Kind of an obvious post this one. First press of Morbid Angel's 1991 classic 'Blessed are the Sick'. Very happy to add this to my collection. I have a massive amount of love for early death metal and the early Earache Records roster is pretty much untouchable. A lot of people have had a lot to say about him and his business practices but one thing cannot be denied: Digby sure had an eye for great bands.
This record almost defines the "classical 90s death metal" sound. Ticks in all boxes: mid paced riffing (still blinding in skill and dexterity) lower and more guttural vocals and muddy production. If you even have a passing interest in extreme metal and don't own this record in any form you are doing yourself a disservice.
This is a test press of Chrome Dome's 'Negative Vibes' 7"
released by EXSS records in 1999 and limited to 150 copies. Picked this up from DX (of Distort zine fame) online when he was
selling some records. Nothing
fancy here just the record in a plain sleeve. Chrome Dome are a band I waver between really liking and finding
incredibly annoying. Obviously i like them enough to pick up this test
press.
Starting in 2009 and playing minimal synth with a heavy goth influence, Chrome Dome bring to mind the damaged synth of Primitive Calculators and the whole post punk "Small Band" scene they helped create. They strike me as a band that could only have formed in the art friendly incubator of Melbourne. Which is not to say this brand of synth punk couldn't be peddled in other Cities, I just find their whole approach to be for want of better words "very Melbourne". A friend of mine puts the classic battle between this way "Like assholes? move to Sydney, wankers more your style? Melbourne's your place".
My small collection is pictured below. (From Left to right clockwise: Cut Ties 7" - Nihilistic Orbs - 2011, Self Titled 7" - NoPatience Records - 2010, Self Titled Cassette - Psychotic Reaction - 2010).
Their self titled cassette and only full length (to my knowledge) wavers between slinky synth punk numbers ("Life is a Party") and tracks
like "I Can't See Her" an annoying dirge featuring obnoxious vocals that
sound like two people lost in a nightclub yelling at each other trying to indicate where one
of their lost friends are over a cobbled together synth line. Despite their flaws I remain intrigued enough to steadily pick up their releases.
Picked this up alongside another tape pretty cheap. Vile Gash - Leech cassingle put out by Life-Rot in 2009.
Call me a total neophyte but this was my first exposure to Vile Gash. I'd heard the name thrown around a bit and when I saw this alongside the other tape i was buying i figured 'why not' so picked it up too. The recording on this tape is absolutely distorted as hell, i imagine the needles were buried heavily in the red. To be honest this worked for me. I think my exposure to a lot of black metal recorded underwater with dictaphones helped though.
What you get here is 3 tracks (Side B repeats) of blitzkrieg hardcore that are apparently not representative of the band, but having not heard their other stuff who am I to judge. My only criticism is that it is all over before you really begin to get a feel for the songs as the only track that clocks in longer then 50 seconds is the third track, a cover. From this tape I wouldn't say I was entirely sold on the band, but I certainly didn't hate it.
This, monoxide inhalers, is The Flesh Police rehearsal tape. Had this posted to me by the guitarist (and all round legendary bloke). Feat. ex and current members of a bunch of notable and upcoming Perth bands (Grandmother & Suffer to name two) and limited to around 20 copies send out to friends, affiliates and total assholes around the country. To put it simply this tape RAGES.
Flesh Police play that special brand of hateful hardcore with dirgey slow parts that tickles my fancy. With catchy, hooky riffs and an absolute rabid dog vocalist (Berkay of Slays4Days fame. Buy his excellent zine here) I think their own description of West Coast Grind Violence does the job nicely of summing them up. When they lock into a groove you can feel the sweat of a pit closing in. More obvious reference points are Crossed Out, SQRM and the new crop of Australian powerviolence influenced hardcore (you know who they are).
Rumour has it of a split 7" due 2013. Really keen to hear what these cats do next. Definitely a band to keep an eye on.
UPDATE: The CS is also available to pay your filthstained dollars for HERE.
So i am sure i am not the only one to have noticed that so many rawpvnx have been crossing over into peacepunk/goth (why do we have so many sub-sub-sub-subgenres?) recently. I read an excellent article that dubs this newish "wave" Gbeat HERE.
On this note i picked up the Belgrado 12" from NoPatience recently. I described this record as female fronted non-angular (it rolls instead of stop-starting) post punk. This might make my top 10 the ammount i have been playing it of late. For fans of Killing Joke, Joy Division, 45 Grave.
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.
