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!