DAWN/ BRAINWRECK –split 7”

•December 8, 2012 • Leave a Comment

dawn_brainwreck

DAWN/ BRAINWRECK –split 7”

Brainwreck is a super -fast hardcore band from Nashville TN. Looking these guys up I found three other bands by the same name that all claim the same musical genre, hardcore. It is getting rough out there for band names. These guys set themselves apart by straight blistering speed and aggression. The longest song is a minute thirty four seconds and that is twice as long as the rest of the songs. It gets a little noisy with the monotone screaming vocals but the blazing tempo keeps you reeled in. Like in the song Wasted Life. This song starts with a slow bass intro that blasts into some spastic guitar riff. Then POW, off the song goes into some classic Youth of Today style guitar riff charged over top by the wild vocals. I can’t figure what any of the songs are about by reading the lyrics but the breaks with blazing guitar rage always draws me in. I am glad to see Hardcore going the way of fast core instead of that weird New York Hardcore metal breakdown crap from the 90’s. Dawn brings a little different style to the table with heavy breakdowns and a bit more of a metal influence with a touch of Tragedy thrown in. More of a melodic hardcore, if you will. But they definitely mix it up.  The song Intentions I would almost call Grind core, clocking in at 29 seconds.  But alas, it is not Grind but just some guys mixing it up. The lyrics scream, moan and grumble about different injustices that plague our existence, from greed to guilt. Dawn does some cool clean break downs that really bring the emotional side of the song out. The opening series of notes proves this point to a tee. Not a bad split the only down fall I would say is the packaging. I couldn’t tell what the fucking record was until I took the poly sleeve off. There are no band names on the front or back cover, just some weird ink stains. What almost looks like a Rorschach Test. The bands names are printed lightly on the poly sleeve! I almost missed that one. Kind of cool kind of… not so much, but descent release for both of these bands. (Attucks)

www.meatcube.com

www.audio-rat-poison.com

Anti-Corp

Po box 190339

Nashville, TN.

37219

 

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BENEATH – Thrown to the Crows

•December 8, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Beaneath

 

BENEATH- Thrown to the Crows, cassette

If you want your Crust influenced by heavy amounts of Death metal and Grindcore then this is exactly what you are looking for. Heavy D-beat with thrashing guitars, peppered by mind numbing blast beats. There are no melodic build ups to be found here. The whole recording is just straight brutal crusty grind.   The fact that each song has a unique hook and individual signature makes this an easy jam. If you are familiar with the West or South West music scene, than all that can be really be said is that it is “all sick, bud!” This Denver band boasts an all-star lineup, featuring members of Death of Self, Disease Called Human, Space in Time and Weaponizer. There are four different vocal tracks going on back and forth battling it out for supremacy, with the lead being a gal by the name of Julie. Julie’s vocals sound like the Tasmanian Devil stuck in a blender on puree. Yea, it is pretty brutal. Two of the vocals are low grumbling belches and the other is more of a shouting strained grunt. But all the vocal tracks mixed together create a very cool effect layered across the low tuned Crust Punk. I feel the low end cookie monster vocals could come up in the mix and the guitar solos need to be louder but that is about it. This is a super strong first effort; it is a well recorded and well mixed tape. Yup, I am stoked to see another tape release and the tape is colored green plastic to boot. Very cool look to the j-card and all. This I believe was meant to be a record but never made it because of the band splitting up shortly after it was recorded. I have heard rumors of them reforming with a few new members and I hope so, they are missed. (Attucks)

http://www.reverbnation.com/beneath303

Beneath303@yahoo.com

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NEUROSIS – Honor Found In Decay

