Scarver's Calling

Better-than-average serial-killer hatecore from Akron, Ohio. But who are we kidding here, the only reason anyone's ever heard of Scarver's Calling is the fact they made it onto a 1999 split 7" with Japanese sludge gods Corrupted. Take the two guitarists and bassist from obscure Cleveland grinders Apartment 213, add a few vocalists and the drummer from Sloth and there ya go: new band. Surprisingly the songs were actually written during the Apartment 213 time period and "Mangler" actually appears on a 213 split 7". The music is pretty solid although the crusty Macabre-ish high/low vocal pairing can get a bit grating. The deep vocalist sounds exactly like the guy from Fornicator and the high one sounds like the dude from Macabre's "Embalmer" (off their Gloom album). The songs have a particularly mean fucking vibe - especially the "Missing Child" one - it just goes on forever. Perfect for all you brooding sociopaths out there. I also included the Corrupted track, a nice change of pace in the fact that it only runs 5 minutes (although I expect the original recording went on a lot longer - there's a weird out-of-place fade at the end); typical pounding sludge from seasoned verterans of the genre.

Driven To Download

There's just one thing...

Sure he's doing commercials for fucking Coors Light today but back in 1991 no one could fucking touch Ice Cube. The guy leaves a lead vocalist spot in the seminal, multi-platinum N.W.A. to drop AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted with East Coast rivals Bomb Squad producing. Goes platinum in two months. Keeps it real the whole time - shills for St. Ides, moves back to South Central - I remember catching some random MTV Raps expo on him (probably when Kill At Will came out) that showed his crib in Inglewood or wherever; it might have technically been a mansion but it still looked fucking ghetto as shit. And when this fucker of an album dropped my sophomore year in college - it did not leave my fucking CD player for over a month. From start to finish, Death Certificate is probably the smartest and most socially relevant rap album ever released. It is easily Cube's best work and still holds up to repeated listens two decades after it was released. Nearly every song is a classic - from the opening "The Wrong Nigga to Fuck Wit" to the hilarious "Givin' Up the Nappy Dug Out" and epic closer "No Vaseline". N.W.A. actually thought they had the high ground with their silly "Benedict Arnold" jabs on Efil4zaggin. Surprise fuckers! They had nothing compared to the absolute beatdown received in "Vaseline" - without a doubt the best (and funniest) musical dis ever recorded. The beats and production by Sir Jinx are flawless; "My Summer Vacation" and "Alive On Arrival" are my personal faves. Revisit this classic now.

A Bird In The Hand

Hurricane Relief

The few long-time followers of this blog surely know of my affinity for Ween, Moistboyz and pretty much anything Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo has contributed his considerable talents to. In addition, his expertise as a fisherman and undying devotion to his home town and east coast shoreline is nothing short of an already cool musician keeping it totally fucking real. Sadly, friends and family of his were directly affected by the Hurricane Sandy disaster of 2012 (some significantly) and things are still far from fully recovered. Hosting two benefit shows in 2012 and 2013 under the moniker Dean Wean & Friends (mostly local pals from Moistboyz, Ween and Chris Harford's Band Of Changes), Mickey has truly gotten his feet wet and hands dirty trying to help the community which gave so much to him. He can tell you about it better than I can here. He recently released a "best" of live mp3 containing choice cuts from the two shows - you got some Bowie songs, a Dead cover, even The Carpenters as well as "She Fucks Me" and some other Boognish favorites. Enjoy.

