Sunday, July 29, 2012

MUTILATED REMAINS

In April last year I made a post about the brilliant Swedish death metal band Repugnant and their LP "Spawn Of Pure Malevolence". At the time of that post my more in depth knowledge about the band and any of their other releases was relatively minimal. Further (basic) research revealed a small handful of prior releases including various EP's, tapes and splits, all of which were long OOP and massively hard to get a hand on unless willing to pay silly eBay prices. Luckily for late comers like me, a couple of record labels have decided to reissue a couple records of theirs this year. This is their "Premature Burial" 7" picture disc originally released in 2004 by Soulseller Records and reissued by the same label in the last couple of months. Side A is a couple rough tracks taken from the sessions during the recording of their previously mentioned LP (including a cover of a classic Nihilist number) and side B is some live cuts. I'm not a massive fan of picture discs but this EP was never issued in any other format so it will do.

The bands flawless EP "Hecatomb", originally released as a 7" in '99, then 12" the next year is to be reissued as a 12" again by High Roller Records out of Germany
(and possibly a few other labels too from what I can gather) at the end of August. Pre orders are up now. I've got mine.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

CHOKE ON THIS ONE

My fondness of Australia's own Extortion is well documented within the pages of this blog. Easily my favourite Australian band, and close to one of my favourites on an international level too. They've been a bit quiet for the last 18 months or more, reportedly buckling down to write some quality stuff following the less than favourable reception of their last few records. Granted, neither the split with Completed Exposition or the "Loose Screws" 10" were up to the par of the majority of their previous catalogue, but both records were none the less still entertaining. I get the impression that most of the sceptics out there believe that the band is well beyond their peak at this point, and maybe they could be, but if their contribution to this new split LP with Austria's Cold World is anything to go by, nobody has informed them yet. Three colour ways in total have been pressed for this split, this now sold out white variation that came from the bands only, and red and black (of which I will be posting about at some point in the coming weeks) direct from the label responsible, RSR. To my relief the label has forgone it's usual route in issuing this thing with dozens of variations in the cover etc (to my knowledge anyway), collecting Extortion records has certainly drained my hip pocket over the last few years. As usual, Rohan's handled the artwork for this thing. It's a bit of a departure from his usual style, but it certainly shows a relatively creative idea. What it actually means and whether he's trying to convey some kind of message here is beyond me though.
I'm trying not to sound like a fucking music reviewer here so I'll try and keep it simple. Extortion's tracks are great. Certainly their most 'pro' sounding recording at this point, the music here would arguably be the best stuff they've written since "Degenerate". I know what kind of an extremist statement that may sound like, but I mean it, really. Rohan's vocals are at their loudest and most stressed, the blasts come on thick, and the slow riffs are catchy as hell. Apart from a few new ideas in a couple of the slower, more typical hardcore tracks, this thing is classic Extortion. I don't know why I even slightly doubted whether this would be good, because it's fucking top shelf fast hardcore.
I can't get so excited about Cold World. I don't know a huge amount about them really other than the fact they go back a fair while. The first time I listened to them a few years ago they just came across to me as relatively straight forward, one dimensional, slightly crusty Euro hardcore. A lot of people rave about them, but I just can't get into them much. I have more or less the same opinion about these new songs of theirs too. Now like I said, the last time I paid them any kind of attention was years ago, but I'll be honest in that I don't really remember them taking quite the angle that they seem to be attacking here. This is fast, angry hardcore not dissimilar to what Extortion do so well with, but it's just boring. I won't rave on any further. Maybe I just need to invest a little more effort?

It may be common knowledge to most that Extortion have a few records in the pipeline at the moment, two of them being splits with American heavy weights Hatred Surge and Low Threat Profile. There's also a possibility of a brand new LP before the end of the year, depending on what the band decide. There's also talk of another split with another as of yet unnamed band (well I know who it is, but I'm not sure if I'm aloud to reveal who it is at at this point), that heaps of people are likely to get excited about. Keep em coming.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

FORCED OUT

Rain On The Parade out of Canberra will be issuing the Australian tape version of the debut EP from the excellent UK band, Violent Reaction. The vinyl version is due for release in the coming weeks thanks to Static Shock and Quality Control. Thomo from ROTP tells me that he expects the cassettes to be ready within a week. 50 copies in total. I will have 10 for QLD only. If you're a local hit me up. Their demo from late last year was so fucking good and this will be one of the best releases of 2012.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

UGLY AMERICAN

Long touted as the ugliest band in hardcore, and it is a hard fact to deny, here's a reissue of the first proper LP by none other than Poison Idea, "Kings Of Punk". Originally pressed by Pusmort back in 1986, it's been reissued by a few labels a handful of times over the years, this is an edition from this year by Taang! on clear vinyl. Debatably their best stuff, it's certainly my favourite. For the era of punk that this record came about within the recording is outstanding and manages to translate their power as a band very well. It took me a while to really grasp how good thse guys were, and I just about kick myself for it. What a record. What a band.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

