Monday 24 June 2013

Sludgelord presents - The Devils Jukebox

The mighty Sludgelord blog has unleashed another compilation
of filthy sounds, dirty sludge worship and all that is good in
the underground world of heaviness.


4 hours of music to help you through the week, visit Steve
and his crew Here.

Here is the magnificent selection of tracks on offer - all free and
all with full permission of the bands involved.

FILL YER BOOTS!

Tracklisting 

Track NoArtistSong
1BeastwarsTower Of Skulls
2Black Black BlackWisdom, Knowledge and Fucked
3NibiruQaa-om sapah
4SpelljammerElectric Ground
5Traitors Return To EarthHuman Drone
6Desert StormTitan
7Los Disidentes Del Sucio MotelOuija
8SannhetSlow Ruin
9HalmosExcursion Into Chaos
10HogslayerAll Roads Lead To Bastard
11Cold Blue MountainPTSD
12DruglordMotherfucker Rising
13ZompokYour Devils Know My Name
14WatertankSleepwalk
15Desert StormWord To The Wise Man
16The Tragedy We Live InWahnsinn
17Massive ThunderfuckPetting
18Space WitchCosmic Cauldron
19SteakAcid Dave
20SummonerPhoenix
21ValfaderSacred Spiral
22Lark's TongueDays Of Nothing (Chokebore Cover)
23BicheUn bon dimanche
24BuioingolaRigurgito
25Grey HostDawn For Vultures
26IRNAlways Die Slowly
27Myopic EmpireGod Machine
28Renate/CordateCalumate
29RoadkillsodaCan't Take Control
30Ten Foot WizardFUCK
31Terminal ProspectThe Edge Of Confusion
32The Whorehouse MassacreBowels Of Hell
33Tumbleweed DealerHow To Light A Joint With A Blowtorch
34Jacknife HolidayK-Hole
35Wolves Carry My NameBone Carver
36Montecharge
VIII. Wolves



Friday 21 June 2013

Morality Crisis - Boats

Any band that starts off an album with a song that chants
"Enormous Fucking Death Ass Knife" over and over while
the bare arrangements get faster and fuller and the voice gets
more deranged and angry, is ok in my books.

Morality Crisis play down-tuned noise rock that draws upon
hardcore and sludge leanings for  greater sonic distress.

Massive riffs are pummelled out with ferocity and twisting song
passages splatter out genre bending bursts of chaos which suit
the lyrics perfectly. Vocals are spat out and fit really well with
the big sounding production.

Recommended.


Band Blurb:
Morality Crisis devastates the earballs with slabs of iconoclastic post-hardcore, reminiscent of bands like Sleep, Yes, Drive Like Jehu, and Deicide. This Minneapolis-based act, composed of three lifelong friends, create a sound as soul-crushingly grounded as a Minnesconsin winter, yet as unpredictable as the wide-eyed dissonance of the Midwestern psyche.

“Boats” was funded entirely by a Kickstarter campaign and produced by Adam Tucker at Signaturetone Recording in Richfield, MN in January-March 2013, The album guides the listener from pant-shitting weaponsludge ("Enormous Fucking Death Ass Knife") to stabbing hardcore ("Gary Plays with Fire") to life-affirming doom prog ("Electric Friends") and everywhere in between.

The LP and digital version (which will be free) will be available June 25th through Morality Crisis’s bandcamp site.

Get from here on June 25th -  Bandcamp

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Thursday 20 June 2013

Mammoth Grinder - Underworlds

Mammoth Grinder return with an album that shows their sound
to great effect. Hardcore, crust and thrash are mixed together,
giving you short sharp shocks of brutal goodness which have Venom/
Slayer type solos spat out across the songs.

Ranging from fast to mid-paced, the tracks run together more
smoothly than Ozzy ingesting drugs straight after rehab.

The production is impressive, giving all the instruments a massive
sound and in particular, the vocals sound nicely deranged but
without being buried in the mix. This genre is not always for me
but when it is done this good, it fucking rocks.


Band Blurb:
It’s been nearly four years since the last MAMMOTH GRINDER full length Extinction Of Humanity was released via Relapse Records (CD) and Cyclopean Records (LP). That album showcased the band’s direction into a distinctly death metal permutation, full of aggression and punk rawness. The band continued in this spirit on 2011’s split LP with fellow Austin, Texas-based Hatred Surge. Now in 2013, after much anticipation, MAMMOTH GRINDER has found a home on 20 Buck Spin for the release of their wildly destructive third full length album Underworlds. 

