Having completely shit the bed last month due to the phenomena know as retail hell, posting new music for this sight has become a priority. And since it's December, consider them little electronic presents for your ear holes.
First up is the Swedish outfit This Gift Is A Curse (see what I did there). I've wanted to post these guys for awhile, but for one reason or another they fell through the cracks. Unleashing an amalgam of noise that could best be described as Botch and Knut hangin' with some Norwegian church burners, This Gift Is A Curse is no joke. Bitter, intense, oppressive, and impossibly heavy is the name of the game here. Their interplay between straight up blackened hardcore rage and their more Swans/Godflesh-y moments is really pretty stellar. While all bludgeoning, it's that shift that makes all the dynamics and mood on I The Guiltbearer so compelling. I can see this band making some serious waves on this side of the Atlantic. Get familiar. Do it.
Column Of Heaven's intent is clear. Violence. Comprised of member of the defunct The Endless Blockade, C.O.H picks up right were the latter left off. An unhinged power violence assault, unfettered by any need for extraneous song structures. It's just ball out. Mission From God is the musical equivalent of a deadly weapon. Razor sharp in execution and hits as hard as blunt force trauma. And while all the bash and stab is happening,C.O.H. keep their listeners even more disorientated and unsettled with the addition of noise and electronics. It's a familiar element that Endless used to great but much more sparing effect. This 17 minute, 11 track slab of vitriol is not to be missed. Like this album, I'm keeping this review short and sweet. The end.
I'm parting with some of my vinyl collection, including some color variants of this album. I've listened to it 5 times already this evening making sure they're all fit to sell, so I figured, why the fuck not post it?
Fifteen Counts of Arson is one of my favorite albums of all time and I objectively believe that it's one of the greatest punk rock albums ever recorded...and it's not even my favorite His Hero Is Gone record, Monuments To Thieves holds that distinction. The order in which I rank those two will surely be objected to by some, but I think that just about all of their fans can agree that His Hero Is Gone managed quite a feat in having produced not one, but two all time greats of the genre. Pardon me if I get a little too self-involved with this one, His Hero Is Gone was one of the most important bands in my musical evolution.
I was 13 years old when this record came out, though I don't think I heard it until the following year (1998). At that point I was starting to move beyond punk rock and hardcore staples like the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains and Black Flag. Bands like Discharge, Crucifix and Crass had given me an ethos to go along with my (just barely) teenage angst. But 1998 would prove a huge year for me musically. I would hear two bands that expanded my palate and completely changed the way I listened to music. One was Botch, though that's a story for another time, the other was His Hero Is Gone.
I imagine I must have downloaded it from the FTP site that some guys who posted on a message board I frequented ran, as that's where much of my music discovery happened in those early days of file sharing. Somehow I came into possession of a few MP3s, including "Professional Mindfuckers," "Sterile Fortress" and "Epidemic." I know that the phrase "blew my mind" is overused, but that's exactly what happened, my mind was fucking blown.
It was dark. Darker than Discharge or Rudimentary Peni (who I also loved at the time) and certainly had none of the levity of the latter. It was fast. I had heard some fast hardcore, but I had never been exposed to a blast beat before this record. It was slow. Sludge would later become my genre of choice, but this was my first exposure to the grimy stomp that's part and parcel of the genre. But most of all, it was heavy. Not the type of heavy that a bunch of meatheads would stomp around to at a hardcore show, but the kind of heavy that made you want to throw up the claw and bang your fucking head. It's almost solely responsible for sending me barreling down a musical path I might not have stumbled across otherwise and almost fifteen years later, Fifteen Counts of Arson remains one of my favorite albums of all time.
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.
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.
Listening to Guidelines (see post below) got me all hot and bothered for some more chaotic screamo. I mentioned Textbook Traitors when I posted the Guidelines EP and immediately realized Textbook Traitors is one of the reasons I started this blog. Not them in particular, but bands of their ilk. Bands who in their time were completely overlooked. Granted, when this EP came out the screamo wave was just about to crest and when that wave broke it spilled out a slew of shitty bands, so Textbook Traitors were mostly lost in the wash, drown out by the pounding of the shitty surf. OK, I think that's enough water and poo allusions for one post.