•December 3, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Neurosis

NEUROSIS – Honor Found in Decay  CD

I’ve had this since before it’s release but have been really intimidated on having to write a review of it.  The main reason behind that simply being “how does one review and album like this?”  As I have mentioned before there are a handful bands that are able to reach through space and time and put their icy finger right into your heart and touch your very soul.  For me those bands are BLACK SABBATH, AMEBIX, PENTAGRAM and NEUROSIS (amongst a few others).  These are bands that become woven into your DNA and become you as well as reflect you and your being and existence.  A lot of bands kicks ass but only a few bands really become part of you.  Another part of that issue was finding the time to really dedicate myself to the album.  This isn’t something you put on while cleaning the house or doing dishes, entertaining kids or  something else of the distracting variety.  It is essential to let an album like this completely devour you.  You must surrender to it’s will, to it’s spirit and fully embrace it on the trip you are going to embark on as it unfolds it’s layers and spills from your speakers.  It can only be truly opened up in one of three ways:  1) Play it LOUD, 2) Play it LOUDER, 3) Put on the headphones (loud of course), close your eyes and buckle in for the ride.  WARNING:  If you are not of stable mind and body do not listen to this!!!  It is creepy as fuck and downright depressing.  The yin to that yang is it is as powerful as tsunami and a portal to another plane if you are willing to open your mind and go for the ride.  For me the pairing of ‘Souls at Zero’ and ‘Enemy of the Sun’ will always be the perfect NEUROSIS albums.  Nothing comes close…Or does it?  After ‘Through Silver in Blood’ I had kind of lost track of NEUROSIS for a few years but was able to reconnect with ‘Times of Grace’.  ‘Given to the Rising’ saw NEUROSIS explode with a power and heaviness that seemed to be all but lost even though the album seemed to meander and lack some direction.  ‘Honor Found In Decay’ has a clear focus and is delivered with a duality second only to the mighty BLACK SABBATH as the journey weaves through folky melodies and crushing heaviness.  It is brain damaging trying to understand how they managed to record in a live setting with minimal overdubs.  Fucking insane.  They are wizards who cast their magic to capture their art exactly at the moment in time as it was born into the world.  The songs are there, they exist in their infinite beauty and perhaps only need to be harnessed and pulled through the portal from one level of existence to another to be bestowed lesser mortals like you and I.  Fuckin’ mind blowing man! (Josh Mosh)

Notes:

1)       When is the vinyl coming out?

2)      They are announcing tour dates one at a time.  Hopefully they are coming to your neck of the woods.  They haven’t said anything about Denver yet but my fingers are crossed .  I’ve seen them 4 times but haven’t seen them since the mid 90’s.  Fuck!

3)      Looks they are flying from gig to gig so I guess they wont be firing up the ol’ Scion.

4)      They don’t do visuals anymore.  Got rid of projector guy.

http://www.neurotrecordings.com/home.php

 

 

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BLACK BREATH – Sentenced to Life CD

•December 2, 2012 • Leave a Comment

black breath

BLACK BREATH – Sentenced to Life CD

Southern Lord records is just hitting it out the park lately.  They have really taken an interest in crust, but are also still kicking out the metal jams as well.  BLACK BREATH start their most recent effort ‘Sentenced to Life’ off with a snare and high-hat tribute to SLAYER straight from the school of ‘Criminally Insane’ before kicking right into the guts of the first track ‘Feast of the Damned’.  From there BLACK BREATH take us on a tour of ENTOMBED inspired death metal.  They do the buzz-saw guitar sound thing and it works.  I am a sucker for that almost every time a band employs it.  Both BLACK BREATH and ACEPHALIX are able to use that tone without falling into the trap of “worship”.  ENTRAILS is obviously an ENTOMBED worship band where BLACK BREATH wears their influence proudly on their snot crusted sleeve.  Like I mentioned earlier they also borrow from SLAYER, MOTORHEAD and maybe even have a hard-core influence in there as well.  I don’t mean they are doing break down on top of break down like HATEBREED or some shit, I mean someone in the band likes himself some hard-core and every once in a while it surfaces.  This was another surprise release for me this year as before this album I had never heard of them.  They were referred to me by my buddy Jeff while my band was at this studio laying down some jams of our own.  He runs Firestorm Studios in Denver and is the shit.  Anyway we were talking about ENTOMBED and GRAVE  and I mentioned ACEPHALIX to him and he threw BLACK BREATH to me.  I think you get the idea of the album here and if you like metal this rules!  If you don’t you suck anyway…It’s nice to see bands sticking to the 10 song tried and true formula and not putting anything they have ever rehearsed onto a disc to fill the 80 minutes.  A lot of that has to do with that many bands are getting there stuff out on vinyl again.  Man, in the early 2000’s it was really bad with band just putting anything they had on there just to fill time.  The reason this is tried and true is because it works.  The listener is able to stay on board and not lose interest.  A band can showcase the best of their latest batch of songs and not have to worry about lack of content.  Cheers to BLACK BREATH for keeping this tradition alive!  (Josh Mosh)

PS.  Someone do something about this Scion bullshit and keep them out of Metal and Punk.  For fucks sake!