Underworlds marks a peak at which MAMMOTH GRINDER have sharpened and perfected their sound into a seething grind/death/thrash maelstrom of intense degree; unrelenting in its concentrated raw precision and focused power, Underworlds careens violently through ten tracks with effortless versatility and the fixated songcraft expected of a band on their third record. Tracks like “Wraparound Eyes” with its Unleashed style mid-section or the short sharp shock of “Paragon Pusher” illustrate MAMMOTH GRINDER’s mastery over multiple variations of metal to assemble their own sound. Fans of Entombed, Pig Destroyer, Municipal Waste, Discharge, Napalm Death and Iron Lung will beat themselves into submission for missing out on this album, so do yourself a favor, and don’t miss out on it... 

MAMMOTH GRINDERis a live band and that is where the songs on Underworlds will expose their most virulent strain. Additionally the album is adorned with artwork by the legendary Joe Petagno whose work has graced albums from artists like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin to Motörhead and Marduk. 

20 Buck Spin will expose the damaging Underworlds on LP, CD and digital worldwide on July 23rd, and MAMMOTH GRINDER shall tour extensively upon the album’s release. In the meantime the band will play out regionally, providing support for the May 10th appearance of this year’s Decibel Magazine Tour featuring Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death and Immolation as it hits Houston, Texas, and a badass spot alongside Magic Circle, Iron Lung, Cruciamentum, Tragedy and the almighty Bolt Thrower at this year’s Chaos In Tejas in MG’s hometown of Austin on Friday, May 31st.

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I cannot find any embeds of this album yet but check out the EP
from last year and it will give you an idea of what to expect!



Thanks to Earsplit PR for link.

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Arbogast - I


"Vintage amps pushed to the max. 
Screaming guitar melodies layered over distorted bass chords. 
An incessant, pummeling drum attack. 
Sludge breakdowns, over the top blast-beats. 
An infusion of classic thrash, metal and punk topped off with a dual 
vocal assault. The result: a sound that offers no rest, no retreat. 
It is the furious release of a caged beast."


This the manifesto on the Arbogast bandcamp and never has
an introduction been so spot on.


Carrying on the legacy of Botch and Akimbo, this album is
a perfect example of how to make a sonic assault on music
while at the same time containing tunes, music, passion and a
hardcore density that just gets me jumping up and down.

Why this has taken me half a year to hear, I have no idea but am
making up for lost time by playing constantly. This was released at
the very end of 2012 but as I have only now heard it, this platter of
excellence will be in my 2013 must have album list! Punishing but
exciting at the same time this satisfies my noise/hardcore fix which
does not happen that often.

Recommended.

Get from Bandcamp

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Friday 14 June 2013

Confine - Setting Fire To The Western Hemisphere

Powerviolence, Grindcore, Noise and Sludge. Witch Hunter
Records have just released the new record by Confine and
it sounds like drilling into your own brain at the same time 
as having your genitals eaten by rabid weasels.


This one is not for me but I know that some of you download
monkeys dig this stuff so check it out.

Band blurb.
WHR026 
Confine 
Setting Fire To The Western Hemisphere 

1. Identity 00:41 
2. Memory 00:37 
3. Perception 01:02 
4. Legacy 01:10 
5. Abstraction 01:19 
6. A Sceptical Disposition 00:41 
7. Reason and Science 00:42 
8. Formation and Transformation 01:00 

Bass - Zac Broughton (Oblivionized / Iconic Destruction) 
Guitars - Edd Robinson (Human Cull / Disfortune) 
Drums - Rich Speakman (The Afternoon Gentleman / Gets Worse) 
Vocals - Chris Reese (Corrupt Moral Altar / HorseBastard) 

A glance at the visceral cover art that accompanies Confine’s debut record should stand you in good stead for the aural abuse to come. Suicide, medication, pollution, unmarked graves and giant ants boring into your screaming skull. Yeah, this aint likely to be pretty. And it really isn’t. Boasting a super group-style line up culled from the UK extreme scene (members also pollute ears in The Afternoon Gentlemen, Corrupt Moral Altar, Oblivionized, Human Cull and more) Confine are a rotten and putrid grindcore massacre. A veritable depraved orgy of whirlwind blastbeats, head-crushing sludge, inhuman screams and riffs that the feeble human mind can barely comprehend. Throughout the 8 tracks, barely ever pushing past 70 seconds each, Confine drag you through a feverish nightmare of constantly shifting audible violence. Never predictable, utterly dangerous and with a layer of tangible grime and misery that only UK grindcore can provide.

