LITTLE MISS and the NO NAMES are back with a brand new six song 7”. This time around they are even more pissed and more hardcore sounding. In a review of their earlier released cassette I felt they had captured somewhat of a UK 82 sound, but they seem to have pushed beyond that seizing a more 80’s hardcore sound that could have easily seen them fit on one of the early MRR comps. When they are in their hardcore groove they sort of remind me of a more exciting and daring, less refined, SIGNAL LOST, especially on the song ‘Dirty Sheep’. Rebecca’s vocals are pissed-the-fuck-off and incredibly powerful. She seems to have really found her voice and handles herself well. I like the dirty production of this 7”, I think it just pushes the punk factor and energy levels. The guitar is as raw as road kill, and has an early BLACK FLAG sounding distortion to it. In fact that is a really good reference point. Swap out Chavo and insert Rebecca…You just might have it. A few tasty leads keep things interesting without getting in the way and getting too wanky. Lyrically they touch on everyday issues and observations of their world, which isn’t that different from anyone else’s. The stories they tell can be from any scene anywhere, they are real and easy to connect to which allows for a personal connection to the record. Mine is on pink vinyl and the cover appears as if it might be hand screened. This is a solid release and I wish them luck with it. (Josh Mosh)
You just cant “un-see” things once you have subjected yourself to them. I am not one for censorship and I think if you don’t like something or are offended, don’t partake. If it’s a movie or song, shut it off. I don’t listen to porno-grind or gore-grind or other similar things that I don’t have any use for. Censorship is, for the most part, wrong.
But at the same time I question the need to make or do some things. The subject in question is CATTLE DECAPITATION’s new video for their song ‘Forced Gender Re-Assignment’. While I understand the point behind the song and agree with their overall message I question the mind of anyone that felt that making a video like this is necessary. Call me whatever name you want. Look I even like a good splatter flick, but do find myself liking them less as I get older. But, again, this didn’t need to happen. This video will not push mankind any closer to universal cosmic peace or whatever, but will do damage. The point may be noble but the execution (pun intended) distracts from the message. The right people, the people that need to hear it the most, will never be privy to the message these grinders are trying to convey. If they do get this far the pure obscenity of the video will overtake the message and in the end you are left with nothing more than a view into someone’s twisted, sickened mind. Homie aint playing with a full deck…
”Wow, brutal dude”…I’m sure that will be the reaction of many, but I know most people don’t want to go to places as dark as what is shown and described in this video. There is no need to. It’s that simple.
The “reaction videos” are already being posted all over the interweb. My reaction? I shut it off about half way through. I didn’t need to see that, it would not add to my quest for happiness but rather serve as a distraction from finding joy in life. I sound like some sort of hippy don’t I? To me, life is too precious to unnecessarily subject myself to something that does not have any positive affect on me. I am going to back to watching the animated ‘Hobbit’ with my kids.
PEACE!
What are your thoughts? Call me names, tell me I’m lame…Whatever…
We didn’t hear much about the events in Spain from our state sponsored media. There were a few videos popping up on Facebook and other channels of modern communication but for the most part no one knew, or knows, what is going on there. In fact I searched CNN and there was no headline, nothing to alert me of the events that were unfolding in that country. Finally I used the search functionality and typed in Spain and finally found an outdated article. So, if I knew there was something to look for I could find some old information, but if I was a casually perusing the news I wouldn’t ever know that the state had put the smack down on peaceful protest and the police had taken to beating the citizens.
Did you know earlier in the summer there was a media blackout in Spain? There was a state mandated block on allowing out the images of the riots and police beating as miners and other folks gathered in Madrid to protest government austerity measures. Basically “they” didnt want us to see the video footage and our lamestream media was quick to oblige. From inside the melee street footage was being shot on smart phones and other devices and some footage making it to Youtube and Facebook but there was little to mention of any of this by the main stream media.
So what you say? You don’t live in Madrid and you are happy wallowing in American ignorance…
“They are abusing the lower social classes,” 54-year-old teacher Luis Diazsaid. “By backing banks, they are torturing the working class and badly affecting public education, health care and pensions when what they should be doing is exactly the opposite.”
Sound familiar? Or maybe it doesn’t…
Ignorance is bliss someone said. And now there are teaching that concept to our increasingly dumbed down society. Repeat it enough by beating us down with daily distractions of NFL referees and pregnant Snooki’s and we give up our freedom of thought for blissful ignorance.
