No Gods, No Cops

 I've still been destroying my ears listening to +HIRS+ ever since I've invaded their home turf of Philly. I've yet to hang out and burn a fat joint with the two dudes in the band, but my time will come. In the meanwhile, I'll continue listening to their 100 song discog and having my face crushed in. Starting with the one sided 7" I posted previously, this LP goes on a drum machine grind spree. My favourite albums featured on here are the aforementioned one sided 7", their all covers split with Hulk Smash and their Dimebag 5.5" that had soundclips of the late Sir Dime and a Pantera cover medley that DESTROYS. This discog also chronicles the band's career with mentions of their short Australian tour this summer in the song "Gaycation" and just a shit load of ripping drum machine grind. Overall the lyrics are acute and to the point, the drum machine doesn't sound fucking stupid, the vocals are raw and tortured and the guitar playing just plain rips. These dudes fucking shred and grind then lay down massive amounts of groove when the time is right. The way grind should be.
 It becomes apparent pretty quickly that +HIRS+ is a Big Boys style crossing dressing, gay band. Especially once doing some internet research, and talking to one of the gay dudes you work with that has seem the band multiple times. I think that's fucking awesome. Not enough people are open with who they are and what they are about in the DIY grind scene. The guitar player from Cretin (Martina Ramierz) getting a sex change blew my mind and made me stoked to be able to tell people about it. That opens up all sorts of new doors for our beloved scene to flourish. 

Getcha' Pull!

Drop DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADD!!!!

 Not a post about the band of the same name. This is simply a reminder that anyone saying they are a fan of fast music needs to destroy their ears with this band. I'm not going to re-write the Wiki or what anyone else has ever said about their "discography" so just listen to this gold example of proto-everything fast music related. Short fiercely political songs played fucking super intense with tons of energy that spawned fastcore, grind, power-violence and all the fun stuff. The best bands ripped these guys off, namely Napalm Death and of course Drop Dead. I only say this because ND do fucking sick covers of these guys. Check out their "Leaders Not Followers" albums. Anyway, listen to this, get fucking stoked and stage dive.

All. Day.

Carved Out

  The best part of being back in the shitty part of Ohio that I was in is that I got to see some close friends of mine all the time. The dudes I would hang out with when I was a kid and still living in houses with a band and going to shows non-stop. I still listen to some of the bands those dudes are in (Ringworm, what's up) and it's awesome to see them still putting out music. Two of those friends started a new band called Carved Out that is heavy as fuck. They sort of play crusty tough guy hardcore with metal as fuck vocals. I'd say their biggest influences are Tragedy, cannabis, d-beat hardcore, Cleveland and NY style hardcore beatdown parts. I love that the songs are short, fast and still balls heavy. Absolutely worth checking out.

Who fucking cares?
Scenery

Headlock

 So my good bro Mike plays in a sweet thrash band you should probably listen to. They're called Hedlok and they rip. Short old school thrash that's punk as fuck. This is a demo so know it's a little sloppy and the guitar solos are a bit weak but Hedlok still rips. I'd rather see these dudes play in a living room or basement and party then see Mayhem at a huge festival any day of the week.

Unholy Thrash Metal
Wrestling Gimmicks Are My Favourite

Workday Song To Do Bong Rips To

Like, Heavy Metal Dune or something...dude

 Yeah, so I finally got into doom metal a little bit. I've already talked about YOB before and now I can't stop listening to this fucking stupid long song by Sleep. It's like a one hour long Black Sabbath doom riff with way more sweet metal vocals by Al Cisneros. They find a sick riff and ride that riff into the ground carving out a soundwave of groove that could possibly melt a house if played with the right amplification system. All Cisneros' bass is pushed super far in the mix like their forefathers with Geezer Butler in Black Sabbath. And then the fucking sick guitar solos by Matt Pike, ESPECIALLY at around 14:30. The whole band seriously rocks the fuck out and you don't even have to do bong rips to dig the unparalleled jamming. Fuck Phish and Trey Anastasio, this is real jamming. Sleep were heavy and uncompromising. Try writing an hour long song at the pinnacle of your band's career and never playing it live. Fuck.
 The very first picture in the video, that's Heavy Metal-esque with hooded, masked figures wandering the desert that became the cover for the 2012 re-release? Perfect visual for this song. If that picture had a whole story line and movie, this is the soundtrack. Before I talk about how you should smoke lots of high quality cannabis and listen to this I'm going to say you need to read all the lyrics to it as well. My words can not describe their level of raditude, one must experience everything on their one's own. Welcome to Jerusalem.