PPS.  Why does the drummer look like the dude from ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Paul’?  WTF?

www.southernlord.com

 

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ACEPHALIX – Deathless Master

•December 1, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Acephalix

 

ACEPHALIX – Deathless Master CD

ACEPHALIX return with what I believe is their 3rd LP and second for Southern Lord Records.  ACEPHALIX roots are certainly in the world of crust but as they have developed over the last several years they have started to embrace Death Metal more and more.  They have gone from running with peers like STORMCROW, SANCTUM, and HELLSHOCK to stinking it up with likes of BOLTHROWER, ENTOMBED, DEATH BREATH, etc.  Lets just skip to the chase and say this album FUCKING RULES!!!  The guitar tones are nod to ENTOMBED with that warm buzz and the vocals sound like they are still in hell but being channeled to us through some array of metal piping.  What I am saying is they are brutal as all fuck, have killer reverb on them and they sound far away.  They are not lost in the mix, don’t confuse that with the fact that they just sound distant.  It really adds to the mysticism the band is able to capture.   ACEPHALIX are straight up blasphemous without getting caught up in the silliness of Satan worship.  The lyrics are as dark as the deepest depths of ancient caverns and take a left hand path to anything that is clean, pure and virgin. The band is tight and deliver a stench and filth covered wall of noise and destruction.  This bay area unit reminds me of a bulldozer doing it’s thing on a mountain of skulls.  This is one of my favorite releases of the year and will certainly make my end of year list of top albums.  More crust metal please!  (Josh Mosh)

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NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR – CHAOS REIGNS

•November 20, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Image

 

NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR – Chaos Reigns CD

 I’ve followed this band for a few years and have their earlier album as well as 7”. With that I can say without any hesitation that this is by far NDT best effort.  This album sounds amazing!  The production the mix, it’s fucking rad!  The guitar tone is so fucking chunky and powerful it just makes you say “Fuck yeah!”.  The warm fuzz of the bass really fills in the sound while complimenting the guitar and adding to the overall power.  The drums snap and sound fricken’ tight!  This is a solid sounding record.  The amazing sound is pulled off without any sacrifice of edge or attitude and has just the right amount of rawness to it.  According to the liner notes it was recorded at two different studios but you wouldn’t guess that by the consistency throughout the album.  This leads me to believe it was maybe the raw tracks were all mixed at the same place, that’s what the even quality would suggest anyway.  Just because it’s crust doesn’t mean it has to be all blown out and undecipherable.  And that’s just what this is.  CRUST!  NDT tip their hats to EXTREME NOISE TERROR and DOOM and play ass kicking metallic crust that gets close, but never gives in to grindcore.   They get the tempo going but never grind it out, opting to go for uber fast punk beats instead.  The song structures are awesome and they add enough twists and turns to keep the songs from blending together too much.  At times they even surrender to beak-downs that would make SLAYER smile.  The lyrics are somewhat poetic but also very direct descriptions of a decaying world and are delivered with all rage, aggression and angst that you would expect.  Celebrated “crust” artist Hush did the awesome Grim Reaper cover art which will certainly make for some cool shirts.  10 original songs and a crushing cover of the CELTIC FROST classic ‘Morbid Tales’ round out this album.  I don’t know if this was released on vinyl, I have the disc.  With that if you let it play you just might find a hidden track.  This is kind of album that makes the hair on your arms stand up and makes you stoked that you listen to crust.  When I play this CD it makes me want to put on my grimy vest and watch National Geographic war documentaries with the volume down so I can have the visuals of explosions and the atrocities of war with a raging crust punk sound track.  For some reason it just seems fitting.  NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR rules.  And as we wrap this up it seems Southern Lord is no longer just dipping their toes in the crust pond, I think they are up to their knees by now with releases from several crusty punk bands including MARTYRDOD, OIL TANKER and WOLF BRIGADE among others.  Word.  (Josh Mosh)

www.southernlord.com

 

 

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We Live…We Buy…records.

