Today's Darkthrone is a totally different beast than the Darkthrone of old. Back in the day, Darkthrone conjured up visions of mysterious corpse painted figures, of epic Norwegian black metal, of vast fields of ice, of shadows dancing in firelight, they were THEE ultimate black metal band. Transylvanian Hunger, A Blaze In The Northern Sky, Under A Funeral Moon...
But at some point, the punk and classic metal influences that so obviously informed the music of Darkthrone, really took over, and the sound of Darkthrone, instead of being influenced by that music, began to SOUND like that music, WAY more punk, with smatterings of classic NWOBHM, which we definitely dug, and with that sonic shift, came a shift in, well, seriousness? Their public persona became goofier. Photo ops consisted almost entirely of shots of the group on camping trips. And there's drummer Fenriz, outspoken as always, consistently holding court, schooling the kids on cool metal records, weird obscure bands, to the point of filling cdd booklets with liner notes, comparing their songs to classic metal jams, as well as including a list of albums to buy.
So while a lot of troo grim black metalheads probably jumped ship by now, the rest of us can dig these crazy punk metal jams, the goofy lyrics, the over the top vocals, the squiggly guitar leads, totally retro, but all twisted up into something distinctly Darkthrone.
The sound here is less classic metal, and almost kinda more like any of those "NWOFHM" metal Circle side projects, Steel Mammoth, Mercedes Hell, Motorspandex, and well, let's let the track-by-track liner notes from Fenriz point out their actual sonic inspirations: Motorhead, Inepsy, Agent Steel, English Dogs, old Metallica, Deathside, Puke, old Slayer, Omen, Savage Grace, one song is even described by Fenriz as a "Mix of speed metal and hard rock, with 40s nostalgic notes in the verse-riff". Not sure what else to say. When asked in a recent interview if Darkthrone performed "extreme metal", Fenriz responded by saying that Darkthrone is "moderate metal. With UGLY vocals." Which pretty much nails it. It's heavy, punk as fuck, definitely metal, loose and sloppy, but super melodic, weirdly catchy, with some seriously killer riffs, some ridiculous and over the top vocals, and some of the best liner notes you'll ever read. Plus more bad ass Dennis Dread artwork. Recommended of course, but only for those of you who know what you're getting into!
If metal fans/dilettantes Circle were to actually make a metal album, as opposed to a "metal" album (one that in the end really sounds like Circle), maybe it would come out something like F.O.A.D., the latest (number thirteen, uh oh!) full-length from Norwegian black metal icons Darkthrone. This album, entitled F.O.A.D. (which stands for something Off And Die, you figure it out), is a collection of nine songs, each one of them with a specific inspiration or inspirations that will resonate with all true metal fans, which Darkthrone obviously are. We know this not just 'cause the old school vibe of these songs, retro-riffed and raw and fueled with punkish attitude, but also 'cause Darkthrone drummer Fenriz has kindly provided notes on each track in the photo-illustrated cd booklet. So you can scope snapshots of Darkthrone's summer camping trips whilst reading about how the track "Canadian Metal" is lyrically a tribute to their favorite Canadian metal bands (natch) but musically is inspired more by (non-Canadian bands) DeathStrike, Onslaught, Darkthrone and Motorhead -- and, for the heck of it, is dedicated to their Central American fans! Or learn that the song "The Church of True Metal" is dedicated to Manilla Road and the late singer of another '80s American true metal cult, Omen. Or see that Fenriz claims that "Pervertor Of The 7 Gates" is inspired by "Axegrinder/Darkthrone, Humble Pie (!), Celtic Frost (duh), Impostor... and Poison Idea!". You may have noted how ridiculously, circularly self-referential (reverential?) it is, when several times they cite Darkthrone (themselves!) among a particular track's influences. At least they're being honest!
The cd booklet also includes a shopping list of 20 true metal (mostly, though The Residents are on here too) recommendations from Fenriz and guitarist Nocturno Culto, their suggestions to get your music listening back on the proper, perverse track. Can't argue with any of their picks, and in fact we're gonna be on the lookout for the few we didn't already have, but again it's a funny thing to find in a cd booklet. We guess they're concerned about "the kids" these days not knowing what's what.
But the reason we mentioned Circle above is 'cause this seems to be a very "conceptual" metal album, metal for metal's sake made by fans in a very explicit and nostalgic fashion. There's a metallic version of Comic Book Guy, record-collector nerdism in equal doses with a punk WTF? approach. Circle calls it NWOFHM. Darkthrone's making NWOBHM. No it doesn't compare to any of their past classics like A Blaze In The Northern Sky or Transylvanian Hunger. Less grim, more grins.
This sort of thing tends to demystify what is (was?) one of the seminal, scary bands from the notorious Nordic church-burning, corpse-painted black metal scene. But we've already gotten the idea that Darkthrone don't take themselves too seriously anymore, and maybe never did, nor do they care what other folks think. We realized that long ago when we read an interview with 'em that mainly talked about how much they loved the Simpsons TV show. Also there was the silly message that Andee once got on his answering from Fenriz (thanks to a mutual friend who was over in Norway working on an as-yet-unreleased black metal documentary). And of course not long ago we reviewed the DVD of Nocturno Culto's bewilderingly mundane home movies. The curtain has been pulled back, and what we find are two none-too-serious yet none-more-black dudes from Norway who loooooove metal (and camping). And happen to be fuckin' Darkthrone. So they can say F.O.A.D. then you gotta take it. If it's too crude and dumb and retrogressive and punk for you, fuck off and die. Otherwise, let the headbanging commence.
Norway's number one "hiking metal punks", the Darkthrone duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto are back with another album (their 16th!) that melds the grim frozen Nordic black metal of the '90s (typified by their own corpsepainted classics from the era like A Blaze In the Northern Sky and Under A Funeral Moon) with '80s NWOBHM, punk, crust, and speed metal, as they have been doing for the past six or seven years.