Shut that shit off and open your eyes to world as it is crumbling around us. Getting hammered and listening to CONFLICT does not create change. There is information everywhere! Copy it, spread it around, make posters, start a blog, a website, make flyers…or just copy shit and share it on Facebook and the social engines. One at a time people will unplug and join in. There is so much information available once you get off of TMZ and porn sites and actually poke around the real world.
“Fuck dude…I just want to slame beers and pogo..”
“Yeah man, I wanna get wasted and thrash…Fuck this shit…”
Fine. Take your flu shots, ingest your GMOs and line up in an orderly fashion. Don’t resist and take your number as you are herded into the cattle cars and sent off to the FEMA camps.
Freedumb.
More information is coming to light as the situation is Spain is just to big to ignore anymore. Go to your favorite CIA sponsored search engine and look up ‘Spain Austerity’.
Barry O and our “leaders” are getting ready even if you are not. He passed the NDAA act while you were drunk last New Years and lets not forget the Ant-Protest bill he signed in too. He’s just stacking onto the Patriot Act that his buddy George shackled the American people with. Dont know what those are? Go look them up, I’m not going to tell you, go look them up and get in the habit of seeking out truth and the answers yourself. The first 3 people to send me an email at thrash-punx@hotmail.com with a quick couple of sentences describing the NDAA and protest zones bill gets the new CLUSTERFUX LP!
When this happens here it will be our own fault because we were too worried about Iphones (with the state controlled kill switch in the camera) and that dancing Justin kid than we were about the real future or our children and this world.
Watch this video and listen to the narrators words…Let them sink in…
ABERRANT just fucking kicks ass. Any self-respecting grindcore freak should know that by now. There was even a nice little write up in Decibel magazine a month or so ago about their discography LP. What I love about grindcore is captured perfectly by this Colorado band. They are brutal and as heavy as Andre the Giants nutsack while still able to find a groove and keep it…dare I say…catchy?! Yes! They are catchy as a winter cold, but way more fun. Chris is the riff master and draws his inspiration from old hardcore punk and early thrash metal. I’m sure he listened to his fill of AGGRESSION, AGNOSTIC FRONT and early METALLICA back in the day. Gordon pounds those skins like a 14 year old boy with a stolen HUSTLER pounds his…Well you get the picture. This is where that groove really comes alive. Sure it starts with the sick riffage but it takes the right skinsman to really get into pocket and make it come alive! As a three piece the only one left is Alton and his self-mutilating vocal delivery. Like some evil-spawned, sewer demon, his barks and screams echo deep from the bowels of grindcore and aurally shred your fucking ear drums. Gnarly! Lyrically they go after the New World Order and the Illuminati as well as tackle eugenics and other shit that pissed off grind dudes scream about! Fuck yeah!
DER turns up the brootal! There are not enough “o’s” in the word broooootal to describe what is going on here. The manic drummer must have done a sack of biker crank before getting on the stool. He is out of fucking control and I can only imagine what he must be like to watch live. I can’t help but to think that he must have to buy drums sticks by the case as I can’t see him being able to make it through more than a song or two without wood splintering in every direction as his sticks explode on the rim of the snare or the edge of the high-hat. BAM! Fucking disintegrated just like that! If full on brootality is your thing these are your jams right here! These Brazillians are basically a blur and plow through 10 songs like a methed out, rabid, rhino in a china shop. Fast, dangerous, heavy and wreckless!
An impressive pairing of bands captured on multi-colored vinyl. This was a collaborative effort as it looks like a few labels pulled together to make this happen. That’s how you get it done! (Josh Mosh)
For some reason all the Japanese hardcore punk and crust bands always rule. There is something about how they all seamlessly weave between crust, punk and metal with their unique twists and turns. As I type this up I am spinning REALITY CRISIS on the turntable and I’m thinking about throwing FORWARD on next. Here are a few of my favorite songs by a few of my favorite Japanese bands. Some people are quite fanatical about the heavy and gnarly from this island nation, but by no means am I an expert on Japanese hardcore, just a casual listener who has a few records and has taken a few measures in the last few years to collect a few more. With that… Enjoy…
ACROSTIX – Rise from the Ashes
S.D.S. – Tomorrow
EFFIGY – The Day the Devil Reigned
And of course…The mighty DISCLOSE – Searching for Water
Yes, go vote. Presidential elections change very little in our daily lives but your voice should be heard.
