Vinnie Paz & Stoupe The Enemy Of Mankind

Alright fuckers - done with the lo-rent death metal - at least for a post or two. Straight outta Philly comes the first hip-hop record since 1994's Niggamortis that has raised a dry smile on my mug since the golden age of rap ended. Sounding a heckuva lot like the Gravediggaz (especially "Books Of Blood"), Jedi Mind Tricks keep it lo-fi without completely sounding like they are recording on a couple of 18-D battery ghetto blasters. Some of the "guest" rappers are a tad weak - who the fuck are the Lost Children Of Babylon? - but it all works overall. While the duo would eventually focus on more politically-charged shit, this first LP is a refreshing amalgam of science, history and tongue-twisting pop culture vocabulary. Amazingly the guys, while changing members over the decades, have stayed completely independent throughout - selling their records with a heard-earned swap-meet mentality, and their success speaks for itself. En-fucking-joy.

Last Straw

Choke Puke Slap Fuck

Banal brutal death grind from Budapest done exactly by the numbers yet for some weird reason it's not only listenable but mildly catchy for all the 10 minutes of their 2008 demo. Interestingly, the trio inexplicably re-recorded Meat as Meat 2.0 two years later - the latter sounds absolutely terrible in comparison (you can download it for free here) which goes to show a flashy production studio does little for a grind band's groove. Still, the guys eventually managed to release a full-length in 2013 which sounds exactly like you would expect it to... and their facebook page hasn't been updated since...

Letöltés

Local plug...

Chompin' on my Tel-Star burrito the other week at a personal fave mexi-cali joint I was intrigued by a flyer promoting a weekday show by some cooly-monikered band called Hoboknife. Unfortunately the gig was cancelled the day it was supposed to happen but my slightly piqued interest was enough for me to search out their bandcamp page. Amazingly it was worth the visit. A weird death/heavy/black metal amalgam that sounds fresh from the late 90's, Hoboknife play "drunken black-and-roll straight off the rails" (per their facebook bio) and while it's nothing I'd ever kill for it was nice to hear an active RVA band that isn't metalcore. Enjoy.

Straight off the Greyhound

My Name Is Really Mud...

No, this isn't a Pork Soda post, it's instead the then-customary early 90's remix single by NYC crossover legends Prong. Hot off the heels of their so-so Prove You Wrong LP, they grabbed Killing Joke (and future Prong) bassist Paul Raven (then a competent programmer in his own right) and Foetus mastermind J. G. Thirlwell for a better-than-most maxi-CD single. Interestingly, as opposed to the bonus stuff Faith No More was releasing at the time, the remixes aren't that much of a variant - they still basically sound like the original, only much more "industrial" - no doubt an effort to cash in on the up-and-coming genre spearheaded by Ministry at the time. Interestingly, a few of the songs work a lot better in their remix version than on the source record - without a doubt both "Prove You Wrong" cuts are far superior. The dry smile inducer on this one is a "previously unreleased" cover of Music Machine/Alice Cooper's "Talk Talk". Sadly though, it just makes the admittedly subpar originals simply sound soooo much better. Enjoy.

Fuzzbuster Harm Dub Safety Xanax

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! YEEAAHHHH!

While his output with Black Flag is unquestionably a watershed influence on SoCal hardcore, Hank Rollins' most cohesive (and undeniably best) work is his 1988 debut LP by the eponymous Rollins Band. Seriously, Life Time may be the heaviest album ever. Fuck doom and Khanate, Otesanek and all that post metal shit - their efforts may be bleak and miserable but not heavy. Not like this. Causal case in point: track four "Lonely." The perfect bludgeoning opening (thanks to über-bassosaurus Andrew Weiss) is the most sadly minor key dirge-of-a-fuck of a song I have ever heard... even before Henry starts in on his cynical "I hate the world that I think hates me" lyrics. What is so great about Life Time is that I feel what Henry is going through. The nearly nine-minute lament of "Gun In Mouth Blues" absolutely redefined what music can actually be; I wrote a fucking book thanks to that song and would seriously encourage any listener to seriously take a check of one's life while listening to the final audal minutes of a determined suicidal souls' existence. The closer "Turned Out" is unrestrained id gone astray - the epitome of hardcore by the guy who defined it... I doubt there has ever been as much anger compressed into one song as on this fucker. My old school Texas Hotel CD has a couple bonus live tracks from Belgium - later remastered by the man himself but enjoy these raw cuts.

Prepare To Destroy

I Can Easily Destroy All the Things I Have Created!