Lungsmen unearth the creed of Hasheeshian

This One's for Fun. It's Called "Never Surrender!"

  I have posted about Negative Approach before, quickly reviewing their 10 song 7".  It really is a nearly flawless piece of music history tightly rolled up in a tiny package to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting. Negative Approach then put out some tracks on a couple of comps and finally an LP called "Tied Down". On this sweet ass DVD entitled "Reproach DVD Vol. 1" you see the band evolve from a very early show(their first?) with only songs from demos to a full on wrecking force destroying venues full of young hipsters and punks. There are three full sets present, including a bonus song I talk about below, each showing off the bands growing strength and expanding repertoire of songs including favourites of mine such as "Can't Tell No One", "Pressure", "Live Your Life", "Whatever I Do", "Lead Song" and "Lost Cause".

 Here's a link to them doing a fucking amazing cover of "Never Surrender" by Blitz. They do this three different times on the DVD, and to be honest I NEVER get tired of it. I have a deep seeded love of covers, and this one fucking rules. I have this link starting at the cover because the rest of the video is a mostly poor rip of the DVD. When I watch my copy it's not nearly as bright and the sound is much better. You need to see this either way.
 Never say why, never say die, it's always worth another try"!

Also the very last song on here is ANOTHER cover. This time it's the Misfits playing a show in MI and having John Brannon(with hair!?!) helping them vocals for a rendition of "Can't Tell No One". Brannon's voice overpowers everything else that has mics attached to it, although you can hear Danzig in the backround during vocal pauses yelling "Go!" in true Danzig fashion.

LP To Do Massive Bong Rips To All Week

 Hey guys so I have some cannabis left over from my week long fighting and camping excursion I briefly talked about in my last post. So I'm packing that mother fucker up and getting ripped to give a real update. Sorry it's been so long bros. Did you like the Le Scrawl cover I posted? 
 For sure a band I can't listen to all the time, much like Fugazi or the Deftones, but Gojira is one that always get my blood stirring and metal ear perking up. "From Sirius to Mars"  is their third full-length album and it came out around seven years ago. They also released "The Way of All Flesh" in 2008, which I thought was a huge fucking disappointment. To be expected though, people were giving out Metallica and Meshuggah as comparisons. Those are correct assessments however and is probably a contributor to why their sound evolved on the 2008 follow up and on their new album "L'Enfant Sauvage". Which is French for something, who fucking speaks French today?
 Sonically they most resemble early Metallica in song length, format and some atmosphere as well as Strapping Young Lad for production, atmosphere and volume of emotive energy. Gojira and SYL straddle that line of progressive and thrash where Metallica early on were straight thrashers giving little thought to studio time and dynamics. Gojira utilized their time, in what I'm assuming is a secluded studio somewhere in the rolling green hills of France, to create a soaring epic display of melody, song writing and fucking heavy metal in their grandiose masterpiece, "From Mars to Sirius". Like SYL, Gojira do a perfect mix of crushing metal riffs with technicality, clean singing and harmony, then they find a heavy groove and just carve that mother out. This technique recalls SYL again as well as Pantera whom Gojira have a lesser affinity for. It's so beautiful to listen to after you've taken five or six huge BRs(bong rips). My favourite tracks can be narrowed down to "From the Sky", "The Heaviest Matter Of the Universe" and "In the Wilderness". They do a good job of displaying all the things the band is capable of doing well.
 Like I mentioned earlier, I can't listen to Gojira all the time like I can Insect Warfare or Black Sabbath or the Bad Brains. I have to be in a particular "mood" to really get into it. Maybe it's partially because of the clean singing with just straight up slow parts intermixed with the mid paced riffs amongst the blitzing metal shrapnel. Too much filler and not enough shrapnel makes for a boring hand grenade, catch my drift Deftones? Gojira sort of lye in the middle between Dream Theater and Between the Buried and Me if that makes any sense. Maybe it's the overuse of that fucking click-track, pro-tools out, sterile triggered double bass. I can not STAND it when metal bands ruin a perfectly good concept like mid paced double bass and man does Mario Duplantier ruin it. Take a fucking break from that shit man, learn something new and interesting. There's even a part in "Heaviest Matter.." where he could play a real short sustained blast, but no. He plays all fucking mid paced and like a girl. Not okay. Not metal enough!
 With all of these minor quirks, good and bad, this album is still hauntingly beautiful and utterly crushing all at once. Except the song "Unicorn" and "World to Come". Delete them and never bother wasting your time. Nevertheless this is a great album for getting stoned and going on long bike rides or epic road trips. Do yourself a favor, download this and give it two or three full listens before casting it aside like you did all those old Fear Factory CDs we wanted to be good, but really never were.

