Patch Over

 Patches have always been a crucial element in underground music of every genre. Metal(in all its forms), punk, hardcore, crust, grind, sludge, doom. Patches are an essential piece of merch for touring bands, just like shirts, CDs and vinyl. One of the best ways to show where you allegiances in music scene, and generally the world around you today are through wearing shirts and sewing patches on whatever you can. It's like wearing a bandanna showcasing your gang affiliation. No one has to ask questions, they take one look and know your stance. Patches are worn by all underground music fans in various ways and designs. Some people use them for their intended purpose, to fix holes in their clothes. It's easy to wear out elbows in your sweatshirt or knees in your pants. I see tons of people with patches over their front and back pockets as well, those go fast when you only own one or two pairs of pants that you have to wear everyday (this is a choice by most of us as it turns out. I only two pairs of pants period. One work pair, one not-work pair. Both are Dickies.)
 Patches come in all sorts of materials, compositions and sizes. Some people choose linen or canvas and silkscreen them. Others use iron ons, some bands have them professionally made at a relatively low cost. Different materials and processes yield different looking patches of various lifespans on your clothes, that is if you patch your shit. I know several people that collect them in an almost archival sense and several people that have patches everywhere, some of which are barely recognizable due to the amount of time worn.I think most of mine are printed on canvas, not many silk screened because that can be very tedious and expensive. Bigger bands have their patches embroidered and sometimes have iron on transferability if you don't know how to sew and don't want to use safety pins. Safety pins work but are quite prone to coming undone and fucking you or the people around you up. But those patches are so big and bulky. They do work well on a denim jacket or vest but can make you look like a posing chump if you're not careful. A surefire way to not make friends is to look like you're trying too hard and showing off eight dollar embossed, appliqued patches of Static-X, Mudvayne or Machine Head. But maybe that's just me being an elitist dick, I don't know. All I can say is that if a band goes on stage and is showing patches of bands I really like or respect then I get more stoked to hear these dudes I've never seen or heard before. That was kind of how i got into No Master among other bands.

Repping OH pride on the OU hoodie

 I'm not really sure where the practice of making patches for bands came from. My first assumption would be patches have deep roots dwelling in the DIY punk community of anarcho punk, hardcore and crust bands from the mid-late 70's, possibly from England though I wouldn't be surprised if it started here in the states. I just keep getting this image of Discharge and the Exploited just hanging out and drinking cheap beer while drawing on pre-cut strips of fabric to fix their clothes and then get the idea of selling them for merch. I know that in the very early American hardcore scene people would make band shirts out of white tees purchased from local stores and just write on them with sharpies before printing became an accepted medium. How much more DIY does it get then that? Well besides way expensive but fucking amazing looking silk screened shirts that you can make yourself.
 Once I get my camera's battery problem figured out I'll take pictures of the wrap pants I wear for fighting in, they have lots of sweet patches too, except my Bodies In the Gears of the Apparatus patch, it got ripped in half. :(  There are many more bands I want patches for though and I feel like a real dick buying them on eBay so if anyone wants to sell or trade, just let me know!

Not the best overlapping images, but fuck it, you the idea.

Publicity Grunts

"Thank you, Jay Randall for that introduction. And since you got peoples attention, Phobia has a brand new full-length coming out in February/March of 2012 titled 'Remnants of Filth' out on Willowtip Records and produced by non other than the master Scott Hull. And remember, folks ...opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. Cheers!"

Burn?

I loled

Agoraphobic Nosebleed (or at their least singer, Jay Randall) are apparently not too happy with Phobia frontman Shane Mclachlan. Earlier this morning, the ANb Twitter account was enriched with the following diatribe (divided amongst four separate posts):

"Shane Phobia is the Ike Turner of grindcore, long history of beating girls up when he's drunk and if you think that's cool -we ain't... Gave Shane Phobia plenty of time to figure out what he and his brother owed us and to stop bootleggin'/selling our shit on ebay -times up!...Shane Phobia went ahead with doing ANB merch without working a deal with us first and has I guess sold it for years now without paying us a dime... So glad I've been unknowingly contributing to this fuckin' piece of shit crust punks beer fund for years now -fuck Shane Phobia."

People Take Photographs of Things They Can't Forget

Left side of cassette box.

Right side of cassette box.

"Rise of Annihilation" by Magnicide,
re-issue of original Suicidal Tendendies s/t,
HoD discog tape,
4 song EP by Dark Ages

 So I got a real digital camera recently. 3.2 megapixels and 3x zoom, I'm really catching up to the technological world now. First thing I want to use it for is to catalog my physical music collection. All of my vinyl is still boxed away so I broke out my cassette tapes and snapped some pictures. I have maybe a dozen tapes not shown, but they're classic rock or tapes I just don't listen to and still somehow own. These pictures represent tapes I've collected through my time living in Kansas, only a few were bought in Ohio. I got the Death Angel and Misfits tapes for like fifty cents each at a game shop that sold used tapes. I found the Slayer, Metallica and Judas Priest tapes at a yard sale a couple weeks ago, big surprise when I found them. They were in a box with a bunch of country music and bands like Testament, Soundgarden, Accept and Alice In Chains. They tried to sell me Mudvayne CDs when I wanted to pay and leave. Almost all of the others were bought at one of the Lawrence record shops, Love Garden for $1.50 or less. I got a Red Hot Chili Peppers tape, Queen's "Greatest Hits" and a ZZ Top tape all for like two bucks! They even have older music

Three Fugazi tapes, including "13 Songs"
"Hallraker" by the Descendents

related VHS! Too bad I hate Tina Turner.
 I bought the Magnicide tape straight from fucking Malaysia. Took a few weeks to order and a few more weeks to receive in the mail. It was well worth the wait though, that cassette fucking rips! I spent hours playing it on rotation at the bakery I worked at. It's always funny to see co-workers show up at 5 AM to work and you're blasting South-East Asian Grind out of the pastry department. Same with my Hummingbird of Death discography cassette, got it mailed to me from Iowa with the "Goatmeal" 5"(which rules!)  A lot of others were bought when I saw the band play. My Catheter tape was purchased with the same 7", some stickers and fucking awesome night of getting high with Geraldo before going to that 4 AM shift again. I ended up missing all but the last 20 seconds of their set because I woke up

Misfits "Earth A.D",
Catheter/Wojczech split,
Grasseaters 2011 demo

late. I was planning on napping then heading over to the house for the show, but got there late and just spent the night partying. The Grasseaters demo was bought at an outdoor show labeled "All Summer, No Bummer" and it delivered. The clouds were overcast most of the day with very visible lightning and very audible thunder, but it never rained. The weather stayed beautiful, the bands were all good and my friends were all there. Grasseaters are from Omaha, Nebraska so they brought a punch of punks from there with them so it was cool to meet some new crusties.
 I keep all my stuff in a brown tape box a friend gave me, and it was full of tapes! My bro Greg gave me some serious stuff that I listen to all the time. The Suicidal tape and "13 Songs" are the best examples though he gave me some classic thrash that rules (M.O.D. and S.O.D.). Mother fucker even put in an Anni DiFranco tape to throw me off. We had a good laugh and then I sold traded that shit for something good. But I'm super grateful to have the case to utilize as I have some tapes I do not want broken, lost or anything else bad that could happen. Then the obvious fact that I can take lots of tapes with me relatively easy. I wish more cars had tape decks now so I could rock out wherever I go! I could bring mixtapes and shit, and I have tons of tapes not of the fast/loud/short/heavy variety to make everyone happy. And obviously the collection only grows, much like collecting records. Tape collecting is a new thing for me, though I've been buying records for years now, almost a decade. But I know the cassette scene is just as old as DIY music itself. OG punx, grinders, crusties, black metal kvltists and death metal acolytes have all be tape trading and collecting as long as counter culture music has existed. You can't make a mix tape on a 7" unless you're putting out a compilation record, and it's not a mixtape it's a fucking comp your label is selling. Sure, CDs were around in the 80's but they were fucking expensive and no self respecting punk/metal head could afford one. Shit, even Walkman's for tapes were not cheap when first introduced to the market, but whose parents didn't have some sort of audio set up for their old Pink Floyd and Chuck Mangione albums. So it makes sense that tapes became the main food staple of feeding hungry music fans looking for more bands to listen to. What famous band didn't put out demo tapes before stepping up to 7"s?
 In the future I'm going to start taking pictures of my records and posting them with music, and I'm going to go back and add pictures to the records I've already posted. Blog+ has begun.