Textbook Traitors were a screamo band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who released a grand total of 33 minutes of music in their all too brief career. The drummer went on to join Get Rad (had I known this when I saw Get Rad at Gilead Media Fest I would have gotten all fanboy on that guy). Other than that, I can't seem to find any info on the band's previous or more current endeavors. However, all you really need to know is that if you have even a passing interest in the genre, this EP contains 15 of the finest minutes of screamo you will ever hear. Unlike many of their peers, Textbook Traitors eschewed the quiet/loud dynamic for the most part in favor of an all out aural assault unlike anything I'd heard before or I've heard since. Eardrum shredding shrieks, grindcore pacing, blast beats and frenetic, dissonant, shrill guitar caterwauling make this one of the most grating listens ever and nearly a decade after my initial listen, I still can't get enough of it. This is a masterpiece of the genre, up there with Chaos Is Me by Orchid and Document # 5 and Document #7 by Pg. 99. Absolutely essential.
Digital Physical (CD)
Unfortunately, this hot mess was never released on vinyl. Start talking about it incessantly and maybe we can get Magic Bullet to give this thing the vinyl treatment it deserves.
Whoa! This is some rad shit! I can’t say I really listen to
much screamo anymore, when nearly all of the progenitors of the genre and the second
wave bands went the way of the dodo so did my interest. I peek in every once in
a while to see what the haps are, but these days every band I hear seems to be
a Pg. 99 clone doing the quiet/loud thing over and over and over and over
again. That’s cool, I’d rather listen to Pg. 99. They all seem to have become
so concerned with the pretty, quiet parts and crafting the most epic build that
they completely forget the payoff; the violent, unhinged, sounds like it’s
going to go spiraling out of control at any second, bordering on grindcore bits
of screamo songs that I absolutely adore. You know, like what Orchid and Textbook
Traitors excelled at. Call it “emoviolence” if you’re one of those people. It’s
those delightful tidbits where Guidelines shine. Sure, there are still the
melodic sections and the quiet/loud dynamic, that’s part and parcel of the
genre, but what is truly remarkable is how these New Jersey gents manage to
transition into and even combine the chaotic elements of screamo with the
melodic. Listening to this brings me back to a whole different era of punk rock
music, but also gives me hope for the future. Thanks, Guidelines.
Cleveland, Ohio in the house! When I think of Cleveland and hardcore, I think of two things: H100s and 9 Shocks Terror. Masakari...don't sound like either of those bands. They are however, big fans of His Hero Is Gone and Tragedy (who happen to be two of my favorite bands of all time) and it's pretty obvious when you listen to their music. Dark, crusty, D-beaty goodness and like HHIG, Masakari are as adept at playing at grindcore speeds as they are at sludge pacing. Don't really think I really need to say much more than that. Highly recommended.
Masakari recently made their entire discography free on bandcamp. If you're smart you'll grab the rest of it when you head over there to download this album and if you're not a dick you'll throw them a few bones. Make sure to check out the cover they did of the entire Fight Back Ep by Discharge. It fucking rules!
When I was eighteen I had no idea what my musical voice was or even how to execute it with any kind of maturity and professionalism. That's obviously not a problem for Code Orange Kids. Fresh out of High School, these guys and gal write and play songs as if they've been doing it forever. Even though it appears seasoned, Cycles still has a very youthful pulse to it. This is definitely not a rehash of the old and tired. It's simple... this E.P. kills. It is violent and filthy, affirming and destructive. Combining Converge and Cursed-esque tones, D-beat feel, and a Spazz/Torche attention span, Code Orange Kids craft an onslaught of hardcore that's pretty "top of the food chain". It's pretty easy to understand this band's relatively meteoric rise through the underground ranks. Look out for their split 7" with Full of Hell coming out on Topshelf Records soon and their full length coming out in the near future through Deathwish Inc. Yep...Jacob already snatched 'em up. That should tell you something.
As I continue to get super pumped to see Converge in a tiny ass club again, I cant help but focus on their opening acts. This show is going to be ridiculous! Next we have Loma Prieta. I've been pretty stoked on this band for a bit now. Just ask Pat how many times I've asked him if he's listen to this record yet...hint: every time. Ferocious and sublime. Those two words sum it up for me. Ferocious is obvious, but sublime, sublime is really in the sense that it simultaneously takes me back and is pushing towards the future. Restoring my hope that their are people who are passionate about music and have an understanding that in order to progress you must know where you come from. These young guns really did their homework. Channeling every thing that's good about hardcore and spewing it forth with such vitriol and abandon, Loma Prieta's I.V. is a masterwork of modern hardcore. These gentlemen know how to do and do it really well! The long and the short of it is: Dude's, you have to listen to this shit!