Take Me Down

Lowest Common Denominator

Yep, with a name like Cumchrist, I just had to get it. Call me a sucker. The one and only release (hence the title I guess) from these Chicago blasphemers is a respectable goulash of brutal death and grindcore. Obvious influences by Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and 40 More Reasons To Hate Us-era Anal Cunt, Cumplete is light years better than the dreck I expected when I first spun the CD. Of course this is absolutely nothing you haven't heard before (including the tired movie samples) but then again this was released in 2002 so I guess I ought to cut 'em some slack. The song titles are straight out of Seth Putnam's reject playbook and for something so clearly a one-shot joke it's surprising how much skill and effort went into it all. Some of the songs rumbled my stereo speakers in a way they haven't been fucked with in a while. The Obituary-esque "God Owes Me Money" and the wonderfully-titled "Crucifixion Must Hurt Like A Bitch" are my favorites. The sound quality varies throughout the album which makes me think this was a sort of demo/sessions compilation but who knows. Don't expect more than a tongue firmly planted in cheek from this LP - it's all over in 23 minutes anyway so what the fuck.

Phlegm Phlagm

Regurfecontocoremintocegues

Ironically, I discovered Brazilian goregrind legends Expurgo by selling my record collection of another band. A cassette copy of Regurgitate's Concrete Human Torture '94 demo I had up for bid on ebay was purchased by the drummer of this band. Through some post-sale correspondence I learned he was a huge RGTE fan and his band Expurgo reflected as much. I promptly picked up their second LP and was pleasantly surprised - manic, blistering goregrind played in perfect homage to their Swedish brethren. And produced to a fucking tee as well. Sick fucking vocals and great breakdown grooves make this one essential. Enjoy.

Sense Power, Be Dead!

Who has the nicest ass?

(Yawn) Man, this weekend kicked my ass. Too tired to dig through the archives for something witty or nostalgic to upload so I'll resort to one of the many versions I have of this proto-grunge classic. While I have several versions which all claim to be from the "actual source" - there is enough analysis out to prove nearly all of them false. Regardless, whether legit or not, it fucking sounds like a particular 18-year old Aberdeen lad and it doesn't take much to imagine Kurt writing exactly this type of material. "Class Of 86" is a fantastic song - my favorite on the demo and so totally fucking on point. "Sound Of Dentage" and "Vaseline" are excellent as well. Sorry about the low kbps - I'm too exhausted to dig through CDs for anything better... considering the 99th generation source it probably came from it probably doesn't matter anyway. Enjoy.

Clone Clone Clone

Do Not Take My Underwear

Awesome, I don't have to kill myself just quite yet. Russian power trio Shit Happiness released Chicken, Wasp And Mole (best translation I could come up with) last month and it fucking kills. Playing a ridiculously addictive post-grunge/noise rock, if you dig Unsane then this is right up your alley. Unike most of their other stuff, the band recruited a quasi-prolific poet vocalist named Greedy Fedul for this release. He doesn't add a whole lot - I'd prefer it if his voice was a little more like Chris Spencer's - but it is nicer listening to songs that aren't just instrumentals. His rambling overdubs are pretty inoffensive - the music more than makes up for it. Solid, fist-pounding shit. Welcome back guys.

скачать

I Gotta Escape!

Man, when this video came out in '89 I was fucking stoked. The sequel to Greg Stump's groundbreaking Blizzard Of Aahhh's, License To Thrill blew his previous effort away with more amazing quasi-psychotic footage of my then-personal heroes Glen Plake, Scot Schmidt and Mike Hattrup. Jesus, I must have watched the flick daily for nearly two years and still have the weathered clamshell VHS to this day. In addition to the skiing, the movie had a killer soundtrack - mostly electronic hip-hop proto-house stuff that I made many a fuzzy VHS-to-cassette copies of. Nasty Rox Inc. is the most prominent band on the soundtrack, a British dance/club/rock quintet featuring the profilic CJ Mackintosh (of M|A|R|R|S fame); their music is like fucking crack, you'll find yourself humming it for days on end. Also on the soundtrack is Hoodlum Priest, a one-man multi-instrumentalist and composer, and electronic music legends 808 State (with then-lead rapper MC Tunes). The soundtrack was never officially released (the only existing copies are promo-only UK cassettes) and the label ZTT shelved the tracks for years. Recently the Nasty Rox Inc. stuff has been officially released and most of the other songs can be found on the internet in one form or another (though the plethora of mixes and remixes makes a legitimate track listing somewhat tough). As a bonus, I included Nasty Rox's "Escape From New York 2" as a bonus track since I had it anyway (I did not include "Nobby's One" even though it is in the movie since it's not that great a tune and sounds pretty much like everything else they do). Unfortunately, I could not track down Kissing The Pink's "State Of Love," the trance-like background tune to the bungee-jump segment. I actually emailed the lead singer so if he hooks me up with it - I'll re-up the link...

