XASTHUR - Subliminal Genocide CD (Hydra Head / Battle Kommand) Xasthur is actually a one-man project from the U.S. by a chap going under the moniker Malefic, who is also part of the black metal super-group Twilight. I lent this (as well as the new Nachtmystium CD) to a sweet, young thing that had heard all the negative press black metal got, but never the music itself. A good way of describing Xasthur's new disc is to quote her upon her returning the CDs, 'Blackmetal rules!' Yes. Yes, it does. The current wave of black metal far surpasses anything in that genre's history. Bleaker, yet more powerful. Highly emotional, while still staying crushingly heavy. Blast beats abound, as other times the pace slows to doom. Malefic's use of screechy, as well as guttural vocal textures adds to the creepy flow of the music. Plus, lo-fi noise fill in the cracks when the buzzsaw guitars and nefarious keyboards aren't exploding. If this hooks you, you can also pick up almost any of Xasthur's other five albums or numerous split releases, including working with Sunn O))) on Black One. Get into the sounds now before, like death metal, BM becomes a watered-down and overly marketed music.
XASTHUR / LEVIATHAN - s/t CD (Battle Kommand) This is a CD repressing of a 2004 12" vinyl split released on Canadian imprint Profound Lore Records. First is Xasthur (a one-man black metal bulldozer by the name of Malefic, and part of the black metal super group Twilight). Dark, downtuned, and sometimes morphed or tangled with after recording, Xasthur produce six tracks (five from the original release and the bonus track "Achieve Emptiness) of creepy, operatic, drum machine-backed black metal sludge. Next is Leviathan, a favorite of mine, and is actually also a one man band consisting of he who goes by the moniker Wrest - also part of Southern Lord's gods of black metal Twilight, and other solo project, Lurker of Chalice. I'm partial to the Leviathan tracks as they are more melodic, I totally dig the tortured vocals and the gothic interludes really glide through the songs beautifully. "The Remotest Cipher" was almost as much distorted industrial music, as it was a black metal song for the first half of the eight minute number. Nice to see this on disc, as my turntable hasn't seen sunlight in over six months.
XXX MANIAK - Harvesting the Cunt Nectar CD (Self Made God) This LP is awesome! It's thirty-one tracks of rude, crude, death metal that clocks in at under twenty-five minutes and has the best vocals, as well as movie samples, I've ever heard. I'm talking Peter Sotos type stuff here. I mean, Harvesting the Cunt Nectar? You see where we're (and humanity's) heading here. Thirty-second death metal ditties that make Cannibal Corpse look like Casanovas. The artwork is mad sickening, though I love every red splatter of blood and strand of blonde hair. Thrashing guitars, programmed drums, viciously alternating vocals and song titles like "Sprayed By Cans of Shit", "Fist-Fuck Death Grip", and "2nd Ranked Phallic Offense vs. 26th Ranked Vaginal Defense". Need I say any more about this? If you're also sick, pick this up.
YEAR OF NO LIGHT - Nord CD (Crucial Blast) From the first few moments of the opening number ("Sélénite"), I knew I was going to just fall in love with this CD. I totally understand why Crucial Blast Records wanted to re-release this LP for North American ears. It needed to be done - we were totally missing out, folks! Simple as that. Now, before I go on and on, let me tell the story of Year Of No Light. YONL is a Bordeaux, France five-piece gathering some time in the year 2001 from the ashes of Metronome Charisma, Deja Mort and Nexus Sun. In 2004, French label Radar Swarm Records released their eight song demo (which I urge everyone to hunt down after they pick up Nord, but at only 150 copies made, I wish you luck, though you can download all the tracks via the band's website). In 2006 Year Of No Light released a proper full length album, again on Radar Swarm Records (with a double-vinyl version from Atropine Records and E-Vinyl Records), but it was mostly available in Europe. That's were the good people at Crucial Blast Records realized we silly Americans were once again (as in the case of Monarch!) missing out on good music. This is a record of epic proportions... in song structure, and to gab at length about. "L'angoisse Du Veilleur de Nuit D'Autoroute les Soirs D'Alarme à Accident" is a mix of Neurosis ethereal hardcore, Neil Perry screamo, and My Bloody Valentine shoegazer atmospherics. "Traversée" almost had me in a puddle of tears, as the dynamics between gloomy guitar play, crushing dirge metal, and extremely tortured vocals all played on my emotions. "Tu as Fait de Moi un Homme Meilleur" had such a bold melody constantly being rent asunder by a hooky repetitious doom riff. "Somnambule" opens up to pummeling the ears and tugging the heart strings using the, by this track, familiar dueling guitar work of doom and gloom, only to morph into a quiet, almost-ambient wonder in the vein of German duo Troum. "Par Économie Pendant la Crise on Éteint la Lumière au Bout du Tunnel" is the best comparable track to Cult of Luna, Isis Mastodon or Knut, though the lush keyboards do bring to mind The Cure's highlight, Disintegration. The disc closes with "La Bouche de Vitus Bering", a funeral dirge of piano, painful screaming, and a wall of guitar. Crucial Blast's presentation of this release does it justice, with its multi-panel foldout and eye-catching art. This is one of the top three records, along with Sound Like Violence's With Blood On My Hands and Nachtmystium's Instinct: Decay, of the past twelve months.