Living respectful
Low your axe
And learn from the trees

Hey How Ya Doin', Sorry Ya Can't Get Through, Why Don't You Leave Your Name, And Your Number, And I'll Get Back to You

 So I have computer access now, I've been without for some time now. I can do things like download music, add new music to my iPod and take music off. All good things. But why can I do all these now?
 Because I live in mother fucking Philidelphia now. Moved here Sunday. So anyone thinking I'm still in KS or OH....







 I moved here on Sunday night after spending a week at Ragnarok, a foam fighting event. I was pimping with newly built gear, new garb and a better attitude then ever. For the first time in my 10 year fighting career I used a spear. A short 6 ft. harpoon that was difficult adjusting to at first but after two days I began becoming a menace with it. Now I need to add one to my personal arsenal.

 This year also marked something new for me. I started a squireship under a knight I greatly respect, Sir Rune of Mittlemarch. Here's a picture of us together on Wednesday. He's the burly mother fucker on the right side of the picture with the chain mail.

 Over the next two years(minimum) I will truly show my dedication to the sport , myself, my knight, my local realm, my fighting, my attitude and my garb. I will step up my game in all aspects be it physical, mental, personal, in game, out of game, on the field or off. I will learn what it means to be exemplary and how to lead by being exemplary. I'm pretty excited about it.

 Once I get settled in with a job and all that stuff I can start updating again talking about bands and shit. Good vibes.

 As a new chapter begins, the others remain barely open only to glance back at what's happened. Memories of blast beats, Fugazi, fucking epic pocket stabs.

3-24

 Today is mother fucking 324! Fuck 420. Smoke weed all day and listen to 324.
SMOKE
GRIND(324)
SLEEP

Your Pain Ends Here, On the Internet

Magnicdide obliterate ten short bursts of eastern Asia inspired grind on their "S/T" cassette tape. They are often touted as the Malaysian answer to 324 and that's a pretty fair assessment. Both bands have shared the stage several times in the geographical region and have a similar sound, however, 324 is more punk and crust sounding and Magnicide is has a more buzzsaw metal sound even if their riffs are hardcore punk as fuck. Gruff vocals over violently fast blast beats exceeding obscene speeds, though that description does glue them to a 324 reference. One would have a hard time saying they don't sound 324 but I would prefer to just use that as a base reference for Magnicide. I also hear traces of American hardcore in their sound. They utilize some New York style beatdowns a couple times and that shit fills me with energy and the desire to get into a pit.I'm actually REALLY curious to find out how many of the three guys in the band actively listen to American hardcore on the reg. Each of the ten tracks grinds in your fucking head with little variation of speed. This band adheres to Rule 324 just like other truly good bands. One of the few true hallmarks of a great metal/punk band.There are moments of start/stop grinding but it achieves a great effect instead of a pace impediment. This S/T tape is a precursor to their longer, more 324 influenced full length I've talked about before. I personally love being able to see a band's sound evolve, and you absolutely see that when comparing the two tapes. The songs on "Rise to the Annihilation" are generally longer with a more 324 feel to them. Straight up they sound 100% more like 324 on the follow up to this amazing tape. Listen and compare for yourself.

