amebix takes us on a guided tour through a stench-filled, post-nuclear planet Earth. A priest vomits blood, and the last survivors of the holocaust are cannibalizing the dead rotting carcasses that lay strewn about. And the point of this? Carpe diem, baby! Leave it up to The Amebix to take a potentially uplifting theme, and turn it into a total Dante-esque nightmare. Needless to say, I love Amebix, and I love this song. And yes, yesterday I drank (a bit too much) and was merry, but today we did not die. Shall we wait to see what tomorrow'll be like, or shall we crack open another bottle?

"Drink And Be Merry"

Summon the Crows - "Scavengers Feast"

The crusty-ass stenchcore revival has reached Norway! Summon the Crows is Oslo's answer to American bands like Stormcrow and Hellshock, and European bands like Filth of Mankind and Instinct of Survival. On "Scavengers Feast," (Nakkeskudd Plater/Cradle to the Grave Records) you get 13 tracks of bestial crustcore played EXCEPTIONALLY well. These chaps don't rely too heavily on the chuggin' Bolt Thrower worship, but instead mix in subtle melody and a bit of dissonance to keep the listener alert and on edge. What you get is what you should always get from a crust record: something rather modern, but which nods respectfully to Deviated Instinct and Amebix. And, if you dig below the death-obsessed surface of STC's lyrics, you will easily find a distinctly anarchist lean to their ideas, especially with respect to making personal decisions in life. This album is solid as hell, and absolutely rises above much of the overwhelmingly abundant and often mediocre output of the DIY world. See what you think:

MP3's:

"Salvation?"
"Life is Shit"

Buy It:
Profane Existence

Zygote - "89-91"

Some reviewers have commented that Zygote didn't "do it for them." I believe these people were probably hoping for the second coming of The Amebix. Zygote was indeed 3/4 of Amebix and, although very different, their sound was a fairly predictable evolutionary step for these visionary musicians (Of course, they could have gone an even more metal route than Amebix, but I'm glad they didn't). A former member of The Smartpils joined Stig, Spider, and Smutpig in the late '80s to form this short lived project that left behind only one proper release: the "A Wind of Knives" LP/Cd (Epistrophy Records). Skuld Releases, during one of its most productive periods, decided to release the "89-91" LP to honor the band a few years after their break-up. This long-player featured Zygote's demo and five live tracks. Obviously, the sound quality is going to be inferior, but it doesn't seem to hinder the enjoyability of these tracks. What makes the demo side exciting is the fact that a couple of the songs were not released on "A Wind of Knives," and are by no means throwaways. For those who have never experienced Zygote, expect dark, psychedelic/psychotic guitar melodies, hypnotic guitar rhythms, and hoarse, semi-melodic vocals. Comparisons have been made to early Killing Joke, which is fair to a certain extent. Otherwise, I'm at a loss for any accurate comparisons (maybe The Smartpils...). The lyrics deal with all manners of mental derangement and existential loneliness, and are alternately bizarre, beautiful, haunting, and, at times, disturbing (see "Scarred"). So, Zygote does "do it for me." There is a certain "coldness" to their sound, and they aren't the ultra-crust gods some expected, but their small legacy is still excellent and one of a kind.

Skuld only pressed about 2000 of these, but you can still find a copy here and there. For now, enjoy the electronic version:

MP3's
Reposted Here