Hailing from the Hellenic Reuplic of Greece, Dodsferd began as a somewhat typical one-man black metal outfit, eventually (inevitably?) expanding into a 3-piece by 2008's Death Set The Beginning Of My Journey. A welcome change from the tinny Burzum-esque guitar/drum machine loops of their earlier material, Dodsferd really matured into a legitimate band on this LP. While some of the songs drag on a few measures too long there are enough ample riffs stuffed into each of the six anthems to keep it interesting. "Suicide Was Created..." is my fave track - while never really letting up its rabid pace it manages some pretty cool breakdowns in the midst of the chaos. Vocalist (and founder) Wrath has a pretty good range - he's a bit screechy at times but all in all a solid howler - overdubbing his vocals in a cool crustcore style. My only complaint with the record is my neurotic gripe with black metal itself, the "trying to sound evil" vibe of the whole thing kinda comes off more silly than scary. But that's just me. Enjoy.

Hypocritic Shitfuckers Still Breathing

Kausing Much Damage

Suckin' down a 40 of Old E this Thursday evening has got me in an old-school frame of mind. Too bad most hip hop scholars' only clue to KMD's existence was frontman Zev Love X's cameo on 3rd Bass's subpar Cactus Album - a cameo that painfully confirms the lackluster rap skills of the two white boy frontmen. His tongue-twisting contribution to "Gas Face" saved that record from being completely forgettable. Since 99.9% of everyone reading this are newbies, a convenient intro to the group is their 2003 The Best Of KMD compilation LP. Culling tracks from Mr. Hood (1991) and Black Bastards (half-heartedly released in 1998), don't expect shades of 3rd Bass on this one. KMD sound like a lo-fi Brand Nubian (who actually turn up as guests on "Nitty Gritty") and are significantly more mean-spirited than the impression you may have gotten watching a young Zev Love spin around a lamp pole in the "Gas Face" video. Funny and cynical, it is amazing the band didn't make more of a dent in the scene before being dropped by Elektra due to their second album's controversial title. Sadly, DJ Subroc was killed on the L.I.E. before Bastards ever made it to record stores - Zev Love disappeared from the scene only to reinvent himself as MF Doom years later. I urge you to check out the full versions of KMD's albums - why don't they make rap like this anymore is anyone's guess...

This G gets the Gas Face man...

UKrust

Solid British mid-90's lo-fi crust from an era where hardcore was having a much-welcome resurgence after too many years of grunge, death metal and godawful hair bands. Never released or repackaged on CD, this a shitty mp3 rip straight from the 2nd pressing vinyl. What I dig the most about Incubation is the genre-crossing - one second they are playing powerviolence (there are some definite Man Is The Bastard influences) before crushing into some fucking awesome Dystopia-esque breakdowns. Awesome shit. If you dig the band, check out the blog written by the bassist - some fucking cool reminiscing of his old HxCx days as well as a link or two...

Let It Die

Lovecraft Worship

Solid 4-track E.P. (demo?) from an elusive RVA five-piece that I can barely find anything about. Fronted by attractive, well-tattooed female lead singer K.Z., I am unsure if the above I Am Providence was recorded by the time she joined the band in 2010, as the vocals sound significantly less screamo than their later albums. Actually, it makes me wonder if this E.P. is even by the same band as there's no mention of I Am Providence on any of the various bios I've found around the internet. Regardless, this is good ol' southern sludge with a definite Soilent Green influence. Heavy-handed with Lovecraftian references, my favorite track is the trippy, riff-heavy "Glossolallia." I was happy to discover the band is still chugging away and recently released a two-song cover E.P. - drop some duckets for a local DIY band here. Enjoy.

Stenchcore

Death To False Metal

Over twenty-five years in retrospect - it's amazing how absolutely cheesy this album (and basically everything Manowar touched) is. I can actually remember the conversation I had with my confused anti-hair metal friend (sadly he was very much in denial...) at Alwilk Records as he tried to convince me that Manowar were putting the "heavy" back into heavy metal and I had to drop an ungodly amount of cash for this CD (of which he only had the cassette and desperately needed the bonus track). At the time Manowar held the Guinness World's Record for loudest band or something unremarkable like that, I don't know what about this made them "good" or "listenable" - as far as I was concerned fucking Duran Duran could fill a stadium with amps and claim that title and that was fine by me. Pushing the boundaries of geekdom, Manowar channel their Excalibur-esque version of metal to such an extent that the laughable "The Warrior's Prayer" short story could be mistaken for trailer narration stolen from any number of 1980's sword-and-sorcery epics. As far as the music goes, it's token heavy metal cheese - ultra-obnoxious guitar solos (courtesy of Ross The Boss, 'natch), big vocal choruses and an ear-piercingly screaming lead singer that would do Dio proud. Seriously, the guy is basically a parody of metal singers he is so obnoxious. The album's title track is really the only one that rises above the muck - it's got such a ridiculously presumptuous swagger that it is probably exactly what Seth Putnam was channeling as Anal Cunt recorded cock-rock tribute Fuckin' A. Awfully boastful prowess by a band who likes to claim they "wear jeans and leather... not cracker jack clothes" although every press photo I've seen shows the guys oiled up and dressed in Viking-esque loincloths. It's too bad Manowar shot their wad so long ago - this generation's Game Of Thrones fanboys would have probably eaten this shit up. Still, a fun ride down memory lane.

All Men Play On 10