"Exceeding boundaries of mankind analogy"

Atheist Worship Music

  Here is some way sick grind from Philly. These two guys(+HIRS+) have been at it for a couple years playing fucking devastating grind. They know when playing fast is good and when playing slow is good, really exentuating each part for maximum effect. When they slow down for slam parts I just want to headbang my skull into the fucking wall or onto a table until the concussive force knocks me out. Then the fast parts hit. Fuck. +HIRS+ uses several small elements to set each track on this 7" apart, besides awesome sound clips. Squeels, pinch harmonics and fucking fast grinding. For a one sided 7" they really pack in the riffs, slams, blasts, breakdowns and pure unadulterated rage. These dudes use a programmed machine but they really stick out for me as just pummeling and driving forward towards oblivion the whole time. It's hypnotic and compelling. This type of drum machine grind is sort of hit or miss for me but this band fucking rips. I kind of get a feel of Agoraphobic Nosebleed and a little Kill the Client when I listen to this band, but I like +HIRS+ way more then either of those other bands. I just don't get bored somehow. The vocals are raw and tortured, and the guitar and bass tones are dissonant and crushing. I could probably go for a little bit more chunk and heft in the guitar mix, but that's just dickhead nit picking and I'm not going to get too far into that.
 +HIRS+ is another band that has links to download links to everything they have released so far on their website, just like Crucial Unit. How fucking cool is that? What's that? They're both from PA! Huh, figures. Must be something in the water.


"I PRAY TO YOU, DOG!"

The Bandcamp doesn't have a regular track listing, so here it is for you if you decide to download.
 WORSHIP
1. CIS SIX SIC
2. TRAIN WRECK
3. SELFISH AND ARROGANT
4. I PRAY TO YOU, DOG
5. UNSYMPATHETIC
6. RAPE WHISTLE PART II
7. DONATION TO THE DEAF
8. HUMYN RIGHT
9. BURNED DOWN / PISSED ON
10. KUATO LIVES

"There are not many fans of mainstream music reaching back 30 years to appreciate the musical canon that gave birth to their current favorites the way we do."
Mr. Childers

Sunday EP to Do Bong Rips To

  The "Chapters" EP by Implosive Disgorgance was not only my first real exposure to the punishing hybrid of death/grind but is also probably my favourite and the go to example I give out to people when discerning the fine lines between death metal, grind and the coalesced hybrids they produce. This short mama jamma of pure speed and rage came out way back in 2005 and has continued to feel like a punch in the face with every subsequent listen ever since.
  Three man detuned death influenced grind. Straight up, packed with lots of fucking stupid blasting with heavy as fuck slamming breackdowns. The vocals are amazing and inhuman, reminding me of a less squeely Joe Horvac(from CoDC, whom is over deserving of a post from me) and were done when these guys were 17. 17! I knew back then these kids had a future, and a bright shining one it's been. If this EP was much longer I could see it becoming rife with formulaic song writing which would render it almost boring and leaving no impact on me. They do a lot of gutteral vocals/riffs/blasting into sludgy heavy as fuck breakdowns, though it's varied a little from song to song showing their maturation and desire to write good songs. I could try to pick a favourite song but really each one has one or two parts that makes it stand out so it's not worth my time to go into details. You should just get high and grind.
 Florida produces tons of amazing bands, and this is just one more of them. If Cellgraft would have been around in the early 2000's I could have seen them sharing members, and maybe Maruta being a little less boring. No offense Maruta. You were a great band, but I could get bored with your 2+ minute songs. But I digress. Implosive Disgorgance was a short lived, amazing band worthy of your praise. They put out an album after this EP but I've yet to hear anything from it, although I know for a fact it does exist. I've seen it floating on the internet here and there but have always been unable to catch a good version of it. There also appear to be a couple other EPs floating about with their name on it, but again I haven't actually heard any of the music.

"INHALE! THIS REEFER!"

Good Times

 I'm re-upping this post for one reason. I miss my brothers in grind from Kansas and I think back to this day a lot. Get high, listen to fast music and drink dark beer.

Fuck...I'm Drunk

If you're ever in the Lawrence, KS area check out Freestate Brewery. They make all the beer in house and it's all REALLY good. Oatmeal Stout and Imperial Stout are my favourites, hands down. They have good food, good service and good times.

