Whiplash - Power And Pain (1986)

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Here's an album from the crypt of thrash and early crossover, Power And Pain from New Joisey. This is quintessential crossover from the mid 80's and there isn't a goddamn speck of misstep to speak of, the process and execution are equally simple; Fast, loud and hard as nails. Whiplash, bud.

Whiplash - Power And Pain (download Zippyshare)

Ljå - Til Avsky For Livet (2006)

Frostbitten black metal from Stavanger, Norway. This album becomes a decade old next month, which doesn't really matter but then again, neither do you, and neither do I. Til Avsky For Livet is the only full-length Ljå have released and may ever release for that matter as they have become about inactive as a Nun's cunt for the last 5 years.

Black metal elitists and puritans can release a collective and weighty sigh; Til Avsky For Livet follows the black metal ethos incredulously without sacrificing any ferocity or competency. The album in it's entirety is draining to listen to, through it's blistering pace it aims to sap your energy and rob you of all positivity. Winter is for black metal.

Ps; good luck snagging this on vinyl for under a $100, as expected.

Ljå - Til Avsky For Livet (Zippyshare)

Culture Kids - Self Titled (2012)

Fast and catchy punk with doses of crust, surf, hardcore and a little something of its own. These San Franciscan punks haven't reinvented the wheel, but they do still hone in on a sound that is fresh and full of the snobby grit I like in my punk. Imagine a mix of Funerot, Hot Snakes, Hoax and earlier Ceremony. Nobody is really talking about these guys which is a shame, if you have the means, spread the good word.

Culture Kids S/T

Lycus - Tempest (2013)

Immensely crawling funeral doom with tempos slower than the short bus. I would get this and listen to it if I were you, but I'm not, so the decision is still yours. Doom on.

Tempest (Zippyshare)
Bandcamp

Label: 20 Buck Spin

Harm's Way - Blinded (2013)

Harm's Way seem eager to put forth tunes that are still filled with vitriol and barbarity with their lowbrow, heavier than thou take on hardcore, and they do… But time has seen Harm's Way explore uncharted territory, allowing songs to breathe and swell over lengthier tracks, further exaggerated tension with doomy and brooding sections that sometimes lend itself for experimentation. Well shit, pretty much every track on this EP harbors an example of this whether it be subtle or blatant; Towards the end of the opening track 'Frontal Lobe' sounds like one of those chieftain war cries that you would hear on a sludge record, 'Blinded' is an all instrumental half intro and buildup that results in the track ending with a subtle whirring example of a little sound experimentation, but the best example is on the closing track 'Live to Loathe' when the drums morph into an 8-bit drum beat.

 (Thanks to the blog "I Would Have Stolen You A Whole Orchestra" for letting me steal the Zippyshare link)

BLINDED

Mumakil - Flies Will Starve (2013)

Mumakil (moom-a-keel) consider their music "blastcore", which is as fitting as it is fucking stupid. Gravity blasts and blast beats don't cause for pioneering another genre, so fucking what. "Nintendo-core" was stupid then and is sure as shit stupid now. Anal Cunt didn't profile their music under the moniker of "banging out heroine, getting blowies and stealing riffs - core", even though they were fucking qualified… Come to think of it, "Anal Cunt - core" is probably fairly accurate anyway.

I digress, besides genre inventing I have nothing but good things to say about Flies Will Starve, just as I did about Behold The Failure. The formula is simple, fast fucking tunes surrounded by a barrage of blasts, buzz-saw guitar work and vocals that your dad would fucking hate.

Pick this up. I have a pretty hefty queue of new and exciting tunes to bring to this blog so stick around, or not, but stick around because this blog will be fresher than your grandma's freshly douched… Just stick around fellas.

Eat shit.

Sincerely,


Chris D'Alessandro

PS; Flies Will Starve (Zippyshare)

Take Over And Destroy - Endless Night (2013)

Here's what's going on – I downed a quarter bottle of this Jack Daniel's honey whiskey with a couple cups of coffee in record time, this was my only breakfast and now I'm starting to feel the affects of this creative lubricant… "It's high-time I cleaned out those fucking cobwebs on my music blog so the tens of thousands (?) of my followers (Or do you guys prefer disciples?) can revel in the excitement of tunes that I certify as good." said myself somewhere in the beguiled brain-space of mine. It was either that or make a couple batches of freshly baked Rice Krispie squares… This time, the guilt of abandoning my followers (disciples?) outweighed my hunger.


