In case you're wondering where i've been

it's been a fun ride, but i've moved into another chapter of my ever failing life. i host a radio show on youtube called...political trendy radio. we broadcast every monday from 9 pm and every friday from 1 pm pacific time. subscribe to us at http://www.youtube.com/user/ggallinisgod1 and thanks for listening. i haven't lfet music, in fact ptr has a lot of music talk. subscribe, listen and maybe even join the convo.

Carcass - Heartwork (Mini-Review)

Elliott: carcass were a grindcore band that formed in the 80s, released a great demo and one fantasticly raw album, then got more into death metal and released one good album and one boring as hell album that you have. then they released heartwork and swansong which were much more melodic. about heartwork, it's melodic death metal. so not quite as heavy as they once were but not as rockfish as they got. better now?

Bishop: How did you know which album I had? Anyway, I'm listening to it now but I got side-tracked reading about burglar alarm services. Only partway through on a particularly interesting point about a man who removed his shoes before coming in did I remember I'd put the album on. I dunno man, maybe I've grown out of this sort of music. As a disclaiming - I've never heard this album before, so I'm coming in fresh. I'm on the track "Heartwork" and it reminds me heavily of an Arch Enemy song I can't quite put my finger on. I know Michael Amott's part of both - I'm just surprised, I honestly didn't realise how similar the styles could be at times.

Elliott: I remember you saying which album you had some years back. my take on heartwork is it can't decide what it wants to be. most carcass albums can't. it can't decide if it's death metal or heavy metal, so it trys to blend them into a weird melodic death sound. personally I always thought the sweeds did it better. but I don't want to spoil your impressions with my take. and yeah, arch enemy was like heartwork 2.0 but with a shit vocalist..that was until carcass recorded heartwork 2.0

Bishop: I resent the Arch Enemy point. The first few albums, the ones with Johan Liiva at the helm, were pretty brilliant in places. There was a dip when Angela joined, but it still had it's shining moments after they got a few more albums in. Then they got repetitive, but I digress. Maybe it's because I'm coming into this so late. It's like when you see a film that kick-started a certain genre, and you're dull to it because you've already seen everything that came after it and was influenced by it. This album just feels pretty bland to me. I can't put my finger on it, but I largely thing that's because there's nothing to put my finger on.

Elliott: yes, the first couple albums were good, i'll give you that. I was referring to the later material, when they decided to become a serious joke band if you know what I mean. my main problem with this album is it goes in one ear and out the other aside from a few intro riffs. the followup swansong actually had catchy songs, and the early grindcore stuff was just awesome, but this feels like fast food. you eat it and go..what'd it taste like? also do you get the idea that carcass doesn't know what they want to be on this album?

Bishop: Yeah, I agree with that totally. Them not knowing what they want to be could be an issue. It sorta sounds to me like a band that has no pressure on them, they create music and just sorta go, "Yeah, that sounds good" and sticks with it. It's like they had no pressure to try and stick out from the crowd like more generic bands do. Maybe that's an issue with being in such a niche market.

Elliott: I never thought of it like that but I agree, they wanted to expand and get a bit bigger but no one had any expectations. you were either blown away by the last album and thought they couldn't do better, or you thought the last was an overly long mess that went nowhere. this sounds like a band asking are we death metal or hard rock? rather than blending the two like Swedish bands they just seem confused. you'll get hard rock sections, blast sections..not very melodic either

Bishop: No, nothing really there in terms of melody. Maybe that's why it falls flat. I don't have a lot more to say on this. I don't really enjoy it, and I don't get the fuss, or why some people seem to hold it to high regard.

Elliott: the vocals are alright I guess. but yeah, carcass is really only 2 albums for me the first one and the last. Sweden did melodic death a lot better. this just feels machine like to me. not big on the production either

Political Trendy #5

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The Protomen – Act II: The Father of Death

The Protomen – Act II: The Father of Death

1. Intermission

2. The Good Doctor

3. Father of Death

4. The Hounds

5. The State vs. Thomas Light

6. Give Us the Rope

7. How the World Fell Under Darkness

8. Breaking Out

9. Keep Quiet

10. Light Up the Night

11. The Fall

12. Here Comes the Arm

Bishop: So, here we have the second album from The Protomen. Some backstory – this is actually a prequel album, set before their first album (now unofficially dubbed Act I by the fans). It’s a lot more theatrical, and leans heavier on 80’s rock opera influence – again, the booklet fleshed out the plot more than the songs do. The plot essentially deals with two inventors who create a machine, but argue about how it should be used. Afterwards, one of the inventors uses the machine to kill the others girlfriend/wife, Emily, and pins the murder on him, forcing him to eventually leave the city and abandon his work. A lot more going on plot wise, a lot more musically. It sounds like an 80’s album through and through, with some Meatloaf in there I guess? The ending track is one of my favourite endings to an album ever – and it’s only made better if you’re properly involved with the plot.

Elliott: The first thing I notice is the production is better. The first album had a bad production job I didn't really like, raw but in a digital way, this one sounds good. Also, they don't do what they did on the first album which was having a nice melodic idea then go the other way with it, it's a very melodic album. The vocals are also better. Still wile I listen I can't help but think how it'd sound if Judas Priest recorded it. Not detracting from the sound, just a thought. One point I do have is that after the girl gets killed, the song after that is rather upbeat, which doesn't match the lyrics

Bishop: The album was produced by Alan Shacklock, who actually worked with Meatloaf, hence the high production values. Regarding the upbeat song - that's because it's sung by the antagonist (hence, also, vocalist change!), who is rallying the people against the good Doctor. It makes sense from his point of view.

Elliott: I guess I get it. Really not much to bitch about, not my usual cup of poison, but it is enjoyable. Very much so. It's a bit too arty sometimes, but the times when they just let it rock they have a good sound with some good riffs and solos. They should do that more and  give the fucking trumpet a rest!