"Live In Japan" by Judas Priest,
"The Ultra Violence" by Death Angel"
"Live Undead"+ "Season of the Abyss" by Slayer,
"Speak English or Die" by S.O.D.

Obvious tapes are obvious

Thursday Song to Do Bong Rips To

 Metal's version of Willy Nelson, Mike Scheidt, sure knows his way around heavy as fuck riffs. I've been jamming the new YOB album "Atma" for a couple weeks now and I'm coming around to the musical styling of doom metal much more easily then ever before. Especially the first song "Prepare the Ground". This track fucking KILLS and is to me the best on the album. The last three or four songs are much slower paced and emotionally heavy while "Prepare the Ground" is just heavy as fuck. It starts out with down strummed riffs that are chunky and full aurally. The same chord progressions remain prevalent through almost the whole song, building up the whole time. Not in speed but atmosphere and energy. There is a little slowing down before everything explodes at 6:45 into an ultra heavy Hadouken to pummel your face with the bong you are holding. It makes me want to swing a four foot glass bong around Pineapple Express style. This song is long enough to take a couple rips before the song and then one more big one four or five minutes into the song. Not my normal preferred song length but they're a doom band, what do you expect?



Stream the whole album here.

Hayaino Grindsuki

 So "Orphan" came out way back at the end of winter this year. I've been trying to keep it in rotation to fully digest it and get a feel for what's going on. What I like and don't like. The recording method (each song live in one take), production, mixing, all that jazz. At first listen, and reinforced by subsequent listening, I got a huge Hayaino Daisuki(Hi-No Die-Ski(or did I mean Hawaii Daisuki?)) feel. There's just sick speed metal shredding with Chang's high screams and fucking raging blast beats. Obviously faster with shorter songs then Hayaino Daisuki, and some of Chang's older low growls, there's not much of a difference to casual extreme music listeners. I'm not one of those and there's still not much difference. This isn't the Gridlink that fucked my skull a couple years ago, this is Hayaino Grindsuki. Chang and Matsuraba really outdid themselves on this album though. Everything is insane in speed and technicality. Where Hayaino Daisuki win in song writing Gridlink wins in skill and precision. Song lengths have been literally quartered. Gridlink's longest song on here is 1:28 with Hayaino Daisuki's shortest being just under 2:30, but averaging more at three minutes which is twice as long as any Gridlink song. Another huge difference is just production. The Hayaino Daisuki EPs sound crisp with an acute metal sheen of shredding seven string genius. They're the CD quality metal you would expect from Hydra Head circa 2002. Meanwhile this twelve song full-length is just as long as the new HD EP. Like stated earlier this album was recorded entirely live with each song being done in one take, this is very obvious in the four count that precedes almost every track. Think about that for a sec because it's incredibly impressive. Two footed blasting kept in time with staccato shredding riffs. This takes incredible amounts of practice to achieve. This very well may be what sets this LP apart from the previous "Amber Gray". A whole level of confidence and power. This record is several planes above "Amber Gray" in all aspects and it shows. All the hard work these dudes have put in yielded a truly insane piece of grind gold. "Orphan" is quite a fabulous record to sit down to sober or stoned. My favourite tracks are probably "Scopedog" and "I Accept Your Last Wish". I can't express why I like so much this time, but they stick out the most on repeated listens for me.
 A fun experiment to do is listen to the four Chang/Matsuraba collaborations in order. HD, Gridlink, HD, Gridlink. There's an obvious progression one can see and hear.

Demo Shit

 Third in my series is the band Barren Waste. One of the dudes in the band (Scott) sent an e-mail with the subject "Music for review" that only contained a link to Reverbnation and no other info. Upon clicking the link we learn they're from New Hampshire and that's sort of a relief because there aren't enough bands from states like that. Like Utah. How many bands are from Utah? Not enough, that's how many. But I digress. The second thing I noticed was the sweet artwork for their newest EP. Dunno where it came from but it has blasting robots and people fucking terrified, I dig it. Musically it starts off being hardcore and there's lots and lots of shredding that seems out of place, to the point of beeing noodly and annoying. And this coming from a guy that likes bands like Brain Drill and Necrophagist and PsyOpus. After seven or eight songs songs start getting really long and slow and boring. The band tries to start being progressive and free form, but it doesn't work. There is a lot of room for Barren Waste to develop, but they need to write actual songs. A straight grind band(which they are not) can get away with only blasting but when you try to incorporate other styles and genres into your music you need to learn actual songwriting too. I don't know how old these tracks are, but I'd be interested to hear some new stuff to see how it compares, and I'll apparently get the chance later this as the band is recording again at the end of the month.

http://www.reverbnation.com/barrenwastetheband

There will be a two-part final post for the band Guilty As Sin who have sent me two CDs to review, I'm just a lazy hack and haven't listened to them enough to review yet, but I will get to it. Sorry for sucking at life Zach.

Altars of Meh

 Here's the second part of a short series reviewing things I've been sent in my e-mail. I got an e-mail from a dude named Justin Oakey with a link to a music video he made for the band Column of Heaven. They contain former members of Shank(awesome), Endless Blockade(meh) and Slaughter Strike(meh). It appears the end result of this amalgam of power-noise-violence in the vein of Bastard Noise. Not my cup of tea. Too much noise, too many electric gadgets and not enough punk. This band is for sure abrasive and intense, just not my preferred brand. The video Justin shot looks great (as well the rest of his work) I just don't understand the imagery or message it's trying to convey. It's too cosmic and cerebral for me.
 Final summation: Justin Oakey is a talented dude with a sweet future ahead of him. Noisy-violence bands are not what I like. Feel free to check them out yourselves though. Here are links to the EP and video, in that order.

Altars

"Ecstatically Embracing All That We Habitually Suppress"

Never A Cognitive Waste, Not A Post About Municipal Waste

 I got an e-mail today(sent yesterday) from a dude named Corey telling me he likes this blog and the bands I talk about. This makes me super pumped because it's not often people writing blogs get random affirmation e-mails. Unless you're Cosmo Lee. He said he found link from the other site I write on and has been reading mine for a while. I just wanted to give this dude some props for making my day start off fucking legit.
 I noticed at the end of his e-mail a well placed link to his band's Bandcamp page, so I checked it out. He plays bass with a dude in a band called Mental Waste.They remind me of a more hardcore influenced Nails. Less blasts and heavy as fuck riffs but plenty of circle pits and anger. I dig Bryan's vocals and lyrics as well. Bleak observations about humanity. Something interesting is that all the drums are programmed, AnB and Enemy Soil style. Corey and Bryan have been a band since February but haven't been able to keep a drummer due to time constraints and location. Mental Waste is from Califronia, but they're from the central coast which doesn't have a strong DIY scene and is full of kids in metalcore bands so finding a full time drummer has been difficult for them. They don't even have regular practices right now, but that doesn't hinder songwriting. Both dudes have been around a while in various bands (Corey is also in a doom band called Cold Mourning) so recording is an easy process for them according to Corey, "We take about 5 minutes to write some songs, then Bryan works on lyrics, we add vocals and we take a couple months to finish the recordings and get them mixed how we like." They've recorded four other songs and are just waiting to add vocals and mix them, but sort of feel a lack of impetus. So if anyone wants to help them do a 7" or a tape (I'm looking at you To Live A Lie and Last Anthems) get in touch with them so they can record more!
Get into their three song demo below.