We'd heard before we got this that the new Darkthrone was heavily influenced by Agent Steel, and while Fenriz does pull of some amazing high pitched shrieks in the style of John Cyriis from that cult '80s speed metal outfit, we suspect that people were saying that 'cause a copy of Agent Steel's Skeptics Apocalypse lp is prominently displayed behind Fenriz in his picture on this album's back cover. What also should have been in that picture is a copy of Celtic Frost's Morbid Tales, 'cause plenty of this has that brand of '80s underground doomic deathliness to it too. Mercyful Fate and Venom, the '80s originators of black metal, are also clear inspirations. A good example of what that means, is the album's truly epic final track, the 13 minute 49 second "Leave No Cross Unturned", written/sung by Fenriz, which opens with an impressive balls-in-a-vice scream, the song speeding along with rapid riffage ornamented by soaring swooping vox. But then, whomp, it slows for a sluggish doomed out break, chugging thenceforth under a Hellhammered, Frosty vibe. Eventually the velocity ramps up again as do Fenriz's operatic affectations, and then back again into the doomy depths, the song a tour de force display of what Darkthrone dig in metal, as well as serving as a representation of the entire album in microcosm, it's got it all. A headbanging masterpiece right there.
That could be the only song here and we'd still be into this, but wait, there's more. Six tracks total, three by Nocturno Culto (the guitarist) and three by Fenriz (the drummer). Fenriz sings his compositions with an extreme/eccentric mix of falsetto wails and guttural deathgrunts, while on his tracks Nocturno employs a capable (if less WTF?) black metal rasp. They alternate songs throughout the album, beginning with Nocturno's gnarly snarly punked out black metal opener "Dead Early", followed by the more-likely-to-get-you-staring-at-your-stereo "Valkyrie" of Fenriz, some very epic wailing metal, fast but glorious, like a weird mix of Bathory and Manilla Road, maybe. Nocturno is back on the mic with track three, the dense churning rocking riff-fest of "Lesser Men". Fenriz responds with the rollicking "The Ones You Left Behind", sorta like "Valkyrie" but with some Motorhead added in? It's hard to describe actually, and that's what's cool about Darkthrone these days, while these guys wear their influences on their sleeves (and can do so with impunity 'cause they themselves were once so influential), the stuff they come up with here is still original, somehow channelling their obvious inspirations into weird hybrids never before attempted or envisioned.
Then to the album's penultimate track, Nocturno's own pounding epic, the 8:37 "Come Warfare, The Entire Doom", which is indeed doomy, but cranks at speed too, and almost would be this album's more metal than thou piece de resistance if we didn't know that the massive "Leave No Cross Unturned" was coming up next. But it sure comes close.
All we can say is, if you love metal, you gotta love Darkthrone. Long may they reign. As long as they're around, metal will never die.
The cd comes packaged in a hardcover digibook, 20 pages, necessary 'cause of course the ever talkative Fenriz takes up a lot of space with his notes on each song, etc. One of his songs ("Leave No Cross Unturned", natch) even has its OWN lengthy "thanks list", separate from the two page thanks list Fenriz himself has. Nocturno Culto, aka Ted, more taciturn, limits himself to just one page for his thanks list and doesn't deign to analyze his songs, unlike Fenriz, who practically writes reviews for 'em, listing precise inspirations for each section of each of his compositions. Also, in recent Darkthrone tradition, Fenriz provides a list of recommended new bands he likes, in his role as tastemaker for a new generation of metallers. So folks who download this, illegally or otherwise, are missing out on a lot!
Gonna try to make this review a short one, not because this record isn't great, because it is, but just because it's only eleven minutes long. That's right, eleven minutes. Ten songs in eleven minutes. That should give you a clue as to what you're in for. Somehow though it doesn't seem like a rip off since the Daughters jam more parts and notes and insanity into a minute long song than most bands fit in a whole record. Ultra spastic, maniacal grinding prog metal punk is what we're talking here. A la the Locust, An Albatross, Horse The Band and all those bands that take twice as long setting up as they do playing their entire set! Just set your cd player on repeat and listen to Canada Songs over and over and over and over. You'll want to anyway this record is so good. From the same label that brought us the great Circle Takes The Square record from a few lists back!
The second cd from De Facto (featuring Omar and Cedric formerly of At The Drive-In... not to be confused with Mars Volta which is their other current project) comes by way of ReStart Records in El Paso, TX. We should note that of the eight tracks included, two
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
Another strange cool release from the mighty MISSISSIPPI RECORDS!! Who besides being obsessed with old time country, blues and gospel, also seem to have a thing for European punk rock, a la The Ex, who have had a couple records reissued on Mississippi, and now the label has released on vinyl (of course) the very first record from De Kift, a Dutch ensemble with links to The Ex, and with whom they share some sonic similarities, although De Kift are definitely their own strange and mysterious beast.
The sound of Yverzucht (originally released in 1989) is a blast of classic Dutch crusty punk with a dash of cabaret, jagged and angular and tightly wound, fuzzed out bass, clattery percussion, dark and driving, but also frenzied and wild and over the top. Maybe imagine the Pogues, if they were crusty punks from Holland, jamming out in some crazy squat in the late eighties, and that's basically De Kift. Very cool, and pretty much unlike anything you've heard (except maybe the Ex, a little bit).
Killer packaging too, it is Mississippi after all. Thick vinyl, old looking black and white sleeves, and a printed lyric insert.
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
A companion release to accompany the MISSISSIPPI RECORDS reissue of De Kift's debut full length Yverzucht, this 7" was recorded the year before, and could very well be the first actual De Kift release, as we mentioned in the review of the lp, De kift's sound was classic Dutch crusty punk with a dash of cabaret, jagged and angular and tightly wound, fuzzed out bass, clattery percussion, dark and driving, but also frenzied and wild and over the top. Maybe imagine the Pogues, if they were crusty punks from Holland, jamming out in some crazy squat in the late eighties, and that's basically De Kift. Very cool, and pretty much unlike anything you've heard (except maybe The Ex, a little bit).
The packaging on this is fantastic, a printed 6 panel matte finish sleeve, with drawings and lyrics, the record pressed on nice thick vinyl as well.
From right out of the starting blocks, Dead And Gone's comin' at ya full force - whether it be at a sinisterly creeping pace or a raging hardcore pummel-fest. Angry, festering vocals hoarsely growl over a thick, grumbling rhythm section and jaggedly angular
Every batch of tapes we get from our pal Jason's Ormolycka label, is like weirdo music nerd Christmas. But instead of getting socks or a sweater we get some obscure Japanese grind, or some damaged electro, some goofy white boy hip hop, or some lost psychedelic rarity. There's some seriously demented curatorial music genius going on, and this latest bunch of tapes is no exception. Instead of overwhelming you with all of them at once though, we'll pick a couple of our favorites, and review them all over the course of the next few lists. But if you do want them all, and why wouldn't you, just ask, and they can be yours!