Also if you vote in local elections your daily life can be greatly affected.
I’ve heard it a million times, and believed it when I was younger: “If voting changed anything it would be illegal.”
Parts of that are true. Government changes slowly if at all and the people with money buy political influence, so yeah voting doesn’t have that big of an effect.
However it’s this idea that got us into our current situation. It is complicity that has allowed lobbyist to come in and take over. Voting might not have as much influence as taking your cause to the streets, but in the eyes of the policy makers if you don’t vote you don’t matter. And we have to matter.
The reason lobbyists have so much control right now is because the average voter turnout rate is less than 50%. With only 50% of the population voting there is a vacuum that is left behind currently filled by lobbyists and multinational corporations. In Australia there is an average 80-85 percent voter turnout and that has allowed the populace to maintain some control over their government. There is a big difference in the lobbying processes between the US and Australia. Much of that has to do with the people being active not on regulation.
Recently there is a big push by right-wing baggers to suppress voter rights, including deleting 80,000 Texas voter registrations because they were assumed to be dead. The problem is they aren’t dead. In addition to these outright efforts to suppress voter rights, there are many smaller efforts to suppress voter turnout in minority areas. The right to vote should never be taken for granted, and it should be a high priority for punks vote, vote consistently, and vote for those who have been suppressed. There’s voter suppression underway so we should stand up and vote for them and for ourselves. For all of our friends locked up who can’t have a say, we should vote on their behalf. For everyone who has been told that they need some strange form of ID to vote, or that their registration has been deleted because the state thought they were dead. For them we should vote. And for ourselves we should vote. I don’t care that much about whose president but I do care who they pick to be FBI chief, I do care if marihuana will be legalized. We are care if taxes are used to build libraries or if it’s used to start wars. So really we do care and we do have an opinion.
We have to have a voice. We have to use that voice to speak for what we want, and we have to speak for others who are in jail or have been pushed to the side by the government. Voting is easy there is no real drawback. (Captain Ken)
Really, it is as simple as short, fast and loud on this release by this four piece from Tennessee. Guide supplies the masses with six blazing fast songs that clock in less than nine minutes, maybe even closer to eight. The first song “Thong Song” is less than a half minute long, a bit shorter than Sisqo’s. These guys are a mix of Grindcore, Power-violence and Thrash that is all saturated with an ultra-heavy dosage of Hardcore Punk. You can hear the vocalists pipes start to crack and shred as he delivers his lyrics in what can best described as a pissed off vocal lashing. This seven inch has a lot of cool tempo changes in the right places. They pull off their sound without getting bogged down in technical crap. Not that it is simplistic in the least. It is just bam, bam, bam, one hectic song after another. Each cut has its own signature of driving intensity, “Jaws” being my favorite with its cool guitar hook that leads through the slow part (which there aren’t a lot of) in the first half of the song. It reminds me of some old 80’s Hardcore band but then it is like the needle skips into some modern snare driven crazy thrash attack. But the needle didn’t skip it is just the breakneck speed of this record. The best comparison I could come up with to help you understand what my external auditory canal is picking up is Bl’ast on speed. At times some of it does get a little sloppy and it does seem a pinch out of tune in places. That rawness has its proper place but I can’t help to wonder what these guys would sound like with a little bit better production. Guide’s frantic energy seems like it would make for a great live act to catch. The cover features some unique elephant illustrations and that actual packaging is really cool. The way it is glued together provides a nifty extra little flap. Speaking of extras, this 7” comes with a download card that gives you an extra song. Nice little bonus. The only downside is wish it came with lyrics so I could read along. (Attucks)
WEAPONIZER makes no bones about it, but they sure do crack some bones! They know what they want and they deliver. They proudly wear their influences on their snot encrusted sleeves and pay tribute to metal godz such as KREATOR, SODOM, VENOM and HELLBASTARD. When appealing sacrifices are made on the bloody altar of metal the dark lords grant you the power to play dirty, blackened, stench ridden metal. WEAPONIZER pound it out in classic style that at times is loose thrash or crusty, punkish, black metal and always sick as fuck. Like maybe literally ill, the vocals sound like a guest spot from some poor soul doing time in the cancer ward. The production is perfect for this type of music in that it is clear enough to hear the instruments distinctly but has that loose punk feeling and is just dirty and ugly enough that this could have easily been explained as the lost tapes of a time-lost German thrash band from 86 or something. Song titles such ‘Threatener’, ‘I, Weopinzer’, and ‘Warbastard’, let you know exactly where we stand here, these fools don’t fool around when it comes to sadistic and punishing metal. The cover art is especially bad ass, perfect for t-shirts. The artist that whipped up this vision of an apocalyptic, Road Warrior styled rocker is Stiv who has done artwork for DETONIZE and VISIONS of WAR as well has numerous other punk and crust bands. To wrap it up these guys kick ass and they rule live. Download or get the CD. Whatever floats your boat. (Josh Mosh)
JUDAS PRIEST – Screaming for Vengeance 30th Anniversary edition
As I popped the CD into the player my daughter asked me “Dad, don’t you already have this?”. Of course the answer was yes so she quickly added “Why did you buy it again?’.