YESTERDAYS RISING - When We Speak, We Breath CD EP (Fearless) Nice to Fearless is actually going by their namesake, and taking a chance with something a little more exciting, daring and - dare I say it myself - commercial than pop punk. Metalcore. Who'da thunk it? Yeah, it does have some pop elements in it like melodies and hooks. Well, those are pop elements when it comes to hardcore music. "Our Lucid Dream" is a great way to open a record. Powerful and in your face, with emotive metalcore in the vein of Evergreen Terrace or Poison the Well with the hardcore-rock scream / sing of Thursday or Taking Back Sunday. "Sidewalks Remnants" involved a touch more emo / indie-rock, ending the song in an almost Hot Water Music vein. The title track is a fight between catchy riffs and thrash riffs. "This Is My Thought Crime" was a highlight track, equally acoustic with whispers, as it was double bass drums mashed to chugging chords. A good way to end things on. I'm very interested to see what the future holds and what they'll produce when given a lengthier recording.
YETI - Volume, Obliteration, Transcendence CD (Life Is Abuse) Let me begin this by saying that Tommy Atkins was one of the first responses I received for the Ever-Increasing Interview Project, so thumbs up for that alone. I've been waiting for something new since 2001's Things to Come 12" and I am not let down. Can you imagine Magma, Faust and King Crimson in a fist fight? Godflesh defiling Can? Better yet, description: four songs in a little under one hour - so, it's long, schizophrenic tunes with multigenred song structures. Oh, and on Life is Abuse Records, therefore it will be heavy, crushing, and possibly even punishing. "Cusp of Something You Don't Understand" unwraps this present with trippy keyboard samples onto spacey bass babble and onwards into a funky, almost-stoner jam. "Strangled by Light" is a fifteen minute dirge that explodes into moments of pure metal here and pure jazz there. "Blood Lotus" was a nod to Amon Düül if I ever heard one (Never heard them? Check out their 1969 release Phallus Dei). "Black Pills" is eight minutes of quiet, almost ambient keyboard and drums, and suddenly - pow - thunder packed doom. The digipack layout, with its multi-foldout panels and artwork by David D-Andrea, adds a good visual touch to an interesting audial ride. I'm sure you folks have made Doug proud (r.i.p.).
ZOROASTER - S/t CD EP (Battle Kommand) A five song EP that crunches riff after riff for over half and hour. For a regular FHF review readers that sentence alone is all you need to know. For the unaware, a brief sentence like that, from me, means, doom. Good, crunching, heavy-ass doom. Think Warhorse, though Atlanta, GA's Zoroaster kick up the beats-per-minute here and there. The guitars are walls of fuzz, the solos are blues, and feedback abounds. At its sluggish pace the drums still keep things interesting. The vocals are flow from deep death metal-ish growls from the bowels, to rough singing in the vein of ethereal hardcore (Neurosis, Isis). No lyrics (cuz they're probably about weed and Pabst Blue Ribbon), but doom is all about them guitars. There's an LP in the works, but don't wait to jam then, when you can jam now. These five tracks will have you heads out there mellowing after one toke.
ZWEIZZ - The Yawn of the New Age CD (Vendlus) First off - I love the pink on black layout. Still, I won't judge this book... er, CD, by its cover. Svein Egil Hatlevik is the man behind the Zweizz tag. Once a part of Norwegian black metal act DHG (Dødheimsgard), as well as Fleurety, he decided to trek out on his own around 2003 (though also a current member of Pronounced "Sex" and Umoral). He released his first work as Zweizz in 2004 with the 7" EP Black Necrotic Obfuscation (also on Vendlus Records), and now comes at us with a thirteen track work of electronic mayhem. The Yawn of the New Age is a somewhat trance inspiring, fear inducing ride that mixes gabber techno, power electronics, minimalist ambient IDM and gamewave. When I listen to some tracks ("Thank You In the Face" and "Catacombe Dei Cappucini") I'm taken back to my childhood, running around a playground and sharing good times with friends now gone. Other times (during "Nowadays Only the Boring Everything Is So Frustrating" or "Big Black Dick") I feel like I'm being chased by infected zombie-like hoards not that far off of 28 Days Later. While others still ("Musick is Organized Sound") were a mix of both - making me feel like a sweet, innocent child running from monsters. Interestingly, track four is Zweizz's own take / cover version of Immortal's "Blacker Than Darkness". While this won't be a hit on the dance floor or the mosh pit, I see this making a great movie score. Better mind-music, than body-music, I guess. Play this looped, while reading a good horror book. You won't be disappointed... just creeped out.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Earache My Eye DVD (Earache) In the late 80s and early 90s Earache Records was probably the biggest metal label around, and rightfully so. In 1989 Earache released a VHS tape to show off some of their band's wares, as Mtv's Headbanger's Ball didn't play much of their stellar roster. Strangely, and sadly, it hasn't seen the light of day since. Of course, until MVD got around it it... as usual. Thirteen music videos from the best of Earache's stable. There's industrial metal godfathers Godflesh's "Crush My Soul", "Wolverine Blues" from Entombed, "Greed Killing" from death metal daddies Napalm Death, Sleep's stoner "Dragonaut", Fudge Tunnel, Brutal Truth, the amazing At the Gates, and more. While I really enjoyed getting to see this, and I'm happy to own it, I really wish there were some extras thrown in. Well, there's always Immortalized and iCRUSHER Complete to watch afterwards.