Scorned for Ska

 Le Scrawl is not a band for everyone to listen to. They take thrashing, deathy, grindy metal and splatter it with bits of skas more surprising elements such as saxophone, organ and skanking 4x4 beats. This is for sure experimental music, but not in the vein most people think. There's no droning seven minute songs, no keyboards/synth/electro elements, no "atmosphere". Just grindska. Or skadeath. Or skagrind. Or thrashska. I really don't know what to call it besides enthralling and catchy as fuck. Could this be another case of music by location? Le Scrawl are from Belgium, which might have something to do with it. Wedged between France(prominent language in Belgium), Germany, The Netherlands and the English Channel with the UK to the North it makes sense where their influences come from. England was the start of the punky ska movement once it got exported from the Caribbean and Germany is a thrash/death metal Mecca. It all makes sense. I have no clue where their experimental impetus came from but man am I happy they found it.
 The thirteen songs presented here on "Eager to Please" start off with energetic metal that bounces and makes you wanna skank until the death metal slaps your face again. The first six songs do really well at alternating tempos and moods with middle songs slowing down to more mid-tempo and letting the organ and horns really shine through. The first three or four times you listen to this you'll ask yourself and those around you "Is this a joke? Are these guys for real?" The answer is fuck yes. It's for real. You probably will chuckle at what seems to be absurd, but you'll eventually go "Oh shit this is really good!". I personally love the metal riffs with guttural vocals that transition into the ska parts that are more light-hearted, with the sick guttural vocals. This interplay of atmosphere gives me the same feeling power-violence bands that play blasts into breakdowns give me.
 So do yourself a favor and get adventurous and experimental without listening to Boris.

"One by one, you will die"

Saturday Song to Do Bong Rips To

  Nails is a punishing hardcore band from California made up of stalwart scene vets, such as Todd Jones from Carry On and Terror. While still totally original and unique sounding, they can easily be lumped into what bands like Trap Them do, though only douche bags. The bands influences come from all over the place utilizing blast beats, short songs lo fi bass and circle pits. The obvious ones(to me) are Holy Terror bands (Integrity, Gehenna), Napalm Death, C.o.C./Crowbar and of course being fucking angry. But they have this song near the end of the new album that just shreds and is perfect for loading up a fat bowl on a bong.
 This specific song was the first Nails song I heard. It was on a Deathwish Inc. comp and is by far the sickest song on it. It's fast as fuck hardcore until 1:08 when it gets sludgy and heavy as fuck , finding it's relentless groove for the last (almost) two and a half minutes of the song. The end head banging groove has it's own tone with changing chord progressions, chugging riffs on guitar and bass, the latter of which incites old school stomps until the instruments fades out into a wall of distorted feedback.


"It's just a fucking lie!"

Murder Metal

 Macabre is to me another incredibly underrated band, just like Cryptic Slaughter. I hear their influence in many, many bands (even if it's not really there sometimes) and feel it's criminal how overlooked they get. Macabre have been weaving tales of about serial killers and mass murderers for upwards of fifteen years and have never had a line up change, but somehow people still overlook these modern metal geniuses. After many splits and LPs (including with PV's prodigal sons, Capitalist Casualties) this is quite a feat, especially in such a trying musical venue such as metal. Countless hours touring and crafting insidious tunes have garnered tremendous respect for this band from me. And to me their milestone has to the be "Dahmer" LP.
 Most Macabre albums focus on one person per song, but the "Dahmer" album is solely about the life of Jeffry Dahmer. The album is arranged in chronological order to tell a full story, from childhood to his death in prison at the hands of Christopher Scarver(who gets his own song). It's 26 songs in just under fifty-two minutes, in true grind fashion. Most songs are mid-paced metal jams(ungrind) though some kick up the speed notch. When not playing fast(most of the time) Macabre is just grooving out making your foot tap or head bang. There are a few sludge moments to change pace, but I'm not a big fan of slowing down and usually skip those couple songs. A night with some Yeti imperial stout and this record will give you a serious bangover. Something I think that's fun is how the band utilizes some traditional songs(folk and otherwise) to craft songs. "In the Army Now", "Grandmother's House", "Jeffry Dahmer and the Chocolate Factory", "Coming to Chicago" and "Scrub A Dub Dub" are all takes on traditional songs you will recognize, but made to fit with the Macabre murder metal motif. My personal favourites are "Blood Bank", "McDahmers" and "Do the Dahmer", with "Hitchhiker" as a secondary choice. "Hitchhiker" just has a fucking huge and heavy riff in it. Just TRY to not bang your head against a brick wall from the heaviness. A sludgey song I can get behind!

Odd fact: Producer Neil Kernon, who's worked with Cannibal Corpse and Nile amongst other death metal bands made himself rich and popular by engineering and producing the first three Hall & Oats albums. 

"Everybody do the Dahmer!"

5,000 BPMs

So in my trying to put something awesome up for getting a small milestone I contemplated a band that used 5K BPMs. Now, this is physically impossible by the human body. Dave Witte can only do 1,000 and I think the most I've seen on Youtube is like eleven or twelve hundred, and that's two handed snare rolls the whole time, not using the rest of the kit. The closest thing I can think of is NOISM. Grindy metal played at inhuman speeds by two Japanese dudes with a guitar, computer, and drum machine.
I downloaded this demo(album?) from Cephalochromoscope a couple years ago and bust it out every now and again when I want to just be floored by what music can do. Truly complex, truly technical and truly fucking fast. There is some noodly wankery here, of course, but I like that every now and then. Like I said, I want to be floored not feeling indifferent. Bands like Brain Drill and Discordance Axis push the boundries of human made music, NOISM pushes all the rest.
They list Candiria as a point of inspiration. Didn't see that one coming did you?

Brutal Autonomy

Five Thousand Strong...And Growing

So today is kind of a milestone for me. I hit 5,000 unique views a few minutes ago. It's been under three full years of "writing" for me, about two and a half to be almost concise. Considering there are blogs that get 5K views every day, I feel pretty awesome. I'm by no means a pro, or even "good" at this. I've always had a good grasp on the English language (minus my bad spelling) but wasn't a big fan of writing in school. I didn't usually have the impetus to write about things I liked, like music. This blog was that impetus. I've really enjoyed meeting lots of you guys in the GrindBlog community we've established. I've made friends, made Jon Chang hate me and joined a much bigger blog that may set me up for internet stardom. I wonder what will happen in the next 5K views.
 I want to do something special for this, I just don't know what yet. Expect something awesome!
 Thanks again everyone. I'm real stoked.

No Cream, No Sugar! Bong Rips? Please!