So here I sit, cup of whiskey sweating, teeth unbrushed, hair uncombed, still beautiful, cracking my knuckles in eager preparation to start the writing process I was once all too accustomed with (fuck, just spilled my cup of whiskey on my desk soaking the bottom half of my "Listen To This" book while at the same time receiving a text from my pal in the band Oxtongue saying "Tell me you can sing." – I can't sing.

Take Over And Destroy sound like sewage encrusted blackened church bells. No they don't, I was just trying to be clever in my description like those dudes over at Cvlt Nation, and immediately felt stupid for what I had wrote. What they really sound like is a well mixed blend of black n' roll, sludge, and doom with a healthy dose of some organ shit.

Endless Night (320, Zippyshare)
TOAD Bandcamp

Burialkult - A Call From Beyond The Grave (2013)

I'm really fucking digging this Canadian barbarity thing going on man, this shit sounds filthy and callow (in a good sense), everything you want bestial black metal to be. Over the top with its Luciferian worship and ardently callous and putrid in its atmosphere with a sound strongly rooted in the 80's. There is also a healthy dose of thrash woven throughout A Call From The Grave, arguably earning it blackened thrash, whatever let's not get nit-picky.

Burialkult is by no means an accident or fluke, these dudes know exactly what sound they are going for, and are fully cognizant of the scene around them, letting their influences seep into the music. I can't speak on behalf of members of the band but there are undeniable influences reminiscent to bands like; Sarcófago, Venom, Beherit, Teitanblood, Blasphemophagher, Vulture Lord, Blasphemy, etc.
The lo-fi production is muddy, but not so grim and murky that it's rendered unlistenable, rather it serves as a strong point to the album which only further accentuates the instrumentation and gives it that fuck you charm only welcomed in the sewers of the underground.


Give Burialkult a warm welcome, this is their debut into the realms of fetid scum. (It's worth noting that the drummer used to be in Black Lotus, Harvest of Seasons is still an album I play much too often.)

Burialkult (bandcamp)
A Call From Beyond The Grave (Zippyshare)

The Broderick - Free To Rot, Free Of Sin (2012)

Let's cut through the shit, you're not going to like this album if you don't like any form of hardcore. Not the, youth of today, x'ed up fists and sing-a-longs type hardcore, OR the crossed arms stance tough guy hardcore, BUT the kind of hardcore that doesn't fear coalescing and mingling with other genres.

Free To Rot, Free Of Sin adventures between a sludgy landscape ensconced in a furiously angry post-hardcore niche, hard hitting and dynamic! Here's an album that is deserving of more praise than it so far has received, it hasn't been under the scalpel so to speak, but I cut this fucker up, and all I could find is some emotionally charged fast and furious jams that are competent enough to be melodic and crushing in one fell swoop. 

The Broderick - Free To Rot, Free Of Sin (Zippyshare)

Sun Worship - Surpass Eclipse (2013)

Sun Worship of Germany got in touch with me about a month or so ago, asking me if I would be interested in reviewing Surpass Eclipse for SHOM. They offered to send me their vinyl in the mail, which built up a significant amount of pre-cum because I knew this was an album that would sound incredible on vinyl. And it does…

Upon receiving the package in my mail, the first thing I noticed was a note attached thanking me for taking the time to listen to their record, really it was I who should be thanking them. The second thing I noticed was how rad the packaging was; The artwork is printed with metallic bronze ink on a thick textured cobalt grey card stock (Patrick Bateman would go off on this), and the 180g vinyl itself is adorned with a super sweet illustration silk screen on it! It's quite unique from all my other records, which for any type of collector or elitist dickhead alike, is appreciated.

Sun Worship sound like the end of days, playing a blend of ambient (post) black metal that has a few coats of noise drenched in the mix. Nothing is crystal clear, nothing is overly polished nor anything overly dominant in the mix. They have hit black metal equilibrium, they have put the proverbial nail in the coffin with this EP. Two tracks spanning for 15 minutes of aphoristic black metal; Beautifully spiraling riffs which sometimes hoist that 'nekro sound' and at other times that whirring ambient sound, and drums that are bulky which I find to be quite unique bit effective within their sound. Don't be surprised to hear riffs that would make Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Krallice turn a shade of red from blushing.