Dead Gakkahs are from Korea, and deliver a bruising, furious fastcore, short sharp burst of punk rock fury, with shrieked dual female vox, imagine a much more raw and primitive Melt-Banana maybe, simple punk metal riffs, loose pounding drumming, and paint peeling vocals, all wound up into jagged blasts of hardcore intensity, but with a weird pop sensibility that lurks just below the surface. A couple of the tracks are covers, but you'd never know it, and the band they're covering, Sugar Pie Koko, we'd never heard of (although now we're intrigued for sure). It's short, 7 songs in less that 7 minutes, but it's cheap too, and Dead Gakkahs is that rare sort of sheer punked out energy and sonic intensity that that'll likely have you flipping this tape over and over and over again.
A little blast from our college radio punk rock past. I was 15 years old when this record came out, but I didn't truly appreciate it until I was in college and learned to like music other than heavy metal. Dean Clean, Joe Jack Talcum, Dave Blood, and Rodney
One of three reissues from garage rock legends Dead Moon, part of a comprehensive campaign reissuing ALL of their records on cd, most for the first time EVER. Defiance was originally released in 1990, hot on the heels of their debut In The Graveyard, and the follow up Unknown Passage (both also reviewed on this week's list), and like those two, Defiance is another collection of impossibly catchy, raw garage rocking classics, with Fred and Toody Cole delivering the sort of songs that sound totally timeless, and crafting the sort of sound most contemporary garage rockers are still emulating today. Opening with a public domain blues classic, the band deliver a serious blast of fuzzed out, swaggery, distorted garage blooze that kills. And from there on out, it's just more classic Dead Moon, the buzzy, hypnotic crunch of "Not The Only One", which just oozes pathos, super anguished emotional vocals over dark minor key jangle, some tracks are all twangy and croony, like the dark torch songy "Dagger Moon", and when Toody takes over on vocals, like on "Johnny's Got A Gun", the sound is total sixties girl group radness, but still plenty raw and stripped down, crusty and fuzzy, and the AC/DC comparisons that we never really got before, still apply here, on tracks like "Kicked Out / Kicked In", with Fred's Bon Scott like vox perfectly complimenting the stripped down heavy blues stomp.
We've been playing these three reissues to death, and we're already chomping at the bit for the next three!!!
Dead Moon are one of those bands that seems to be revered and loved by everyone who's ever heard them, but considering how long the band has been around, it's a little hard to believe just how few people that is. SO we're pretty psyched that Sub Pop decided it was time to rectify that. With a massive double disc collection, gathering up all kinds of rare and essential DM tracks.
Dead Moon seem like they've been around forever, and they sort of have. The band formed in 1987, so we're talking almost 20 years. And husband and wife band leaders Fred and Toody were BORN IN 1948!! AND GOT MARRIED IN 1967!! Twenty years before they even started the band that would continue rocking to this day. And they pretty much out-rock any garage rock outfit you can think of. Dead Moon are classic, lo-fi, fuzzed out, stripped down, blues drenched garage rock nirvana. The drums sound like garbage can lids recorded in a cave, the guitars go from scrabbly thick riffing to reverby surf rocky fuzz, to smokey blues moodiness. The songs tend to be super simple, sometimes skeletal, but the band have a serious knack for the hook and they just kick out the motherfucking jams. Fred's got a killer Bon Scott-like growl and Toody has a cool sixties girl group sort of shout, and along with drummer Andrew Loomis every track they whip up is a winner, going from sounding like kick ass classic rock, to fuzzy garage groove, to psychedelic lo-fi blues rock, to some rare lost AC/DC demo, all slathered in Stoogesy swagger and swinging Stones stomp.
Finally, for the first time EVER on cd, the debut from garage rock legends Dead Moon, part of a comprehensive reissue campaign that will find all the classic Dead Moon records reissued. But for now, the first three are ready for digital consumption, housed in fancy digipaks, that belie the grungy, fuzzy, wailing jangle genius within. Fronted by Fred and Toody Cole, the sound of Dead Moon is at once raw and ragged, hooky and catchy, that catchiness due maybe in part to Fred's previous stints in various psych/garage pop combos, including The Lollipop Shoppe, but Dead Moon, while poppy and catchy, are not anything like a proper pop band. Instead, they craft a sort classic garage rock sound, beholden to lots of early rock and roll, but definitely sonically more aligned with groups like AC/DC, the Wipers, Blue Cheer, 13th Floor Elevators - killer riffs, simple drum pound, stripped down and totally rocking, with Fred's super distinctive vocals, keening over the top (which is where much of the AC/DC comes from for sure), with occasional vox from Toody, making for killer harmonies, as well as some lead vocals, like on their cover of "Can't Help Falling In Love", and really, every song here pretty much as tone cold classic. It's not hard to understand why Dead Moon have such a massive cult following, hopefully with these long overdue reissues, that cult will grow and grow.
Dig it, whatever else is wrong with the world, at least it seems like there's always a Dead Moon reissue popping up, that's some good news. This week we're listing the Pacific NW garage punk legends' 10th (or 12th? we're not good at keeping count) album, circa 2000, newly back in print on vinyl, via Mississippi - and we also just got ANOTHER three Dead Moons, their earliest classics (In The Graveyard, Unknown Passage, and Defiance) at last individually reissued on compact disc thanks to M'Lady's...
Trash & Burn is full of energetic, atmospheric rockers in the Dead Moon tradition, frontman Fred Cole & Co. kicking out the lo-fi jams like they idiosyncratic vets they are - Cole has been at the underground rock n' roll game since the '60s! Lots o' fuzzed guitar, pleading/whining/weirdass vox, driving rhythms, murky swagger, you know the score, it's Dead Moon. You got this one?
The Dead Moon compact disc reissue campaign is upon us, the first three records from these legendary garage rockers now available on cd for the first time EVER, and while most folks are probably well aware of Dead Moon's sonic legacy, there are no doubt legions of potential fans who will be discovering this stuff for the first time, and whose minds will most likely be thoroughly blown!
To us, Dead Moon was always sort of THEE quintessential garage rock bands, Fred and Toody Cole delivering plenty of fuzzy jangle and raw, stumbling lo-fi bash and pound, but we'd always seen people comparing them to AC/DC which for some reason didn't make much sense, but holy shit, opener "Dead Moon Night" is a dead ringer for those Aussies, the opening riff, the stripped down swagger, the ridiculous lyrics, right down to Fred Cole's distinctive Bon Scott like yowl, not to mention a chorus that kills. And the rest of the tracks are just as good, with some of the tracks getting broodier, others channeling classic early rock and roll, like the heartfelt duet "A Miss Of You", with Fred and Toody, crooning together over simple drum pound, and twang flecked jangle. But then it's right back into it, with the classic "54/40 Or Fight", a ragged stumbling garage rock blowout.