I'm out of cannabis so my only drug right now is black coffee. It only seems appropriate right now to post this song by Black Flag and read. I've read a few excerpts from some Henry Rollins books and he makes mention more then one time about doing exactly what he says in the songs. A story that sticks out in my mind is him sitting in a hotel lobby enjoying the free breakfast at a crazy time of the morning in Austria I believe. His tour stories are quite good.
 This version is from their 1982 demo right after Hank joined the band. I actually downloaded this demo from the SST blog, which I've since lost the link for. There are a lot of songs on here that end up on recordings years later. "Modern Man", "Slip It In", "My War", "Beat My Head Against the Wall". Lots of good stuff in the early song writing stages. It's really cool to see what songs get made over on the final records. If enough people want the whole thing I can upload that to, but this is about drinking black coffee!
 This song is straight up five minutes long which is a good length for sucking in massive bong rips. By the halfway mark the cannabis will have set in, probably right in the verse. You will feel the seething Rollins puts out during this mid-paced dirge. Not that Dirge. It still has that 'Flag punk beat that you can HB Strut to, but is obviously more influenced by Sabbath and ZZ Top at this point and not as much punk. There's even a solo that's not raging shred. And for lots of cannabis users, this is exactly what they want. So load it, rip it and drink some coffee.

Drinking black coffee, black coffee, black coffee, staring at the wall

Violence Violence, Not A Post About Ceremony

A good dose of power-violence on this rainy day. Nothing to lift the spirits like grindingly fast power-violencecore. To be totally honest this is probably my favourite PV record or album ever(the Torture 7"). It kind of exemplifies my idea of how the music form is expressed. It's stupid fast hardcore punk with really heavy sludge parts. PV differs from grind and fastcore with the sludge this type of vocals or crazy high screams like in Magrudergrind and Fuck On the Beach. Up until "Unforgivable" these guys also didn't take themselves too seriously, which I appreciate. I feel like this type of music should be about fun, unless you're a political band. Then it's only serious. The song titles and lyrics are simple and straight forward. A lot of times tongue in cheek funny and the rest is fucking angry. The two tones interplay quite well and just pump you the fuck up. I'm either smiling and wanting to run in circles or I'm super vehement from the loathing want to stage dive into people's heads. When the lyrics get dark, they get violent dark. But doesn't everyone feel like ripping out entrails and cutting sternums sometimes? It's acceptable violence.
 Musically it's a sonic whirlwind of blast beats, angry as fuck vocals and lo-fi guitar and bass. Seriously lo-fi, sludged out bass that's angry as it is fast to match the punk as fuck sounding guitar, which unfortunately get sort of lost in the mix a lot of the time. There's some real fast circle pit hardcore parts but a lot of these seventeen songs are just raging fast and all you can do is sit there in awe going "Holy shit".
 Most people into aggressive music are well aware of this band now after being picked up by Relapse. That's super good for most people involved. I've heard the newest full length, "Worthless" a couple times now and production wise it's a good step up, for instance a new vocal mix which is unlike any Weekend Nachos mix I've heard. The music production kind of makes them sound a lot like the band Nails however and I don't think I like that. I hope it's not an actual stylistic change. Nails is a good band, for sure, but we don't need WN sounding like them. Unique music, not cookie cutter music.

"Revenge is sweet, now you're a mess on my floor, you scum sucking mother fucking road whore!"

Videos To Do Bong Rips To

Alright guys, this is In Disgust. There are way too many words written about this three piece already, and if you're not a fan already then there's something wrong with you. What the fuck man? How could you not know already? Are you from Utah or something? In chronological order, here are some sick videos. The first two are ID and Godstomper playing a split set. The last two are UGZ speed trials at 924 Gilman St. The 2009 video is them playing all What Happens Next covers. Can, you, dig it!

This Song is Called, My Mom Hits Harder

American Nightmare is kind of one of those hardcore bands you either love to death or just feel indifferent about. Wes' lyrics aren't usually my favourites to read, but listening to them is rather fun. The singing along makes it too enjoyable to care and they wrote a few really fucking catchy songs.
Something that I appreciate about AN/AN/GutG is how original their sound was. An obviously contemporized (for the time) version of classic hardcore punk. Plenty of Black Flag, Minor Threat and Bad Brains influences to go around. This amalgam has become fast, energetic no frills hardcore that's full punk. Lots of punk. Tons and tons of gang vocals, circle pits and stage dives. The crucial stuff.
 Oh, and what about the fucking awesome Cro-Mags cover they do. By far one of the best Cro-Mags covers ever.
Another interesting point to bring up is how Wes has one arm! I'm not talking Rick Allen one arm, but he's missing like a quarter of his arm, mid forearm to hand is gone. Long gone. I have no idea why to be honest, but it didn't stop him from going completely nuts live. 

Full discog here
On a side note, Warwounds(Fuck America) is a fabulous blog with tons and tons of hardcore discographies. You're missing out on some history if you don't read that site.

Fuck Electrons, Protons Are Posi!

 I've already posted their split with The Waste, so here's Crucial Unit's first 7". 
"Premium Iced Tea" starts off with shrieking, wailed, frantic vocals over sick thrash-punk-core. Blast beats and circle pit inducing drums with funny and well written lyrics. Crucial Unit is sort of like crossover and sort of like thrash metal and sort of like fastcore. This style is very much a product of their geographical environment. The Bay Area, Oxnard, LA, Hunington Beach, etc. all have sounds very much regional depending on local culture, economy and the other stuff that makes punx angry. The first song presented is one with old school hardcore mentality, writing a song with the band name in the chorus. Most good hardcore bands end up doing this for some reason.The Unit also uses another hardcore staple that Spazz likes to point out, the use of  "GO!".
The band has all their material available on their website, which is fucking awesome, and DIY and punk and more cool then most bands that aren't Cellgraft. You see all kinds of bands with songs to stream on Myspace, Facebook, Bandcamp and all that cool shit but not many straight up give all their material away. This kind of promotion only gives me desire to actually purchase their albums. "Premium Iced Tea" has an awesome cover for example. Besides the metal text denoting the band name and the required speed to play the 7" it appears to be exactly what the record title tells you it is. Punks being clever? Never happens, certainly not now.

Baby. I don't wanna make out, I just wanna CIRCLE PIT!

Reproach Vol. 666

So if you're unfamiliar with this band, you need another serious lesson music history. This 7" came out way back before I was born, in 1982 and is a preamble to all the bands you love today. Dropdead (their biggest non-Siege influence), Knife Fight, Spazz, Haymaker, Chokehold, XBrainiax etc. Shit NA and the Misfits influenced each other immensely. These guys are one of those super proto bands that you don't even realize the number of bands they influenced. Brannon gave hardcore it's demeanor for Merlin's sake. Bald. ANGRY. Insightful. Powerful. Jamey Jasta ain't got shit on John Brannon. He even uses a lot of tough man talking instead of a yell or scream to get his point across in another fashion instead of just blitzkrieg.
Negative Approach is equal parts Blitz, Sham 69, Black Flag and Misfits. One could cite DC band also, but I hear it less than the Necros or Meatmen. Negative Approach fits the aesthetics(music and lyrics) of the aforementioned bands and not the latter. One could argue this, but why would they? Regional hardcore sounds different for a reason. Besides all the comparisons one uses these guys play fucking fast, pissed hardcore with usual one minute run times. There are some grinding examples("Pressure", "Chaos"(not on this 7")) and some bad examples("Nothing"). And in all honesty "Nothing" is the only song I never listen to as it's the last one on side A right before you flip it and crank up "Fair Warning". This rager starts ripping with the rambunctious jam "Can't Tell No One" which is a fucking anthem. Try to not pile on everyone in sight grabbing the mic. "CAN'T TELL NO ONE! WHAT TO DO! CAN'T TELL NO ONE. WHAT TO DOOOOOOO!!!!!" From the first riff you just want to fly off the hook and circle pit like a mother fucker if you're not singing along. Or do both! "Sick of Talk" has an americanized d-beat rhythm section. "Why Be Something That You're Not" is mostly sick mosh riffs. Try not to mosh if a band ever covers it. I dare you. "Lead Song" is another anthem full of gang vocals and sing alongs. Much more punk then hardcore on this song. "Negative Approach" and "Whatever I Do" are two more anthems with fucktons of singing along. The energy in the last two minutes of this record rivals most full-lengths.
Once again the lyrics here are great. They're simple, emotive, to the point and easily singable. I love the things they had to say. Even at 25 the words of a 19 year old ring more true to me then Dostoyevsky ever could. Sorry Andrew. Well, every song but "Nothing". But really, nine out of ten is perfect for a 7".