INSURANCE RISK

Another Boston classic, this time the reissue of X Claim! #4, "Brotherhood" by D.Y.S. Not a Reflex Records reissue, this time you can thank Razor Edge. A recent pick up on eBay, my copy is on black wax. I can't find much more information on this pressing really, other than that it was pressed in 2009. I have a sneaky feeling that it may be a bootleg. Might explain the small amount of cash that I handed over for it. If it is a boot, it's a clean one, more or less down to the precise point in terms of similarities to the original. Certainly not my favourite of the original Boston crew, but a very popular band regardless, and there's some absolutely essential Boston anthems here. I'd say this is probably their best stuff, and Dave Smalley sounds remarkably similar to Choke here.

Monday, July 16, 2012

BOSTON'S FINEST

More reissues of early Boston greats, here's Reflex Records go at X-Claim! #2 and #5, the F.U.'s albums "Kill For Christ" and "My America". Again, pressed in 2002 on black vinyl on sides A and B of the one 12" respectively. This came in the same package from a seller on Discogs as yesterday's post matter. More top shelf Boston hardcore. I won't pretend that these guys are a total favourite of mine, I'd rate a number of bands from the same era and scene before them, but the very name F.U.'s I suppose more or less demands shelf space in any self respecting punk record collectors line up.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

I DON'T BELONG

Early Boston hardcore in the form of this reissue of an early 80's classic. This is the brilliant Jerry's Kids LP "Is This My World?" on green vinyl of 100 copies. Blue wax was also pressed of the same number along with a larger press on black. Originally issued as the final X-Claim Records release in 1983, X-Claim #6, it's been reissued a couple of times over the years, most notably by Taang! in the early 90's. Reflex Records out of Belgium were the last to have a stab at it in 2002. This marks the first ever record I've procured by the way of Discogs. I will admit that I did reserve a little trepidation at first with the site, but it worked out remarkably well. Possibly some of the fastest postage of any record I have bought from abroad. Arguably my favourite release of the original X-Claim roster, this edition is more or less a product of me looking to fill out various essential gaps within my collection. Another three examples of this OCD will follow in the coming days, all reissues. I don't have buckets of money to spend on OG 80's USHC.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

THE FUTURE

New demo tape from Melbourne shit heads Gutter Gods. This is the band Kicked In with the addition of new vocalist Alan Cowie (aka Meat Dog) of Reckless Aggression fame up front. One wouldn't be blamed for believing that such a combination would produce a fucking fantastic raw hardcore demo, and this thing isn't bad at all, but it's nowhere near as good as it's pedigree would suggest. How could that Reckless Aggression demo ever be topped anyway? The recording is really really terrible, that's probably why I'm not so excited, and the music comes across as little boring and uninspired. I'm interested to hear what these guys do though with a bit of a better recording, assuming they don't lose interest before it's time to put music to to tape again.

Friday, July 13, 2012

THE HIDEOUS STENCH OF OCCULT SLAUGHTER

Another release I snagged in that Dark Descent haul recently was this debut LP from Weregoat out of Portland. "Unholy Exaltation of Fullmoon Perversity" released by Parasitic Records on black vinyl presents a pretty on point rendition of this sound that a heap of bands seem to be having a go at the moment; dark death/black metal. Lo-fi recording, deep tremolo picking guitars underpinning a heavily reverbed vocal style, coupled with a heap of blast beating that is occasionally broken up by a cool breakdown styled riff. Not for the faint of heart, this is the kind of album you'd expect a label like Nuclear War Now! or similar to release. This reminds me heaps of a slightly more shitty sounding Bestial Raids so maybe that's where that idea comes from.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

THE DEATH TOLL

Violent Minds have been a favourite of mine for a long time. Problem is I suppose is I procured most of their stuff before this blog really started kicking so I don't think I've ever really spoken much about them on here. I never thought I'd ever actually have the chance to either as I thought that my VM collection was more or less complete. That was until a few weeks ago when this demo tape of theirs popped on eBay. Now this is something that I have never heard of, no google search has ever brought up an kind of tape (and yes I have googled 'Violent Minds demo tape' and similar many times before), and I've never read about it in any interviews or the like ever. Though four songs are listed here on the insert, this thing is more than 20 minutes of random jams and very demoish sounding stuff. No vocals either, just music tracks as I think this was recorded before Zach moved onto vocals. I'd question the authenticity of this tape (and I am still a little curious) but it was being sold by what seems to be a pretty genuine Canadian fellow who was also selling a bunch of certified origina bonzers (Urban Blight and No Reply demo tapes etc). Anyone out there with any kind of info?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