11/13/14 update: Song has been acquired. Link re-uppage is done mangs. Enjoy.

Wooba Wubbaa

Soy Un Perdador

I'll give Beck a lot of respect for what he's accomplished over the last few decades but to be honest, I've never been that crazy about anything he released after Mellow Gold. Sure, ¡Odelay! wasn't bad and there are various songs here and there that I've dug but Gold was definitely where it's at, to coin a phrase. In addition to Gold, several CD maxi-singles (ahhh, those were the days mang!) were released on the heels of the "Loser" video breaking big on MTV. The singles were released in the UK and Canada (finding their way to our shores via the brutally overpriced "imports" rack) and were slam packed with some great unreleased material - not the typical filler "live" dreck that usually populated these releases. I've gone ahead and merged the two singles since they both had different tracks entirely - stuff that easily matches the caliber of songs on Mellow Gold. You got the epic trip-hop anthem "Corvette Bummer," the weird acoustic/tribal/experimental "Alcohol" and a six-minute "reject" version of Gold's "Soul Suckin Jerk" (while I prefer the LP version, this is a cool snapshot of Beck fucking around with everything in the studio). "Fume" is a fantastic ode to huffing, "Totally Confused" originally found itself on his 1993 indie effort Golden Feelings - this is a great re-recording and a personal fave of mine. The singles close with "MTV Makes Me Wanna Smoke Crack" - a thinly veiled jibe at the video giant and an unusual look into an alternative universe where Beck is a second rate Vegas lounge act. Enjoy.

Why Don't You Kill Me

Boiling Point

New school Massachusetts hardcore from J. Geils' hometown of Worcester is definitely influenced by the then-dominant metalcore sound of Hatebreed, Red Chord and that ilk but has enough of a Sheer Terror influence to differentiate it from the rest of the Jasta clones. "Choke" is my favorite track on this 10" - fifteen minutes of angry fucking fast groove-heavy hardcore. Good shit.

Nothing Means Nothing

Shub-Niggurath Sludge

I am definitely not as much into this Birmingham, AL sludge quartet as I was when I wrote about them last year, heralding them as the new big thing. Still, Nauseated And Terrified For The Future, recorded in 2010 is a solid slab of heavy Lovecraftian sludge, much in the vein of Black Cobra. Interestingly, this demo's title couldn't have been more apt - after another recording session in 2011 the brand broke up under unpleasant circumstances - so much so that song credits came under dispute and the band decided to "lose" its entire back catalog. As of late last year the band has reformed with different members and is playing a gig here and there around Birmingham; one new song has been recorded and they have a pretty amusing (albeit rarely updated) website here. As for the 2010 incarnation of the band, there is a lot to like - very, very swampy sludge that just gurgles from the bayou. I especially like what they were trying to do with the epic closer "The Great Release" as the song floats from jazz to doom in the most schizophrenic jam session ever. Enjoy.

Invoke

Influenza A

Well it seems everyone else in the house had the flu so I guess it was only a matter of time until I caught it. Fucking sucks. While I'm busy lying around the house feeling sorry for myself, enjoy these two tracks from NYC's finest noise rockers. "Sick" is probably my favorite Unsane track bar none. That bass line fucking rules.

A Turd In Every Punchbowl

Think!