"I can't take this,
PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE!"
Too many things are too extreme
There's too much shit, too many schemes
It never makes sense, it's just a hype
Forget about it, live your own life

PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE
PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE!

Oh Shi-

Last night I was able to transfer all my music(and all my other data) from my old external hard drive to my new, larger, more pimp external hard drive. I hope to rediscover much lost music to talk about.
I also have some more, bigger, crazier, more Exciter and awesome news to unveil soon. 
Let us all be merry, and drink punch.

Rotting In America

 So everyone's favourite fresh new band Wormrot recently released their sophomore full-length through Earache. There have been a lot of expectations thrust on them by our internet grind community. We longed for more greatness and not lackluster grind. We prayed to Merlin, Glycon and Crom that their signing to Earache was the impetus to bring the band and label to new heights of grind glory. And to be honest. This record fucking rules.
One highlight I really like is the new mix on Arif's vocals. It really sounds much more powerful to me this time around. Well I guess starting on the I Abhor split, but still better production all around. It could a little further in the back so Rasyid's guitar can truly slay with Fit's drumming. Fit by the way fucking rips it apart on the album. His shit is tight, fast, energetic, upbeat and just plain impressive. He can blast or play the groove parts to counter Rasyid's sick guitar slaying. That guy just drops awesome riffs out of his dick. Just all over the place too, really letting us have the proverbial "money shot". Songwise I love the varied lengths and the awesome song titles. "Deceased Occupation" takes it for me groove-wise. It's the "Murder" of the album. I wish it could be seven minutes of the riff at the end of the song. "Murder" was the gallop riff at mid pace, "Deceased Occupation" is start/stop rock and fucking roll. When was the last time you heard a grind band just rocking? A friend brings up an interesting point with this new songwriting direction. There's a lot of power violence going on here along with an upped Insect Warfare influence. I even hear some mincing! When did the 'Rot start mincing! I like it on all fronts. This release is aggressive, powerful and fucking grindingly fast.
 My respect for this band only increases every time they have an album come out. I'm aware that in recording this record the band was basically tossed into the studio and forced to bang out these 25 songs in their allotted recording time. The fact that under this immense pressure from a founding force in grind and DIY music they still produced such a blitzkrieg of awesome music demands even more respect. I only wish I had the chance to go see them while touring in america. Two tours, two shows I can't make it to. Maybe Scion will pay for them to tour next year, but we can only hope. I'm personally hoping for an Unholy Grave, 324, Magnicide, Wormrot tour. "Rot Over America".

In Grind We Rot!

Pretty Little Flower is not exactly straight thrash, but sick and fast nonetheless. There's lots of variation on here which is great because of the large track selection. Full length albums, especially in genres that easily become monotonous, tend to get boring and need to be mixed properly to insure repeated listens so that you don't miss the real gems.This is a basically a discography of the band up to the CDs release which explains the long track list.
Having ex-members of Insect Warfare is no small feat, so these dudes really up their game. Think "Endless Execution..." era IW with that heavy thrashy Razor influence. Add some DRI, Discharge and Napalm Death as well as the bands covered, and you have an easy foundation of thrash grind. Speaking of covers, do enough bands really do sick Repulsion covers? The answer is no. These guys, ND and Nashgul. I digress. Circle pitting thrash is what we're talking about, no proto gore/grind/death. Most all the songs are fast and very hardcore influenced grinding thrash and I like it. Dig in.

Utter and complete, grindcore annihilation.

Fairytale Beginning Ending

 So after much delay(not a complaint) today I received my Magnicide "Rise to the Annihilation" cassette. This is the fifth or sixth time I've ordered something from a foreign country. I've ordered from TVG (Germany) and an independant t-shirt company in England. But my favourite packages always come from south east Asia. I ordered my Wormrot LP straight from the band and I'm still pumped to look at it. Starting last month and culminating today I've received two packages from Magnicide. My first package was their split LP with Toxic Revolution that had some show flyers and stickers in it. On a flyer was a note from Jali that he mailed the cassette separately to insure integrity of all product. I for one fucking appreciate that. A band that cares. Imagine. I bring this up because it's interesting to me the lengths at which people go to receive products. It takes over a decade to obtain a car if you live on Hawaii. It usually takes upwards of two months to receive blast beats in the mail from Malaysia. The waiting, pining, anticipating for that square shaped, thin cardboard box or small bubble wrap packages. The processes the product goes through. Writing international addresses, putting on correct postage. There are even Customs Declaration stamps that the proper authorities must see.

StrainEyes No. 6

 And then finally you open your package to find its contents. In this instance it was a rad yellow pro cassette with a lyrics booklet rubber-banded on.  This is another example of the essence of DIY. I know how hard it is to track down specific parts. The plastic case is an example. Where the fuck do you just go buy a bunch of empty cassette cases? And for records it's even harder. How do I make this 5" record fit into this 7" bag? How do I package this 3" CD? For most bands it's using ingenuity and their own hands to put things together. They will print 100 5" cases, fold every one and bag them. They will screen print their own patches or 7" cases then glue every case together one by one.All this labor goes into a tiny little package only a few select people will seek out to hear. This tape will bring me much joy to listen to in my bakery, and everyone else is left saying "Hello Misery".

straineyes@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/straineyes

 For me when I sent the band money I was worried I fucked up the address. I'd never sent a letter to the other side of world in a physical sense. Let alone money I worked for. Things are different in the digital world. Wi-fi banking, ATMs, credit, debit. I can't do any of these things because I have no bank account so it's the old school DIY way for me of contacting bands directly and waiting.

Old computer gets a speed upgrade.

Every Woman A Mistress of Pain

Another classic thrash album from the late 80's in San Fransisco, CA. Even today amazing bands flow out of the Bay Area. Here's an old standard to ape from. Death Angel.
I have to start with the awesome album title on here. It's so fucking metal. "The Ultra Violence". Tell me that's not one of the best of the era. Sound wise they play standard fast thrash. The standard line up had four Philippine cousins. Big fucking surprise, right? A great band made up of Asians. And from California? Never saw that one coming. But I digress. These guys incite so many hair whips and so much head banging. Honed thrash with yelled then fucking screamed vocals. Nut wrenching but awesome. Death Angel has obviously taken pages from the Priest/Maiden book but made them contemporary for their time.Fast drum beats and shredding, wailing guitars. Of the eight songs, three are instrumentals, or instrumentals with easy to figure our lyrics but each is obviously crafted with care and isn't super sloppy like a lot of bands. Or maybe that part gets lost in the screams, shrieks, wails and feedback. True punk rock style right there.
I found this cassette a few years ago and I've been enthralled since then. I found it sitting in a game store for like two dollars. That loser had no idea what he had. I also found a copy of the Misfits "Earth. A.D" that day. It was a good one. Ice Cube had nothing on me.



KILL AS ONE!