Bishop: I'm assuming you're referring to the instrumentals? They tend to go off on one, but I think they work as really good interludes - especially between the different styles. The first half is quite dark and foreboding, whereas the second half goes full on 80's. Without the instrumentals I think it'd be a bit jarring (plotwise - there's something like twenty years that pass between the first and second half, hence the change in style).

Elliott: No, I just mean I think they should let the music rock more. It's not bad, I'm just not used to this kind of thing. The vocals are better though, real emotion and more voice control. I will say, the guy who plays the Doctor has a better voice than the evil one, the evil one's voice isn't strong enough. He's evil, give him a death metal voice!

Bishop: It's not really cardboard cut-out evil though - he's a manipulator. The whole point of The Hounds is him using the media and public outcry to turn the city against Dr Light. It makes sense for him to be slick and sociable. That said, he crops up so little in the album it makes little sense. He doesn't even appear in the second half anyway.

Elliott: I noticed nice, leave the bad guy out of most of the album. I don't know, I kinda like this. It must be said the drumming is pretty damn good

Bishop: Yeah, quite a few members swapped between the first album and this one. I believe there was a good five year gap between albums. Crazily, the band is about ten members strong now.

Elliott: You can tell as the two are different musically. Damn, ten members, think of the tour fights!

Bishop: They tour in a van, think it might be a mini-bus now. Still, fitting them all in must be a nightmare. The musical difference was entirely intentional too, as I believe the next album is meant to be a total shift in style again. I like a band that can reinvent themselves constantly.

Elliott: Yeah, I have to say that's a plus for this band. Sure bands that go at the same thing and make it good all the time are good, look at bands like Municipal Waste or Deicide, but innovation is refreshing. Still, they're no Coven, they changed from song to song! Haha. I don't know what else to say. I thought I would hate it, and I didn't. It's not my favourite thing ever, but I might give it another listen.

The Protomen (Self Titled)

The Protomen – Self Titled

1 Hope Rides Alone

2 Funeral for a Son

3. Unrest in the House of Light

4. The Will of One

5. Vengeance

6. The Stand (Man or Machine)

7. Sons of Fate

8. Due Vendetta

Bishop: This is a bit of a weird album, so I’ll try and explain it a bit for the readers before we dive in to reviewing it. This is the self-titled debut album release by American rockers The Protomen, occasionally referred to by its unofficial alternate title, Act I. The album is a rock opera that follows the events of the Megaman games. I don’t really follow the games because they do my nut in, so it’s worth pointing out that despite all the songs being about a particular franchise, familiarity with the source material is not required as they pretty much build their own story anyway. Anyway, it sort of has this 90’s metal vibe going on for me, not overly complex in terms of playing, but it’s made up for with the writing and sequencing. I remember reading that when the band formed most of the members were students in the same music class. The first song they wrote was ‘Due Vendetta’ I believe, which they wrote purposely to go against the pristine and clean recordings they were being told to do as part of the classes. After that track they ended up doing the rest of the album. Figured you’d like that point, considering they recorded it all analog rather than digital, I know you’re a sucker for bands doing that.

Elliott: Okay. Here's what I'll do: I'll rapid-fire all my complaints and you tell me where we can start. First off the singer sucks. The production is shit other than the drum sound. Every time the band does something interesting like have a melodic thing or feedback it's like they wanna go to any extreme to make up for that by putting shit parts in. The story is interesting but the songs don't flow together. The story might exist but the songs just feel randomly put on an album. Okay start dissection my bitching.

Bishop: Ha! I had a feeling I'd get this response from you. Where the hell do I start? Okay, I'll start at your first point: the singer sucks. There are two singers. One of them is, admittedly, awful. The other is pretty powerful though, especially on songs like "The Will Of One".

Elliott: They're both pretty bad. I just don't hear any sort of talent. I mean if it ain't punk or metal it better at least have good singers or maybe some melodic parts. Oh one more thing, this band doesn't know what the hell they are. Are we rock? Some sort of protometal thing? What are we? Very, very, very inconsistent. By the way, where in the states are these guys from?

Bishop: It's a rock opera, which generally tend to flitter around in a few different genres from most of the ones I've heard. Whatever is happening in the story tends to reflect in the music; although I'll give you that it's inconsistent - although I wouldn't agree with the wording. For a full album, there's very little progression story wise. It's not a fantastic example of a rock opera. Right, I'll move onto your next point: the production is shit. I'll accept this one too - it's entirely self-produced and pretty rough. I think for an independent and self-funded release it's pretty admirable though, I'd definitely heard worse from other beginner bands. At least these guys had the decency to properly record it, rather than just sticking a microphone in the middle of the garage like most beginner bands do.

Elliott: See, I know what the reader is thinking. I like grindcore and hardcore, but I base my like or dislike of the production on the type of music. For this type of music a raw production just isn't gonna cut it. For punk clean production doesn't cut it. The drum sound is pretty cool though

Bishop: To be honest I imagine that's exactly what everyone's thinking. The other point you make is about no melodic sections, which I think is unfair. The opening track is a six minute almost-instrumental, save for narration. Alright, so there's no traditional metal melodic sections, but that's fine by me, the tracks feel experimental and free flowing (not all the time, but we'll come to that later) and don't feel like someone's gone "Right, we need a chorus here, a verse here, oh, some melodic bit here!” It feels organic in terms of sequencing

Elliott: It feels like some 70’s rip-off where they try too hard to be original. I like melody, that's why I love NWOBHM and stuff. If I want non-melodic stuff I'll listen to Fear of God, but what annoys me is every time they're about to go into a melodic moment they seem to do everything possible to get away from it. Woops, sorry were we trying to be musical? I'm not really into weird arty music. I like melody and stuff. Don't know… that's just me. If you can be heavy and melodic that's awesome too. The intro is the best track on the album. Tt set me up for what I thought was gonna be an amazing album… my how let down I was.

Bishop: If you think this is "weird, arty music", I can show you some horrors. This, to me, is just rock, but not played by numbers.

Elliott: Right, slight problem, because in the 5 seconds it took for us to continue this review (5 seconds, 5 weeks, same thing - Bish) I've slightly changed my mind about this record.