Pre-order from Witch Hunter Records 

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Thursday 13 June 2013

Totter - The Crackle

I found this while browsing the Torn Flesh Records site - it
seems to have at least a hundred free downloadable albums.

This netlabel really seems to be cranking up the idea of what can be
done for bands on the interweb - good fucking job Mr Torn Flesh - 
check them out Here

A lot of the bands featured seem to come from the extreme
end of the spectrums- grindcore/death/harsh electronics etc but
among the chaos are some different genres.


Tottter come at you with some Dark Americana and a definite
Southern Gothic vibe but that is just a starting point.

Trip hop rhythms drive some songs along while the multiple
vocal styles keep things fresh and intricate. Just as Jim White
seemed to break the mold of laid back singers emerging from
the alt-country genre, Totter take things further with distorted
guitars weaving through passages, clacking percussion fighting
for space among violin sounds, Dub-Jazz breaks that add to the
sense of calm chaos, all infused with a Tom Waits holding-onto-
sanity, world-weary singing style.

Add a Dub feeling to a lot of the bass and drums and you have
different to listen to. Give this a listen if you want to stretch
your music genres. Recommended.

Name your price at Bandcamp

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Wednesday 12 June 2013

Lycus - Tempest

Lycus play blackened music that does not want to stay
within one genre but also draws from drone/atmospheric/
funeral doom to great effect. There are melodic threads that are
picked out on guitar - these notes ring out over the glacier-like
pace, giving the already brooding songs a real atmosphere of
oppression, helped by the growled vocals that emerge from the
sonic wall of noise that is being played. Amongst the dense
production are passages of calm which make the epic heaviness
seem all the more thunderous when fully employed.

If you want heavy and slow - check it out.



Band Blog: Having existed since 2008 in some form or another, LYCUS relocated to Oakland from Sacramento and recorded/released their Demo MMXI two years ago. The brooding, quality material of the demo not only saw eventual cassette release by Graceless Recordings (run by Mike Meacham of LOSS) and a vinyl release on San Francisco-based Flenser Records, but it immediately caught the attention of Olympia-based 20 Buck Spin -- the label having originated in the East Bay Area and continually having a soft spot for bands of the region -- who brought them onto the label’s roster for the release of their debut album.

Late in 2012, LYCUS entered hometown Earhammer Studios with Greg Wilkinson (Brainoil, Asunder, Pallbearer, Vastum, Samothrace, High On Fire), who captured and mixed the band’s immense Tempest LP. An incredibly mature, diverse and utterly monumental album, the three massive hymns on Tempest range between nine-and-a-half minutes to over twenty. The canvas of this masterwork is classic funeral doom in the territory of Mournful Congregation, Asunder and My Dying Bride, yet the template is varied as LYCUS' palette includes shades of hysteric black metal, old-school death doom pummeling, and even a bit of pull from noise/drone realms.

Featuring an incredible oil painting by the Italian madman Paolo Girardi as cover art and a regal layout by Kevin Gan Yuen of Sutekh Hexen (who also contributes musically to the album’s closing moments), Tempest is the most promising debut of 2013 in the doom genre, and establishesLYCUS, from the beginning, as a band to watch in the months and years ahead. The album will see CD/LP and digital release on July 9th.

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20 Buck Spin

Thanks to Earsplit PR for links.

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Black Sabbath - 13 (some thoughts)

As expected the new Sabbath album has leaked out into
the interweb. I have had a couple of listens and ...... 


There is no point in comparing it to the first 6 albums - they are
fixed in the psyche and from the past ...........

This is not a debate about Bill Ward ..........

But ...... Rick Rubin has done a magnificent production job,
the sound is HUGE!

Iommi plays like a man on fire .......... 

For a shaky, health and mental fucked bloke, Ozzy still has that voice.

Is it any good? I think it is fucking great and nicely wipes out 25
years of average releases.

So there!

Monday 3 June 2013

Loud, Slow And Distorted Riffs from Mexico

I found this on Archiv Hate - a great blog for heavy and unusual
music - take a look (hi Arturs!)


The title sums it up nicely - Loud, Slow and Distorted. Support
the Mexican underground scene - spread this around and let the
world listen to these bands. Where else are you gonna find a
collection of Stoner, Doom, Drone, Metal and Heavy Psych from
the depths of Mexico?