Still Cyco...After All These Beers

Preface: I've not had any beer today yet. 
Highly regarded, and well deserving of it, Suicidal Tendencies are one of the eptiomes of crossover/thrash. Blending perfectly between metal and hardcore punk they spawned too many bands to name, but here are some big/and or good ones:  Metallica, Anthrax, Thrashin' In the Streets, DRI, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pantera, Cryptic Slaughter. Fuck, the list goes on. Scott Ian once said Anthrax was always trying to sound like ST because if they did then he knew they were an amazing band doing something right. What else is there to say?
This gem was mostly a re-recording of their self titled album released ten years earlier. It has three additional tracks, all of which rule. The songs on almost the whole album are standard length, 2-3.5 minutes, and somehow it's usually fast and enthralling. I pretty don't get bored with any song on here except "I Saw Your Mommy", fuck that song. It's funny or whatever, but too slow and hair metal. Anyway, Rob Trujillo is on here and he fucking rips up the bass riffs. Once again, I point this out because it's crucial. But repeated listens will reveal why he's in the "biggest" metal band around right now. Makes sense though as Muir seems to be the only one invested in the band now. But Trujillo and everyone else shreds on here. Mike Muir and co. invoke cholos stage diving, elbow dropping everywhere, just like the pictures inside my cassette.
 This is for sure one of those bands you wish you could have grown up around, going to their shows. Legend and lore weave tales of insanity in small LA suburbs much like that of Black Flag. Suicidal Tendencies got much more popular however, having two videos made from this album. One for the aforementioned shit song, and one for "Institutionalized". Both the video and song rule. Some other favourites are "War Inside My Head" with it's sick opening and superior singabillity. "Memories of Tomorrow" for....well I'm not going to list these off because I honestly like all but like 1.5 songs on here. Shotgun some beers, smoke a joint and start thrashing to the oldies!


Two Sided Politics!

Policia! Un. Do. Un, do, tre, qua!

 I really should not have to write an introduction for Sepultura. Everyone should be familiar with their name if not the sick proto-death thrashed out metal they produced in the mid and late 80's. 
 Obviously because of the nature of thrash these songs can get long, but Sepultura was good at creating a groove to get into. Everyone is good at what they do and they attempt to keep things interesting. There are lots of speed breaks or just heavy as fuck breakdowns. Andreas Kisser does some little dittling around for instrumental interludes much like his predecessor Tony Iommi.
My favourites should be quite obvious, but there is more than enough riffs and rage to last a long time for you to pick your own. 
 Now as much as I like talking about Sepultura, I also must admit that if you aren't already familiar with them then you fucking be. There really should be no need for me to explain them but here I am because some people never got around to it. Do it now. Thrash or die.

Beneath the Remains

Arise

Skullet and Hammer-Communism Crushing Metal

Here's my first exposure to Strapping Young Lad. I saw this video when I was 19 sitting around my moms living room because I had just broken my collarbone at show. With no way to go to shows use or the internet, I had to rely on Headbanger's Ball for any form of music beyond what I owned. Back then though I wasn't a cannabis user to these guys appealed to me on a different level. My affinity for them only grew with the introduction of the sweet leaf.
What I loved musically was the downbeat, pounding drums and circular riffs between fits of blasting. This thrash tune is for head banging and circle pitting.
I love the video for two very simple reasons. Devin Townsend has an Iron Chef shirt and there are fucking robots with hammer arms crushing skulls. Truly metal.

Industrial Stoner Thrash Metal of Yesteryear

I've already posted one of their songs before, but since it's Thrash Madness Month I'm giving a link to the whole album. Before anything else though big, uber shout outs to Angrychairs for posting the SYL discog. They have tons and tons of other great stuff there. Check them out if you haven't.
"The New Black" is the last Strapping Young Lad studio album. Devin Townsend has been releasing cycles of his own solo stuff that I haven't heard yet but am interested in at some point. The songs really run the gambit here with all kinds of different tempos, themes and atmospherics not only between songs, but in every song itself. It's all totally industrial stoner thrash, but these guys took it up a notch on this album. Everything is really top level from production to songwriting and onward. I have to comment on Gene Hoglan's sick drumming here. Devin Townsend told him what to play, but man he executes it well. As well as Devin sings and slays on the axe.  There are so many stand out tracks for me, but I know different people will like other songs more and I can say this with absolute authority because of the massive variations. Use "Anti Product" as an example, with it's mid 90's ska GWAR/Le Scrawl ska/jazz break. And the clean singing of "Almost Again". I don't usually like this however. I like a cohesive straight runthrough album that blasts, pummels, drills and beats me. "The New Black" really hits all the highs, lows, valleys, skies, nether plains and most aspects of reality in music. Or maybe that's the cannabis you have to consume to rock the fuck out. Either way I recommend this highly emotive and fucking thrashed out album. You should check out the 3/4s grind "The Long Pig" if for nothing else the sick bass riff. Don't hear those enough!Other personal repeat listen tracks are the duo "Polyphony/The New Black", "Decimator", "Far Beyond Metal" and "Monument". One features a manish thing with a dick that has teeth and mandibles. You know the one. If you don't, "You Suck". See what I did there?



Oh, you ironic pop-rock fuck! Don't you fuck with metal!

March Thrash Madness!

 With lots of thrashing happening here, I might as well keep it up. I'm exclaiming this to be March Thrash Madness! I'll try to do only thrash and crossover all of March. I even had this INSANE inclination to wait until March Madness hits and taking the final (x) teams and posting bands from their corresponding states. We'll see how lazy I get and how many drugs I can do first. Haha. But onto the music!
 Here's a sweet split from Municipal Waste and Crucial Unit. Municipal Waste you should be quite familiar with since Dave Witte has played drums with them for a few years and Municipal Waste were fore bearers of that "modern thrash revival" we had. Thrash never died, it just went back underground. Regardless, they're a super D.R.I. influenced crossover style thrash band. That's a good pick up reference, but I hear a lot of hardcore influences on here. A couple of breakdowns even. Not slams, this isn't death metal.  Fast, sloppy drum fills. Fast talk/yelled lyrics. Fast punx guitar parts. These guys are the line between fastcore and crossover. A few more BPMs and they cross that line. The newer material is longer and much more thrash-tastic. I prefer the shorter crossover songs on their early material a la this split 7". I really love the samples they use as well. Some people aren't too keen on them, and they're missing out. Really adds to the atmosphere for this band.  "Born To Party" also appears on the "Art of Partying" LP in a varied form with lots and lots of gang vocals. I also want to note the sweet band Poser Disposer got their name from MW. Cheers.
 Crucial Unit play short, fast thrash. Straight up. Their singer should maybe be in a power violence band, but it's interesting over the thrash. One thing making them interesting is the Macabre influence. It's much more prevalent here then on the "Moshzilla" 7". I just don't hear enough Macabre in sweet bands. The other non-Macabre aspects of their music are fucking fast and chaotic hardcore punk thrash. Crucial Unit like Municipal Waste have fun lyrics but some of their tongue-in-cheekery is done with political motivations. I love this lyrical style because it doesn't get boring. It's like those lines you quote in movies over and over before your band samples them.


"It's circular. Round. Circular. Circle. With the music. The flow."

CD to Get Stoned To

Stygian themed thrash made by power-violence playing coke fiends. But this is akin to stoner thrash, half baked being a good descriptor. There are lots and lots of Conan clips and other SWEET sound bytes. Sometimes it slows the flow of the album down a little too much, but that's a difficult thing to not do when you have a concept album like this.
This album is full of parts musically(and in song titles) that have overt and obvious influences to classic songs/bands. Bad Brains are my favourite reference,  but there are so many that I'm sure that even my trained ears missed a few. Nevertheless, there's lots of headbanging thrash. And curse words. I thoroughly enjoyed the use of the word "Fuck", especially in the track "Zamora".
I've been trying to make this a sweet write up for three days, but I get so high while listening to it I can't type. So load some bongs and get ripping.