False Grind Alienation

 There are usually a couple different measures of quickly figure out why you enjoy a band more then you think you should and/or why everyone you've ever met loves that band. One big easy one, for extreme music, is to put that band on at around 70% volume when with a large group of people and see how fast they all start making faces of disdain and disgust until someone finally asks you to turn it down or change it completely(usually to something fucking stupid and mainstream everyone else in the group likes). The faster this happens, the better the band usually is. The other way is that "Holy shit" effect certain bands haves upon listening to a song or riff or blast beat, no matter how many times you've heard that song before. Every time I hear the Torture EP I get that feeling with John's voice or the fucking outrageous blast beats. Insect Warfare is no different other then me having the "Holy shit" moment in almost every song, sometime more then once. That is the true brand of a band that blazed through their perspective genre, and all music in general. This may just be the cannabis, but certain aspects of bands truly do transcend one aspect of media and art, and permeates into others. Insect Warfare is, for me at least, a prime example of true artist talent in a tight package not meant for everyone because it's visceral and in your face musically, lyrically and in the album artwork itself. Can you really think of one IW 7" that doesn't have fucking amazing artwork? What aspect could possibly be a downfall and dethrone them from basically being kings of grind, even posthumously? Few bands playing straight grind like they do as efficiently as they do. Little room is left for filler. Insect Warfare is one of those bands I can post easily about to spread the music, but I have a really time explaining why they are one of the best bands ever to exist on this planet. It's easy to pick out and name their influences as reference, but the band covers all that material already in a very literal sense so there's no use in talking about all the sweet bands they sound like. And despite posting about them already I'm having a hard time trying to figure out the best start off point for introducing people to this band, even after six years I still don't know where to start. Is that another hallmark of a truly great band. I guess I'll let the grinding blasts and shredding riffs do all the talking.

Ghetto D-Beat

  Peter Mangalore play straight up no frills straight edge power-violence with an awesome d-beat twist. Think Discharge meets Crossed Out with lots of feedback and punk as fuck riffs. The bass is turned way up in that style of 90's PV, a trademark of the genre I'm quite fond of. This 5" called "Decay of the Iron Man" has eight fucking awesome songs in under five minutes. My favourites being "Moonlight Over Ghetto Prague" for the repeated chorus over blasts,
"Eternal Life in Return for Obedience" for it's surfing Dick Dale style d-beat
Something unrelated that interesting is the very last song "Gerwalk" is the only song with that production. It's a little louder and more crisp. Regardless it rips.
 I don't have much else to say about this short burst of awesome. Get high and rock out. 


"Cigarettes, alcohol, prostitutes, POT!"

Life Aquatic: With Love Garden Sounds

Any large, or at least moderately sized, city needs at least one good and reliable record shop. Where would a music scene come from if there was no place to sell old records to new people or to pick up the newest release at? Even if CD sales have hit rock bottom, vinyl sales have been at a steady increase despite the fact underground vinyl "sales" have remained relatively unchanged due to it never dying, but that's a whole different story. The internet has truly been a blessing from Merlin to any and all music fans making it stupid easy to track down any and all songs from any and all bands to ever exist. This constant streaming flow of information, music and art allows any and everyone to download until they are content, but there is a key element missing in only downloading music. Beyond not seeing the bands live which is a fucking travesty, you miss out on what those bands are about. Without holding a physical copy in your hands how will you really know what the album artwork looks close up?  How will you read the lyric sheet and figure out what the band is saying and truly stands for? Digital files are all just bits of binary information, not beautiful multi-coloured slabs of splattered wax of all sorts of shapes and sizes and what's the beauty in just having gigs of information?
 During the time I spent in Lawrence, Kansas I came upon a couple of local record stores. Kief's was originally located downtown and has moved to the outskirts for a bigger space as the dude owning it also owns a car/home stereo store. The only other shop I found was Love Garden Sounds. They were originally located up above the Toy Store(yes that's what it's called and what it is) up through a hallway covered in band stickers, show flyers and old 33/45 record covers. Once you walked inside it was just wall to wall records of all genres. They have since moved to a larger, more obvious location with big glass windows couple blocks up the street. Many people are still confused about this as they've had loyal customers from all over the lesser KC area and beyond for the last 15 years. As a result they still receive phone calls, e-mails, etc. asking where they are located or if they are still open.
 Love Garden has DVDs and VHS tapes, a cassette rack, used CDs and all the vinyl you could search through as it's an always changing selection. I personally love digging through the used tapes, used 7" rack and the New Arrivals bin. I have found some true gems in those last two spots; "World Extermination" by Insect Warfare, "Anticapital" by Assuck(didn't buy it because it had a $30 price tag), "Violent Noise Party" 7" comp., "Bullet" 7" by the Misfits and an old school pressing of "Vol. 4" by Black Sabbath, amongst the hundreds of other records I bought there. Even for being full of indie rock lovers, hipsters, jazz heads and just good old fashion rockers, the staff knows their shit for the most part and are all very nice and welcoming to talk about whatever genre you're into and help you find something new to listen to. The only negative thing I can say about this shop is the hesitancy the owner has for ordering vinyl for me(others as well). I've tried ordering several different records through them, and the only ones they were willing to get were the first two Krallice LPs from Profound Lore/Gilead Media. They carry Relapse, Southern Lord, Hydra Head and some other high profile labels and will order from them, but I could not for the life of me get Kelly(owner) to get the Magrudergrind LP from Six Weeks or "Abuse" by Wormrot from TvG Records even after explaining I don't have a bank account and it's very hard for me to order things online. He kept saying how obscure those bands are and how hard they are to find, which is bullshit because I could provide exact links to order from I just needed a middle man. I didn't even mind paying the extra cash it would take! Most of the employees would gladly take my requests, but only to be shot down before any ordering took place. Anyway, the city is full of young hipsters, yuppies and indie rockers so most of the music selection is geared towards them. However, there are plenty of high profile metal, punk and hardcore labels and bands to be found especially in the dollar 7" bin and New Arrivals. I can not count how many times I made the "OMFG they have this!?!!?" face digging in the New Arrivals bin. You just really have to be ready to spend time searching for hidden gems, which in itself is part of the magic of visiting record stores. Spending hours on your knees supported only by a hard concrete floor, digging through literally tons of wax finding those rare glimpses of golden vinyl nuggets. That's the true magic. The last bit of true magic for this shop is the in house cats they have. I love the cats dearly and they love me, and everyone else back. I can spend an hour just petting a cat laying on my backpack. But please respect the shop and don't let the cats out if you get the chance to visit.