In case you've been living under a rock since 2004, Venomous Concept is a blistering Poison Idea worshipping supergroup featuring members of Brutal Truth, Melvins and Napalm Death. Being a massive BxTx fan at the time this album came out, I simply had to get m hands on anything Kevin Sharp lent his vocals to. So how does it sound? Poison Idea fans will be creaming in their jeans with this record - wicked fast heavy hardcore punctuated by Sharp's abrasive screams. Not particularly original but pulled off perfectly old-school style. "Monkey See - Monkey Beat" is my favorite - amazing how much music they can cram into one minute. The bass-heavy breakdown at the end of "Total Recall" is equally huge - the best thing I've heard in weeks. Enjoy.

Weirdo

Black Mass

Uneven sophomore LP by Boston sludge-meisters Upsidedown Cross. While still a lot better than anything else coming out of the area at the time, when compared to their 1991 eponymous debut it's significantly tougher to listen to. Let's just say more harsh. I don't know if it's overdubbed or not, but the high-pitched lead guitar really grated my nerves at times (of course it wouldn't surprise me if that was the intended point) and the songs are also longer as well which can become tiresome (I think Taang! originally released this gem as a double LP). Anti-lyricist Larry Lifeless rambling his trademark poetry with drunken abandon is the reason you need to have this record, a true audio snapshot of a tortured artist. "Sleazy Mary" is the standout track, a miserable blasphemous rant over an absolutely sick death/sludge/doom cacophony. Probably the last song recorded at the album session when everyone was just drunk, tired, pissed and hated each other's guts. Enjoy.

Blasphemy

Pre-Profanatica

Before we were blessed with Profanatica and Havohej, Paul Ledney got together with guitarist John Gelso and formed the death/black metal crossover Toten in 1987. They released 2 demo tapes, Dreary Proximity (usually called the Misery demo) in 1987 and Macabre in 1988 (Macabre also included bassist Alex Gabriel). While the original master recordings were lost, someone had the good sense to transfer their first-generation cassette copies to CDr and we can now forever relish the lo-fi glory of Toten's early recordings. Fans of Ledney's later work will get a kick out of hearing an embryonic version of "...Of Pestilence" - and "Macabre" is definite shades of Profanatica's "Scourging And Crowning." Wicked fast double bass blast beats behind a über-gained treble fuzz guitar and guttural black vomit vocals. While I'm at it, pretty much everything Toten did sounds like a song Profanatica would have made (or just did in some other form) - good rudimentary black metal from the frosty woods of New England to micturate a Bible to. Enjoy.

Blasphemy

Idle Genocydewinder

Pretty cool (albeit miserable and depressing) sludgecore from Kansas City. Shades of a slower Soilent Green, slightly more "metal" than some of their genre compadres. Cool mythological Egyptian theme going on as well. There's a bit too much of a metalcore-ish sound vocal-wise which they could probably stand to lose but seeing how the band has been on hiatus since 2011 it probably doesn't matter aymore. Released with the sister album Resurface which is equally as good. Enjoy.

Within The Bowels Of Evil

Minneapolis Mud Rock

Fourth LP from cult noise rock four-piece Cows. Obscure and unheralded outside of their urban bubble, they slugged it out in the Twin City trenches for over a decade before breaking up in 1998. A strange amalgam of jazzy freestyle, random feedback noise, rambling poetry and grunge rock, the Cows carved their own niche. Though he'd probably hate the comparison, lead singer Shannon Selberg had his GG vibe going on as well - live shows had the potential for violence - especially against those fans in the front row - spit, boots and the occasional mic stand were all potential weapons. As a disclaimer, if you're expecting something linear, the Cows can get tough to listen to at times (though not without a generous modicum of charm) - tracks for beginners include the approachable "Hitting The Wall" and "John Henry" (imagine very lo-fi grunge) and the Melvins-ish "3-Way Lisa". The Butthole Surfer-esque title track is my favorite - a strange trippy trumpet-filled instrumental soup of chaos. Perfect for your next Oxycontin overdose. Enjoy.