Bishop: Oh Christ, I didn't expect that. Go on - what changed and, more importantly, why?

Elliott: Don't get your hopes up, I don't think this is the greatest album ever recorded, the mix is worse than many of my 80’s death metal demos, and the guy can't sing to save his life (singing to robots, I bet that's the next one), it's just… It has a weird charm to the album now, and the musicians are rather good at what they do.

Bishop: Yeah, there's nothing actually wrong here - it reminds me of when you hear a great band practice in a garage - of course it's going to sound gash. Sure, I think some of the artistic decisions are a bit weird at times, but I like the album at a whole. The second album is an incredibly polished rock album, and I think that only goes to show that this was a band trying to find its feet. And hell - I'd take this sort of thing than over a generic rock band playing the same ten songs over. Another thing to mention is that the liner notes on the album actually include additional bits between the lyrics - stage directions, etc. It's a good way of fleshing out the plot without having a narrator and it impeaching into the music itself.

Elliott: I'll have to look at the liner notes (because of the unique way political trendy is funded I had to listen to this on YouTube), but that's very cool. One of the pluses about this album is it's actually a consistent story. One of the flaws I found with Green Day's ‘American Idiot’ or My Chemical Romance's ‘The Black Parade’ (other than I just didn't like them) is that while they may have had some sort of subplot, I found that they didn't really tell a story. It was just sort of we'll link the songs together somehow. Oh we'll mention the Jesus of suburbia in 3 songs. Boom, story album. Gwar is about the only band who I think can really make an album with a story in it, but this comes pretty damn close.

Bishop: I think the thing you need to be aware of there is there's a difference between a concept album and a rock opera. Concept albums generally deal with the same themes strongly, whereas rock operas have it as a proper story. Personally, as far as plot goes, I prefer The Protomen's second album, "Act II: The Father of Death." There's just too little happening here for an album, it's more an EP - the short story of the music world, if you like. That said and plot aside, the music keeps me entertained. I've got this on vinyl, where the last track stretches on and in turns into a bit tune Phil Collins rendition, for some reason. The vinyl is split blue and red, very funky to look at. Also, this album got a chiptune remix by Vanity and Makeup Set - and I really like it. But I'm digressing now - I like this album, I like this band, but I prefer their follow up effort.

Elliott: Add King Diamond to the list of great story tellers through music. I agree, nothing really happens in this album story wise, but really it's not the worst thing I've heard. I still hate the singer but other than that I don't dislike this album. And you thought I'd hate it! I listen to 60’s psychedelic rock now so…

Bishop: Hey, I never said that - I was unsure though. Glad you came around in the end.

Elliott: Yeah, nothing more to say on this. Overall an enjoyable listen with a few minor problems.

power of the spoken word language of a dying breed lp

i've had this record for years, and put off doing a review of it for one simple reason. how the fuck do i describe this? this has got to be the weirdest sounding record i've ever heard. forget br00talizer's od grind with battery amps and horrible microphones, forget coven's awesome genrehopping, forget braille party's going from hardcore punk to melodic pop on the same record, this one is just weird. it's hardcore, that's for sure, but to describe it as simply hc would be misleeding. minor threat this is not. a better description would be pagan drugged out metallic hardcore with a doce of weirdness (because that combination isn't weird enough, it needs extra weirdness) the vocals sound really grough. i'd say they sound a bit metallic but that'd not really describing them well. if an nwobhm singer lost all melody and did hardcore that'd be closer. not that that's a bad thing, the vocals do a lot for the band. musicly we're all over the fucking place. from fast rippers like decide or die (probably one of the fastest songs recorded at that time, 1984, sounds like powerviolence almost) to slow weird numbers with great lyrics such as language of a dying breed. the most normal song on this would be the band's theme song, which is a great hc song. other songs are just weird, go all over the place and are fantastic as well. this is not a record you listen too all the time. this record is something you save for those random moments where you feel like playing something truly weird. ps this band came from nebrasca, which makes me wonder what the hell is going on in the midwest? coven, potsw, manilla road, negative approach, i thought the midwest was boring. oh and in case you're wondering, i have no fucking clue where to get this. good bad music (rip) had the album but its links went dead, and sadly this has never been reissued. pps, 2 of the members died. i believ the singer died, and another member became a lawier and o.ded, they have a park named after him in nebrasca. the drummer i believ became a drum teacher, and another member wants nothing to do with the band or so someone said. if any of the members have different info feel free to correct my stupidity. anyway get this and weird out! oh and this predates pagan metal by some time, pagan hardcore!

Dissection – Reinkaos (2006)

Bishnote: Iya! I've been pretty absent from this blog for a while now, but I've been hoarding all these reviews ready for my return. I'm still here, watching. Honest. Blame Elliott.

1. Nexion 218
2. Beyond the Horizon
3. Starless Aeon
4. Black Dragon
5. Dark Mother Divine
6. Xeper-i-Set
7. Chaosophia
8. God of Forbidden Light
9. Reinkaos
10. Internal Fire
11. Maha Kali

Elliott: …

Bishop: So are you going to say something?

Elliott: It’s a great melodic death metal.

Bishop: I'm spinning this record for the first time. The intro's gay as fuck, but the first song's making up for it - albeit it being somewhat repetitive. Does it get better? The word "great" definitely isn't the first one I'd reach for.

Elliott: I love the intro. Rad the lyrics and let yourself be transported to the anti-cosmic satanic church. Such a great record. The mix is really nice if a little too clean

Bishop: Yeah, the mix is nice, but you can’t polish a turd. I listened to the whole album without actually “listening” to it - it just washed over me. It’s not awful, but there’s nothing that reaches out and demands me to listen to it.

Elliott: At least we finally disagree on an album! Yes! I've done my job.
Actually, I can kind of understand where you're coming from. If you
don't like melodic death metal it probably won't do much for you.

Bishop: So go on then, what sets it out from other death metal albums?