No, MY name is Bruce!

The second she got started on the first line.

 I got the power cable to my computer fixed. And by that I mean I got a new one. Huzzah! So I don't have much musically to talk about right now but I got a fucking awesome new tattoo from my bro Scareika who is apprenticing at Hard Knox Tattoos here in MV. She gave me this rad shark tattoo. I've named him Bruce, the Terror Shark. This was her sixth or seventh tattoo ever and like her first or second in a shop with a real tattoo machine. Her man-friend Justin and another artist in the shop Reptar (both of whom are great artists) helped her the whole way. Reptar really helped explain to her how to do the shading which I'm way happy with. This took almost all day, from her drawing it to pee breaks and she even had to stop twice and pierce two people that came in since the other piercer was off that day. The tattoo itself was only about two hours maybe but I was in the shop from 1 until like 7. I can't wait for my next tattoo from her. She's going to do a Diver Dan scuba suit with one hand missing. The hand will have blood spurts and be beside the shark. The diver will be holding a knife of broken beer bottle and trying frantically to flee.
 I think I have too much fun with this thing. I'll squish or stretch it to make him a short fat shark or a tall skinny shark, the whole time saying "Suck my dick, I'm a shark!" But aren't tattoos supposed to be fun?

It's on the top of my right thigh.
I knew you were going to ask.

 Alright so I'm on a friend's computer to let everyone know that the power cord to my laptop came to me in two pieces. A plug for the wall that plugs into the box that plugs into the computer. Now it's in three pieces and needless to say that means I don't have a computer anymore. So yeah. Sorry. I'll update when I can.

