BAD BRAINS - ROCK FOR LIGHT 1983

I thought I'd start trawling through my vinyl collection to see if 

there was anything that would be suitable to grace this noise filled site 

and got as far a "B" before I pulled this album out which hadn't seen a 

turntable for possibly near on 20 years!

    

It simply exploded through the speakers as the stylus did its stuff and my
speakers wondered what the hell had just happened !! I also pondered as to
why it had taken this long to listen to it again. An absolutely brutal assault
of an album that will please all you hardcore punk fans out there who
may be unfamiliar with this legendary American band. 

The tracks come thick , fast and furious but thoughtfully the band give
us time to gather our collective breath by interspersing the onslaught with 3
excellent chill out dub/reggae tracks....not sure if this is a good thing or not,
as no sooner have you been lulled into a nice mellow groove then without
further delay you are towed along again at 100 mph. Vocals are lightning
fast, but all the words are in there somewhere !! You seriously can't read
the lyrics and keep up with what you are hearing at points. The
instrumentation is full on and very together with very good production
throughout. The album was actually produced by Ric Ocasek who was the
main man in US-style rock band The Cars....if you've ever heard anything by
them ( I seriously DON'T recommend that you do if you haven't !) you may,
like myself, wonder how he came to produce this lot !!

If you are unfamiliar with Bad Brains here's a few bits and pieces to give you a taster...

First up an alarming clip of them from 1982 performing "Banned In DC" 

 ....Would YOU ask the large gentleman in the yellow t-shirt with 

the mohawk to "kindly leave the stage " ??!!

Banned in DC live 82

Next up ...a track from the album

and to further whet your appetite....   

and here's one of the dub/reggae numbers

  

I was lucky enough to see them live at The Astoria in London in 1989
.....they didn't disappoint. 

Right.......off now to continue my search for more long unplayed goodies
festering away in the racks that you might find of interest.

DOUG E DOGG

ARCHIV HATE INTERVIEW MAGAZINE ISSUE #08

Archiv Hate celebrate 3 years of underground sounds with a
astonishing issue of their free web-zine.

This has art, music, interviews, strange and alien images, a readers poll,
in short, a feast for the eyes and mind.

A highly recommended read.

Get here.

This is what Artus and his team have waiting for you:
Welcome to the III year anniversary issue. Archiv Hate interview magazine episode #08 magazine: Finally readers poll results - we have our TOP'13! Cover art by Edvins Eisimonts. Final part of our history lesson of Latvian underground music scene: “TheMedia”, Events -  by Inese Tone. Completely new thing “PERCHTENMASKEN” by Morgan Gleave. Jason Cantu & Danial Gambler never sleeps, they are music absorbing machines, reviews and comments by these gentleman. Interviews withSamothrace, Soundarcade and ADMC07 Artwar. Enjoy!

Towers - II

Jesus on a piss-stick! Towers are back with their new offering

"II" and it is a masterclass in how a band can/ and should progress
from album to album.

I reviewed "The Fields" in 2011 - read Here but this time around
the sonic duo have really delivered some outstanding tracks and
show what can be done with drum/bass/vocals.

The sludge element is still the driving source but this time around
the songs are infused with ideas and atmospherics that bring a
more doomy and psych feel - combined with a hardcore aggression
that keeps the menace swirling around the tracks.

This is an album that demands to be played in one sitting. You are
carried along in this soundscape from start to finish and as a cohesive
whole blends into an almost epic concept album.

Vocals are screamed, muttered, crooned and chanted with effective
and creepy results. The sound is of course low-end but with many
different effects and playing styles, the middle end of the musical
scales are well catered for. The production is just great - everything
sounds full on without losing clarity or aggression.

Drones and sound effects are used along with quieter passages to bring
the pace and feel down - not to a peaceful interlude though - more like
"walking down an unlit street and hearing nothing apart from
something that appears to be following you".

This is highly recommended.

Buy from Eolian Empire

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Thanks to Dave for sending this to me.

Shroud Eater - Dead Ends

At least half a year after the release from Shroud Eater came out,

I finally get to hear it ......... and yes, it was worth the wait.

This is top-notch sludge infused with hardcore attitude and spine

shuddering music to match. 

Strong songwriting brings varied and tempo changing arrangements

to the fore while keeping the riffs heavy and bone breaking. The

production is great, bringing clarity and depth without losing any 

aggression or feeling. The songs are prime cuts of raw power, helped by 

the ruthless, precise playing of the band. 

There are no passages of aimless time wasting despite most the tracks

being over 5 minutes long - just relentless, groove laden riffage with

epic, surging songs that pummel as well as thrill.

The overall sound is massive, low toned and dense. Yes Sir, I like it.