•November 19, 2012 • Leave a Comment

It’s been awhile since we’ve celebrated anyone’s recent music picks.  Val has scooped up a bunch of new stuff recently.  Hopefully we can get a few words out of in regards to what he’s been spending his money on in the way of music.

With that said, it’s been awhile since we posted anything.  Life gets in the way sometimes.  I’ve been taking care of kids, fighting a cold and recording an album with my band, APEX.  I’ve got some time coming up to spend writing , reviewing and reflecting on this life.  Until then check this shit out:

Here’s what I’ve picked up in the last couple of weeks…

NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR – Chaos Reigns CD / I love this band.  Fuck yeah!  Great crust in the early ENT vein.  Watch for a full blown review on this soon.

EXTREME NOISE TERROR – Retrobution CD / I have this on cassette and thought it was time to replace it on CD since I saw it sitting there in the used bin.  This is that collection they did in the 90’s where they re-recorded some earlier stuff.  Great CD.

EXTREME NOISE TERROR – Damage 381 CD/ This is came out in ’97 and is the ENT album that has Barney from NAPALM DEATH on vocals.  Fuck yeah!

CHRISTIAN DEATH – Born Again Anti-Christian CD / Sure there is all the drama that comes with the band and the whole Rozz vs Valor thing. The purists won’t listen to any of Valor’s stuff but really they are the ones missing out.  Especially with Maitri joining the fold.  She rules!  This is a good, goth/metal album.  My copy is a tour promo copy without any liner notes just info on their (at the time) upcoming tour with CRADLE OF FILTH.

PENTAGRAM – Last Rites LP / I was uber stoked to find this on vinyl.  This is an amazing album by this legendary man / band.  Certainly one of their best releases even if it’s a more recent effort.

DETESTATION – The Inhuman Condition and Blood of the Gods 7″s / I have the LP but didn’t have these.  Score!  Great metallic crust in the vein of NAUSEA.

CONFLICT – These Colours Dont Run 7″ / Legendary Anarcho punk.  This came out in 93 and I believe was one of the last releases before they broke up for a spell.  Word is they are touring the US next year.

KONTRASEKT – s/t 7″ / Crust from the twin cities in the DOOM or ENT vein.  This just came out in the last year or two.

 

 

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Ancient Computers – But did they have Mario?…

•November 8, 2012 • Leave a Comment

 I’ve come across the Antikythera Mechanism  in different books but was re-introduced to it today by a friend.  Pretty f’n wild.  The ancient world was far more advanced than we believe.  At least at different periods…before it was lost and then regained.  Just shows that as much as we believe we know about history there is more we don’t know and a lot that we are wrong about (how about the Chinese were in North America long before the Vikings or before Columbus starting murdering natives) .  Sadly this is mostly due to religions trying to erase periods of history in an effort to protect their precious lies and a more favorable (to them) version of history. 

The Antikythera mechanism ( /ˌæntɨkɨˈθɪərə/ANT-i-ki-THEER-ə or /ˌæntɨˈkɪθərə/ANT-i-KITH-ə-rə) is an ancient analog computer[1][2] designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–1901 from the Antikythera wreck,[3] but its significance and complexity were not understood until a century later. Jacques-Yves Cousteau visited the wreck in 1978,[4] but although he found new dating evidence he did not find any additional remains of the Antikythera mechanism. The construction has been dated to the early 1st century BC. Technological artifacts approaching its complexity and workmanship did not appear again until the 14th century AD, when mechanical astronomical clocks began to be built in Western Europe.[5]

Read more…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

Watch…

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SMD / CHOOSE YOUR POISON split 7″

•October 27, 2012 • Leave a Comment

SMD  / CHOOSE YOUR POISON split 7”