Elliott: Maybe it’s just the feeling I get when listening to it, like I’m in some evil satanic place with a satanic priest, or whatever they’re called, preaching over music. Beer is a wonderful thing. Okay, I haven’t listened to it when sober. Seriously, I like the melodic parts. I’ve always enjoyed melodic death metal. Heavy, but melodic without it being whiny metalcore.

Bishop: Maybe I need to neck a few to appreciate the album? Even then I think I'd end up doing something else whilst listening to it - it doesn't feel like it demands my attention.

Elliott: Listen back to it. Take in the music. Listen with headphones. Do it at night.

Bishop: Even though I didn't believe you one bit, I did just that. And you know what? It's grown on me. Sure, I wouldn't get excited to sit down and listen to it, but I think it could happily find a place on my playlist. I just think as an album it's still a bit repetitive - but as individual songs, I quite like it.

Elliott: I was a bit disappointed to find the band had departed from its black metal roots after Jon got out from prison (long story), but when I put it on... It's got a weird quality to it, very melodic, very uplifting, plus some of the best satanic lyrics you'll ever find. Anyone who thinks Satanism is just "kill this, burn that" needs to read these lyrics. Personally 'God of Forbidden Light' is my favorite track. I do agree, as an album it gets to be a bit long and repetitive, but by themselves the songs work very nicely. Should we start with production?

Bishop: Production is surprisingly clean, but not sickeningly so. I think it's well suited, really gives off this sonic vibrance some death metal albums lack - you can really feel like you're getting swallowed up by this record.

Elliott: Dissection have always had good production, much cleaner than most black metal bands - even in the 90s - but it was never a metalcore production, I think you know what I mean by that. The production on this is clean, but like you said it's not ultra clean. Most modern day death metal, excluding some ultra kvlt bands, have this modern deathcoreish production that I can't stand. This has a good production, the only thing I would have done is turned up the bass.

Bishop: So, as a verdict, I assume I'm in standing the in good camp, and you're in the very good camp?

Elliott: Well, a few more points we can talk about, one of the great things about this album is the vocals, Jon's voice is such that you can actually understand the words, even non-fans of death metal can understand what he's saying. And like I said, his lyrics are a trip, all about anti-cosmic luciferianism, which is a very interesting view on the world (read more here). The drums though I find are overly simple, it would have been nice to have a bit more fills and double bass.

Bishop: Yeah, actually. I really liked the vocals, some good range. Normally with death metal I get a little bored of the monotone screaming, but this is good. I never noticed the drums - but maybe that's because they are unremarkable. I'll have to spin it again to properly listen.

Elliott: And you can tell Jon felt what he was saying. Sadly, he committed suicide shortly after this release. He wrote some damn good riffs for this. Yeah the drums are meh. They're goodm but it's like Metallica. If someone didn't point them out I'd forget they existed. Special mention has to go out to the song Mahi Kali which, along with God of Forbidden Light, takes you on this weird trip if you listen right. Great mellow vocals too. The solos are pretty nonexistent but they add some melodic touches. A lot of previous fans were pissed that this record wasn't fast (no blast beats), but if you ask me it wouldn't work if it was amazingly fast.

Bishop: No, it'd be a total mess if it was any faster, but that's fanbases for you. Saying that, it's easier for me to say that with this being my first exposure to the band.

Elliott: I've heard the other records, they're very good but this was a completely different beast, much less black metal in it. Overall I think we both like it. We agree!

still not fucking dead

hi. this is i, elliott. i'm not dead, aliens haven't abducted me, and i haven't converted to a fundimentalist religion (praze jebus!) i've just been busy as fuck. but i'm back, this blog isn't dead, and we'll have more reviews, more rants, and more stupid shit. also we have a few coreviews we did that'll be uploaded whenever bishop remembers..so look forward to those i guesse

youth korpse 1982 demo

here's a sadly underrated recording. youth korpse existed for about a year from 1981 to 82. they recorded this 13 song demo then went away. no idea where they were from or what the members went on to do (other than breathe) but I do know that this demo is fucking great. ultrafast, powerful, thrashing hardcore. it almost sounds like the blueprint for the subgenre known as powerviolence that came into being in the later part of the decade. I wonder how many bands heard this demo. reminds me of siege and deep wound but 2 years before them. this is just great thrash. one slower song on here but that's a good one too. i'm amazed at the production. for a demo this is really really clear. 32 years after it was released this still shreads and could destroy most new bands. it's on the internet so go download it. I know it was release as an ep in the 90s but no idea about recent reissues. this has been called the quick and the dead demo as well as the 1982 demo. no idea what it's actually called so i'll just call it fucking fantastic. get this or get away

discharge grave new world lp

I give the crust and dis bands a lot of shit but I do like the originater. discharge's music was great English hc. the pounding drums, the rumbling bass, the simple guitar, the barked vocals..great stuff. after the hear nothing lp came out the band changed stile a bit, going for more of a metal vibe. honestly everything up to the more I see isn't bad. it's not always discharge but it's good. if they'd stopped after that i'd be happy. but they did not..in 1986 the band released this....thing. the band themselves had adopted a glam look. poofy hair, earrings, all that shit. the music is slow, kind of guns n roses before guns n roses..just better. yes, as shitty as this is it's better than gnr. if i'm going to be objected I can kind of hear a very few nods to the older band's stile. mostly in the drums. the musicians are talented. kal however is not. he's not a good singer, he's a good yeller. so when he tried to hit high notes...words can't describe how bad his voice is. he doesn't sound sexy or demonic, he sounds like his voice is breaking. he sounds like a bad police siren. I have a live recording of them from the same year and he sounds as bad on that. the music honestly might have been saved if kal had fucked off. it wouldn't have been discharge but hey. the tour that followed was a disaster. the crowd hated them. both in England and the states. the band broke up after this abortion but kal didn't learn his lesson. he reformed the band and recorded a couple more albums. he tried going more ac/dc in the voice...it didn't work. people have called his later albums thrash..no..they're just bad metal. the band later reformed and went back to being punk. I love playing this for all the dis bands. here's what your heros became. it makes me laugh.but honestly this shit sucks. don't buy this, listen to it once on line then buy something you can live with easier..a tapeworm perhaps. anyway fuck this record and fuck all the discharge clones.