WEB OF PISS

Earache Records seem to be in the throes of reissuing (or in this case issuing) a heap of their classic back catalogue and here's one that I'm very excited about, the s/t LP from the UK's brilliant Iron Monkey. The last time I spoke about this band was back in 2010 when I posted about their 10" "We've Learned Nothing". Subsequent comments on that post informed me that the band at that point had no other vinyl releases to their name but at the time of writing I certainly thought otherwise. Fast forward 16 years from it's original CD release and this absolute genre topper finally gets a release in the only true format. I was slightly late to the party regarding this release, by a week or so I think, but I still managed to get my mitts on the most limited variation, shrimp pink of 100 copies.
Masterful doom laden mayhem, I can't say enough good things about this band and the two full lengths they unleashed. In terms of nasty doom metal I really don't think you need anything else by any other band ever really except for this album and the one that followed, "Our Problem". That album is due for release on wax too in the coming weeks. When it arrives, obviously I'll be posting about it. If you've never heard this band and you're chasing HEAVY go and find the song "666 Pack" and listen to your bowels empty uncontrollably while you spin it. Menacing. As an added bonus this new edition also features a Black Sabbath cover in the form of the "Vol. 4" classic "Cornucopia", and they manage to pull a cool rendition.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

KILL WITHOUT QUESTION

I was originally turned onto Mutant Supremacy out of Brooklyn a few months ago via the Cvlt Nation website when they spoke about this EP from the band "Rotting Season" released by Blast Beat Mailmurder. Mine's a black wax variation. At the time I was really excited about this release but I didn't have the finances or means to get my hands on a hard copy. A recent bulk order from Dark Descent Records allowed me to finally nab one. Rough as hell, slightly comical death metal that takes stark references from the Autopsy text book. Rooted firmly is that early scum laden death sound, the recording lends itself to a somewhat punk vibe. One of the better 7"s of 2012.

Monday, July 9, 2012

SEE ME HANG

This blog and Mammoth Grinder go back a fair way. I managed to discover the band relatively early on in it's life, and through the various progressions I've always managed to remain a big fan. This is their latest work in the form of a two song 7" single "In And Out b/w See Me Hang". Limited clear vinyl released by the band themselves, this was sold at Chaos In Tejas recently and the remainder of the press put up in the web store. Black vinyl of a wider edition exists too. The two tracks here display a band in the grips of another transition, easily displaying a perfect mix of death metal and crusty hardcore punk. Though with more recent releases the band have always maintained that their sound was that of a punk/metal splice, it always came off to me as just pure early Autopsy/Entombed revivalism, whereas these tracks really seem to nail the sound of a perfect combination. Fast, simplistic, riffy constructions, with a kind of rough recording and muffled vocals. I see this pleasing a wide audience.

This is a preview to the bands upcoming full length album. The story goes that these were just some left over tracks that wouldn't fit on a standard LP. Not sure who's pressing the album, as Cyclopean Records look more or less over now, but if the new stuff is anything like this, the album could be a favourite of the year for me.

STILL HERE

Four Years of Skull Fucked. Right on.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

UNBURIAL RITES

Few new tapes to talk about, these three procured recently in a trade with Dustin from Look Alive Records. First up is one of his releases, the "Gehenna" EP from Tinnitus out of Worcester, MA. Fastcore/PV stuff that takes obvious cues from all of the greats. Relatively clean recording for a release of such nature. Not up to date on a huge amount of information on this band, but I don't think this is actually a demo as it's referred to as an EP. Probably need to research into them a bit more as this is pretty cool. Right up my alley really. (Edit- Dustin informs me that To Live A Lie Records pressed this to vinyl shorty after this tape edition).

Next is the Skinfather demo tape, again released by Look Alive. Death metal fiends may have an idea of what's going on here based off the bands name. Dismember references aside, this sounds like it's going for a somewhat Swedish death sound mixed with some more modern hardcore influences. Shorter structures, mosh bits, crew yells and a pretty raspy, more hardcore vocal approach. Classic sunlight guitar tone in tact, the recording suffers a little in that it's just not thick enough to really convey the sound that the band seem to be going for. It's still quite catchy though and I bet this would be fucking great live.

And finally, the Harness demo released by Mind Melt Records. I haven't listened to hardcore like this in ages. Angry, tough moshy hardcore that does it's best to sound like late 90's greats, Buried Alive, early Hatebreed and in turn bands like All Out War and Integrity. Straight out of Santa Barbara, they've nailed a very spot on recording for music of this nature, thick and clear. Fans of groups like Cast Aside, Terror and the like should certainly find interest in this.