Shoot Arrows
Eat Pussy

Thrash metal. It comes in many forms from many places. California being the most common, and often has above average bands. But Japan is the last place you would expect to hear straight up speed metal. Iron Maiden, NWBHM style thrashy, speed metal nonetheless. But somehow Jon Chang and Matsuraba put together a sick band of fun lyrics ala 80's hair metal with blasts and riffs only true shredders can play. There's solos, harmonizing just fucking fast music. Did you read that correctly? SOLOS! Like the first Gridlink album, this is all basically Chang doing high vocals that shred your ears like the guitars. There is a little bit of talking/whispering on the second album but that's about all the vocal variation you get. The low end on here is tight and rad. Syncopated drums with awesome fills. They stand out like most of Chang/Matsuraba's other projects. Oh, and the blasting, did I mention that? These guys really take epic songs that are meant to be Iced Earth epics, but play them retarded fast and cut the time in half. Imagine Maiden playing "Wicker Man" all the way through double speed in two and a half minutes. Unthinkable? No dude, this is it. Dig it.

Not relevant to anything really, but Invincible Gate... came out on my birthday. Suck it thrashers.

Headbanger's Club Dangerous Fire
Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Hell Fire...Or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?

God Is Fake, Wrestling Is Real

Here's a fucking amazing hardcore band from Cleveland that ISN'T a Holy Terror band. It's mother fucking Gordon Solie Motherfuckers!. These guys are the much better version of the Ultimate Warriors. While UW play power violence with wrestling as their gimmick, GSMF just play awesome fast hardcore. They have ex-members of 9 Shocks Terror and Face Value among others. Tony Erba is obviously the famous guy here. Affiliated with Victory Records scandals, Integrity worship and even featured by other bands, like Charles Bronson. They're also infamous for ridiculously insane live shows known to feature many things that are not bodies flying through the air. I never got to see them live(even though they're doing a re-union show in Clevo soon, sad face) but it's legendary. They like the other great bands from the city of porn and rust they're banned from lots of clubs, have shut down shows and entire festivals and have been escorted by police multiple times.
But how do they sound?"Power Bomb Anthems Vol.1" is fast, shreddy, high energy hardcore with comedic edge and lots of gang vocals. All songs have prevalent bass riffing and popping snare rolls alongside the vocals and guitars. Mosh filled Lo-fi hardcore for the win.There's a Warzone spook on "Ghost Cry of Betray". You'll lol. There's also some OH lingo in "Parma Uber Alles" that most of you won't get, but I find it hilarious. There's a Johnny Moped cover on here too, "No One". But fucking Merlin damn it that song sucks. I hate the original and the cover. Why would they do that to us?
The lyrical matter is top notch of course, and about several subjects of interest. My obvious favourite lyrics being in "Tears of A Clone" and "Bought & Sold". Partially for ripping on Paint It Black and Jello Biafra. No one is safe from chair shots to the head! Erba spits his words sounding sort of like Mike Ski as a reference, but way more awesome. No offense Mike. Erba is just pissed while you're not.

Three chords in a cloud of dust, three chords in cloud of dust, three chords in a cloud of dust! In DIY I fucking trust!

Bully Moshpit

I'm re-upping the HoD 10" because it's fucking rad and I re-wrote some of my old post. Can you dig it!

My Love, My Way

The album "Witness" is one of the best hardcore(et al sub-genre associated) records of the 2000's. It's been incredibly acclaimed by everyone under the sun. Someone said it's the "greatest hardcore album of our generation". Think about that. This is my "Damaged" or "Out of Step" or "Dag Nasty" or "Petitioning the Empty Sky". Here's some other quotes from the Wiki of this album:
"Witness breaks boundaries and surpasses dreams hardcore has not even had yet. It is eloquent and beautiful in every way. You will get choked up the first time you hear it."
Reviewers for Punknews.org were the most blunt with their praise, simply stating that "if every album could be like Witness, then maybe music wouldn’t suck as bad is it does right now."
This album is that good. I don't give a fuck if you don't like hardcore, especially more mid-paced, dissonant, expressive and passionate hardcore. Everyone in the band plays incredibly well and once again lyrics reign supreme. Jeffrey Eaton blow Darby Crash out of the water when it comes to poetic lyrics. This guy knows what you're feeling deep down whether you know it or not. Every second I listen to this CD I feel like I'm fifteen at my first shit hole bar or basement show with a bunch of sweaty people screaming every word they can as loud as they can until they go hoarse. I can see the band playing, their singer amping the crowd, sharing the mic, diving. Kids everywhere are climbing on top of each other to get on the stage, stage diving, finger pointing. Tears start streaming down our faces because we all feel the same thing. We have collective empathy. The words pour out like they were our own and everyone lets go of everything inside.
Every time I hear this CD, that's how I feel. It all comes rushing back and gives me goosebumps.
All the albums I mentioned are starting points, I especially feel Dag Nasty is a big one. Jacob Bannon is a great lyricist to compare Jeffery Eaton to but the bands don't find much resemblance beyond that. They do however share another relationship, this record being put out on Deathwish Inc. and Jacob Bannon doing the artwork and layout. Kurt Ballou also recorded this at his Godcity Studio in surprise, Massachusetts. Figures. Even the best bands have to go through MA.
My favourite songs are "Martin Atchet", "D.E.AD. R.A.M.O.N.E.S", "Young Man On A Spree" and "Hair-Raising Accounts of Restless Ghosts (AKA Hell is for Heroes, Part 2)". It's so hard to pick a favourite of those. There really is none since their all such solid song. "D.E.A.D R.A.M.O.N.E.S." is a anthem that demands pile-ons and sing-alongs and finger pointing.

When you're 16 you don't know what forever means.
When you are 23 you couldn't be more sorry to say.
That after all this growing up together all the good has gone away.
Sometimes the boys that should be yours best friends become strangers with familiar faces.

Ello, my name's Bruce.

It's not summer yet but it's time for some kind of pick me up from the cold weather. Shark Attack will easily pump you up into circle pits to get the heat kicking.
These guys are from PA and keep up that area's tradition for raging hardcore. These guys are way more old school then a lot of popular bands from that area. Those other bands are way more metallic and less punk(Earth Crisis, xDisciplex A.D., Brother's Keeper, etc.) Shark Attack have a huge youth crew sound with slightly less positive lyrics. And their singer is fucking pissed. Big surprise there, right? But musically think Youth of Today, Antidote, Negative Approach, Chain of Strength, fast Cro-Mags, Bad Brains. Just good, fast hardcore. An older version of Ceremony is a good reference point. I mean, if Ceremony listened to less Black Flag and only played fast.
Includes a really awesome Antidote cover, though the lyrics are "questionable". I don't really agree with that statement as I don't find this song overtly xenophobic or racist. This is art and about freedom of expression. I don't support overt racism but I will support someone's right to say what they feel.

We're shark attack we're on the attack and we're in your fucking face. WE'RE IN YOU'RE FUCKING FACE!

Scared of Naked People, Not a Post About Weekend Nachos

Ceremony is from California, like a lot of good hardcore bands. Their hardcore is a little more structured and old school feeling on this EP however. This mama jama came out all the way back in 2003 and set them full steam ahead to record with Bridge 9.
There's an alternation in songs. Slow, building, brooding tracks with the strain and tension of Black Flag then a fast d-beat ripper tearing your face for a minute like Discharge. You get three of each, opening with the slow builder. You also get a Negative FX cover which makes sense. Ceremony sounds like the perfect blend of Black Flag, Negative FX and Motorhead and Discharge. One thing to note is how prominent the bass is in the production.
Ceremony has some newer material I haven't really heard any of. I did hear one or two songs off their second full-length and they rip. It's called "Still Nothing Moves You", great title by the way. They put out a LP called "Ronhert Park" last year as well, but I've heard nothing from it. It's apparently named after the city the band resides in.