Mooooo

Patriotic Punks

Found this one in the "used" bin at the defunct downtown punk store many a year ago. I had heard a bit of praise for the band and felt $3 was a worthy enough sacrifice to learn whether people I don't know are right. Well, what to say but other than the opener, If Looks Could Kill... is kinda a letdown. The music is more than passable West Coast hardcore; fast with some solid hooks and metalcore-ish breakdowns. The big problem for me is the vocalist. Sounding like a second-rate Serj Tankian, it is just agonizing to listen to the guy. When he's screaming it's great - but unfortunately that is less frequent than not. What could be some epic compositions just come off as painful. Maybe I'm being to hard, obviously the band has a shitload of fans and the vocalist is the only constant member over the past 15 years so I guess I'd better just shut the fuck up. Oh, and for anyone who cares, the guitarist quit this band to play on Eighteen Visions' classic Until The Ink Runs Out. Enjoy.

See For Yourself

GG Worship

Out of the scumfuckin' swamps of Tampa, FL (ironically where GG would record his posthumously-released Carnival Of Excess album) comes the Allin-inspired Jesus Christ And The Gang Bang Whores. Dissatisfied with the routine as a token tribute band to the deceased scumfuc, they evidently began writing their own material - much in the scatological flavor of their fallen punk rock god. From what I've read the band puts their money behind the music, the lead singer (who even looks like a grimy 80's-esque GG) plays naked, fights break out, various bodily fluids make an appearance and... you get the picture. So how does it all sound? Well, definitely scummy, but unfortunately not all that original. "Gutter Slut" has echoes of a downtuned "Teacher's Pet"; "Baby Pussy" sounds like a weird mesh between "Teenage Twats" and "Anal Cunt"; "Even Though Your Dead" is nearly note-for-note "Expose Yourself To Kids"; and the finale "Extreme Randomness" has shades of the drug-laced "Jesus In Mother's Cunt/My Bloody Mutilation" rants from Allin's late-90's gigs. Oddly, the diarrhea-drinkin' ode "Leave The Seat Up For Me" kinda sounds like some drunken Kurt Cobain outtake but that's an argument for another time. Still, the e.p. is a fun listen, especially after a downing a six-pack of skunked Meister Bräu - just pretend it's a forgotten album by our favorite New Hampshire rock 'n' roller. R.I.P. GG.

Crucify

Stupid Sunday

Jesus, where to begin with this one. Fucking retarded two-song demo that I just stumbled upon and felt it necessary to share with the world. Introducing Chile's answer to Abominable Putrudity, the poorly-monikered Alien Parasite. Playing their brand of unsurprisingly generic "slamming suicidal death", the demo offers one quasi-listenable original entitled "Autopsy Rotten And Fermented The Reproductive Organs Of The Invasors" (I mean, really guys? C'mon...) and an Alien-esque cover of Mexican grinders C.A.R.N.E.'s "Use Your Cock." As expected, the opening movie samples (both lifted from Frank Henenlotter's classic Brain Damage) are as long as the broken-English song/album titles but the tired platitude of it all does give it some unintentional charm. Kinda like watching the Special Olympics. Enjoy.

Infested By Putrefaction And Virulent Alien Female Genitals

All In A Name

The aptly-titled Swamp released this murky, low-country slice of sludge in 2011 - perfect for fans of Eyehategod, Iron Monkey and their depressing, similar-sounding ilk. While the record is good, you'll never believe it's only one guy behind the whole thing, even so far as doing the mastering and cover artwork. He's got a bandcamp page and seems to still be playing gigs so hopefully there will be some new material forthcoming.

Trespassers Will Be Shot

How To Survive A Vicious Cock Fight

Pretty decent mathcore/screamo debut from Bay City, MI denizens See You Next Tuesday (C-U-N... aw, you get it). Solid über tempo-change deathcore all pulled off at a breakneck pace, the songs are mercifully short (the entire album running time is a scant 20 minutes) so the schizophrenic cacophony never gets a chance to really fray your nerves. The band recorded a second album, the surprisingly typical death metal-ish Intervals in 2008, a disappointing musical departure from their debut. They promptly disbanded within a year.

