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.

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!

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."

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.

Not For Babies

So I'm stealing a link so I don't have to upload this, but here's the Chainsaw to the Face/Hummingbird of Death split 10". My copy was on black, although there are 170 on purple marble, which is sexy. The artwork on this is amazing as well, I love the combination of both bands names into the image. Grinding fastcore brutality on the cover, and the vinyl.
The Chainsaw to the Face side is what you expect from a band with that name. Good musically, real fucking fast. I just cum buckets for HoD though, sorry dudes.
The HoD run through six songs in a freight train frenzy or blast beats and sincerity. One thing first kicked my dick and always will is how passionate and sincere Mike sounds on this recording. They write songs about all kinds of subjects,remaining intelligent the whole time, but on socially political songs their message really shines through. This 10" hits me like the first Gorilla Biscuits LP. It's hardcore about something. But really fast. What's not to like?
"First We Should Observe the Ancient Ritual of the Traditional Pre-Fight Donut" is a blast filled shredding intro that leads into "Shittier Luck Next Time". It and "Great Annoyance and Displeasure" deal with the shitty human beings wer're all forced to deal with on a daily basis, and those even worse exceptions. The true shitbags needing to choke on bags of decaying anus'. And "Ordinary Hard-Working-Law-Abiding Homophobes" is about what you think it is. It's Mike being fucking pissed about how normal people (gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, transgender) people are treated by the majority. I know exactly what he's talking about. There's also a rad Koro cover on here, they do the song "Acid Casualty". And at the end is the epic three minute "Anytown U.S.A." The excerpt at the end is Mike/the band's feelings on the us's war efforts in the Middle East. It's full of Discharge inspired lyrics, blast beats and fucking shredding. Oh the shredding.


“Look, you got to remember that if Washington D.C. were the size of Baghdad, we would be having something like 215 murders a month. There's going to be violence in a big city. It’s five and a half million people.” Donald Rumsfeld, former US Secretary of Defense, June 18, 2003
“I'm more puzzled by comments that the violence [in Iraq] isn't any worse than any American city. Really? In which American city do the headless bodies of ordinary citizens turn up every single day? In which city would it not be news if neighborhood school children were blown up? Day-to-day life here for Iraqis is so far removed from the comfortable existence we live in the United States that it is almost literally unimaginable. I don't know a single family here that hasn't had a relative, neighbor or friend die violently. Imagine the worst day you've ever had in your life, add a regular dose of terror and you'll begin to get an idea of what it's like every day for a lot of people here.” -Jane Arraf, NBC News correspondent, October 10, 2006

From Soft to Hard

Here's both sides of the Hirax/Spazz split that came out in 1997. I have no idea what kind of pressing info there is and I doubt I have an original pressing. The Hirax side of the cover is a band photo while the Spazz side contains the brutal exploding face illustration used on "Raging Violence". Max Ward played drums for Hirax at one time and sang for Spazz. The Hirax song was apparently recorded for the "Blasted In Bangcok" demo but was left out. Either way I prefer Hirax over Spazz. It's not that Spazz sucks or anything, I just havn't gotten into them. Hirax however has an awesome, raw old school traditional metal crossed with early thrash. This obviously evolved to the full blown thrash band they are now. This real fast hardcore with Katon's vocals is a sure way to get you pumped up. Living room circle pits abound. His lyrics about world unity and peace is nice and all and I support how he feels. However, that's not how it works out unfortunately. But who am I to tell him not to have hope.

SHOCK!

Pre-Grind, Proto If You Will

I keep seeing all these awesome posts about grindcore's fore-bearers; Napalm Death, Siege, Carcass, Deep Wound, Repulsion. These outline the bases of grind's lyrical outlook, vocal style, and guitar and drum patterns (the fucking blast beat for one, thank you Mitch Harris). And a band I think gets overlooked way too much is Cryptic Slaughter. I first heard "Convicted" a couple of years ago and I was mind fucked. It had all the rage and energy of hardcore with very political lyrics and it's played at hyperspeed, even for today's standards. These are some of the fastest 4/4 beats you'll ever hear, and then the blasting. Oh the blasting. It's the kind of 1/1, snare/high-hat blasts Dave "Grave" plays. I guess most people would say they're not real blasts, but it's still fast as shit drumming that's produced just the right way to get the most impact out of them. In fact the whole rhythm section is up front in the mix and I'm glad because these bass riffs are sick. Then it's all topped off with snarling, snotty punkish vocals and a sleek guitar sound make these songs true ragers, worthy of the one man circle pit.
The stand outs here to me are "M.A.D.", "Sudden Death", "Lowlife", and "Rage to Kill" with most having anthemic chants followed by frantic thrashing. The Slaughter also put out three more LP's, "Money Talks" being the only one I've heard. The Wiki says a lot of people like that record better, but fuck them. It's a somewhat slower more groove filled sound and I'm partial to the exuberant first LP.
It's rather interesting to think about crossover influencing grind as well as thrash. Or at least the Leeway/D.R.I. version of a mid-paced hardcore/metal hybrid with long songs and more personal social conscious lyrics. Municipal Waste and Crucial Unit are probably the best example of a contemporary Cryptic Slaughter influence but taking the thrash lyrics and ideology, as well as a healthy dose of AWK i.e. getting fucking wasted and other fun goofy shit like that. Being name checked (in covers) by Napalm Death and Spazz should help support that idea.

Random Slaughter Fact: Bass player Rob Nicholson played as Mr. Blasko for Rob Zombie and replaced Rob Trujillo for Ozzy Osbourne. Is it ironic one crossover legend replaced the other when he left to play for a band influenced by Cryptic Slaughter and the thrash scene they helped spawn?



"Children of today of the killers of tomorrow, nothing in the future except for pain and sorrow!"

EDIT: "Hacked to Chunks" is a No Comment song, both bands are covering No Comment. Sorry everyone. I suck.
Mr. Childers did some posts involving power-violence and fastcore so I've been ravaging my music collection trying to figure out some of the caveats and I found a killer 9" split of Hummingbird of Death and Chainsaw to the Face. I listened to it, it ruled. Then I found a 2005 demo I have of Hummingbird of Death and fuck my ass there's a XBrainiax cover (Hacked to Chunks) on it, so here's the whole demo with a super sick cover. If this stuff is power-violence, fucking sign me up.

Seriously, pass the effing popcorn!