This album has another great cover, this time the Chambers Brothers' "Time Has Come Today", which finds Dead Moon almost sounding like a noiser, more ramshackle Creedence Clearwater Revival. So good. We had sorta forgotten how much we love Dead Moon, but these records are just so goddamn great, long time fans will find themselves RE-obsessed, and if you're hearing Dead Moon for the first time, man are you in for a treat!
We highlighted the Homeless label's vinyl reissue of this excellent Melbourne based noiserock band's debut cd-r last list, and now here's a brand new 7" from 'em, on Sub Pop! It features four songs, all churning with heavy distortion and downer vibes. The combo of noise and melody, along with the multilayered, half-mumbled, sometimes venomous female vocals, definitely incite some Sonic Youth comparisons, if SY were jamming out with ugly Aussie punks like the Cuntz or old faves Lubricated Goat. Looking forward to the presumably upcoming new full-length that we're guessing Sub Pop will be doing too.
More excellent noiserockin' punk pigfuck gutter-wallow from the Homeless camp Down Under (Cuntz, The Stickmen, Gentlemen, et.al.). Lotsa distortion and feedback, attack attack! Strumming guitars like shaking the bars of a cage. Ragged rough-gruff vocals, both male and female, with anguished, negative vibes lyrics galore; "Mum Gets Punched In The Face" is a song title here. Naturally, a sense of humor too. Of course, bonus points for grabbing the name Deaf Wish! (Somehow they're the only one, according to the internet.) Melody gets punched in the face a few times as well, and sometimes punches back. F'd up in all kinds of good ways.
Limited to 500 copies on green vinyl; comes with download, but you're already loaded.
After originally surfacing on a very limited hand xeroxed cassette back in 2010 (kvlt!), Deafheaven's first and only demo is now finally widely accessible on beautiful vinyl for rabid blackgaze enthusiasts the world over! Beautifully and minimally packaged (looking a bit like some long lost Smiths single), the recordings found herein - though a bit rougher around the edges perhaps than their most recent 'Sunbather' LP - showcase one of those rare groups that entirely skipped that awkward gestation period that even the best bands typically go through. There's no finding their footing going on here, no beginner's mistakes - Deafheaven's signature sound was already as fully formed and realized as most bands could hope for after years together. If you've heard any of Deafheaven's more recent recordings then you know what to expect: Epic post rock and shoegaze tinged black metal. Equal parts forlorn and life-affirming, aching and jubilant. Endlessly beautiful cascading melodies to get lost in, perfectly juxtaposed with anguished venomous vocals. Wonderfully bittersweet but without ever sacrificing an ounce of fury. Being a demo, this finds the band a bit looser and (comparatively) more stripped down. The drumming is more raucous and off kilter than on Sunbather - the blastbeats imbued with a manic, almost uncontrollable energy - while likewise the guitars are less awash in layers and effects, a bit more traditionally black metal if you will! But it only adds to urgency and raw emotion on display. Deathwish snatched up Deafheaven in the blink of an eye after this demo started making the rounds originally, and it's not hard to see why. The origin point for a totally unique vision in heavy music - one that hopefully lasts a good long while. And did we mention they're from right around the corner from us too? ...Not that we're bragging or anything!
Album number two from these local lads and the term "sophomore slump" has clearly never entered into their lexicon. Sunbather is an enormous slab of post-rock tinged black metal (or black metal tinged post-rock??) that expands and improves upon everything that made Roads to Judah such a buzzed about debut. Imagine Godspeed! You Black Emperor in a blender with Filosofem-era Burzum and you might get an idea. Or try and picture Ihsahn circa In the Nightside Eclipse howling over classic Smiths or U2 at a hyperspeed 666rpm and you might come even closer. The end result is like a far more furious Alcest (Neige even pops up to provide a bit of spoken word on one of the album's several ethereal interlude tracks). But what really makes Sunbather such a success is how it takes these myriad influences and melds them together so seamlessly. Not a moment of it sounds forced or contrived. The production is perfect. The guitars are an immense wall of grinding shimmering beauty. The drums a precise and deadly frenzy. The vocals an anguished wail, wonderfully at odds with the album's minimal luscious pink cover art. Sunbather is like hearing an emerging genre finally coming into its own. Deafheaven aren't the only band to combine post-rock and black metal, but they might be the first band to make it sound like something entirely new, but entirely natural at the same time.
Vinyl version, with a nice die-cut cover, includes bonus track not on cd (which we don't have yet anyway).
Maybe you've heard the hype on this Detroit punk rock reissue already. And it's almost too good to be believed. Back in 1974, this trio of brothers, who are also all "brothers" in the African-American sense of the word, and who were fans of the likes of Black Sabbath and The Stooges and Alice Cooper and the MC5, started a band called DEATH, recording an album that was never released (apparently they refused to change their name to get a major label deal). Flash forward to the present. One of these dudes plays in a reggae band now, but his son is in a punk rock band. Dad's like, "hey son, did y'know I had a band like that when I was your age." And then pulls these dusty, 30-some year old master tapes out of the closet. Holy shit, dad!! The long lost Death album. And it IS killer. Not just proto-punk, but practically proto-hardcore. Hear for yourself. The suggestion that HR and the Bad Brains - or Black Flag for that matter - heard this stuff back in the day and were inspired by it (Death did release a 7" single in 1976) doesn't seem entirely implausible. Not sure how Death stayed unknown for so long. Apparently the brothers, finding that Death's brand of uncompromising, politically radical, high energy rock action wasn't getting them anywhere, moved in a more gospel (!) direction... so that was it for Death. Until now, with Drag City's at-long-last release of Death's 1975 album (well, mini-album, it's seven songs, just over 26 minutes).
Opener "Keep On Knocking" is a decent enough rocker, hinting at the MC5, the Rolling Stones and maybe early badass KISS but it's tame compared to the hyperactive glam slam of what follows - when track two "Rock-N-Roll Victim" comes on and kicks you in the nuts, repeatedly, you'll really realize how freaking punk Death were. Frantic guitars locked in with frenzied drumming, crazed vocals, handclaps (yeah!)... it's pretty darn smokin'. Smoking somethin' all right. They mellow things about a bit for "Let The World Turn", though just a bit. "You're A Prisoner" is another heavy rocker, and "Freakin Out" doesn't let up, its title no lie.