Surpass Eclipse comes highly recommended, support these dudes anyway you can. I'll throw up the Bandcamp with the awesome "name your price" option as well as the option to purchase the vinyl. If you do plan to get the vinyl, let me know, I'm more than sure the band would be willing to sign it in metallic ink along with maybe a scribbled penis or pentagram on it.

Download (Zippyshare)
Bandcamp ("name your price" + Vinyl purchase)

Zozobra - Savage Masters (2013)

What is 15 minutes long, sludgy, frantically paced and devoid of staleness? If you said your sex life, congratulations, you're a fucking idiot liar. Get your head out of your ass and into some Zozobra, because they have released Savage Monsters! Full of slimy sewer sludge and post-hardcore beat down, this short and furious album is mixed in a rather upfront "what you hear is what you get" type way, not a lot of trickery going on. Sure it's tiny in length (like your penis), but it packs a fucking punch (unlike your penis).


Savage Masters (Zippyshare)
Zozobra Bandcamp

Murmurs - Fædd Úr Eldi (2012)

If Murmurs had a spirit animal, it would be a rabid wolverine. A wolverine that was birthed in a pool of toxic sludge giving it a hideously mutated body… forever neglected and cast aside by the wild. Murmurs is definitely neglected, releasing 4 demos in the span of three years until a year later they unleashed their debut Fædd Úr Eldi, to which you never really hear about.
 
The album rages on through its entirety with no scruples or halt, blistering black metal that explores ample vocal techniques, all of which are pretty fucking bleak and harrowing! The snare, toms and kick need to have just a little bit more oomph to them, it almost becomes lost in the mix, even though I dig the cavernous chaos it beholds.

Fædd Úr Eldi (Zippyshare)

Gethsemane - S/T (2013)

Raw black metal from The Netherlands, I mean really raw, may as well be the sushi of black metal. 99.7% of the world's population would deem this noise and they wouldn't be too far off… A swirling chasm of blasting drums, floating guitars and anguished howls that just barely pierce through the ensuing maelstrom.

At times it reminds me of GGUW's 'Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit', if not for it's archaic nature then for its untamed plod. Unequivocally not the same, as Gethsemane boasts a much more minimal stance to GGUW's antediluvian dynamism. I won't/can't praise this like I would GGUW (I fucking love that EP), but this demo is certainly worth your time.

Gethsemane (Zippyshare)

Jess And The Ancient Ones - Astral Sabbat (2013)

Jess And The Ancient Ones are fucking it man, I love this band, I loved their S/T release last year, and I sure as hell overplayed the shit out of the track Sulfur Giants from it… They are back with an EP, and their infectious blend of shamanistic psychedelic rock that hearkens back to the days of ether soaked bandanas surrounded in a haze of incense smoke reigns!

A throwback in sound to the days when computers didn't shit out everything, it drives that analogue vibe with a warm and fuzzy soul. Carrying an obvious and rather honest predilection for the occult they have this way of dragging you into a time or place that feels foreign yet familiar at the same time. I don't know what the fuck that means exactly, but it's how I feel and if you don't like it too bad so sad you idiot dummy.

Astral Sabbat (Zippyshare)
Support JATAO

Iron Lung - White Glove Test (2013)

I've only fully listened through this album twice, so maybe my opinion is as useless as condoms to a priest but fuck it man, I just wanted to get this on here. Mainly because I think White Glove Test is an interesting release, which is a hearty accolade for a two-piece power violence/grind act, isn't it?

 Maybe I pulled the wool over your eyes when I used the word "interesting", what I really meant was this album will beat you down for the better half of 23 minutes, pick you up, and then beat you back down again with a 23 minute bonus track… Containing an amalgamation of odd sounds, the kind of sounds that would give you night terrors if you suddenly woke up to it playing loudly in your dark, monsters under the bed filled room. Grow up.

Noisy, fast, unpredictable, dizzying and raucous. Oh, and I think maybe something to do with an industrial tinge. Probably not at all.

Download? (Zippyshare) ((Somebody let me know if this version has the bonus tracks, I think it does))
BUY! (Bandcamp) (("DON'T BE SWINDLED BY INFERIOR BLOG DOWNLOAD VERSIONS!!"))