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - This Is Black Metal DVD (Music Video Distributors) Though not many of the bands on here can be considered black metal, per se, there isn't many other genres they fit into all that well, so it's okay. I'll let it slide. Especially since I haven't seen a Celtic Frost video in years! There are music videos here, and interviews a'plenty. The aforementioned CF video as well as an interview. There are videos and interviews by Throes of Dawn, Emperor, and Satyricon. There are music videos for Cradle of Flith, Borknagar and Astarte. There are interviews with Cronos and Mantas of Venom, David Vincent, Pete Sandoval and Tony Norman of Morbid Angel. Strangely, all of the interviews are done by once-gang-bang-queen Jasmin St. Claire - I didn't know she was a fan of death and black metal. Well, it's not like I had ever seen a video of her's where where she had the available dialogue to say she loved metal. I'm even more shocked none of the bands asked her any weird porn questions or spilled tasteless porn jokes while she interviewed them. I guess metalers are better behaved than image has it. There's even an interview with Jasmin later in the disc. The DVD also comes with a clip of Black Metal Parking Lot. You headbangers out there have probably already seen Heavy Metal Parking Lot, and now there's a newer, heavier version. This time around there are less stoned and drunk dumb-asses, but just as many sober, corpse-painted, black clad dumb-asses. Funny stuff.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Taking Back What's Ours: The Emo Diaries Chapter Eleven CD (Deep Elm) I thought this compilation series came to an end, but I'm kind of glad it's back. Ten previous CD releases, with a compiled 135 unreleased emocore gems from bands scoping the globe. I understand why the decided to call it quits in 2004, as corporations like Mtv ruined the term 'emo', but Deep Elm Records has decided to take it back. Rightfully so too, as this series has helped launch the careers of bands like Jimmy Eat World, The Appleseed Cast, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Sounds Like Violence and Further Seems Forever. This time around, the span of three years since the last disc has given DE Recs a chance to scour through mail bags of material to pick what's best for your ears. They've included bands from the UK (Above Them, I'm Fashion You're Victim, My Awesome Compilation, etc), as well as from throughout Europe (including Spain's This Drama, and Netherlands' The Beautiful City). There's a ton of bands from the United States: Knockout Kings and While You Were Gone from Texas, The Crash Engine from Portland, OR, San Francisco's The Decoration, NYC's Young Hearts and a handful more. I hear a Chapter 12 is in the works, and I'm totally looking forward to it.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - This Ain't Your Mom's Hardcore: Volume Two CD (Music Video Distributors) Filmed almost exclusively in the Atlanta, GA area, you can get a feel for what the hardcore crowds are like in the Dirty South: packed, crazy and really into their hardcore. The emotional screamo of As Cities Burn, the melodic metalcore of Secret Lives Of The Freemasons, the insane grinding of The Chariot, the dual-vocal attack of The Number Twelve Looks Like You, the rock-n-roll weirdness of Showbread, the blastbeat mayhem of Becoming The Archetype, the sludgy breakdowns of Thumbscrew, the raging stomp of Destroy The Runner, the southern-fried flavor of Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster, the Sunshine State's Remembering Never, and a handful more. Some bands get a single track, while others get two to three packed on here. All of it is shot on multiple cameras, and captured in large clubs, small clubs and even smaller warehouses. A few interviews are thrown in throughout the shows too (Scarlet, Misery Signal, Bury Your Dead, Drop Dead Gorgeous). There's even a few music videos (Twelve Gauge Valentine, Thumbscrew). Altogether it's a near 160 minutes of mad sets, packed crowds and heavy-as-all metallic hardcore.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - 910 Noise: Volume One CD (910 Noise) This is the first release for this noise label, and it's a damn good one at that, providing an aural outlet for many unknowns in the 910 area code (North Carolina). The tracks range from simple ambient to harsher elements of power electronics and even avant / cut-up method acts. The CD disc (which looks like a record, complete with grooves) opens with one track from Mr. Stonecipher, which is a mix of power electronics and an almost IDM sound similar to Aphex Twin - very good stuff. Uva Tena provide a double dose of ambient synths and humming drones, while Barefoot Machete follow them up with two almost danceable numbers. Next up is a single track from Double Suicide (Mike B) and his depressingly delightful guitar-driven almost-shoegazer sound. A shame only one song, as his work is one of the highlights of this disc. Puke on Mike deliver two tracks of an industrial-meets-noise cut-up, and Subterrene (another highlight) bring to mind an eerier sound of what you might find played at a rave's 'chill room'. Vanishing Cream play two near-child-like keyboard frenzies just before Lath comes in with two industrial-meets-noise numbers in the vein of early SPK. Carl Kruger tinkers with knobs as tweeters screech the highest of pitches, all as bass hits its lowest levels. The awesome Mindcrosser begins the wrap-up with two looped soundscapes that bring to mind a cold wasteland of hopelessness. Authorless provides the disc's outro with a lo-fi distortion of field recordings and found sounds. I hear there's already a Volume Two in the preparation stages, and by what's in Volume One, I can hardly wait to hear what keeps coming out of the 910 area code.