Best of all, it is name your price from Bandcamp

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Wraiths - EP

Wraiths have an immense sound that mixes up hardcore and
metal-tinged sludge - not sure what that is like? Put your head
in a vice and squeeze until your brains start to dribble out of
your ears and then headbang as best you can manage.


Released on Witch Hunter Records - a label that seems determined
to damage my hearing - this is distorted, loud and heavy with an
overall feel of claustrophobic aggression.

The production is immense, bringing a clarity that makes everything
sound like it is being played in front of you - any band that is trying
to get the ultimate guitar sound - listen to this on how to 
recreate sonic destruction.

The demented, growled vocals are very high in the mix - normally
this would put me off but it really works in this instance, bringing
the rawness up another level. Sometimes this genre can seem to
have a lot of generic bands that use the same template but Wraiths
have put their passion on the line and have come up with something
brutal but honest.


Band Blurb:
WHR025 Wraiths 
Wraiths EP 

1. Pyramid Head 02:52 
2. Church Burner 03:32 
3. Hell Ride 04:15 
4. Black Vultures 04:22 
5. Monolith 07:27 

Rae Robinson - Vocals 
Dan William - Guitars 
Daniel Charlton - Guitars/Keys 
Dale Husband - Bass Guitar 
Richard Baker - Drums 

With a crushing heaviness that feels more like a personal act of God going off in your face when you press play than merely listening to a record, it's an understatement to say that Wraiths bring the mosh. Hailing from the North East of the UK, Wraiths have committed five tracks of downbeat, downtempo and downtuned pit-bait to tape, a 20 minute pummelling of truly mammoth proportion. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Richard Doney at Landscape Studios, Cleveland, this EP is a primal force of nature, mixing up the fast with the slow and the slower still, each palm mute hitting like a hammer, every self-loathing scream clawing at your soul. And when the mosh drops 20 seconds in to opening track 'Pyramid Head', you'll not resist the urge to regress, tear off your shirt and pound the ground. 

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Richard Doney at Landscape Studios, Cleveland. Artwork & layout by Ben Aucott. Limited to 50 copies on cassette, and pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp.

Name your price at Witch Hunter Bandcamp

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Saturday 1 June 2013

What's on the car Stereo part 3

Right.......onto what's been stopping me hearing various rattling noises that my car makes !!!....

W.A.S.P - The Headless Children 1989

One of my favourite Metal albums....ever.....all the songs are full on hard riffing belters....ok theres one slow track, Forever Free, but it has a blinding solo and shows Blackie Lawless's vocal talents to the max...he has a great rawk and roll voice. Their cover of The Who's "The Real Me" is a joy to behold. I saw them on The Headless Children Tour and they were very good....this being the first tour they had done without all their trademark pyrotechnics and associated unpleasantness. The follow up to this album "Helldorado" is also worth a listen although all their output before Headless and after Helldorado does leave me rather cold.

Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction - Tattooed Beat Messiah 1988

Another of my faves......saw them live loads of times around 87/88......always entertaining to the max despite being laden with every rock cliche you could think of !! This album really kicks ass....full of catchy foot stomping riffs and some of the most outrageously un-PC lyrics you will ever hear....I also had to listen to their first EP which contains the brilliant High Priest Of Love whose intro and opening riffs always make me want to jump up and down !!....how can you not warm to a band whose members included Slam Thunderhide (drums), Trash D Garbage (bass) and Cobalt Stargazer (guitar) !!

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Various 
I was given a compilation of the best of their stuff from 1995 to date (they are still actively gigging) and found it very hard to stop playing it !! They are an American band (formed in 1988) who play Indie/Moody/Psych/pop/rock/jangly sort of stuff with an edge. I've not actually heard a whole proper album so can't recommend one in particular......but on the strength of what I've heard thus far you won't be too disappointed with anything they have produced. 
Here's a sample of them live 

....check them out....I don't expect they are to everyone's taste but the world would be a very boring place indeed if we all shared the same opinion !! 

Motorhead - Blitzkreig in Birmingham - Live '77

Superb quality early recording of the classic line up of Lemmy/Fast Eddie
and Philthy playing all the first album plus a few other favourites......
a blistering show and raw as hell.

Without God - Lambs to the Slaughter - 2012

Doom-ish stuff from Russia......heavy chugging satisfying riffs with great solos throughout.
BIL review

Monster Magnet - Roadburn -Live 2004

Another of my absolute fave bands of the last 15 or so years....they rarely disappoint with any of their releases and I can sum up this live album in one sentance...."magnificently awesome slab of arsekicking footstomping mayhem" and they do a cover of The Stooges 1970 !!! If you've not heard them rectify that immediately.....especially if you are a fan of Hawkwind......who are ,without doubt, MM's favourite band on the planet !!