artery eruption all 3 albums

i was looking through my collection of shit wondering what to review next? and i stumbled onto my favorite modern (past 27 years) band, artery eruption. but i couldn't decide which album to review. so i said fuck it, review all 3! honestly if you don't know who ae is you probably won't like them. they're the sickest slam death metal band ever. all 3 albums are kinda the same. lowfi mix, really lowfi recording and production, amazing slams, horrificly awesome song titles, and weird ass samples at the beginning of most songs. this band isn't out to rais demonic spirits from the dead, they're out to kill you and rape your corpse. seriously that's about all they sing about. song titles such as jacking off on an inside out butthole, asexual virgin killer, yeah you know what to expect. surprisingly the jokieness of the song titles only makes them more awesome. they haven't released anything in a long time. if any of the members of artery eruption read this, get your shit together and either release another album or play southern callifornia. do it you cunts! anyway onto the albums reduced to a limbless sexslave, gouging out eyes of mutilated infants, and the alltogether more tame sounding driving my fist through her chest. 27 songs all together. the drummer can't really keep time and spazzes out from time to time. the guitar chugs along, the singer (singers?) do slam death vocals, and the bass does whatever it does..but holy fuck..combine everything and you've got the most brutal thing ever. this is slam for real slammers. fuck amputated, this is not for the faint of heart. if you're put off by bad production stay away. if you hate music because it can't keep time stay away. if you hate crudely drawn gory artwork and want everything polished stay away. if you don't like chaos...get the fuck out of here! that's the thing, this band has chaos. pure chaos. like kreator's pleasure to kill or sepultura's morbid visions. both albums sound like they're about to go off the tracks at any given time (morbid visions more as the band couldn't keep time) artery eruption sounds like they said fuck the tracks and drove the train on the sidewalk. i like chaos. slick production and machine like beats are fine but when i want the best of the best i look for chaotic bands. it's the punk rock thing i think. cephalotripsy is a great band with an amazing album. but everything feels like it's working together. artery eruption sounds like everything's falling apart. and godfuckingdamnit i can't get enough. buy all 3 of these albums if you want to take death metal to it's logical conclusion. if you're scared of brutality then stay away from this band and this blog. and yes i know i didn't review each album and give a review of every track...i can't. i just have to review the band. the 3 albums to me make one album of awesomeness. i will say on gouging out eyes of mutilated infants the closing song ripped with anal forceps clocks in at over 10 minutes. listen to that song. if you're not converted then i don't know you. i fucking love this band and they need to play here. i'd go see em. buy all 3 of these and any splits and demos they may have. do it you slammers!

powerxchuck s/t 7 ep

well well well. seems wile my blog hasn't made me any connections, my facebook activity has. this very cool dude from australia named ryan dropped this into my online lap a while back but i'm an idiot and kind of forgot. only when he showed me his previous band (more about that later) i rediscovered this ep. powerxchuck are a band from australia. i won't go into genre details for fear of being killed for calling the band something they don't want to be called. it sounds like grindcore and powerviolence but for all i know they could be called chihuahua fucking thrash metal violence fuck rat ham bacon. seriously i hate these od subsubsubgenre names. anyway the music...the music is awesome. it's nothing mindblowingly original but it's earblowingly good. 7 minutes of pure fucking mayhem. just the way i like it. the vocals rock, it's quite well mixed, and it's one pure headfuck. cool titles too. this band is so good i'm not even gonna bitch about the x in the name! ryan the singer was previously in a band called peter brock (which is what caught my interest, those who know me and know what i like will understand) and if you liked that band's ep (which you should) you'll like this. buy it people. you need this. coming up, i haven't reviewed anything by acxdc yet. which is amazing. stay tooned! if anyone reads this then leave a comment you stupid cunts!

rf7 rf7 101 cd

here's a post i was supposed to do in may. but as they say i'm a lazy sod so hear it is. rf7 is a punk band from l.a that my friend zach doesn't like. because he's scared of good music or something. anyway they've been doing this for 35 or so years now and have yet to release anything bad. the last album hatred on the rise ripped and this also does. still hardcore punk mixed with some 60s influence, still the same singer rasping out his lyrics, still the same guitarest showing us that punk and solos isn't always a bad idea. what can i say? this album rocks. one of the best of the year so far. i can't complain about a thing really. it's a damn fine album. maybe not as fast as hatred but still with chunks of fast. buy this if you know what good music is. if you don't i can review a generic crust band next for you

happy pill trauma s/t tape

here's a band from my neck of the woods, happy pill trauma. great name (no xes or dis) the band is a male/female band with both doing vocals. can't quite remember who plays what (i've been up for 47 hours sue me) but they don't have a bassest. why so many grind bands leave out a bass is utterly beyond me as i think it can add real punch. think assuck's misery index. this band could do with adding some bass to the sound. other than that this is pretty good grindcore. i guess this would be called grindcore/powerviolence of mincecore or some other stupid fucking name. well elliott don't play that way. this is grindcore, reminding me of a lot of older bands. from the more punky side of things which of course is what i look for in grind. 10 songs in over 7 minutes means the songs aren't long but neither are they so short it's one blur. as much as i like anal cunt and s.o.d's crab society north demo a lot of those bands run together. the vocals are a bit more metal than you'd find on an old napalm death record especially the lows (done i believ by the guy in the band) but they add a nice touch. the production is raw but you can hear everything. i've been awaiting this tape for a while. i heard live recordings and shitty demo recordings but this sounds much better. i still wish these tracks had more low end though. put a bass in guys, it doesn't bite. overall get this tape any way you can, this band needs suport. they're a very good example of grind in southern california and whipe the floor with those 4/5 bands in the valey that all sound the same. buy or die.