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Cover Your Tracks CD (Deep Elm) There's an interesting concept to this release: newer artists on the Deep Elm Records' roster cover tracks from the label's older back catalog. Desert City Soundtrack does The Appleseed Cast. Clair De Lune do Benton Fall's "Angel On Hiatus". Lock and Key deliver "Blindspot" by Brandtson. Free Diamonds perform their take on Muckafurgason. Dan Phillips of Slowride does an acoustic take of The Appleseed Cast's "Fishing In the Sky". Settlefish give us their version of "Will the Violins Be Playing?" by Last Days Of April. And strangely enough, Sounds Like Violence were good enough (they sure are) to be placed on here without covering anyone, but do unleash a previously unreleased track ("No One Knows What We've Got"). While there are a few tracks that blow the others far, far away, I must say that there isn't a stinker in the bunch. Every track on this release is a winner (even the 30 second, unlisted extra track, which got me giggling), and they all pretty much differ in sound, which is a plus for any comp of artists off a single label. There's poppy emocore, hard rock, the Gainesville sound, college / indie rock, postpunk, alt-country, and lush pop. Like the newest Track A Tiger and Clair De Lune CDs, this compilation is limited, so you better not delay, or you'll be missing out.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - No New York CD (Lilith SPB) This is a legitimate, Russian repressing of Brian Eno's now classic and highly sought after 1978 vinyl compilation that introduced the world to the 'no wave' sound, No New York. Released through the licensing of Universal Music Pic., Russia, the rights were just sitting there unused, so some folks (maybe with black market or mob ties, who knows?) decided to get into the CD business. Well, good thing for me, because my pockets empty real quick hunting down rarities. Even cheap bootlegs aren't so cheap. Anyhow, this is no cheap bootleg. A digipack layout contains a booklet with photos and a bit of back-story and band introduction. My only problem is that it's written in Cyrillic (the Russian alphabet), except for the lyrics, those are in the Latin script (as well as in English). Still, what I give a rat's ass is about the music, and there's no let down here. Taken from the original tapes, we get to hear the funky jazz-freakouts of James Chance and the Contortions, the annoying minimalism of Lydia Lunch's first act, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, as well as the Sonic Youth-inspiring Mars, and the very first DNA recording (though many of these tracks were re-recorded on their DNA on DNA LP from '79). Each band offered four tracks and the rest is musical history - or a sidenote to punk rock... perception is a bitch.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Six Doors CD (Housepig) I only review compilations when I find something really worthy about them: the bands, the track listing, or even the price. Six Doors caught my ear, because I rarely get a noise or ambient comp, and when I do, all artists are either one extreme or the other. Totally ambient or harsh noise - never a nice eclectic mix. Well, here is a nice eclectic mix, but don't let the number of artists fool you (six), as there is an hour's worth of tunes here. Things start off somewhat quietly and calmly with California's Unicorn, then become rather unnerving soon enough with Japanese noisician Aube. The devilishly playful Bastard Noise continue the unnerving, but things are quiet no more as they howl. Ohio's Luasa Raelon calm it all back down with their ethereal cello-like synths. We head back to Japan as Guilty Connector und Tabata battle with guitar and electronics, feedbacking us all the way to the US inland with Minnesota's Oblong Box, and their lullful ambient drone. A nice collection of notes to hear what's playing in Housepig's stable.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Music With Impact DVD (Regain) A killer collection of videos here. Twenty three music videos for some of today's heaviest band. Many of these you won't or haven't see on Mtv's Headbangers Ball. Two from Poland's blackened death metal masters Behemoth, and two from Vader (Helleluyah, brothers!), while the rest are single tracks from Sahg (from Norway), Swedish metalheads Dimension Zero, Arch Enemy (you can get this video on the repress of their first LP, Black Earth, also on Regain Records), Embraced, Deranged, Samael, Marduk (probably my favorite track and video here), the awesome Gothic rock sounds of Tenebre, Totalt Jävla Mörker and their death metal-inspired hardcore, the melodic Nightmare, Death S and their sleeper-hold, flying side kick, figure-four leg-lock of a video, a Dark Funeral classic, Dismember, Ragnarok, Necrophobic, Mustasch (if you're a fan of The Spades or Turbonegro I suggest to check these guys out), and Sagatanas Reign. The only track I honestly didn't care for was Bronx Casket Co., and their CGI-ed "Little Dead Girl". My biggest, and actually only, gripe with this release that none of the videos are labeled, so if you smoke a bowl and are unfamiliar with many of these artists, prepare to be lost. Hell, I know many of them, I'm sober, and I couldn't keep track.
VARIOUS ARTIST - Yells From the Crypt CD (Gravewax) This is a decent compilation of dark rock tracks from inside the Gravewax roster (The Creepniks, The Route.66 Killers, Those Poor Bastards) as well as outside (Sons of Perdition, Phantom Creeps, Blitzkriegbliss) from the US, Europe and South America, even members of the Church of Satan (Alex Machine). This compilation is a definite for the following tracks: the punky Stray Cats-esque "Vampire Bar Fight" by The Cryptomaniacs, the instrumental surf "Psychonaut" from The Coffin Daggers, the amazing Rainer Hass and his neo-ragtime "Packin' Heat at the Speakeasy" (find everything you can by this man!), the surfy-yet-rowdy Spanish number "El Diablo es mas Chingon" by Los Muertos Viventes, topped off by the blueys, and so full of hooks "Hope You Get What You Deserve" spit out by Cooterfinger. A good sampling of the shadier alleys of garage, surf and rock-n-roll. Also, if I may point out some bands you missed - The Quintessentials, Illinois' The Creepers and Miami locals, The Van Orsdels (Gravewax can always put 'em on Volume 2. -- You're welcome).