NAILS - Abandon All Life (2013)

Fucking NAILS man… I'd say they nailed it, but that's a pun too bold for me. Abandon All Life does succeed in pummeling you senseless for the better part of 17 minutes though, and this time expect a more well-rounded cohesive sound while delving further into chunky doom elements. Many will sing their high praises from mountaintops this year, splooging an uncanny amount of love for Abandon All Life, most likely penning them in their top 5 for 2013 already.

It's good, really fucking good, but it's so simple in its attack plan; A torrential downpour of fast and furious vitriolic hardcore. If I'm going to stand on any mountaintops and shout my appraisal, it had better contain more breadth and I'd better be on fucking top of Patagonia.

Kurt Ballou's trademark sound is all over this beast, it sounds nice and crunchy, but will we ever tire of this sound? Maybe, maybe not. Howbeit, I'm sure Abandon All Life will receive my attention when I'm looking to punch shit.

Abandon All Hope Life (Zippyshare) LINK REMOVED due to complaint

Creative Adult - Dead Air 7" (2012)

Infectious hardcore that dredges up the good ol' days when you would go out and skate a week straight without showering, eating nothing but beef jerky, Munchos chips, pizza and big gulps. Alas, now we're adults (the bulk of us) and the no showering and skating is limited to maybe only 3 or 4 days… You never did this? Your life is probably boring you dummy idiot.

Some of us are even Creative Adults, others may be suits (sorry), and some of you may be the type that sit at home eating Cheerios out of a salad bowl whilst higher than giraffe pussy. Hey man, I won't judge, just grab this greasy album and listen to it. Gravelly vocals from Scott Phillips of Life Long Tragedy, a whole lot of guitar twang aligned with drumming devoid of staleness. It's catchier than syphilis, more potent than walrus snatch and surely more important than whatever the fuck it is you are doing right now. Let thy hand bang and say hell the fuck oh to the Bay area!

PS // sorry for the hate

sincerely,

go fuck yourself.

Creative Adult // Dead Air (Zippyshare)

YOUWRETCH - Sympathy of Wolves (2012)

YOU fucking WRETCH. The musical equivalent to a pack of wolverines.

Zippyshare
Bandcamp (name your price)

Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry (2012)

I've been a fan of Elysian Blaze ever since I bought Levitating The Carnal back in 2009 (it came out in 2006), I bought it on a whim thinking it was going to be a colossal heap of black metal from the land down under. Turns out I was right…

Elysian Blaze is a one man band from Australia that set out to display a hollow churning void of black metal with halting funeral doom pace and a lightly ambient overtone. It stands firmly between a minimalist approach with a very dreary vibe, its bleak energy belongs echoing in empty halls. It seems that all that is good is meant to be purged from the listener, an easy listen it is not. If you hearken its entirety, thy blackness is strong.

2012 sees Blood Geometry on a lot of year end list I presume. I almost forgot to mention, it's in two parts, spanning for over 2 hours… Of emotionally draining black metal. Good luck.

Blood Geometry (part I)
Blood Geometry (part II)

Foundation - When The Smoke Clears (2011)

Hardcore is nor ever was the genre to be reinventing the wheel… Sure, there are bands that explore the sometimes stagnant genre further than its peers. Take We Had A Deal for example, imploring an infectiously melodic approach to fast and furious hardcore, with elements that aren't normally found in a hardcore album; A three part-song with it's own intro featuring a lulling female singer and an outro that sounds like an eclectic busker band, and really a host of other subtle nuances that set it apart from other "heard this before" bands…

My point is, Foundation aren't coming up with anything you haven't heard before, and I don't think they give a shit about that. This Atlanta based straight edge band set out to assault you with all the usual suspects present; burly pissed-off vocals, power chords, two-step shit stance sections, floor-punch shit romp breakdowns, floor tom marches, crunchy tones, mid-tempo beats, etcetera, etcetera. Heavily harken with sounds of 90's hardcore, Foundation have planted their feet deep in the ground with When The Smoke Clears, setting it apart from the debut Hang Your Head (which was also really good, albeit a bit hollow in sound and lacking in breadth).

Grab if you like: Mother of Mercy, Earth Crisis, Unbroken

When The Smoke Clears (Zippyshare)