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

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.

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!

From Soft to Hard

Ringworm/Terror split 7"
This guy came out in 2003, back when Terror were relativly unknown and Ringworm was still just blip on the massive Victory radar, though thankfully Deathwish Inc. pulled this split together. It's the second part of a four part series dealing with the four card suits. They've done three so far, the heart still to be released. This was the second 7" (the first having Hope Conspiracy and Suicide File, the third having First Blood and Blacklisted(originally supposed to be Integrity, lucky Blacklisted)) with two pressings. 4,000and 1,000 for the second pressing. I have four copies, two randomaly fell into my possession and two I sought out for purchase. One orange(500), clear(1500) and red(500) from the first set and I have an uncut blue record(325) from the second pressing. In the matrix on the Terror side it says "I need maximum output-more stagedives!!!" and in the matrix of the Ringworm side it says "For a good time call 804-306-6134...", which I did call once but the guy had no idea who Ringworm was, and I was nervous because I was like 16. Anyway, the hardcore.
Terror play that tough guy, self-affirming hardcore that got big(again) around that time. Scott Vogel, who I love as a singer, really steps it up when his band writes short songs. The "Lowest of the Low" EP shows this. Unfortunately the two songs on here don't hold up to the EP, and can in no way hold up to Ringworm. I just find them boring and too slow paced. Not to say I don't like Terror, just saying this was their weakest output until "One With the Underdogs".
The Ringworm side however is fan-fucking-tastic. Raging Clevo style hardcore played fast and hateful. These two songs also appear on the follow-up full length "Justice Replaced By Revenge" that came out two years later, obviously with a different production. I believe the two songs posted are from that CD, sorry guys. The 7" versions are better in my eyes.


"Seeing red, until I finally reach my THRESHHOLD!"

Songs to Break TVs To

As the title says, here are some songs guaranteed to make you want to punch your mom right in the fucking face with a tv.
This is some older Ringworm. Fucking classic Cleveland hardcore from the 90's. These guys shared members with Integrity, so there's a good reference point to start at. It's metallic, thrashing hardcore full of vehemence and spite. Human Furnace has really distinct vocals that really lets his abhorrence at humanity seethe out in the lyrics. This is hateful music by mean dudes. They've been "banned" in various clubs for the insane antics at their shows. When I was in high school they played with Terror and Full Blown Chaos for free at a shithole called Bernie's in Columbus where 2x4's were being taken out of ceiling and used as a mosh prop, to scary results. So it's obvious that Ringworm fans are raging alcoholic meatheads. Tough guy hardcore at it's finest. In fact Frank 3 Gun is the guitar player for hatebreed now, so these guys are on the back burner which I find totally disappointing. I know he makes way more money now, but just in a band that hasn't been good since "Perseverance" came out, and that's being nice. These guys also have been fucked by the long Victory Records dick. Tony Brummel has one of the best bands his label ever signed still on his label but he won't do anything with them. The press for their last two albums was fucking pitiful and their American tours were small. I can only hope some miracle happens and these guys gain their rightful place in the hardcore "limelight".


Birth is fucking PAIN!