Blackest Mass

 So what is it about this band everyone I've ever met seems to love, Black Sabbath? What makes them the go to band for....well everything? And why do so many bands makes so many amazing(and equally horrifying) covers? Is it Tony Iommi's stupid inventive guitar playing? I mean, who else hammers on all the notes because the cut their finger tips off, with their left hand nonetheless. Was it how Geezer Butler fucking RIPS that bass apart during every second of every song? Maybe it was his sweet moustache. Maybe it's Ozzy's untrained, nasally vocals evoking dark images written by other band members. Or what about Bill Ward taking the concept of playing drums and blowing it apart. Could there even someone like Bran Dailor without Bill Ward? Whatever it is, all these forces come together to create a truly moving force.
 I really can't express why, but somehow the factors coming all together create something truly magical. Their proto-everything musical concoctions always lifts spirits, and is everything good about art and music. When I went through a break up of three years and was left with $600 rent/utility payments by myself the only thing that made me feel good was sparking a fat bowl and turning up my Black Sabbath vinyl well beyond reasonable limits.
 This band really is proto-everything, but you should all know that by now. Certain songs exude everything that is all aspects of metal. They have fast thrashing parts, bluesy prog parts and stupid heavy sludge/doom riffs that make your head hurt. Even bands like Black Flag took chops from them to make something unique and heavy, in their case with the punk ethos. But a person can go on for days citing references and influences to/of the Sabbath. They even have slow songs and gorgeous interludes that don't suck. Well minus "FX" on Vol. 4. Sweet Merlin I hate that song. It's just three minutes of endless effects from what I assume is the guitar and whatever pedals Mr. Iommi uses. He must have been so fucking high when he said, "Hey guys, this song will fit PERFECTLY in between "Changes" and "Supernat" which is by the way the most awesome song I wrote for this record and fits perfectly at the end, but only right after "FX". It'll give it that trippy, psychedelic vibe we've always wanted.". No Tony Iommi, that shit is fucking stupid. I digress, songs like "Solitude" and "Electric Funeral" really set the tone for deep, emotionally intense, the former even being by Tony Iommi. Whom as it turns out has written a large chunk of their lyrics. Knowing who wrote what becomes obvious at one point. His lyrics are about religion/spirituality, the consciousness and other spacy shit while Ozzy's seem almost juvenile. Not that I could do better. That's why Iommi did it. And I don't want to sound like I'm literally masturbating Tony Iommi. He's musical legacy is already in stone. But the other two key elements never get the praise they deserve. Bill Ward practically pioneered the concept of frantic, sloppy drumming with amazingly creative and fast drums fills. Where would the precursors of metal be without the most important foundation of a band, the drums. The man that creates the beat and tone of the songs. Or Geezer Butler. The guy that makes Rex Brown eat cereal out of his asshole! These two men created many solid grooves and moments of headbanging ecstasy together. I've heard stories of the band going through ounces of cocaine in a single setting so it's sort of surprising they didn't grind more. It was only like 15 years between these guys and Mitch Harris' hyperactive blasting, but I could see the Sabbath pulling it off. Can you imagine that insanity!?
 I guess this is a good spot to point out I'm not reviewing albums. I'm just talking about one of the greatest bands ever. Just ask Hank. And really anyone not extensively familiar with the first four albums should drop everything they're doing in their lives right now and listen to each one consecutively in a row. Then do it again the next day. There is simply NO reason any human shouldn't love at least one of this bands songs more then they love another human. My fave all time Sabbath songs, in no order, are: "Supernaut", "Solitude", "Symptom of the Universe", "Children of the Grave", "Electric Funeral", "Black Sabbath" and "Hole In the Sky". Those there's some reference for you.


Instead of uploading a bunch of songs or posting link to a discog download, here's a fucking SWEET piece written by Cosmo at Invisible Oranges about their live 1970 set in Paris. Just watch and be in awe. 
Note: Links no longer work, but you can still find the footage somewhere.
Full discog available at Angrychairs blog. Dig it. 