"Where Do We Go From Here???" and "Politicians In My Eyes" are the two remaining tracks on this disc, and the latter in particular is a fierce blend of soulful vocal expression and raging, distorted rockin' with a little bit of a funky vibe. Wow. Definitely in the vein of something like Crushed Butler, but from Detroit a few years later... or in the vein of the Damned, but from Detroit a few years earlier! So, yeah, believe the hype. And by the way, this destroys all that Black Rock Coalition stuff from the early '90s...
Drag City must have been *stoked* to get to put this out. We're sorta surprised there's no liner notes, though they do include handwritten lyrics. Also, fyi, this is available on vinyl but we could barely get any, maybe we'll get some more eventually since the couple copies we have at the moment will be gone in a wink...
The trilogy is complete! The third and likely final volume of unearthed archival recordings from now-celebrated '70s Detroit rockers Death has now been released via Drag City. Who knew it was going to be a trilogy? Well of course it would have to be, what with Death being a trio of brothers. It's obviously another thing orchestrated from beyond the grave by Death's late mastermind, eldest brother David Hackney.
We probably don't have to explain the whole amazing story behind Death to you at this point - hopefully you've picked up one or both of the their other two full-length releases, and seen the really excellent and touching documentary film about them, A Band Called Death (you really should see it if you haven't!). But it's not just that Death is such a great story - it wouldn't matter as much if their music wasn't so killer, which it is.
So what did they find to fill up this third volume? With recordings done in 1975 and '76, some more from 1980, and one final cut from 1992, it's all over the place. You do definitely get another dose of Death's intense post-Hendrix, proto-punk - this is especially worth it for "North Street", full of hyper caffeinated drumming and living-in-the-ghetto lyrics. Totally could have been on the first Death album, For The Whole World To See. However, a lot of the rest of the material here wouldn't exactly rank among the "hardest" tracks that Death ever cut, much of it being more gentle and soulful, with sunshiney, R&B grooves. There's spacey psychedelic noodling, and even a track of almost country-folk balladry. But it's all pretty good, still possessing the mystical, out-there Death vibe for sure, if exhibiting a lot less of the punked out attack that caught everybody's attention in the first place. Really some of it's quite moving, particularly if you've seen the heartwarming movie, in which one of these songs previously was heard (the ballad "We're Gonna Make It").
We'd say Death newbies need For The Whole World first and foremost, but if you're a fan, you'll want this also.
Two more Death songs unearthed, with another whole lp on the way!!
Death Cheetah is probably a name new to you, it was to us, the man behind Death Cheetah though you might know as the guy who painted that bad ass pile of skulls album cover for the recent AmocomA record on tUMULt, he also contributed to the short lived Matter tape of the month series we reviewed a while back, but this super limited 3" is the first recording from the curiously named one man band, a teaser for an upcoming full length, but it's doubtful that could possibly be as cool as these. LIMITED TO 20 COPIES, of which we got ALL 20, each one hand painted, every single one super striking and unique, just like the music inside.
Three tracks, the first one is some sort of brooding Bohren like crawl, all skittery brushed drums and deep rumbling low end, ominous hushed vocals, little muted flurries of soft focus keyboard, a blissed out nightmarish creep, slithery and shimmery and dark dark dark, almost jazzy, but more in a Necks sort of way, some seriously deeeeep slowcore minimalism, that builds to more of a downtempo plod near the end.
The second track is totally different, stuttery dubbed out drums, dubstep style fuzzed out synth bass rumbles, shouted distorted vocals, a woozy post punk dubby groove, flecked with shards of reverb drenched guitar, streaks of synthesizer, it sounds like some lost eighties DIY deathfunk jam, but a bit more freaked out and abstract. The closing track veers more toward the minimalism of the opener, spare bits of guitar flutter, jazzy skittery drums, flickers of flute, acoustic guitar, tons of space, a slow slow late night drift, abstract and dreamy, smoke-y and gauzy and so so nice.
Hard to get a handle on just what Death Cheetah is all about, three tracks, three different directions, but we like them all, and in some strange way they do all link together, and flow, and when taken with the meticulously hand painted covers, this is a gorgeous piece of outsider soundart, and one that won't be around for long, grab one of these quick or steel yourself for a long wait for the full length...
This record has been floating around for a while now, in various permutations, tapes, downloads, and now finally an lp, and a cassette again, maybe in anticipation of Death Grips' Epic label debut which is slated to drop later this month. And if you've yet to hear Death Grips, you might be a little surprised that they got snapped up by a major, cuz this is some fierce, grim, mean sounding shit. This Sacramento crew specializes in a twisted hybrid of hip hop and experimental electronics, the sound a dizzying assemblage of buzzing metal guitars, skittery programmed beats, bizarre samples, fractured glitched out buzz, twisted loops, seriously raw and lo-fi, but at the same time urgent and intense and fucking far out and super original.
The vocals are fierce and furious, not so much just rapped as bellowed, and howled, which suits the heavy sounds in the background. While much of the drumming is programmed, the drummer in Death Grips is none other than Hella's Zach Hill, but don't be expecting much of that furious Lightning Bolt style frantic drumming, this is after all a hip hop record, so most of the beats are spare and stretched out, as much about their tone and timbre as the rhythms themselves. Opener "Beware" is about as close to perfect as the troublesome hybridization of hip hop and metal has ever gotten, with big chiming distorted chords, an epic almost rock song arrangement, skittery rhythms, and DG mainman Stefan Burnett laying down a fierce flow over the top. "Guillotine" sounds more like a super charged Sensational jam, the beat spare and skittery, the main loop a thick buzzing low end synth, the track laced with little flurries of sci-fi FX, and weird random blasts of psychedelic sound, not to mention a having chain clatter crunch and some motorcycle rev thrum, and the rapping, twisted and deliriously off kilter. "Spread Eagle Cross The Block" is a dizzying assemblage of looped pop song, big sing along verses, stuttery handclap beats, while "Lord Of The Game" is a head spinning shuffle with the main loop made from sliced and diced vocals, there's also Beastie Boys horn bleats, and a Crazy World Of Arthur Brown sample, all tangled up into a crazy rapid fire blast of rhythmic crush. The rest of the record is just as twisted and all over the map, and while we could go song by song and describe each one in turn, it should be obvious by now if this is your cup of seriously spiked tea or not, we'd be surprised if it wasn't, this is the sort of hip hop record that sounds like it was made for aQ, fucked up and funky, heavy and tripped out, groovy and super twisted. For a genre that seems to do less boundary pushing than it should, this is the sort of hip hop record that shakes shit up big time, and suddenly it's not such a surprise that this is getting the big underground buzz AND major label attention it so strangely deserves. Quite possibly our hip hop record of the year, and yeah it came out last year, but it's our favorite this year so far too!