"Maybe I'll feel like a man, when I do what they tell me to."

Almost Focused

Bones Brigade is a ripping fast hardcore band from Boston, Mass that plays songs about skateboarding, hanging with friends(and all that entails), skating, video games, quandries of life, skateboarding, the scene and what goes with it, skating and getting wasted. My favourite track from their S/T EP is opener "Never Meant Much". It's three minutes long, but still rips and shreds the whole time, much like the shorter songs following it on the EP. Bones Brigade plays fast skate influenced hardcore. The only thing I want to do during the EP is circle pit. Quite fast. It's all circle pitting drums, shredding guitars a la Black Flag and tons of sing alongs parts. This is all very conducive to stage diving and head walking. I would totally love to see these guys live because of all the ridiculous energy they'd put into the crowd for use. The amount of fun had would have to be illegal. I have to warn you there is some melody in the guitar, but it's forgivable for the rest of positives this band has going for them.
I also have their "Focused" 12" LP on Coalition Records(from 2004). It's gray marbled vinyl and contains fourteen more raging tunes from these dudes. Songs are much the same with a slightly longer average run time then the EP. This is one reason EPs, 5-10" and splits are such a good idea. A large portion of a band's fan base prefers less songs with most being of very high quality so they always come back wanting more. Is "World Extermination" a great listen front to back? Yes of course! Are all the individual 7"s comprising it more enjoyable listening experiences individually? Ninety eight percent of the time yes.
They also have at least two more CDs and another LP. One CD is a comp of 7" songs and demos, one is a repress of their 10" and they have a debut full length LP as well.




"There are few certainties in life. You see people losing their jobs, you see people losing their money, and you see very little stability. But, some things never change. Ninjas are awesome and hardcore played at light speed rules."-Bones Brigade

From Soft to Hard

It's getting super shitty outside right now in Lawrence, KS. The amount of snow falling and that's expected to fall is just like it was when I lived in OH, except back there it's like this much more frequently. It's only like the third time since the onset of winter it's snowed like this. It's also really shitty like this the further north you get, like Cleveland.
Shitty weather of course calls for specific types of music to cope with. Copious snow is best dealt with black metal(Krallice) or stupid fast, blasting hardcore. The XBrainiax "Disgrace to the Corpse of Eric Wood" 7" is perfect for this. The fastly yelled lyrics of vehemence at ignorant republicans, shit head scenesters,crusties and non-straight edge "substance abusers" thrown against sick power-violence/fastcore is more than enough to power one through inches of snow on foot. And you really can't help but to love the songs with silly lyrics and concepts. I mean their demo was called "Light Speed Demo" and the band have used a heavy Star Wars motif since the beginning. Their take on the skull around the band name is by far my favourite because it's fucking Chewbacca. You get thirty one songs in about ten minutes. 31 songs is a shit load for a seven inch, so it's totally worth it. Stand out tracks for me are "Jaded, Twisted, And Evil", "Trekkie Killer", "Actually, Freedom Is Free", "Mos Eisley", "Young Republicans Fuck Off", "My Way" and "Lenny Kravitz Is His Answer". There's even a No Comment cover(more like Slow Comment HAHA)that ends with some sweet groove XBrainiax uses in multiple songs.

"Cry me a river, emo Spock!"

Top Ten of 10'

So instead of pretending I know what the best albums of last year were I'm just listing the records I listened to the most at home and at work/in transit. The first list is a concise list of ten full length CDs, EPs and 7"s I listened to eternally on my iPod. Each one got well over four hundred plays. The second is a hand picked list of 12" LPs and 7"s I blasted at home when my ex-roommate wasn't around and when the neighbors baby wouldn't shut the fuck up. There are some trends to note, for instance things I have on both formats I still listen to excessively. I spent way too much time last year listening to Krallice. Hours and hours. I also sorted some bands with multiple albums together because choosing is for gays and this is my list.
324-3 Way Split, Across Black Wings
No surprise here, one of my favourite bands with two solid releases to keep grinding to. Get into it.
Hummingbird of Dead/-Chainsaw to the Face split 10", HoD side only
Six songs in eight minutes. Intro, shredding, blast beats, Koro cover. What more do you want?
Insect Warfare-Endless Execution 7"
Speaks for itself.
Le Scrawl-Eager to Please
Grindska? Skagrind? Jazzgrind? Grindjazz? I mean, what the fuck. It's catchy, makes me want to dance and is full of metal.
Weekend Nachos-Punish & Destroy EP
Stupid fucking power-violence from the grain belt of america. No wonder this shit rips.
Implosive Disgorgance-Chapters EP
Five songs of death influenced grind. Has sludge parts, has songs about cannabis, all songs are short and fast. What more do you want? Oh, these kids were 17 when they recorded this. Fuck. Later went on to Maruta. What?
Krallice-S/T LP
Amazing epic black metal. Sweeping, fast, kvlt. Long mohawks, shredding metal.
Black Sabbath-Vol.4/Masters of Reality
I don't need to explain this.
Wormrot-Abuse
Southeast Asian grind. It's fun. It's DIY. Fucking get into it. New LP this year.
Cellgraft-S/T
Even though this is digital only and they have a newer full-length I love this album. Assuck, Napalm Death, Insect Warfare worship. These guys do it right. Like Wormrot.


Negative Approach 7"
Old school hardcore. Influenced everything you listen to.
Weak Minds s/t 7"
Bass heavy power-violence from TX. Has touring bassist from Insect Warfare.
In Defence/Motherspeed split 7"
In Defence is from Chicago and plays tough guy style hardcore with less chug and shorter songs. Love the lyrics on this. Fave is "In80'sdancepartays". Motherspeed is a hyperactive hardcore band from California. Fuck the fourth song, it's a take on Rage Against the Machine. Faves are "Boy And His Blob" and especially "Dudeside Assistance". All songs have rad lyrics, and the cover and general layout all rule FYI.
Misfits Bullet 7"
The song "Bullet" is a great precursor to modern aggressive music, no way around it. These guys have tons of song like that, but it's the only record I own, and "Earth A.D." only half counts. Well not really, but I have it on tape, so you know.
International Fight/Blast Comp. 7", Side B only
Has songs from tons of awesome grind bands on this side. Yacopsae, In Disgust, Nashgul, Insect Warfare, Matka Thersea.
HoD Show Us the Meaning of Haste LP and split 10" with Chainsaw to the Face, HoD side only
See above.
Krallice s/t and Dimensional Bleedthrough
See above
Nashgul-El Dia Despues Al Fin De La Humanidad
Awesome grind from Spain. Influenced by Napalm Death, Repulsion, awesome 80's movies, Repulsion, punk rock and Repulsion. The LP has a Repulsion cover, no surprise. The album artwork is really sick and done by their bass player Ivan . The record is a sick transparent splatter blue. It's such a beautiful package. Comes with Metal-Punk Division poster.
Hatebreed-Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire
Yes it's on Victory Records, yes they rip off Slayer and yes they inspired hundreds of horrible bands. But this is still a fucking good hardcore record. Circle pits, mosh parts, sing alongs. Dig it or not, I don't fucking care.
Black Sabbath-"Masters of Reality"/"Vol. 4"
Once again no intro needed. Just ripping metal of high quality. The best actually.

I also realize this post is "late". But fuck it.