The answer is simple…this is one of the single greatest Heavy Metal albums of all time! Yes I have it! Only vinyl (the same copy my Grandma bought me in 1983), on cassette, on CD and now on CD with a bonus live tracks and the DVD of the FUCKIN’ US FESTIVAL!!!!! This is one of my favorite bands with one of my favorite albums and arguably their best album. There are multiple reasons to own multiple copies of this record. Oh and it’s even their top selling album.
Even though I know every word to every song, every riff, and every lead, every drum roll and every scream I still get excited and giddy anytime ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ is played. The album fills me with a joy and energy that is almost indescribable. It’s one of those moments that you feel like you are in the know and sharing something greater than yourself, a cosmic energy born of metal perhaps. You look around as you drive along with the windows down and the tunes cranked (I think in my truck as soon as the first chord of this album is struck my windows start to automatically roll down!)and gaze in wide wonder at the sheeple. Man if they only knew, if they only understood the awesome power of the mighty PRIEST, but yet you sort want to horde their lethal aggression and keep the secret to yourself and the chosen ones. The followers could never understand…they couldn’t handle the truth! Let them parish on the blood stained altar of the PRIEST!!! Proud and confident you turn the sonic assault louder. Death to the week they will fall before you! And so you utter your battle cry…Screaming for Vengeance!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ummm…The album kicks so much ass it’s not even funny. Every single track easily stands on it’s own and is a classic. Bands just done write “albums” anymore. This is solid from beginning to end, no room for second best. If you don’t own it now is your chance to pick up a really cool version of this album. The 5 bonus live tracks really capture the energy of their live show and the 6th bonus track ‘Prisoner of Your Eyes’ actually appeared on a previous re-issue of this same album.
But if that is not enough the DVD of their performance at the 1983 US Festival is worth the price alone. This is a remarkable performance and the only full set of any band to see an official release with exception of maybe TRIUMPH. The video and sound is great and there are 300,000 people there! At the time it was the biggest Heavy Metal concert ever! And…Probably still is in North America. Keep an eye out for the random shoe next to the drum riser by the ramp.
This is a necessary piece of Heavy Metal memorabilia. The CD is must have of anyone who claims to be a “metal head”, “head banger”, “heavy metal maniac” or claims to have any adoration or interest in Heavy Metal at all.
Yeah, Yeah…I know this came out last year, but I just finally got a copy so fuck off. These French dudes certainly know how to rip it up when it comes to bashing out a few raw scandi-style d-beat tracks. This is a real killer. I love the guitar tones and the way the guitars are layered on top of one another to give more dimension without becoming wanky. Intensity is definitely set to eleven by the vocals which are raw and urgent while attacking the modern world and the overall fleeting nature of life. If you are into TOTALITAR or DISFEAR then you will love this. Mines on pretty clear yellow vinyl.
These guys are new to me and the strange artwork on this EP gives me few clues as to what they are all about. They hail from the Bay area but the reverb and distortion soaked vocals recall recent Spanish bands like INVASION. This is a noisy record to be sure, with lots of piercing guitars, but the three tracks here are raging and when they fall momentarily into some riffing you can tell its not just another noise-core record without structure. It took me a few listens to really get this one under my skin but it really comes alive the more you listen. The sound is raw and a bit thin but I hear it is a much better recording than their first 7” and it works here just fine. A volatile mixture of japanese, spanish and classic italian hardcore styles that explodes in your face. I really would like to see this band live. You can tell it would be great.
ThrashPunx 