Dimebag>Lennon

I've seen other posts (this among others) about today being the fourth anniversary (ironic word to use) of Dimebag Darrel being murdered. Since I've yet to do a legitimate blog about this since then (used to have a Xanga) I'm gonna talk about it now as a reaction to the blogs talking about it in the past couple of days.
Living less than an hour from Columbus allowed me to go there a lot and see bands play at the different venues. I've been to all the big arenas and all the popular smaller ones. The Newport could hold a lot of people and it was loud as fuck inside, but it had a barrier to the nine foot stage. Bernie's was bar/restaurant that has bands play basically every day, sometimes multiple shows. I saw a bunch of Facedown bands play a matinee and then saw The AKA's (to make fun of Mike Ski(Pitboss is from Columbus:p)) and the Unseen. But it as also shady as fuck, poorly staffed and the bathrooms had more people pee into the sink than the urinal. The High Five had a cool vibe but frequently changed ownership and suffers a lot of in-fighting. Amongst others was the Alrosa. It's been one of the longest standing venues in the country and family-owned, so it has it'd credentials besides what shit talkers say. The bar is reasonably priced, every show is all-ages, there's usually no barrier unless the bands requests it, and they have a fuck ton of shows there. I've seen Fear Factory, Lamb of God, Sworn Enemy, Most Precious Blood, God Forbid, hatebreed, Sick of It All, With Honor, Judas Priest, Cephalic Carnage, Mortician and Internal Bleeding there at different times in my life. The outside area even has a fucking barbecue. What other venue does that? Having spent so much time in this area I couldn't believe what I saw. CNN was telling me Dimebag Darrel and Big Val were dead. Fucking A. And I'm still a little more than bummed about it today too. Pantera has always been in my steady rotation of music the past 8-10 years. I think only way I'll get closure is if Macabre write a song about the guy that killed Dimebag.
The songs below are some of my favourite Pantera songs, but I uploaded them out of the order I wanted and I'm too lazy to redo it all. Here's the way I wanted to do it (in chronological order):
Domination (Cowboys From Hell)
New Level (Vulgar Dispaly of Power)
I'm Broken (Far Beyond Driven)
(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin (The Great Southern Trendkill)
I Can't Hide (Official Live:101 Proof("prevoiusly unreleased"(B-side maybe?))
Hellbound (Reinventing the Steel)

As for my favourite Pantera record, it's pretty fucking hard to choose. Each one has a strong record title, each one unique and uber metal. But this is where Cowboys From Hell dies. There are only like three or four songs on it I really like. It's still a little too glam metal. The live record doesn't really count, and neither do any of the home videos, although all of them are fucking rad. Reinventing the Steel is obviously next to go. While not their worst albums, it's also not able to stand up against the earlier records. I think like most final albums from good bands that take long breaks it's a little forced. Phil had Down and I think even Superjoint going on at that time, and I think he was still on heroin at this point. While good for some bands (Ministry, John Coltrain) Pantera is totally a drunk/stoner band. Now the final three. Great Southern Trendkill while excessively (is there such a thing) violent, has this super thick ZZ Top influence over it making it so smooth and rich. Like a Guinness Stout. It's rock and roll and metal. While both independent, still very cohesive. They did it way better than those faggots Every Time I Die (who are from New York mind you). The contest between Vulgar and Far Beyond Driven is only decided by sheer brutality. Vulgar Display of Power was the perfect segue between Cowboys and Far Beyond Driven. The only elements left of their days in the 80's was the POWER METAL heritage of kicking ass which they fused with their primal metal instincts making something not quite thrash or power metal but a new breed of American Metal. It was the blend of Sabbath/Priest/Maiden/Motorhead with their contemporaries (Slayer, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies) into something new a furious. But this is where Far Beyond Driven wins because it's Vulgar to an unknown exponent. It's Pantera at their rawest, and most brutal. Without you having to, it eviscerates all nay-sayers.

PS: I posted I Can't Hide because it show off their hardcore roots, whether we want to believe it or not.

Saturday Song to Do Bong Rips To

I try to read Metal Sucks and the only thing they post on weekend is a song I can do bong rips to. Considering I just bought a bong on Saturday while still in OH for thanksgiving. But they don't do this every weekend so I'm taking the oppurtunity to do it for them. I'll probably link my posts on their site somewhere to show them how much they suck ;p.

Right now I'm gonna use the song that fit best for my trip back and forth from KS. I've always tried to hype up any band I like from OH since it is my home state, so this is almost ironic. Especially if you consider one of my best friends is Ringworm's touring drummer (no more name drops I promise). Anyway, when you're at home you can sit down and listen to the fifteen minutes of epic presented before you. I favor most music that's short and fast, but Mouth of the Architect is so good at weaving groove and melody in a way that's absurdly metal.

I did not wish to be here, but I will go where I desire.