human remains using sickness as a hero ep

so pt isn't cool enough to get the new acxdc lp. fine, see if i'll give them a good review! oh wait acxdc are fucking great so i probably will. just jealous is all. now anyway this is a band called human remains (just in case you were dumb and didn't know) they were from new jersey and played spazzy grindish death metal. with a name like human remains you'd think they would sing about death and gore but no. an interesting lyrical trip, singing about mankind and society. not bad. musicly this is wellproduced spazzy death metal. no death grunts here, more like a midrange death stile vocals which is good. the drummer is dave wit who has broken the record held by dan lilker in being in the most bands. seriously how does he keep up. he's been in everything from standard metal (he's in municipal waste) to freaky japanese noise. on this record he abuses his drum set, blasting so fast it's inhuman. if only he played this way in municipal waste. the guitars play rifs then start squeeking and spazzing out when the music goes into an od time. some people don't like this record, claming it's thrown together. i say fuck them they're idiots. i quite enjoy this, shame they didn't do a full album. a discography double cd exists and i need it. if you like spazzy death metal with grind influence and who doesn't?! then you should check this out. if you hate metal...i can't help ya

gid's not dead movie review

warning, if you're a christian you may want to either stop reading or if you have an open mind keep reading, you may find some things i say interesting. i had the profound displeasure of watching this vapid movie recently and i've been in shock since watching it but i've recovered so i'll review it. my first movie review and it's a delightful (ha!) piece of christian propaganda called god's not dead. from the title you know what to expect. i'll do a summery and point out bad plot points. a christian kid enters a philosophy class and the proffeser an atheist tells all kids that in order to pass you have to sign a decleration saying god is dead. first of all no selfrespecting professer of any subject would do this, atheist or not. sorry. second, a lot of christian (and a few nonchristian schools) make students sign a pledge that states jesus christ born of a virgin is god come in the flesh. okay. and it goes on with someone diing of cancer but a pastor helps the person become a born again christian. i've heard many faiths lost because of cancer and stillborn babys. and the film ends with a girl wanting to know more about god...anyway basicly the film makes it impossible to root for anyone. the christians are pushy and preachy and the atheists come off as such assholes you want to punch them. after watching this i stopped and said....is this how they see us? i have always been an atheist, i have never had faith in god or any deity. but i thought some christians were okay with that..guess not. this movie didn't make me say oh repent! this movie made me actually sad and hurt. i felt like a fucking alien. this is really how the christians who are the domenent force in this country see us...that's not good. this film makes me more of an antichristian, sorry god's not dead people. fuck you and fuck your god. the acting was horrible too. it's so overdramatic if calculon from futurama saw this he'd hang his head in shame. i was expecting someone from the movie to yel noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at any moment. this movie is a piece of shit that should be avoided by atheists unless you wanna be more antichristian and christians because it may influence your beliefs and if even more people think like this i might have to leave the country. fuck god's not dead, god is dead and this movie killed him

death ...for the whole world to see lp

this is death. not that death, the other death. the one very few have heard of until recently. death was a band that existed in the early to mid 70s consisting of 3 brothers who according to the documentary wanted to play pure rock n role. sadly now if anyone mentions them they'll mention that death is the first all black band that could be labeled as punk. which to me reduces the music to a curiocity. it's like a band is the first all girl metal band. fine but are they good? well this band is great. raw and heavy, with quite a bit of melody, this is punk before punk. i love it. sadly they couldn't get a record deal because of the name death. in an age where anal cunt and cock and ball torture are sold at record stores it's hard to understand the drawbacks of this. death? pfft, my band's called satanic dogfuckers from hell. different era...it's a shame they never got signed because this album is fantastic. for some reason that i can't place this reminds me of the crowd. only earlyer. for 74 these guys were heavy as hell and even today this kicks the shit out of most punk bands. this was released in 2009 finally and i think the band did a few tours with a replacement guitarest as the one on the album died. they also released a documentary which talks about the struggles. what they don't mention and i'm a bit perplexed is that wile in 74 this band called death existed and couldn't get a record deal, 13 years later another band called death had no trouble finding support releasing records. i suppose if indi labels existed this band would have gotten signed. which would have been great because this music is fantastic. sadly the band morfed into a christian rock band then a regae band....i'm not kidding. sad. anyway pick this up and enjoy, you'll be glad you did

hail of rage fucking pissed 7 ep

I've been on a record search tonight, wondering what I should review next. I just got the new rf7 record in the mail but I need to give it a few listens first. so here I was on fuckbook when a member of one of the best local bands around happy pill trama posts this 7 inch. she said that you could feel the rage. consider my interest peaked. rage is good. the name was a tad laughable as are most new punk bands and the record title was straight to the point. I thought I'd get basic and raw as fuck hardcore, the kind that got me into this thing. think chaotic dischord but worse musicians. what I actually got was what the kids today call powerviolence, which I consider a laughably stupid name. it's just hardcore punk to me. anyway I was surprised. like with every pv band this band has a lot of tempo changes and some pretty technical (for punk standards) drum parts. and a 2 guitar attack. basic pv, enough to get me in the mood for about 20 beers. but what it didn't have...the rage....nowhere. gone. now when I think of rage the first person that comes to mind is john Brannon of negative approach. that dude's voice is so powerful after the first song oon a na record or live recording I'm hooked and I don't know if I should mosh or punch someone. the fact that no one is usually around is a good thing I think. or bands like fear of god with Erich's evil as fuck vocals. this...this sounds like the singer is annoyed at something, maybe he's had a bad day, maybe the football teem lost or he's behind on a house payment. this doesn't sound like the tortured shouts of a man forced to homeless by the capitalist scum. not in the slightest. don't get me wrong it's better than whoever that band was that did the song punching holes in the world that singer just dispassionitly talked his way through the song (blablabla punching holes in the world, can I go now) but...I just don't hear the white hot rage of 80s hardcore bands. this guy's good but he should change the title of this to slightly annoyed and hail of rage to hail of grumbling. it's a good record, strong musicly but the main selling point is the anger (don't pretend it's not) maybe if they turned the vocs up in the mix and maybe if the producer smacked the singer around a few times with raw meat we'd get a better performance. here's a tip for the singer for this band. when you're about to record, touch a very hot pot with your bare hands. that way you'll make a convincing record

