The Stooges - Ungano's 1970

More rare than a message in the comments box,

Stooges recordings from the '69-'70 era seem to

be non-existent or just snippets of songs. This is

the best you are gonna ever get, the Funhouse

album being played in its full glory, feel the

savagery and power as God intended.

While the sound quality is hardly "The Song Remains

The Same", anyone who has any live Stooge stuff

knows how shit most of it sounds and will be mightly

relived to know that although recorded by Danny

Fields on his portable recorder, it still pisses over the

turgid levels of "Metallic KO"!

Happy New Year fuckers.

Primal Scream - Sreamadelica

So it is Christmas Day - all the emotions are on

display - greed, happiness, loneliness, envy, gluttony,

family and suicide.

Chill out with this classic album from the Scream.

Oh, please do not think I spent today posting this

for you, I set it up weeks ago!

Killing Joke - Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions (1990)

After the relatively mellow "Brighter Than A Thousand

Suns" and "Outside The Gates", Killing Joke returned

with this monster of an album.

Brutal industrial rhythms, distorted guitars banging

out relentless riffs, Coleman on fine form ranting so

much, you can almost feel the spittle coming out of

the speakers, this marked the beginning of the rich

form that would produce many more albums with

the aggression that many people thought had drifted away.

With the exception of two scheduled posts, this is it until

next year.

Cathedral- The Carnival Bizarre (1995)

This is the third album from Cathedral - even though

it is considered as not being as "important" as the

previous releases (forefathers of the doom resurgence etc)

for me, it has much better production, which means they

actually sound more powerful than before + it is the first

thing I heard by them which always seems to lodge into

the brain.

It is not just crushing doom, though - the vocals are varied

and you can hear metal and prog playing a part in the song

writing, making this a more varied, and ultimately more

satisfying experience.

Band Info

Website

The Reptilians - The Mentalist (2011)

Band request from Idaho, USA.

The Reptilians have released a 27 minute epic track

and if you want to know how to put together a concept

album with no waffle or lack of focus, look no further.

Soft tones and ambient drones start off with comedian

Doug Stanhope ripping into religion - a piano riff slowly

drifts in with picked guitar. This builds up very slowly

to clean vocals until thing start to get very heavy and

we are now into Isis post-metal power. More complex

riffs and rhythms unfold and now powerful guitar solos

are unleashed as the structure shifts into Mastodon

"Crack the Skye" aggression - I know that not everyone

was a fan of that album but I loved it, so me is happy -

shouted vocals are roaring and the climax is bone-shaking.

The production is crisp and clean and all the instruments

are mixed how I like 'em - in your face but without being

too muddy.

Genres are kicked into touch here - metal/prog/sludge?

suffice to say, it is a very accomplished release and I think

that as one of my last posts of this year, you should give it

a listen.

Free download with a bonus track and a very spectacular Artbook

Pdf as well - Here

Band Website

My Album Of The Year - Rational Animals (2011)

This has only been out for two months but "Bock Rock Parade"

by Rational Animals is such a killer release, it is my album of

the year.

With a hardcore sound that is influenced by the later Black Flag

sound and Greg Ginn guitar freakouts in particular, they also

avoid the standard verse/chorus by using AmRep type noise rock

song writing and melodic structures - all of which gets my head

pouding with excitement - it is not rooted in the past though, it

sounds fresh and aggressive and with a clarity that ensures that

every note and yelped vocal can be heard to great effect.

I cannot stop fucking playing it and would recommend you all

to do the same!

Buy record or free download

Soundtrack to my year - 2011

Towers - The Fields
Arabrot - Solar Anus
Rational Animals - Bock Rock Parade
Tom Blacklung & The Smokestacks - Curious Concoction
Cosmonauts Day - Paths Of The Restless
We'll Go Machete - Strong Drunk Hands
Earth - Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light
Rwake - Rest
A Storm Of Light - As The Valle Of Death Becomes Us
Dead Elephant - Thanatology
Enablers - Blown Realms & Stalled Explosions
Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
KEN mode - Venerable
Pneu - Highway To health
The United Sons Of Toil - When The Revolution Comes
Touche Amore - Parting The Sea Between You & me
Henryspenncer - To The Timeless Valley
Amebix - Sonic Mass
These were the albums that made me jump up and down

the most. There are no links in this post but a lot have been

featured on this blog and the rest are out there.

In the next couple of days, I will post which one became

my album of the year.

Rage Against The Machine - S/T (1992)

Just some guys who combined Zepp type metal

riffs with some shouty rap - people had tried before

and why should this of been any different?

You know the score - this album ripped up the

rule book and burned a new sound in music, this

still sounds fucking fantastic today - when was the

last time you played it?

Breach - It's Me God (1997)

Breach came from Sweden and started off as a hardcore

band with plenty of metal influence and as a result sounded

pretty generic.

But with this album they found their own identity, taking a

step away from the metal edge and producing a much more,

refined hardcore sound, a more organic song structure and

by slightly slowing things down, bringing a more brooding

menace to things whilst still keeping the aggression.

For fans of Shellac crossed with Unsane - although next year,

Refused would steal the crown with their ground breaking

"The Shape of Punk To Come", this definitely needs to be

listened to.

Band Info

Cara Neir - Stagnant Perceptions (2011)

Band request from Dallas, TX.

Cara Neir are a two-man project which is primarily

Black Metal, a genre I know very little about but this

seems to step beyond it's limitations and I can hear

Crust, Hardcore with lashings of heavy Sludge and

I can dig the almighty noise this delivers.

The guitars are gloriously distorted and totally mesh

with the vocals, which would not sound out of place

on a grindcore album.

There are some atmospheric passages which do not

diminish the power but add to the feeling of unease.

The faster tracks mix an epic feel with brutality and

as the sheer aggression washes over your senses, you

are suddenly aware of the fucking great guitar riffs

that are lurching out of the speakers.

If my limited knowledge in any way makes you feel

like checking them out, listen below.

They are also cool guys and have a pay-what-ya-want at Bandcamp

Facebook

Cosmonauts Day - Paths Of The Restless (2011)

Band request from Moscow.

I reviewed the Cosmonauts Day demo earlier in

the year and was impressed by the level of post-metal/

progressive sludge they had to offer but with this first

full length album, they have gone on to a whole different level.

In a genre that is in danger of becoming saturated with

sound-alike clones, this band - along with "Awake in Sleep"

and "Alaskan" - have forged their own identity and produced

a stunning album.

Hugely powerful post-metal riffs which have a throbbing sludge

feel to them assault your ears, while the atmospheric ambient

passages trick your brain into relaxing, making the thunderous

return to sonic heaviness really explode from the speakers.

Excellent production means that everything can be heard with

maximum impact - this is highly recommended.

And because they are good guys, you can pay what you like from Bandcamp