Originally released on vinyl for this year's Record Store Day, the Money Store is record number two from this weirdo outsider punk/noise/electro/hip hop trio from across the bay, whose debut, the twisted noise drenched Ex-Military was a huge hit around here, and The Money Store seems poised to follow suit. Although in some ways, this new record is a lot less weird, and a lot more polished, and while it's still fierce and fucked up, it's definitely not as outwardly angry, less a sonic brick in the face, and more like a carefully plotted and meticulously executed throat slitting, which we would imagine is a comparison these guys would dig.
As with Ex-Military, Zach Hill from Hella is one of the guys behind the production, and while there may be live drumming, it definitely sounds like he spent more time programming beats, the sound more electro than anything, and even moreso that Ex-Military, the sound much more fully realized, more lush and layered, opener "Get Got" has a loop and a beat that sounds like it could've gone in an entirely different direction, and been sort of weird pop radio hit, but with Stefan Burnett's twisted flow and frenetic delivery, it helps transform the songs' shoegazey electro-jitter into something more jittery and dizzying, like some malfunctioning double dutch jam. "The Fever" hews closer to the first record, the flow more of a belligerent bellow, the beat a stuttery skitter, but again, the production is super slick and makes the song a bit more palatable, without taking away from the ferocity, which is definitely a delicate line to toe.
The whole record is killer, every track here, all weirdo loops, twisted flow, sick beats, massive production, this is the sort of shit you imagine being blasted from a booming system in the car of THEE scariest dude in the hood, fucked up and fierce, but also groovy and funky, a little bit loopy and twisted, especially when they do the whole sped up soul sample thing, which here just makes things sound weirder then ever.
Lots of this record remind us of one of our favorite weirdo outsider hip hop records EVER, Too Bad But True, by Fever, released on DHR way back in 1998, the same sort of disregard for standard song structure, typical rapping, lots of distortion and murk, fractured beats, twisted loops, almost like both groups decided to reinvent the genre from the ground up, and just inadvertently touched on the various elements that DEFINE the genre in most cases, but here those bits and bobs just got all fucked up and came out the other side practically unrecognizable, and got all tangled up into an already head spinning, bafflingly brilliant sound. Hip hop record of the year? Quite possibly, but word is there's gonna be ANOTHER Death Grips later this year, so we might have to reserve judgment until then!
When we travel, record shopping plays a huge part in our planning. We're guessing the same is true of many (most?) of you. Not only do we typically have various stores we want to check out, we also have a list, with all the stuff we've been looking for forever, and while we may have scoured our local stores looking for stuff on that list, in the hopes that something might pop up, it's when we go someplace new, when we really expect to get lucky. When Andee went to Finland a few years back, he was lucky enough to have Jussi from Circle as his host, who is legendarily obsessed with record shopping (and who on his last visit to San Francisco, went record shopping EVERY SINGLE DAY!), and Jussi was tasked with helping Andee find two things at the top of his Finland-specific list, a single from Finnish dirge rockers Worms, and any or all of the three singles from legendary Finnish punks Death Trip.
Thus, this is pretty exciting - here we have the COMPLETE recorded works of Death Trip, released on Jussi's Ektro Records, and barring a trip to Finland and much crate digging, this is the only way you're gonna get to hear this stuff, and even then, besides the six songs from those three singles, there are EIGHT bonus tracks, available only here: six rare live recordings and two unreleased demos! And while Death Trip were punk, they weren't necessarily 'punk rock', their sound was almost more Stooges-y, all sludgey and dirgey, with a crazy lead vocalist, Laja Aijala from Finnish punk legends Terveet Kadet, and who slips from guttural yowl to hysterical shriek, it's easy to see why Jussi would be obsessed with these guys, heck, why anyone would be. Their namesake song "Death Trip" is total swaggery glam blues slither, with some wild shredding guitars and those twisted vox, it's from 1988, but the sound is total nineties noise rock. Albeit a weirdly minimal punky proto-noise rock. "We're Gonna Die Tonight" begins with weird synth buzz and twisted weirdo vocals, which goes on for a whole minute before the band kicks in, sounding a bit like Hanoi Rocks, but still with those bizarre vocals. Here's where we pause, and say, if we didn't know better, and didn't know for a fact that Death Trip were a real band, we'd be tempted to think it as another Jussi / Circle project, like Steel Mammoth or Mercedes Hell or something. At the very least, it's easy to see where Circle and Co. got much of their inspiration.
"Chainsaw Goddess" is all Loop / Spacemen 3 guitars wedded to punk rock beats, swirling synths and more feral vox, while, "Deep Red" is total tripped out punk doom, with even MORE unhinged vox, dirgey and noisy and super heavy. "Please Skin Me Alive" is total noisy post punk / noise rock crush, with wah wah guitars, a seriously Stoogesy main riff, and finally "Something" is all low slung bass, another dirgey groove that reminds us of Green River or Skin Yard more than proper punk rock, which is probably why we love this stuff so much. Those of you who remember the band Smack, who were sort of a glammy, trashy rock band from Finland, there's actually a surprising amount of sonic overlap, with much of Death Trip's sound verring into the almost grungy/glammy. It's only six songs, but most bands would kill for a body of work half this ruling.
Then there are the live tracks, which are super blown out and lo-fi, noisy and chaotic, one of 'em an altered Stooges cover in fact, with some of the tracks getting stretched way out into sprawling dirges, and the two demos are great too, for tracks which were never properly recorded, and while super raw and lo-fi, still sound just as kick ass as the singles tracks proper.
Gorgeously packaged too, with a huge booklet, filled with loads of rare photos, track notes and old reviews (all in Finnish).
The lp re-issue (after a cd reish a couple years ago) of one of those albums collectors would trade their first born for. Gladly. This is head-damaged, heavy Oklahoma psych-punk circa 1975, predating the Butthole Surfers by a solid decade but with the same references to Captain Beefheart and the Red Crayola. Not too many bands in the '70s sounded much like this, with maybe Pere Ubu,
Saint Vitus guitarist + Trouble vocalist, doing drunken old school punk rock with only a hint of the doom metal they're known for...not what you'd expect (or is it?) but it's fun, and Dave Chandler's guitar sound is Vitusy for sure.