High Tide - Sea Shanties - 1969

Much name checked English band......this is their first album and jolly good it is too......great solos (guitar and fuzz violin),enjoyable jams and very good songs....featuring Simon House on violin (later to become a member of Hawkwind).....the lead singers voice is unnervingly similar to Jim Morrison of The Doors at times.....the only complaint about this their debut release is that it is very short !!

Montrose - Montrose - 1973

One of the great classic heavy rock albums...ever !! Named after the lead guitarist Ronnie Montrose (1947-2012) this contains the awesome Rock The Nation, Bad Motor Scooter, Space Station Number 5, Rock Candy and Make It Last.....all have huge memorable riffs and cannot be faulted in any way. Vocalist Sammy Hagar gives it all he is worth as do the rest of the band. I saw Hagar on 2 of his solo tours in 79/80 when he had Montrose's bassist Bill (the Electric) Church in his line up.....he never disappointed...a great front man and very good guitarist as well. Even now in his mid-60's he is still rocking out with Chickenfoot whose members include Joe Satriani and Chad Smith. Their follow up album "Paper Money" (1974) is also worth checking out especially to hear the original version of "I Got The Fire" which was covered with great success by Iron Maiden in their early days. Their last 2 albums Jump On It and Warner Brothers Presents are best avoided at all costs....totally uninspiring. 

Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent - 1975

A most satisfying rock album featuring songs Snakeskin Cowboy, Stranglehold and Stormtrooping amongst many others.....a very good guitarist and totally over the top showman.....his pastimes and beliefs haven't always brought him universal acceptance but there is no denying his ability with a guitar. His later releases Cat Scratch Fever and Gonzo Live are probably more familiar to most but this earlier album is well worth getting hold of. He had a reputation of being the loudest rock act on the planet and to emphasise this ,and by way of a great attention seeking publicity stunt, all the windows at Hammersmith Odeon would have brown tape ( a la Blitz in London in WW2) criss crossed over them to prevent shattering !! His other famous stunt was to shatter a wine glass with the volume and frequency generated by his guitar !! This was sadly a stunt he wasn't allowed to do at the Odeon on the times I saw him there in the late 70's.....health and safety said "No !!"....their decision was obviously based on the truth behind this which involved a sharpshooting member of the road crew in the wings who would fire at and shatter the glass with an air rifle at the given time !!

Smashed Gladys - Social Intercourse - 1988

As good a slab of high energy rock and roll glam sleaze metal as you could ever wish to hear......featuring the gravel voiced Sally Cato and lyrics which are totally un-PC from first to last, this lot, who came from New York, will leave you with a smile on your face and your best stomping foot hurting by the wind off groove on side B !! Check out Eye Of The Storm....a melodic start leading to absolute mayhem with one of the best screams on vinyl.

Iggy and the Stooges - Ready To Die - 2013

I'm a huge fan of The Stooges and was wholeheartedly sickened by the limp final offering that was The Weirdness album (featuring the late Ron Ashton) released a few years ago. This goes some way to redressing that abomination. Now with James Williamson back on guitar duties this would be an awesome 6 track EP...the other 4 tracks having "filler" written all over them....the lyrics tend to be rather lame as well.....Iggy himself has said that he's lost "The Rage" as his life is now pretty much comfortable but there is no excuse for including some of these songs. That said the other 6 are cracking...great guitar from JW with some very old Stooge reminiscent riffs straining to get out. Certainly worth given this your undivided...by the 2nd or 3rd run through you will have worked out which tracks to "skip" on the cd player.

Day After The Sabbath 73 - Hammond Lord

This is a tribute compilation in memory of the late Jon Lord, legendary keyboardist with Deep Purple and chief exponent of the Hammond Organ sound. This comprises 14 tracks by largely obscure/unheard of (since release) bands who all featured the Hammond organ. If, like myself, it is a sound that makes you smile then this is for you.
Get this and countless other fantastic comps from the mighty The Day After The Sabbath

Earthless -Sonic Prayer - 2005

Absolutely fucking brilliant !!....Just 2, YES 2 tracks (35 mins in total) Just how do you make a solo as long as the track this interesting ??...1st track is a late Hendrixy-style jam and the 2nd is pure stoner over a Hendrix influenced doom riff.......Tremendous.

Well, I hope some of the above might prompt you to investigate more for yourselves......until next time......
DOUG E DOGG