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

Those crazy Nutmeggers

Here's a sold 16-minute live set from Connecticut black metallers Profanatica. Recorded at the defunct underground haven G. Willikers in Pennsauken, NJ, the band tears through five of their most blasphemous classics with typical Jesus-hating panache. I'm pretty sure this gig did not show up on their obscure Live CD from 2001 - I actually ripped it from some bootleg DVD I got of the band ages ago. Interestingly, the DVD also has a pretty thorough interview with Paul and his cronies that ends with Ledney pissing in a glass and gargling it while he torches a bible (and extinguishes it with said urine). Sorry to all but I unfortunately didn't have time to rip that as well. Next time... next time...

1991

Layin' Up With Ledney

I'll be perfectly honest, I'm not a huge fan of GG's country stuff. It's not the production values or the fact that it's acoustic or anything that sadly specific; it's just... fucking... country. I'd rather it was goddamn folk like the shit Charlie Manson churns out on a regular basis (mental note... upcoming post...) Regardless, compared to most of the godawful shit out there today GG's outlaw C&W is still perfectly listenable and his lyrics easily transcend the genre he's slumming around in. Which brings me to his postumous 1993 single with the Carolina Shitkickers. Basically a one-off recording session (truthfully yet slyly advertized as his final original recorded work) with ANTiSEEN, GG does what he does with an arguably tired panache that was (to me) quickly becoming stale even back then. "Layin' Up With Linda" is the selling point - a black-humored ditty about a female who was around just a little too long. "I Wanna Fuck The Shit Out Of You" is a forgettable take on some David Allen Coe tripe. And the B-side is a passable (thanks to the breakdown in the chorus) acoustic "Outlaw Scumfuc" recorded the previous year. Interestingly, however, this 7" was released on 'Genocide fave TPOS Records and producer/bassist Malcolm Tent had plans to record a hardcore E.P. with the scumfuc upon his release from prison. Sadly "GG lost interest and then died" according to Malcolm. Pity too since Tent's band recorded the music and all the guy had to do was phone in a vocal track - it would be interesting to know if Allin had any finalized lyrics (they had song titles so who possibly?) Oh well, one can only guess. So Malcolm did what any record label with too much spare time would do and compiled all the stuff they recorded onto a limited 8-track with the original 7". The tunes would have really been a nice addition to the GG archives had they ever been completed - very Suicide Sessions feel to them. In a last coincidental note, drumming was performed by Connecticut black metal icon Paul Ledney of Profanatica and Havohej fame - his signature double bass is a dead giveaway. No pun intended. Tracks are from the original digital source so no vinyl skips or 8-track imperfections here. Check out some pics of the cassette here. Enjoy.

P.S. I just found out (June 2015!) that the name of the band was intended to be GG & The Connecticut Cocksuckers, 'natch.

I Eat Your Flesh

Lowering the bar...

Paul Ledney really had a tough act to follow after 1993's amazing Dethrone The Son Of God. His 1994 The Black Mist 7" came closest to the aura DTSOG attained; sadly, excrable production and the typical imperfections of a vinyl-only release kept that one from being a real gem. 2000's Man And Jinn was heralded as a profane return to form - in my opinion it's anything but. I guess I just don't get black metal, why does sounding like absolute shit mean you have the edge on being unholy? It's one thing when Abruptum are ad-libbing as more of a performance art thing - it's another when Ledney, who's proven he's a talented musician takes the easy way out with the typical grinding blastbeat wall of noise punctuated by a vocoded "aaaaaahhhhhhh" every now and then. The cover of Impaled Nazarene's "Goat Perversion" is really the only reason this EP made it onto the blog - and that's just because it's a great song in it's own right. Jehovah fo nruter eht rof gnitiaw llits.

Burn

 
Currently watching: The Freakmaker 
Currently listening to: Sister Souljah 360 Degrees Of Power

Death Metal 101

Incantation's debut LP is, quite simply, the best death metal album ever. The first time I heard them was on a Relapse Records compilation album - and it's been a love/hate relationship ever since. They've had fantastic albums like the above and Upon The Throne Of The Apocalypse; and then they've had CDs of utter swill as generic as any nameless band in the death metal scene. Fuck that new shit, don't be fooled into thinking Onward To Golgotha is anything but incredible. Huge, grinding riffs, gurgling vocals before the "ree, ree" took over everything, double bass and enough evil and Satanism without sounding hokey or schtick. Incantation redefined a genre saturated with too many Obituary and Cannibal Corpse clones. Enjoy the doom.

Onward

I Vomit On God's Child

While I've never been wicked (ha!) into black metal, the band Profanatica was one of those rare diamonds in the rough and I was pretty disappointed when they broke up before ever really getting it together. In comes Paul Ledney's one-man band Havohej to fill the void; Profanatica's ex-drummer/singer re-recorded many of the band's tracks with production A LOT better then most black metal albums (later Havohej releases included). Yep, there's no annoying analog tape/drum machine/whatever hiss throughout the recording, it's clean, tight and evil; a great album chock full of brilliant blasphemy. Profanatica has since reformed, Havohej has gone on to release other albums but I gotta say Ledney was at his peak in 1993.

daolnwoD