Circle Pit of Defeat

  I got to watch Circle of Defeat(hopefully named after that Nasum song) play a show the last night I lived in Lawrence, Kansas right before moving back to OH. The venue was a basement called The Overlook and has all different kinds of bands play all the time. I saw Catheter there and Phobia played an aftershow there. My first interaction with the band was when I noticed the singer Alex had on a new Assuck shirt with the sleeves cut off. I commented how I liked it and he said, "I really like it a lot more now the sleeves are cut off". I fucking appreciated that. Of course there were only like 20 people there and we were all just hanging out downstairs and up on the porch drinking brews and smoking fine grade cannabis. I know this was also the very last time I got to circle pit. Circle of Defeat's set was almost over, they had the energy and I just had to grab Dustin and Sean to run in circles while the band played blasts. It's not often you get to initiate a pit with two close friends before you move twelve hours away, but this had to be done.
 Before moving on to the grind band I wanna say that Meat Mist was an older band I'd never head before that played fucking thrash and ripped it up. Beta Maxx is an 80's style hardcore band made up of ex Weekend Dad members that might have a future ahead of them. And my bros all in Methhorse. I saw them two nights in a row. One night with a bunch of shit bands at the Jackpot and then this night. Steven is a great drummer and  my bro Sean has been playing in doom and d-beat bands since he was 15. Noah is an old school punk active in several KC area bands(check out Sarah Palin's Retarded Baby, you won't regret it) while the singer Dustin is another close friend of mine. This is his first band singing but every show his voice gets stronger and his presence grows. I really hope these guys keep it up and do some sort of split with No Master. Along with Sucked Dry these three bands are the best in the KC/MO area in my opinion.
 Musically these dudes rip out Assuck/Insect Warfare worship grind. Not like Cellgraft however which is why I think they're interesting. Still a three piece but Circle of Defeat have a bass player so that low end is kicked up a notch. This style of hybrid grind worship is full of blast beats and energy, two very old stand by friends I rely on. They utilize fret manipulation like pitch harmonics and other awesome music theory tech stuff I can't even describe as I lack the knowledge. See "Incompetent Fools".
 The CD version of their most recent album "Victims and Vengeance" starts off with a combination sound clip
/song and then rages with a scream and blast beats, hardly letting up over the twelve and a half minute run time. There is some groove to appreciate and a couple slow parts, namely in the last track which has a stupid long run time even though it ends in a sound clip from Burn After Reading. I love the vocals on here. They are usually low with some high variations, not at all akin to Cellgraft. While both bands take the same formula they get out completely different versions of music. The screams here are sort of punky raw(see "Corporate Bullshit")  and I admit all vocal styling is quite death metal. They use rhythms and riffs that come off well thought out and I can see these 3 practice a lot. Maybe that's why each sound clip is perfectly placed to accentuate the grind. Oh and there's fucking pick slides. You never get enough of those.

Blast O Mat approved!

Bonus! Split with Orphans
Fuck the border!

And if you're crazy they have an Insect Warfare cover on their Myspace. But fuck Myspace.

100th Post Good Luck Happy Fun Party Time Riot Extravoganza Vacation Slide

 So I was going to do this big huge mixtape of my 100 favourite covers and I have like half of it all written up and was going to finish it but I fucked up and deleted it all with no way of recovery to instead I'm just posting the In Disgust/Mass Grave split 7". I've been listening to this(well only In Disgust) a lot lately. Watching all the In Disgust Speed Trials videos and hearing/watching their split with Godstomper there were always songs played I never heard. Years of listening and wondering where these stupid heavy songs were. Finally I found this thing buried in my external hard drive. The glory. This band really does embody all that is/was/will be grind. They slow it down and play heavy as fuck riffs but I would hardly call them power-violence like some people like to. We can settle on grindviolence but that seems pedantic despite the awesome word it creates. There's only around five minutes of music on here(obviously, it's a 7") but as we all know, that's more then enough time to lay waste to entire cities. This is that top shelf grind with minimal yet effective sludge parts. The highlights for me are the scream on "Chemical Blackout", sweet whammy bar abuse on "Heavy Handed" and "Die Slow". "Die Slow" again with the fucking skull pummeling breakdown at the end. Walking down the street, it makes me want to punch the first guy to make the mistake of looking at me wrong, right in his face. Watch the Speed Trial video I posted before to see what music like this does. Other bands like Ringworm, Shark Attack, Integrity, Gordon Solie Motherfuckers!, Bad Brains and countless other make people go uncontrollably insane with their energy and vibe. Bands like this were too short lived with not enough small energetic output.
 The Mass Grave side is not at all bad, I just don't have a soft spot in my heart for them like I do In Disgust. There are three songs of death infused grind. I may only say that because of the vocal style as the guitars are punk as fuck. The last song is two and a half fucking minutes though and that makes up the bulk of their side. It's not a bad song I just get bored like I usually do with this style of grind. Sorry bros, I still think your part of the world is really awesome though and I'd love to watch Mass Grave play there if I ever visited.
 Anyway, this shit is fucking ridiculous, so happy 100th post! This would have taken longer but I've had a few people badgering me to post again. Sorry it took so long guys. I moved back to OH a few months ago and have had a real hard time getting work. In punk fashion I'm sleeping on the floor of my mom's living room because we live in a one bedroom apartment above a deli above a bar beside a drive thru. Oh and the hot water all runs off the same line, so yeah. No privacy with lack of drugs and significant lack of record player have left little to write about, but too much free time. I also recently came out of a relationship so been feeling sensitive with feelings lately. I'll do what I can to keep this up though.


Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannn  Joseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!