Deep Jew was one of those good bands with a horrible name; and had they been born a decade earlier, these LA noiseniks would have counted amongst the numerous crustpunks touring alongside Man Is The Bastard or maybe even Corrupted throughout the '90s. Yet, as it stands, Deep Jew released a couple of things including a split single for Not Not Fun and this LP (of which we managed to dig up a few copies!) before calling it quits in 2008. But no matter how you look at it, Deep Jew's slow-motion, dirge-punk, power-violence is a force not to be taken lightly. Even if they do have a questionable name.
Five cuts of post-MITB brutalist sludge and murkscaping distortion grace the A side of Ugliest Man / Dog Blood with howling vocals, caveman bashing drum kit abuse, low-slung bass buried way way down deep, and thick guitar / amplifier pedal noise which might have something in the way of Swans-like riff if all of that distortion hadn't crumbled everything into filthy noise. The flip is a monstrous side-long car-crash captured at quarter-speed with chugging, stumbling dirgecore rhythms that lurch amidst a lock-stepped bass throb all of which tugs and / or pushes against relentlessly overblown amplifier punishment and blister-popped feedback. Silkscreened covers and limited to something like 400 copies.
Envision the seediest alleys of New York and out of the shadows come the Deep Throats (except they're from SF.) Torn fishnet stockings. Dishevelled heads of the blackest and bleachest of hair. Smeared eyeliner and lipstick for warpaint. Sounding at times not unlike The Birthday Party, but with a higher pitched squelch for vocals. Very murky, very turbulent, very brash. Graced by the presence of beloved AQ-customer Chris Johansson.
Andee met up with Pentti from Finnish legends Deep Turtle when he was over there a couple years ago, saw them play and was totally blown away. Now we finally have a couple of killer eps from Finland's masters of grind / prog / punk / pop. Pounding melodic punk rock, with throbbing bass and insane drumming, super melodic and riffy, sometimes heavy and pummelling, sometimes super poppy and almost ska (?) but ocasionally everything switches into hyper complex super dynamic rhythmic mode a la the Ruins. Stops and starts, insane arrangements, and some serious hooks! Even at their most impossible, the songs stick in your head like crazy. Also, the song titles and lyrics are in Spanish! Not sure why Deep Turtle chose to sing in Spanish here but it definitely adds to the off kilter weirdness. All you Finnophiles are definitely going to want this. This record has grown on us like crazy, so even those of you who have yet to dip your toes into the wild and wonderful world of underground Finnish rock might want to check it out.
Second of two recent eps from legendary Finnish grind / prog / punk / pop outift Deep Turtle. Andee had the chance to hang out with Deep Turtle frontman Pennti when he was in Finland and to see Deep Turtle totally destroy live. On Tutina, Deep Turtle bear an uncanny resemblance to AQ faves Uz Jsme Doma! Riffy and super complex, with slithery synths winding all around the notes, impossible time signatures, Ruins-esque dynamics, and lots of riffy weirdness. Sort of like Mr. Bungle if they were more like a death metal Ruins. If that makes any sense. And it doesn't, but neither do Deep Turtle! Wild and perplexing and freaked out and so good.
Okay Finnish music obsessives! We only got a handful of these, so don't be too bummed if we run out lickety split.
Super aggro Finnish tag team action. One side features Finnish Favorites Deep Turtle, spewing out a grinding tech punk blowout. Ultra weird and convoluted, impossibly complicated stop/start arrangements, like Melt-Banana mixed with the Ruins. Wacked and weird and wonderful. Super manic percussion, with strange little interludes, snippets of intercepted radio broadcasts splattered all over truly head spinning technical metallic madness. Oh except for the second track, a weird little shuffling Finnish calypso breakdown peppered with brief blasts of Iron Maiden-ish melodic shred. Woah.
The other side features Valse Triste who counter with multiple blasts of fuzzy, grungy crusty brutality, a fucked up take on Discharge / G.B.H. with some strangely glammy guitar and hoarse shouted vocals. Cool.
Packaged in a goofy AC/DC parody sleeve, the backside folds out and inside is a huge lyric sheet, and two full color postcards.
Anybody remember the excellent Australian indie punk band Venom P. Stinger, circa the late '80s / early '90s? That Melbourne based outfit was guitarist Mick Turner's band before the Dirty Three. Well, turns out that two of Turner's former Venom P. Stinger bandmates, Nick Palmer and Alan Secher-Jensen, are still doing the underground Aussie noise rock thing, in a criminally under-publicized power trio that goes by the ominous name of Deep Where All Drown. They've recorded two albums worth of their powerful music thus far, 2004's The Marianas and 2008's Movement, and you'll find 'em both together here in this gatefold digipack double cd set, released in 2009 (of which we only just managed to track down some copies, as it's barely available at all outside of Australia). Being Venom P. Stinger fans from way back, we were curious, and when we finally heard these Deep Where All Drown discs, we were extremely pleased! Mostly instrumental (there's singing/shouting on only about half the songs on disc one, that's it), both discs add up to 22 tracks total of some seriously intense, ultimately hypnotic post-punk math-rock music chock full of chiming, noisy guitar wrangling, muscular bass, and insistent drumming. DWAD are tight and complex, and conjure atmospheres both grim and beautiful. Great stuff from Down Under! (And by Down Under we mean both Australia and also metaphorically, in keeping with one of DWAD's main themes, the lightless depths of the bottom of the ocean, viz. the Pacific's Marianas trench.)
Hard to believe that before the blown out, guitar hero, indie psych jangle of Dinosaur Jr, J Mascis was actually a drummer, who spent most of his time drumming in Satanic punk metal combo Upsidedown Cross, and legendary punk rockers Deep Wound!
But it wasn't just Mascis, Sebadoh mainman Lou Barlow was there too, both kicking up a shitstorm in this short lived, but kick ass outfit.
This is furious old skool punk rock, but with those two you know things would still be, well, a bit melodic. And it is, Catchy and heavy, fast and furious, the seeds of things to come...
Killer songs, tight musicianship, and yeah, we're still talking about punk rock here. While Deep Wound obviously have a bit of that classic Boston HC sound, falling somewhere between fellow Beantown brethren Siege & DC stalwarts Void, their sound wasn't quite as chaotic or over the top, but definitely just as full of conviction.
Sure, Deep Wound featured some soon-to-be indie superstars, but it wouldn't matter anyway, cuz Deep Wound stand completely on their own -- underrated though they may be -- in the first-wave-of-American-Hardcore. An essential release for sure. Better than the old cd version with new artwork and a bunch of extra songs!