VARIOUS ARTISTS - So Fla, So Good, So What: Volumno Uno CD (SoFla) This is volume one of what I hope to be a long-running series from SoFla Records. Twenty one tracks of some of (mostly) southeast Florida's best hardcore and punk bands, with not even a pinch of metal in sight. Catchy punk rock-n-roll via Stay Hit, The Getback, Heatseekers, The Hangovers, Space Station 5 and The Crumbs. Punkcore from the likes of Why Not, Runnamucks, Malicioso and No Peace At All. Pop punk anthems from The Knumbskullz, The Skanks and Pool Party. Groove filled hardcore punk from AC Cobra, Ramshackles, Hopesick and yes, my own band, Sound 4 Sound. The Misfits meets rockabilly ghouls The Van Orsdels, some indie-rock with The Stop-Motion, and even some ska spilling in from Against All Authority and The Delegates. But, I have to ask where are screamo bands like Lasso the Moon, not to mention the thugcore DNME? Admittedly, there are no bands on here I would have traded out for, so I understand the limits of time and space. Well, at least on disc I do... out there in 'the real world' is a different story. Either way, there's always Volumno Dos, right? All of these tracks are packaged in a simple black and white, one panel sleeve with limited band info, but your here to learn about new Florida bands, and rock - not read.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Flipside Video / The Best of : Volume 1 DVD (Music Video Distributors) One of the best parts about this is that it's Volume One - which means there's gonna be more. Great! This one's a keeper. You get four 80s hardcore-punk bands in their glory days; Bad Religion, Weirdos, Circle Jerks and the Dickies, all caught on video tape in the early to mid 80s. The recordings are in no way perfect, but they reveal a time when punk was evolving from an era when mainstream society stopped finding punk an interesting fad, but a political and social plague. Regean was in office and the movie "The Day After" scared the pants off me. The Reds were "our" enemy. Tension was in the air and major record labels didn't want punk after the New York art scene died out. The California scene was full of angst, rage and gangs. These bands put up with shit and the shows came off with an air of success... somehow. Circle Jerks and Weirdos are my two favorites on here, and the Dickies and Bad Religion are in no way bad at all. I can't wait to see other volumes.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Life. Love. Hardcore. A Moo Cow Records Compilation CD (Moo Cow) Trust me, this isn't what the name might imply. This is a label compilation, but not your regular these-are-the-bands-on-our-label comp. Moo Cow has compiled many a favorite, long lost, and - yes - some forgotten, vinyl. A track from Florida's Song of Kerman. Disembodied (The Confession 7") before their Ferret Records jump. Pre-Hyrda Head Cable (from the split with Malcom's Lost). The In Memory of... disc (featuring Intent to Injure and Dive). This even includes three unreleased songs from Seven Years War which were to be released on Sweet Gladys Records. My biggest complaint is there was room (time-wise) for a few of the missing halves of the split 7"es to be included, but no such luck. Oh, and wishing that the date (at least year) of release was printed. Still it is ONLY THREE DOLLARS (yep, $3, with postage paid!) so that'll shut my yapper up. At that price, relive the Boston hardcore heydays of the early 90s all over again with Moo Cow.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Doom Capital CD (Crucial Blast) How can you go wrong with a compilation of all stoner and doom bands? Oooh, you're coming on too strong. You're coming right out of the box with Clutch? That's like a blow job before foreplay - fun, but you've gone too far, too early. Not to mention it's a song only released on a 'fanclub' CD, Slow Hole to China. Still, I am having fun, so let's continue. Earthride was a mix of Fu Manchu and Orange Goblin. Internal Void is still around and still kicking asses with their blue infected rock. Nitroseed is an instrumental ride on a sea of green, with one of the best tracks on here. Unorthodox return after years of inactivity to crush us asunder. War Injun is a double bass sludge attack... punishing. Black Manta features Hillel - of one of my all time favorite metalcore bands Damnation A. D. - and rock with another highlight track of pretty original stoner groove. Leviathan A. D. provide another highlight, with a gothic and doom hybrid that is "Breathing Rust". Carrion is another great band, as the vocals made me think of skate rock almost as much as stoner rock, while the speed picking brought to mind death metal, but made it sound more like Suicidal Tendencies. Los Tres Pesados (what a great name!) features Dave Sherman of Spirit Caravan and JP Gaster of Clutch - yes, I did the sign of the horns with my hand too. The layout gives you liner notes with a brief history of doom music and how the north east of the U.S. was influential in the genre, going back to 1971 with Arlington, Virginia's Pentagram. Right on!
VARIOUS ARTISTS - This Is Indie Rock: The Best Bands You've Never heard Volume One CD (Deep Elm) From the ashes of Deep Elm's The Emo Diaries (all ten of which are great resources for hard-to-find, as well as mainstream, emocore and independent rock bands) rises a new series compilation in the same spirit, but thankfully putting the 'emo' tag to rest. Clair De Lune offer up "Marionettes", a track you can't find on their LP - strangely, also titled Marionettes. Boston's The Blind King provide an interesting mix of alt-country, electro and indie rock. Second Hand Stories (which is actually solo artist Stephen Warwick) is very reminiscent of Death In June and Current 93's apocalyptic folk. Throat are a seriously catchy power pop / arena rock quartet Northern Ireland. Another solo artist, Brooklyn, NY's Joanna Erdos adds a little bit of soul with her R&B piano styling. Texan natives Siva are as if the early 90's Gravity screamo scene concentrated their ferocity more on the music, over the look and attitude. Lakota's "So Simple" brought to mind Bob Mould's Sugar. The disc leaves us with The Kidcrash from Kansas, closing off the comp with a wonderfully depressing emo-rock number. It already looks and sounds as if this series will surpass its predecessor in style and quality. I hear Volume Two is already in the works.