corrupt mind control e.p cd

corrupt is a socalled death/thrash band from my hometown. I knew of them by name I think and so was interested in hearing what they sounded like. however the only thing I could find was a few shitty live recordings. not to worry, they said they were releasing an ep soon....soon? how come I never heard about it? well I can get the new psycho record before it comes out but I can't get anyone around my hometown to actually tell me when they're releasing anything. thanks cunts! anyway I found this and put it on, holy fuck is this good. a little sloppy at first but that's how thrash should be. good production, you can still hear the raw sound but everything sounds good. the music though is straight up old school death metal. no bullshit, this will kill you. everything is as chaotic as it can get and Elliott loves chaos. 4 songs in 16 minutes...great guitars, great drums, great bass, great vocals. honestly it takes a lot to get me into local bands but I'm loving this band. download this thing or get a cd somehow. you need this if you like metal. get it or die!!!

positive faction our songs so buy it damnit! tape

sorry I haven't been around, I was supposed to do a co review but I think bishop died or something...or is just busy...either way I'm blaming him for the no posts, even if I knew he's busy with his book..i'm an asshole. anyway here we have a band called positive faction from huntuntsville Alabama, and this demo was released in 1988. and they were straightedge. that's all I know about this band. I found this tape wile I was on some weird site I guess dedicated to Huntsville bands. I found a lot of great bands including skellatal earth...but here's my review of this 7 song tape. this is pretty midpased hardcore punk with a straightedge youth crew theme. pretty dated by 1988 standards (the year of napalm death's second album and infest's slave lp) but this really isn't bad per say. the mix is strange, it sounds very echoy and weird. not quite what I expected from a demo at all. the lyrics are meh..mostly about straightedge and joining the positive faction (if it's all the same to you i'll have a beer) and...love? really? a fucking love song? and a cover of stand by me that's not that bad. this band sounds like they'd later evolve into an alternative rock band, you can almost hear it. maybe it's the weird ass guitar tone, maybe it's the way the singer does his thing...they never got to evolve as far as I can tell because they seem to have broken up after releasing this tape. it's not bad but it's nothing special either. if you like midpased hardcore with a love song (granted that love song does have a good guitar rif) download this somehow..if not well then..don't... it's a good tape but more speed and rawness would have helped

dark angel darkness descends lp

1986, thrash, super fast. these are the words that kept popping up when I researched this album. sounds like it should fit my tastes. but here's the thing..it doesn't..no. no no no. in fact, this album falls right flat on its face. let me prolog this. we have arrived is some of the best thrash you'll ever find ever. the riffs grab you and don't let go. on this followup they traded riffs and heaviness for speed. is that all I really want? sure if it's a grindcore band. pure speed is fine and really fun to play. but for thrash..i want rifs. that's why pleasure to kill hits me so hard, it's got riffs, speed, heaviness. this album sounds like the band sat down and said okay..what do the kids like? hmmm..let's play as fast as we can! that's right, I'm calling this album commercial. and fuck you all who don't hear it. this album just seems like someone sat down and tried to please the kids. the riffs suffer from being played so fast, the aggression so many of the meatheads on metal archives talked about seems to be the kind where I can't find it..what aggression? this isn't aggressive at all, just pointlessly fast. it's a good album for pure speed but come on, how can anyone say this is better than we have arrived? maybe the poser new thrashers. maybe I'm wrong, maybe the band really loved playing fast..but it doesn't sound like it to me. the mix is dirty without having that live punch creator had. I expected so much from this album and I leave shaking my head going..really? was that really what people are so in love over? the overall take away from this album is...meh. that's it..it's a good album, fun, but nowhere near the godly thrash classic kids seem to think it is. I prefer we have arrived for its riffs. maybe if they pulled a slayer or creator and actually wrote songs along with the speed it'd be good. or do an anal cunt and just go apeshit. don't get this unless you're one of those who blindly follows metal archives reviewers. rather you should blindly follow me!

psycho chainsaw priest cd

so here's a record..by a band..that's not even out yet! I guess it's who you know. question, who the fuck do I know? I somehow ended up on the mailing list of self made god records and they sent this. how I got on i'll never know but I ain't complaining. here's on of my favorite bands..sort of. I don't know much about psycho past 86. they started out as a really fun hardcore punk band with some pop in it then got harder and harder. they did an album with gg allin and released splits with bands like anal cunt..that's about all I know. then they released a 7 inch shaped like a saw with 4 cutting (it's a pun!) tracks..awesome stuff..pure hardcore. I heard this described as a grind punk album and at first I was like...what? I didn't know psycho went grind. but I guess they have but grind punk I wouldn't call it that. this is just really really really fast hardcore. it reminds me of mid 80s bands from Europe and japan in the really fast punk sound but of corse this sounds like nothing before it. this is just raw and crushing hardcore with a lot of grind influence...I've said before that grindcore has to have punk in it and here's the proof. the mix is soooo fucking loud. it's great. though the drums are sort of hidden in the mix. it sounds pretty polished but not in the ultra clean misery index sort of way. it does sound like they recorded it in an actual studio rather than in a room like some albums...this is just really solid. 17 tracks in 29 minutes. what more could you possibly ask for? if you're a fan of ultra fast hardcore/grind like napalm death, fear of god, filthy Christians, s.o.b well you should already know who this band is..if you're one of the sad few who don't know, get all the band's records you can and of corse buy this..best of 2014 so far.

