Courtesy of a trade board i scored this absolute ripper. A first press of Extreme Noise Terror's 'A Holocaust in Your Head' put out by Head Eruption Records in 1988.
Having picked up the Kuro discography bootleg that has been floating around hearing E.N.T.'s blasting (although for some reason uncredited) cover of "We, the Helpless" was a pleasant surprise.
I had been reading about the recording of this (land speed) record and a brief biography of the band in Ian Glasper's excellent book on UKHC "Trapped in a Scene". In it he accurately describes the record as "Pissed off hateful noise with its roots somewhere between early Discharge and Disorder".
In a weird moment of serendipity i happened to listen to Hellbastard after listening to this record and was immediately struck with how similar the track 'Use your Mind' is to the Hellbastard track 'Pylons' released the same year.
Compare the opening rumbling bass riff and guitar counterpoint to the similar hellbastard part occurring at around the 1:08 mark below.
Now i am not accusing anyone of anything, it was just a moment of musical geekery that I felt was worth sharing.
Picked this up directly from Iron Lung Records. Grabbed it largely because it had unreleased Total Control (who contribute a brilliantly minimal Devo cover), Walls and Iron Lung tracks on it. I also figured the output of that label is largely of a high standard and I figured I might discover one or two new bands from it.
The Iron Lung Mixtape Volume 1 cassette put out obviously by Irong Lung Records in 2011. This tape is now sold out, but I have seen copies popping up here and there and it's well worth the time finding one. Every track on it is (or was at time of release) unreleased. Especially worth it for the Slices track "Bottom of the Barrel" a mid paced bruiser that careens along steadily until veering out of control in the closing seconds and the Walls track "Blinding Light of Truth" that drags itself mournfully through it's length like a shambling bog creature. Good stuff. You can buy a digital version (or listen to select tracks) of this over at the Iron Lung Bandcamp here.
Rupture. The band that continues to divide fans of fast obnoxious hardcore worldwide. For a great overview of their career read the back issues of Seven Inches to Freedom that give an interesting and informative overview of their varied career highs (and many many lows). This is one of a glut of releases (of varying quality) that have seen the light recently.
This is the limited to 60 (30 black, 30 clear) 'Shat From the Tomb" 5" Acetate cut by Rest In Punk records in 2011. I really dig the design on this release. The black on the thick clear plastic looks really great. The same label also put out the Disease Process tape (R.I.P. records having a member involved with that band) using the same look and it looked just as good on their tape. Both of the songs on this release are covers given the Rupture treatment. Side A being "What the Fuck" originally by Black Easter and side B "Job" by The Nub. Listening to the originals you can see how Rupture would have taken influence from these bands as both tracks are obnoxious, rude and straight forward no bullshit punk. Not their finest material (IMHO the'Lust and Hate' or 'Corrupture' LPs) but definitely worth tracking down.
Scored this in a trade about 8 months ago, but really wanted to post about it as this band rose quickly to being one of my favourite bands. Merchandise - Strange Songs in the Dark. Put out as a dual release between Katorga Works & Drugged Conscience in 2010.
Heard about them through excellent and worthy blog I Could Die Tomorrow around the time of the release of the Schoolyard Remix 7" (2010) and that song hooked me immediately. One of the few songs in which I prefer the remix to the original. Beautiful pop songs buried beneath layers of noise, at times reminiscent
of My Bloody Valentine in approach as much as sound. The combination of
vacant yet tuneful buried vocals and shimmering noisy guitars has echoes of the better side of the 80s underground. Go and do yourself a favour and buy this record (bigcartel currently down). You can also download almost their entire discography thanks to their label/blog gods ICDT linked earlier.
A test press of their upcoming Chickenshit - Death in Battle 7". Forming in 93 and being over and done by 98 Chickenshit were just a wee bit before my time (but not a lot before) but being a bit of a Perth hardcore historian I was planning on picking this up. The 7" is half unreleased tracks (Side A) and half of a live set (Side B) previously available (good luck finding a copy!) on the "Live at the Castle" cassette released by Pagan Waste Tapes in '95.
They describe themselves as being "influenced by the sounds of anarchy and violence, Japanese Blastcore, old UK Crust & Scandinavian Hardcore, cold beer and a good time" which I think sums their sound up pretty nicely. Thrashy, chaotic and fast crusty hardcore. I might spend some effort tracking down their other releases (I already own the split with UG Man) as i really dig what I have heard.
I got a kick out of the run off groove pictured below which reads "CCHC 1% A Toohey Red".
Was very happy to grab this from The Bay recently. The Self Titled 7" by Sydney rippers Taipan. Notoriously violent live, this 7" attempts to capture that raw intensity. I prefer the material on this to the much better recorded and produced "Ten Day Dawn" 7" of last year.
Many people make a big deal about the supposed "black metal" influence in their sound, no doubt encouraged by stunts such as the Darkthrone aping cover art of their demo. Personally though I wouldn't say I hear 'Black' per se but I definitely hear Death. Especially on the raging 'Khanate' with it's melodic trem picked riff, very reminiscent of Dismember's 'Override the Overture'.
Instead of centre labels both sides have an amusing hand scrawled note:
"This ain't it sucker"
"Gross, not even in a fun way"
Here is some footage of Taipan getting themselves into a lot of hot water. Total chaos.
One of the bands that helped introduce me to grindcore (and extreme metal in general) are England's mighty Bolt Thrower. I really lucked out and picked up first presses of both Warmaster (1991) and the gatefold edition of Realm of Chaos (1989). Both records are absolute masterpieces of their style and arguably their best material.
Guitarist Gavin Ward's dense crushing tone and vocalist Karl Willetts' guttural vocals form the backbone of the classic Bolt Thrower sound, perfected on these two records. Hitting a great mix between the fast blasting material and a slower death metal influenced riffing style are what make the band so unique. Riffs like the epic and catchy "Eternal War" and the grinding mid paced "World Eater" are hardly bettered in the world of extreme metal.
'Realm of Chaos' had the original lyrics booklet featuring the lyrics aside artwork taken from the world of Warhammer 40k, obviously a massive inspiration on the band. For closeups on select pages see below. The dark unforgiving world depicted really adds to the whole experience of the band and the original artwork is infinitely better then the recent CD release. For an interesting read as to why they had to change the artwork and how the band feels about this (VERY displeased) read the Ask Earache blog here.