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - This Is Indie Rock: The Best Bands You've Never Heard Volume Two CD (Deep Elm) As with the earlier Emo Diaries, DeepElm knows you get better with time, and they follow through on their second series of compilations, This is Indie Rock. Another batch of great artists from the U.S, and a few from around the globe. Volume Two starts off with Maxel Toft, the Aphex Twin of indie-rock, and on to Jersey's Jena Berlin, sounding very similar to a certain one-word band from their home turf. The New Lows brought to mind a less-abrasive Hot Hot Heat, with the rock-pop hooks of Jett Brando. Austria's Cameran have a great later-day Fugazi sound, with an almost-Post 6 styled vocals. North Carolina's Sedona had me looking through my Nuggets compilations. The Forecast who are now on Victory Records. Death Ships, from Illinois, was Bright Eyes going heavier on the alt-country, yet winding up much more tolerable. The straight-up rock hooks of Massachusetts's The Call Up. And wrapping thing's up with the emotive rock of Nature Living (from Japan) and Bernard, from the United States' oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida (established in 1513). Another good showcasing of up-n-coming talent. Hell, I'm already looking forward to three.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Supple Selections Volume 1 CD-R (Supple) Compilations are easy to review. A good comp is even better. The songs and artists speak for themselves. Supple collects some of the better, yet more unknown, bands from the ambient and downtempo schools. Eight bands and sixteen tracks. Frances8's first track lost me because it sounded empty for most of the song, but the next track ("So Small") adds a more Cocteau Twins sound over their alt-country flavor. The Trinity Project bring Enigma to mind, but sound less like porno music than Enigma does. Icecake starts off the major highlights of Volume One with two tracks. New ones, as neither are from his awesome ...An Ambient Experience EP. Sylva bring to mind DJ Shadow and UNKLE on one song (complete with xylophones, man!), and Irresistible Force and Human Mesh Dance on the next. Velvida needs a name change, but songwriter David Melbye can write some amazingly smooth electro-funk. Blurred Images are a blend of laid back space pop and passion alternative. Petracovich is my favorite band on here so far. A mix of classical music and electro, some jazz fusion and trip-hop. Their second track "The Place" may give Portishead fans something new to listen to, look at and spend money on. Kewb sounds a little like a mix between Autechre and Future Sounds of London. Did I happen to mention this comp is only $5.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Supple Selections Volume 2 CD-R (Supple) If the first sounded good, the second is almost as good. Icecake start it off on a real high note with two tracks of Robert Kaminek's lullful guitar driven ambient. Ksine are another highlight and can be described as what Aphex Twin sounds like when Richard James feels calm and sedated. NON FINIRe mai made me think Boyd Rice may have something to do with it, but I was mistaken, as Ales Uratnik is the sole member. Quite the opposite of Boyd's NON, NFm is accessible bursts of ambient and some techno. Newagehillbilly picks up where NON FINIRe mai leaves off and takes the techno into fields of trance and break-beat. Jososo Joseph Innacelli's "The Common Wheel" was too world-beat for me, but his "Untitled II" was better, and similar to Muslimgauze or Trail of the Bow. Project Skyward is a spacyer (more electro, less jazz) Everything But The Girl. One of my favorites on Volume Two. It was another highlight to hear Panophonic sing their brand of dark electro-pop in my native tongue of Spanish. Delta Waves ends this disc first with an amazing drumless shoegazer sound, and for their second track a psychedelic jam - yes, with drumming, keyboards and guitars a'plenty. Drop Supple another $5 and get both Volumes.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault CD (Dying Wish) When I saw this CD mentioned in a 'news' section of some website, I was hoping this would make it's way into my mailbox. Well here it is, and now I'm wishing for a million bucks. Okay, seriously now, 24 Hour Revenge Therapy is one of my favorite albums in the poppy-emo genre, so yes I am a Jawbreaker fan. I think this comp does 'em justice too. Some of the bigger and better known bands of today school the new kids on some music they may have missed out on. Plus, every songs here is unreleased. Face to Face, Kill Your Idols, The Æffect, Nerf Herder, The Reunion Show, Bayside, Travoltas, Fall Out Boy and even Jeff Ott (of Lookout! Record's Fifteen). All the toe-tapping classics are here, "Ashtray Monument" from New Jersey's Bigwig and "Chesterfield King" done by, an admitted favorite, Nerf Herder. Every band on here does well enough on their cover, but few add their own spin on Jawbreaker's classics. The Æffect do the best to distort a well known song, "Boxcar", into their own gem. It even makes for a cool song on its own. Kill Your Idols added a touch of balls to "Do You Still Hate Me?", though still coming off so cute you just love it. Good Night Bad Guy (featuring Brandon Riely of The Movielife) do an almost alt-country version of "Jet Black", and with its original lyrical content it is now all the more haunting. Jawbreaker wouldn't be jealous, but honored for sure.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Dope, Guns and Fucking Up Your Video Deck Vol. 1-3 / 1990-1994 DVD (Music Video Distributors) Amphetamine Reptile was the 'it' label back in the early 90s, just before (and a little after) the huge 'alternative' music explosion. They had some of the best 7"es and albums of bands that were starting out in that era; Helmet, Melvins, Surgery, Today is the Day, Boss Hog and others. During that time, they put out a 7" collection (and later compilation album) titled Dope, Guns and Fucking in the Streets, which soon turned into a three volume video series. Both the vinyl and the VHS collections were great, and while most may not even remember AmRep, their noise rock releases still stand up to almost anything produced today. Now, someone at Music Video Distributors knows their underground music history, because they find and re-release music videos that were seriously treasured by fans. Plus they release it on VHS and DVD, as I lost my Volumes I & II tapes