Gilead Media just opened up pre-orders for two releases involving three of the finest black metal bands the United States has to offer, all three of whom went completely sickhouse on our asses at Gilead Media Fest. See our post about it here.
First up is Empyrean by Mutilation Rites. As I said when I posted their I Am Legion EP a few months ago, I'm fairly confident that Mutilation Rites is the best black metal band in the United States currently. Empyrean fits right in with the Devoid and I Am Legion EPs released earlier this year by Forcefield Records and Gilead Media. This might be the first time that any band has ever had multiple releases make my end of year list. These dudes are on a fucking roll. Pressed on 180gm black vinyl in a Stoughton tip-on jacket.
Next is the Bargest/False split. I've somehow managed to avoid hearing this despite the fact that it's been up on Bandcamp for a few weeks now. Gonna have to fix that ASAP. However, I'm entirely sure both bands will knock it out of the fucking park. This is the first release for each band since their respectively self-titled vinyl debuts of last year, both of which were issued on Gilead Media. 800 copies pressed on 180gm black vinyl in a nice thick jacket and a poster.
Sorry metal dudes, I know I've been disappointing you with my output recently. I mean seriously, punk rock? Screamo? Fucking indie rock? Two metal records in the last month and a half. Well, don't you worry because I mean to put a stop to that...some other time. Here's a hardcore record! Petition Rob to do more than one post a month if you don't like it.
At some point in the past year I decided to do some weeding of my record collection. Most of what I got rid of was anarcho-punk I hadn't listened to since I was 15, but during that process I rediscovered a number of things I had absolutely adored, but had neglected in more recent years. One of those things was the hardcore scene in Cleveland, Ohio from the mid-90's through early 2000's. It started out with H100s who played thrashy hardcore that paid equal homage to Poison Idea and bands from the 80's Japanese scene such as Gauze, Lip Cream and G.I.S.M. When H100s split up the members formed two bands, Gordon Solie Motherfuckers and 9 Shocks Terror, who were, in my opinion, the penultimate band from that wave of Clevo hardcore.
H100s were already infamous in the Ohio hardcore scene, in their short history they were seemingly incapable of playing a show that didn't end up in a small scale riot and a trashed club. 9 Shocks Terror proudly grabbed the baton from H100s and ran with it across the country and beyond. They were spastic. They were confrontational. They like fireworks. They gave zero fucks. A quick Google search will turn up stories and even some video of their hijinks, but more important than any of that silliness is the fact that they fucking ripped.
After two 7"s and a split, 9 Shocks Terror released what I believe to be their magnum opus Zen And The Art Of Beating Your Ass on Japan's Devour Records (also the home of some of Discordance Axis' early work). I've never heard the Devour version, but apparently it sounded like complete shit and the original mix and a new master was re-released by Havoc just a few years later (which is what you'll find linked to below). While 9 Shocks never really departed from the sound of H100s (obviously, they did name themselves after a Lip Cream album), they most definitely refined it. Zen leaves behind the sloppiness of H100s for some tight, focused, straight ahead thrashing hardcore. Sandwiched between razor sharp riffs are scorching leads and even a few quick and to the point guitar solos. 9 Shocks Terror didn't have any fucking time for breakdowns and mosh riffs and that's just the way I like it.
Well, after a highly productive (for us) month of June, we're on our way to our least productive month since we started this thing. We're officially bad at this again! It's gonna be alright though, because White Lung are about to rock your goddamn socks off, regardless of whether you're wearing shoes or not.
Hailing from the home of the one and only Narduwar (that would be Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) White Lung play a noisy, rollicking brand of punk rock quite unlike anything I've heard in a long time, or possibly ever. They're far from your average 4-chord punk rock band. Guitarist Kenneth McCorkell's hand scurries around the fretboard like a chipmunk seeking refuge from a hawk circling overhead. Sorry is executed at the breakneck pace of Morris era Black Flag. Guitar-wise, think Greg Ginn and his signature dissonant guitar squelches...on speed, with flourishes of melodious jangly indie rock played far too fast for wimpy indie kids to enjoy. White Lung's rhythm section could easily fill in for Hot Snakes should the masters of chugging garage punk find themselves in a bind and while I certainly wouldn't call White Lung d-beat, the drumming rarely breaks from the Discharge mold. Sounds pretty boss, right? It is.
White Lung should appeal to fans of Bikini Kill and the Riot Grrrl scene, frantic surf-punk a la Night Birds and perhaps to more adventurous fans of the Screaming Females. Sorry will undoubtedly make an appearance on my end of 2012 list.
So there was a moment I had in high school, at a friends house, lets say there were substances involved. Anywhoo, at some point in the evening my buddy Billy throws a record on. I start to notice that every note is syncing up with the television, every note screams as if it is a journey unto itself. Next thing I know I'm cruise at a million miles an hour through the universe and back. Mind blown. That was my first foray into the genre known as Psychedelia and the band was Hawkwind. Love 'em or hate 'em, you can deny the impact Hawkwind have had on music and musicians alike. They gave us Lemmy for christ sake! Had he done the right kind of drugs Motorhead may never have happen! Hawkwind Triad is a three part tribute from Neurot Records. Oh, and it rules pretty freakin' hard. Featuring Steve Von Till's folk rock space odyssey Harvestman, North Carolina's own U.S. Christmas, and the Sanford Parker lead Minsk, ...Triad offers some rather beefy, and incredible, versions of Hawkwind classics. Personal favorite added below! Had this been what I heard oh so many years ago I may have had a slightly different experience! Turn down the lights, throw on Planet Earth on Blu-Ray, and turn this sucker up loud!
Look at that name. LOOK AT IT. Say it out loud. Feel the way it rolls off the tongue. Did you just chortle? I did the first time I said it out loud too. Not sure I need to do a big writeup on this one, with a name like that you should have a pretty good idea of what you're getting yourself into. Big, riffy, groove-laden, instrumental stoner doom following in the footsteps of the masters. You either love this style of music or it does absolutely nothing for you. Personally, I think this happens to be one of the finest exemplars of the genre since Bongzilla's Gateway.
Haven't done one of these in a while! A year or so removed from their split with Dropdead, Converge teams up with another bunch of old dudes band with a long, storied history, Napalm Death. I will say I wasn't quite as keen on Napalm Death's most recent effort as many, but I'll be picking this up regardless because a) it's Converge b) Converge do a fucking ENTOMBED cover (Wolverine Blues) with guest vocals from Tompa Lindberg and c) the Deathwish exclusive vinyl looks fucking sweet. I wish Converge had chosen to do something off of Left Hand Path, since doing a straightforward death metal song would have been more outside their wheelhouse, but I'm excited regardless. Available from Kingsroad on yellow and pink vinyl and from Deathwish on randomly colored swirly "vinyl bong" vinyl, which is a pretty boss manufacturing technique used by Gotta Groove Records. No pressing info is available at this time.