I’ve had the pleasure of not only seeing both of these bands several times but have played shows with both too.  So you can say I have some history here….This 7” pumps my nads!  It is a double dosage of aggressive hardcore punk with an excellent pairing of bands.  I think it’s safe to say that although both bands have their distinct sound, ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT could be a fair comparison.  SMD puts a frantic, frenzied, beak neck speed spin to their hardcore and manage to cram 5 songs into a single side of 45 rpm 7”.  That’s moving along at a pretty good clip, not quite as fast as a Manning led Broncos victory over the Raiders but fast enough.  I love the sound of their side of this 7”, its raw, thick and dirty (yeah, let that resonate for a minute…) and just comes across like a boot to the ass.  Where Maury spits put his vocals as fast as he can, Shane from CHOOSE YOUR POISON pukes forth with a cry of desperation on almost every phrase. They play fast paced hardcore-thrash that seems to be rattling my furniture and causing my cat some undo stress. Their mix is perfectly bass heavy and also sounds really thick, its just a tad bit cleaner than SMD’s side but sounds fucking killer.   A great 7” but two excellent bands.  This is the kind of 7” that gets flipped a few times and even comes back out later for a few more spins while all the dudes are hanging out pounding some barley pops.  Bring on the party…We have the tunes!  (Josh Mosh)

www.facebook.com/SMDthrashpunk

kingofdrunkrecords@gmail.com

SMD

CHOOSE YOUR POISON

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ANTHRAX – All For the Cause LP

•October 23, 2012 • Leave a Comment

ANTHRAX – All For The Cause LP

Lots of people will criticize ANTHRAX just for reuniting, citing other bands that have reformed only to be a completely hollow shell of what they once were.  Many things, I’m sure, motivate people, who were once in a band, to resurrect it and see whether there is still something there.  Seeing how their 2009 seven inch was a benefit single for the most hallowed 1in12 Club in Bradford, England, I don’t think that ANTHRAX return for any reason other than they still have something to add to the ongoing conversation that is PUNK.  And why would these guys stand on the sidelines and not have something to say.  And on this LP ANTHRAX have something to say about subjects ranging from the exploitation of the poor to support western consumerism, living life with a sense of purpose and avoiding selfishness, and the continued loss of liberty and freedom in the modern world.  Nothing particularly new but seeing how ANTHRAX were making similar statements 30 years ago it drives the message that much more home that nothing has changed.  I do however like the positivity that still comes thru.  They remind us that while the world may be fucked you do have some choice as to how you live and the impact that you can make, especially locally.  There is a sense that they have made a choice to point out the dark but stand in the light, and see some immediate possibilities for achievement and personal empowerment.

 

Musically this certainly dips pretty deep into the pub rock and roll of CHELSEA at times, and at other times pushes forth with some raucousness that gives way to something more like ROSE TATTOO.  There is definitely a lot of leanings toward a more oi sound as strange as that might seem since these guys are known more for their affiliation with CRASS and the early anarcho scene of the 80’s.  But the foray into the anthemic sing-alongs works and has a lot of punch. My personal fave on this one probably is the b-side track called “Another” which sounds more like an early SUBHUMANS tune with it vitriolic angst.  It’s driving guitar riff is pure punk heaven.

There are two songs that come straight from the aforementioned seven inch called “One Last Drop” and “Welcome”  which only adds validity to my general belief that the seven inch format is the best way to deliver punk.  There are some gems here but since 2 songs were previously released, the songs here could have been used to make a couple more seven inches and probably had more impact than an LP.

I am sure that there will be plenty of people that are more hardcore than me that wont like this cause it doesn’t have much of the raw, frantic edge of their first two 7” from the 80’s having traded it in for a more matured and laid back pace which seems natural and appropriate.  But there is plenty here to sink your teeth into if you can get past the evolution in sound that ANTHRAX show here.

All For The Cause comes in a nice heavy gatefold cover, poster and booklet and its all done DIY with their own label – Grow Your Own Records and I was able to get mine direct from the band which underscores their intact DIY ethic.

These are clearly guys that have made a move from a world that is full of despair and darkness to a world that still has some light, which is awesome because many became so mired in the depressing reality .

ANTHRAX seem to offer genuine sincerity and its that sincerity that makes this sound so great.

(val)

 

 

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