to Hurricane Andrew. Volume One was released in 1990 and features Helmet, Helios Creed, Cows, King Snake Roost, Tar, Lubricated Goat, Halo of Flies and three more. Volume Two has Vertigo, God Bullies, Cosmic Psychos and more from Helmet, Surgery, Helios Creed, Cows and four others. Volume Three contains videos by Boss Hog, Chokebore, Hammerhead, Today is the Day, Melvins, plus another six bands. All of it is hosted by Dr. Sphincter, a Minneapolis local-access weirdo, who gives a 50/50 preformance - sometimes funny, sometime falls flat. And finally, as an extra, we get a sort-of Volume 4 (1994 and later), which gives you more by Melvins, Chokebore, Today is the Day, Cosmic Psychos and the retail price is almost worth it for the seen-many-times, but happy-to-finally-have-it-on-DVD video for "Scrape" by Unsane. Just watching it hurts. Start Volume 1 on Monday, finishing off Thursday with the bonus videos. Friday go out to your local bar, get drunk and harass the bands until they play, "Honey Bucket" or "Bad Mood". If they don't know either, set the place ablaze.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Hellfest 2002 2xDVD (High Roller) I expected more with 2 DVDs, but what I did get turned out to be good enough. I'm sure many of you are familiar with Hellfest, the festival held ever summer in Syracuse, NY. This is the second DVD that gets it all on disc for those of you who did not get to go can see what you missed - or if you went, can relive it all again. Damn, Rich Thurston is all over these discs. I found myself enjoying the older sounding hardcore bands (Bane, The Rise, reach the Sky, Terror and The Promise) over the newer metalcore bands (Bleeding Through, The Hope Conspiracy, Burnt By the Sun and 18 Visions)... who would have figured? Mind you, I love these bands, but with their live sets - the old schoolers just won hands down. The first DVD had close to 30 bands with an hour and a half of live music, with a director's commentary as an extra. The second DVD has band commentaries, interviews and trailers for the Hellfest discs. For me, standouts included Freya "Carpe Diem", Open Hand "626", Every Time I Die "The Logic of Crocodiles", Bane "Give Blood", Terror "Life and Death", From Autumn to Ashes "Short Stories with Tragic Endings" and Lamb of God with "Black Label". I didn't really care for Coheed and Cambria, Stretch Arm Strong or Merauder - and never really have. I think it's slightly better than the first Hellfest DVD, but I hear the third (Hellfest2K3) will blow them both away... so I'm waiting guys.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Go-Kart MP300 Raceway 2xCD (Go Kart) Pure genius? Pretty close. For the price of a single CD you get a double disc set of 150 bands (yes, that's one hundred and fifty) dishing out two mp3s each - that's 300 tracks - all in CD sound quality. Very nice. And this isn't a best of Go Kart or simply bands from their roster. They their best bands on here (Capture the Flag, I Farm, Icons of Filth, Jett Brando, Lunachicks, The Control, Toxic Narcotic and more), but you also get bands from Revelation (Elliot, Garrison and Shai Hulud), Victory (Darkest Hour, Freya and Spitalfield), No Idea (Combatwoundedveteran, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Small Brown Bike and Gunmoll) and a whole slew of others. Avail, Groovie Ghoulies, Over My Dead Body, Sick Of It All, T.S.O.L. and The Vandals just to name a few other good bands. Now, I have to say that playing music on my PC is not my favorite thing to do, but someone at Go Kart was on the ball. The program opens in your internet browser and you get to see cool graphics (in Flash Player), plus band bios, album covers and links to the band and label's site(s). A very interesting concept from a label, which every year keeps improving their output in music, artwork and ideas.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - The Hope I Hide Inside; The Emo Diaries, Chapter Ten CD (Deep Elm) That's it mopers! It's over. The last chapter (number ten) in Deep Elm's The Emo Diaries, this one titled The Hope I Hide Inside. No wait, don't cry. I have good news, so just keep reading. Well, I didn't catch on to these diaries until number three, and since then I've been a fan. Unreleased tracks from all over the world. Top tracks on here include Sweden's Sounds Like Violence (probably the best - and quietest - track on here), England's The Holiday Plan, and Latitude Blues, and Norway's Lukestar. There are just as many great US bands too, like Boston's Lock and Key, Virginia's The Silent Type, South Carolina's Hercules Hercules, and A Month of Somedays from Chicago, Illinois (hey Victory, they're right under your nose!). The weakest track probably being Israel's My Name Is Nobody (nope, I'm no anti-Semite), at least vocally - and even that track was pretty decent. What a great way to end this set. Wait, wait! There is a little something you should know. Okay, now for those of you who will seriously miss these comps and wonder, "Where the hell am I going to be introduced to good music?" Deep Elm is continuing a similar compilation series called, This is Indie Rock: The Best Bands You've Never Heard, so you can still act like you really know your music in front of all your friends.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Off Target CD (Coalition) Ten years ago two Dutch hardcore kids met at a convention covering Trotsky and thus was born Coalition Records. This compilation catches ten years of that label's trials and tribulations, with not a loser in the bunch. Plus, when it contains a nice mix of released cuts, prerelease material and unreleased gems, how can one go wrong? Off Target starts off with the garage / no wave of The Je Ne Sais Quoi (with another track later), then we come upon the emotional hardrock of Oil, JR Ewing and their brand of early San Diego-styled screamo, the Bla'st / Black Flag-like Books Lie, a couple of tracks from the hard rocking, hardcore Wolves, Kill the Man Who Questions, Seein' Red, A New Enemy, Let It Burn, Tear It Up, Guyana Punchline, Das Oath... man this thing is packed. Off the upcoming Coalition releases we get tracks from Italy's Entropia, the punk-meets-glitch Crimson Curse, Betercore and the garagey The Kill Pill. With never-before-released numbers by Suicide Party and a 1982 demo track from Pandemonium. Thirty bands, thirty-five songs, with seventy minutes of music - this is why I love comps!