Insert Witty Song Title Here

I Woke Up To A Tune On The Radio...

Yet another sweet hip-hop CD-single from the early 90's that has a B-side better than the song it was promoting. Geto Boy's Scarface (a.k.a. Akshun) broke out as a solo artist with his solid 1991 debut Mr. Scarface Is Back. Light years better than anything the other 'Boys did, the album showcased a couple really fantastic songs: the title track, "Money And The Power," "Good Girl Gone Bad" and the epic closer "I'm Dead." Scarface's second single from the album was the sober "A Minute To Pray And A Second To Die" which is not without its charm but simply too slow for my tastes. Its B-side however is a "club mix" of the amazing "I'm Dead." Featuring a a ridiculously cool loop sampled from The Meters "Thinking" (off their classic 1969 Look-Ka Py Py), this low-rent "remix" (which is really just the song with a full-length instrumental tacked on at the end) just fucking rules.

Club Mix

Deathlike Incest

Amazing mini-LP from Swedish extreme music purveyors Regurgitate. Wicked, blistering goregrind from the band who created the genre and was the first to champion the gurgling vocals every token brutal death metal band out there today relies on. Scott Hull of Agoraphobic Nosebleed/Anal Cunt infamy mastered this slab of sickness, adding yet another layer of intensity to a band that was already acutely brutal. In addition to eight new tunes, the band slickly re-recorded some choice cuts from their epic Effortless Regurgitation Of Bright Red Blood LP and Concrete Human Torture '94 demo. Fantastic stuff from a personal favorite of mine, enjoy.

Choke That Piggy

I Love It Loud

Pretty dumb but fun second album by Pheonix, AZ nü metal/goofcore (think Snot and Zebrahead) posse Phunk Junkeez. While some of the beats get a little thin at times ("Me 'N Yer Girl" goes on four minutes waaaay too long and "Smooth Tip" is a terribly forgettable token weed song) there's a good variety of hip-hop vs. metalcore that keeps it fresh, all with a sophomoric sense of humor that will elicit dry guffaws from even the most jaded of you out there. Perfect for a summer party, it never gets too heavy in one direction start irritating your drunk guests. I actually thought of putting this one up after I wrote the "What the fuck Chuck?" tag for the Chuck Mosley post - give it a listen you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Injected

Bomb Squad

While "911 Is A Joke" may not be Public Enemy's strongest song by far, the B-side of this 12" single had a really cool instrumental version of "Revolutionary Generation." which I've never found anywhere else. An awful late-80's Anthrax-esque rap act I regretfully claim to have been a member of actually used it as the backing track to a song we did (a pro-suicide anthem called "Kill Your Fuckin' Self"). Thankfully our group died a swift and deserved death - closing the book on the worst musical aspiration of my life. Enjoy.

K.Y.F.S.

Gruesome Perversities

From their split CD with Brazil's goregrind lords Expurgo, here comes M.D.K. (Murder Death Kill), a more-than-ample three-piece shitting out a schizophrenic mix of gore, brutal death and grindcore. It unfortunately comes off a little complex (like you were playing Regurgitate and an Exit-13 album at exactly the same time) but it's well-produced and shit, it's only 17 minutes long. So bone up, pussy, and enjoy.

Nesga Moagem

Unlucky Charms

Imagine if Anal Cunt had a bassist and Seth Putnam had a really deep voice. You pretty much got New York's Iron Butter. Here are some early demo recordings (circa 2005) unearthed from the 4-track graveyard for you listening displeasure. Inconsistent blur noise nonsense with an occasional groove here and there. Actually, now that I think about it, reminds me more of 7000 Dying Rats.

Split 7" w/ AxMx