Now somebody sort out a super deluxe Upsidedown Cross reissue and we'll be happy!
And also, we should note that Mascis HAS been back behind the drumkit recently, in AQ fave doomsters Witch!
We found a handful of titles, maybe only 5 or 6 of each, from Aussie label Diagnosis� Don't! We've had these for ages, and odds are these are long gone as they were pretty limited to begin with, but for a few of you, here's your chance to grab one (or all) of these super limited 3" cd-r's.
Default Jamerson is a one man noise making machine from Australia, who crafts a lush and billowy low end, all deep whirling tones, thick speaker shredding dronemusic, even with the bass dialed all the way back, this single 20 minute track was sending seismic waves into the room, causing everything to vibrate gloriously. Lots of shifting textures, haunting melodies buried in the mix, the sound murky and muddy and underwater, woozy and warbly and totally hypnotic. Definitely bummed we slept on this. And bummed that only a handful of you will get to hear it. But what can you do? Heavy low end drone freaks should try to snag one while they can...
Packaged in thick cardstock mini 3" sleeves, with a printed (band name, label info, liner notes) Japanese style obi. And again, we only have a VERY FEW of these....
Chinese punk split!
Didn't know too much about this Spanish combo, but the fact that they seemed to often be described as equal parts Kraftwerk and Arab On Radar definitely piqued our interest. And once we finally heard this latest 4 song blast of electro punk crunch, we'd probably add Black Bug to the equation, the same sort of urgent punked out riot grrly rrroooaaar. But instead of BB's synthpunk howl, the sound of DV is more garagey, a sort of punky Stoogesy groove, laced with bits of electronics and peppered with dueling boy girl vocals. The opening track here, "Kill D.I.Y Idols" is itself a killer, with fuzzy bass, programmed beats, caterwauled vocals, and a bad ass main riff, the tripped out FX and minimal electronics only adding some extra weirdness. In an odd way, it reminded us a little of Burzum, the same sort of lilting electronic melodies, but here wedded to some garage punk blast. Super dynamic, with some rad stop starts. "Potential H-Bomb" is more of the same, with a postpunk groove, some cool weirdly harmonized vox, some noisy chaotic guitars, and lots of fuzzed out synth blurt. "Scrawl" applies the same sonic approach to punk folk, acoustic guitar, simple drums, off key crooning, sassy female back up vox, and occasional feedback drenched squalls of noise. Finally "Lightning Field" gets back to the warped electro punk, with thick synth buzz under some frenetic programmed beats, some bloopy spaced out melodies, crunchy guitars swirls, the whole thing pretty spaced out and psychedelic, again laced with occasional blasts of in-the-red buzz and howl, everything wreathed in alien synths and fractured FX. So killer. A bit surprised these guys (and gal) aren't way more popular. Imagine it won't stay that way for long...
Super nice packaging, thick super striking black and white sleeve, with a full color printed insert, pressed on orange vinyl, and includes a cd version of the same music on the 7"!
Milo is back where he belongs, fronting the mighty Descendents. 'Merican is a 4 track blast of that classic Descendents pop punk sound. A sound that has been borrowed by a million other bands and turned into boring MTV pap. There was just some sort of magic with the Descendents and while it may not be as magical 20 years down the line it's still pretty fun and catchy and great. Two tracks of hyper speed, in your face punk rock, and two tracks of that heart-on-your-sleeve, pop on punk's clothing that the Descendents do so well. Can't wait for the upcoming full length. If you've never heard the Descendents, get Milo Goes To College or Enjoy and you'll know what we're talking about.
Descendents are back! And they kick as much ass as ever! Being the huge-est Descendents fan, I (Andee) was pretty worried about a new Descendents record after 7 years of frontman Milo, teaching biochemistry and living a normal life, and the rest of the band releasing lots of mediocre pop punk as All. The recent ep teaser wasn't all that encouraging either. The sound was there, and Milo's voice was as great as ever. But it just didn't hit. But now that the full length is here, everything is perfect! Easily one of the tightest fiercest rhythm sections ever (obviously, with Bill Stevenson, ex-Black Flag on drums) backs up Stephen Egerton's weird weird guitar playing and Milo's awesome raspy vocals! Drummer Bill Stevenson usually did most of the songwriting, but here bassist Karl Alvarez and Milo do most of the writing and the results are surprisingly good, and surprisingly like classic (All / Enjoy era) Descendents! Great songs, catchy and kick ass, with lyrics about politics, being a nerd, and mostly love and girls. The song Mass Nerder is the best Descendents song in forever. NERD POWER! The best lyrics:
Don't got no biceps
Don't got no pecs
But I'll read you under the table
With my thick specs!
See I got these glasses
So they kick my ass
But I'll kick their asses
When I get to class
I got these glasses
So I can't wear shades
But I'll kick their asses
I'll get good grades
And the music is so cathcy and heavy. Had me wanting to jump around like crazy! And the song 'Merican is one of the best anti-American regime songs in quite a while. But of course, the bulk of the record is made up of those classic Descendents sad boy, minor key, lost love perfect pop punk nuggets! So good!
The return of grindlords Agoraphobic Nosebleed, here teamed up with fellow grinders Despise You, who offer up their first new material in a decade, although their sound has definitely not changed. Despise You traffic in furious, punishing hardcore heaviness, blurred buzzing riffs, wild thrashing drumming, dense super intricate arrangements, slipping from chug and churn to frantic blast, punk pound to mathy lurch, the songs short and sharp, cramming 18 songs into about 16 minutes, even tackling Fear's "I Don't Care About You", the boy/girl vocals (mostly boy) yelped and howled, the sound rough and raw, filthy and crusty, total fast core power violence style, definitely harkening back to the old school Pessimiser / Theologian / Slap A Ham sound of the nineties. Which we STILL love like crazy...
Agoraphobic Nosebleed counter with their own take on that sound, starting their half out with some downtuned doomed out sludge, the vocals a heavily effected guttural bellow, the sound grooving and slithery, a chugging churning almost Black Flag-ish bit of gnarled hardcore, it's not until the second song that the band explode in a frenzy of hypergrind, complete with dive bombing Slayer style leads, the sound thick and corrosive, the riffing insane and intense, super intricate and mathy, cramming tons of parts into super short blast of sonic fury, finishing off with another chunk of tangled doom flecked midtempo hardcore pound, that grinds and howls and creeps until it fades into a spaced out sprawl of psychedelic feedback and swirling distant drones. Killer.