MUSIC RELATED BOOKS
AMERICAN HARDCORE - Author, Steven Blush (Feral House) A brief history of hardcore punk-rock and it's effects (mostly musical) during 1980 through 1986. Not bad. For the most part, this read took me back to when I was pretty young and had gotten a chance to see many of the bands mentioned in the book. Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, MDC, DOA, Circle Jerks, Poison Idea and Bad Brains. So it was a nice trip down memory... blah, blah, blah. While interesting, much of the beginning of the book is textbook - the read-100-times-already history of punk, and not until the second half of the book do we get information not previously covered in Hardcore California or Banned in D.C. I enjoyed reading more about lesser known bands like Vic Bondi's Articles of Faith, or an old favorite, Die Kruzen or Big Boys, than the other bands I mentioned earlier, thanks to the books I mentioned earlier. I did get a kick out of seeing mentions of the Cameo Theater, Flynn's ("Ocean 71 man!") and early Miami bands I had the pleasure of catching the last few shows of the mid to late 80s, like Morbid Opera. But the author didn't know enough about the local scene to mention the Eat, the Drills, Rugged Edge, or Damage. But, they did get Tesco Vee (of the Meatmen) to talk about the insanity of their last Miami appearance. So it's good enough for the local mention at all. Now for the size of the book, and the price a regular consumer would have to pay - I would have expected a little more. I really would have enjoyed more details on the history of bands across the US, and less quotes and interview segments from band members. The excerpts were good, and they often add to the history of the segment, but they take a little over half the book. Many never before seen photos of flyers, set lists and live shots. The hardcore discography is amazingly detailed. Though missing an item or two (PTL Klub, Suffix), it is by all accounts exhaustive. Author Steven Blush DJed early punk and hardcore shows, set up shows for Bad Brains, Minor Threat and DK as well as founding Seconds magazine in 86, so he was there and saw most of this right before his eyes. So I could have used many personal anecdotes - which on a few occasions in American Hardcore, he eluded to many possibly interesting stories, but never goes into them.
GOTH CHIC - Author, Gavin Baddeley (Plexus) Yes, one my favorite bands is Converge - but another is Joy Division. Yep, I dress in black and you can catch me sometimes listening to Bauhaus. I do often enjoy putting on an old Cure LP or Sisters of Mercy CD, but I was never heavily into the Goth movement. Baddeley is the author of two other books, of which I really enjoyed his first, Lucifer Rising. I found LR to be a better read than GC, but that was because I'm biased towards the earlier book's topic: members of the Church of Satan. Goth Chic is better produced and presented though, as the layout and cover are beautifully done. Nevertheless this is a good read unto itself, I assure you. Highly recommended for fans of Gothic culture, and to those who are curious. Each chapter - 10 in total - is thick with information pertaining to a certain gothic scene. Baddeley does not begin his search for the roots of the modern Gothic culture and style in the 1970s, 1960s or even in the 1900s, but begins your history lesson with the actual Goths of Germanic Europe in 400 CE. Chapters covering music (Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata in D Minor" to Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's Henry's Dream), film (Nosferatu and Der Golem to The X Files and Interview with the Vampire), graphic art (Sandman comics), writing (Gothic novels from the late 1800s, Faust and The Necromancer to modern fanzines like Bite Me), even pornography is covered. I cannot challenge a word of this book because Gavin Braddeley is a man who writes what he knows about. Well researched and written with lots of heart and passion for a word that many use, without knowing what it really means.
THE COVERT WAR AGAINST ROCK - Author; Alex Constantine (Feral House) I'm not sure of what to make of Project CHAOS. Sounds straight out of Upright Citizens Brigade. So did Project Walrus. Each chapter in this book was completely different. The first few are strictly music, drug and war history, conspiratorial and otherwise. Once into chapter four you get to the musicians' deaths and the possible conspiracies behind them. Yes, conspiracies - as each death points several possibilities. The explanations for Mama Cass' death seemed a comedy of errors, but I couldn't find a real conspiracy. The chapter on Brian Jones was actually creepy. Both the Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison articles revealed nothing new to me from what I have already read. Joan Baez seemed more about others trapped in a 'Manchurian Candidate' state of mind than about her. The Sal Mineo chapter was all over the place and it was almost too hard to follow. Next up was Lennon, Oko and Project Walrus which seemed silly rather than scary. The chapter on Bob Marley and Peter Tosh was pretty good, but gave me only one new item of interest (who gave Bob Marley those boots). The next one was on Tupac and NoB.I.G., both whose murder investigations are full of holes, but I didn't see the need to reprint Mrs. Shakur's letter to Biggie's mom. Mr. Constantine steers the conspiracy one way, but I agree with Def, it was a publicity killing pulled off by the record label heads. The last chapter was pretty non-eventful. Michael Hutchence of INXS possibly died of auto-erotic asphyxiation, but one brief mention in an obituary in Rolling Stone about bruised lips and broken hands (no medical charts or autopsy reports though) and fingers are pointed at the "Secret Police" (who ever they are), Big (Music) Business and Bob Geldoff (of Boomtown Rats). Some of the best parts are actually in the footnotes, which happen to consist of about a third of the book.
MY FIRST TIME: A COLLECTION OF FIRST SHOW STORIES - Edited, Chris Duncan BOOK (AK Press) This was a real fun read. As the title boasts, it's a collection 'first time' stories - first time going to a punk show, that is. The book is packed with over forty storytellers. Some of them are big names from big bands, and others are simply nice folks with no more than a story to tell. There's Blake Schwarzenbach of Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil (whose first punk outing was actually the movie Decline of Western Civilization), Even Worse / Springhouse drummer and magazine mogul (The Big Takeover) Jack Rabid (and though not written in the book, he also gave Beastie Boys their first punk gig), Russ Rankin of Good Riddance, author (Our Band Could Be Your Life) Michael Azerrad, Anna Brown's first time at Gilman, Ben Sizemore of Econochrist, Al Quint (of Suburban Voice fanzine), The Dwarves' Blag Dahlia (who gives the shortest, yet funniest entry), brothers Joe and Bull Gervasi, author (Going Underground) George Hurchalla, and the ever popular 'many, many more' too. Some stories are about going to one's first show at the age of twelve, while others started to go at forty-one. Some went drunk or fucked-up on drugs and others were straightedge right from the start. A few photos of the bands spoken of, as well as a flyer or two are peppered throughout, but the book focuses mostly on the words written, and though I do like photos - I'm a man of words. My First Time is great for any punk rocker or hardcore kid tired of politics or philosophy, and looking for some light reading. Worth the $16 (or £11 UK).