If this is just the EP, bring on the album. This sets a very high benchmark

which will be used in the future by myself to rate other bands of this genre.

Buy from Bandcamp

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Thanks to Clifton for sending this to me.

Henry Blacker - Hungry Dogs Will Eat Dirty Puddings

A rock band, three piece, two from the group ‘Hey Colossus’ 

and a brother on the drums and with only that short into,

Henry Blacker have become my favourite new band.

This is solid rock grime'n'roll - no endless jamming or

meandering, just mean and lean riffs with a sonic denseness

that means business. 

Lots of abrasive vocals, crushing guitars and clean, pounding 

drums and bass really tie things together in the songs with a

great sounding production.

With a post-hardcore vibe and Am-Rep attitude, this album

hurtles down the road of thug rock, stopping only to deliver

world weary messages of suspicion and bitterness. There

are grooves aplenty here to give a melodic catchiness to the

mostly brooding tracks.

The tracks just fly by and have a raw, recorded live feel to them 

which I always like to hear. No song is too long but they still manage 

to fit some angular guitar riffs in to ensure that there is always something 

being played beyond just basic chord patterns.

Let Henry Blacker become your favourite new band.

Get from Riot Season - who keep releasing great stuff!

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Thanks to Andy & Lauren for sending this.

Doom Charts of 2013 - Paranoid Hitsophrenic

Lucas from Paranoid Hitsophrenic blogspot has complied
all the votes and lists sent into him and the result is a huge
review of all the albums that people have been grooving to this year.

Check it out Here and leave a comment before he expires from
bleary eyes and sleepless nights!

Street Sects - The Morning After the Night We Raped Death

Street Sects are from Austin, USA and deal in music

that wants to scrape the humanity from your eyes

so you can see the open, gaping sore that the world has become.

Harsh electronics assault the unwary listener but this is

not the drones or random noise of Merzbow but rather a sonic

attack with drums and samples fed through multiple distortion 

pedals so they can pound the 3 tracks into your head.

Black metal vocals vie for space over the grindcore

type song arrangements - cyber-hardcore with added

venom. This is raw and feral shit.

I will hold my hands up and admit that Street Sects play

music that will not often get a look in on my regular

rotation of albums but I am glad it will be near for those times

when only this sort of unholy racket will do!

Buy from Bandcamp

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BORIS - HEAVY ROCKS (2002)

This is another very fine album that Tony sent to me many 

years before the birth of this Blog...... "What if Tony Iommi had 

been born in Japan ?" were the only words that he had scrawled in 

an accompanying note.

After my last review of a band from the land of the rising sun 

(Guitar Wolf) some of you may be shaking in your boots at what I'm 

presenting you with now, but fear not, this has been more sensibly produced! 

We are treated throughout to a big meaty sound , excellent guitar work and 

great low end goings on. Here is the magnificent attention grabbing opening
track entitled "Heavy Friends" which is so super heavy that it seems intent on
trying to batter its way through the ground back to where it was conceived.

I must point out that this is the only track on the album with this magnitude
of Doom.....the second to last track, "Kane", has Doom overtones but not to
the extent of this opener. .....the rest of the album is an interesting,
varied and highly enjoyable barrage of full on big riffs at a variety of
paces, some in the style of Kyuus/QOTSA and even finding room for one
very spacey Hawkwind type track, "Soft Edge".

Here's the whole album 

and here's a further link for band info and full track listing etc

Wiki

Well worth 47 minutes of your time !!!

DOUG E DOGG    

BongCauldron - S/T

"Tree Wizard" starts off this 32 minute ride into the swamps
of sludge with a mossy side order of doom.

BongCauldron have laid down 5 tracks of sonic power and
filth that will be setting the standard for all things heavy this year.

Monstrous low-end rumbles that rotate around riffs that are never
boring get helped along with feedbacky solos that have the power
to fuck you up from 50 paces.

There is a distorted blues influence that gives a groove and bounce
to song passages and among all the pulverising that is going on,
there is plenty of space for you to nod along to.

The sludge sound picks up a pace and enters some hardcore speed
ramming before descending once more into swamplands.

Vocals sound like tramps fighting over their last can of Special Brew -
which as far as I am concerned is a good thing!

Very, very good indeed your honour.

Buy from Super Hot Records from the 13th.

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Thanks to Chris & Richard for sending this to me.

Barabbas - Libérez Barabbas

Barabbas - sludge/doom monsters who sound like the
unwanted child of High On Fire and Eagle Twin are
going to unleash their new album sometime in June.

In the meantime, as they are good guys - their skull crushing
debut release from 2011 is available as a free download.

Fill yer boots if you ain't heard it - it's good stuff!

Name your price at Bandcamp

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