thrash or die poser holocaust cd

let me start this by saying, I'm not one of those people who thinks every song has to be technical and every band has to have meaningful and deep lyrics. I like anal cunt for fucks sake. but this goes way past stupid. thrash or die is a thrash band from florida...did I mention thrash? because they mention thrash..in just about every fucking song. first off the mix. I'm not sure why the mix bothers me but it just sounds shitty. I don't really like polished mixes but this isn't my ideal type of unpolished mix. it sounds like a badly done demo. not the good black metal sort of mix or the echoy 80s thrash, this just sounds a bit too noisy. the music is the most vapid and empty retro thrash garbage I've ever heard. at least some retrothrash bands can make old rifs sound interesting. this just sounds like old exodus rifs. boring as fucking shit. not even mindless enough for me to bang my head..this makes me wanna turn it off. the musicianship is sloppy. moving on. the vocals, done by a guy who calls himself dr fukk are horrible. they sound like every bad attempt at slayer vocals, or even better. they sound like the dude from creator is either choking on a dick or he's being kicked in the nuts. his voice is enough to make you stop listening after the first track. and if you can put up with all this the bad production, the generic music, the annoying singer, then my fiend, here come the lyrics. I suppose I should have known better. this band is called thrash or die. how fucking creative! and the album is called poser holocaust. so I guess I should have been warned. but no....oh no. it was horrible. zombies, thrashing, beer, posers, thrashing posers, beer and thrash, every fucking thrash cleche is represented here in its most aweful form. thrash lord, no posers allowed, holy fuck. nevermind these guys sound like the trendiest poser cunts around. if you're in the band and would like to defend this abortion go ahead. even if all this was just a joke...it's not a funny one. this band recorded a few songs for a troma movie and they fit troma pretty well. If I didn't know better I'd even say this band was just a troma project. that at least would be kinda funny. this album is pathetic. it leaves you with no feeling other than fuck me where'd this headache come from? at least municipal waste, my longtime punching bag, can craft some enjoyable brainless thrash. tod cannot. avoid this album unless you're one of those new thrashers who wanna look cool. like the people they rant about in the songs. ironic that posers are the band's only market. this album isn't for people with any sort of taste in anything. it's for thrash newbys who are afraid of 80s thrash. honestly this band sounds like they got a few thrash records yesterday and said hey, we'll do that too! I put the age of the band at around 14/16 but on metal archives dr fukk is listen as in his 40s..i'm starting to think he might be retarded. listen dr fukk, keep wanking off to kiss and please put down the microphone. I know I rambled along on this, I just can't fucking stand this band. avoid it at all cost

dave brockie

someone wondered why I didn't post something the day of his death..because I'm not a trendy fuckwit that's why. I hate rip posts just like agz does, seriously they're annoying. rather i'll just post about dave. dave for those of you who don't know was the leed singer of gwar, death piggy, dave brockie experience and played in xcops. quite a funny and smart person, brockie was a huge inspiration for me to start my own funny band. that's not giving him enough credit as the later gwar stuff showed dave can rock harder than most people and could write less suttle but still somewhat funny lyrics. gwar was a great band, death piggy and dbx were both amazing. he also wrote one hell of a good book called whargoul which you should all read. why aren't you reading it? I'm pretty fuckin gutted about this loss, he was such an inspiration and I looked forward to seeing them live and maybe meeting the madman..just like anal cunt..this really sucks. listen to death piggy and dbx and gwar and read whargoul. but no rips, it sickens everyone with a mind. goodbye dave

the exploited punk's not dead lp

sory walter, punk is dead. maybe not then but now. me and bishop reviewed the last exploited album a fuckin long time ago. personally i enjoyed those reviews but bishop is lazy and can't pick a record. i still have that fucking protomen record he wanted me to review. anyway i thought I'd review the first exploited lp. pretty much your standard oi! /streetpunk here. fast, aggressive, meetheaded lyrics. before they sang about politics they sang about...sex and violence, cop cars, and believing in anarchy. not that anarchy, the simple kind. pretty good lp, could really do without the live intros and this just seems like a patchwork of single songs with a few new ones. whatever, this is still great. get this if you love raw ass 80s punk from scottland! and if you don't, fuck off! btw promotionwhore time! bishop, the cowriter (not really, he just likes to say he coownes a blog he does nothing with) of this blog has a new website where he said i can be something like a mod. think of the chaos! anyway go to http://www.100yearsrecords.co.uk and sign up for the forums. chat with us, spam us, post cat pics. do it or die!

seizure all hale the fucking system 7 ep

how the hell did I not talk about this record before! this record is fucking fantastic! 4 songs of midpased no bullshit hardcore punk..great guitar tone on this, bass throbs, but the singer...the singer has this great pissed off yet strangely melodic voice that works. pain is pain is pain is a song that has stayed with me all this time..that song effects me in ways you people can't dream of...what a fucking great record. one of the few records that I can honestly say has no bad song. song of the empire's lyrics are still dead on today, just replace communist with terrorist. what a powerful song! pain is pain is pain well..I've already told you. the closest thing to a bad song is nobody's child because it's the slowest, but this song rules...simple but so effective! the last track homecoming is just as good..this is a record I wanna play again and again and again..it's that good. I've never been able to play it just once. get this people, for 1986 this is some of the best hc you'll find.

black sabbath 13 cd

happy new year! sort of...yeah I finally got my computer problems fixed...so I'm back!!!! get ready for no one to give a shit..anyway, I figure i'll review a new album..because I'm just cool enough to do that...so we have black Sabbath, the immortal, the classic, the great. with a reunion album...oh shit! this band has released 19 albums before this (the reunion album with dio is a Sabbath album, got it?) and the early stuff was amazing..the reunion album with dio has great mments..so what's this album like? the first rat to be smelled is bill ward is gone..and some guy I've never heard of has taken his place..now how does this album sound? it fucking blows! sory kids, this isn't good, isn't classic, it's a ritch band trying to make more money by doing what they did 44 years ago, just less good. the production is hollow as hell, ozzy's voice is so studio effected it's almost funny, the riffs are old, the songs are way too long, everything about this album pretty much sucks shit. I wasn't really expecting anything and I got less. god is dead is a horribly droning song (though my idiot friend eric likes it) and it gets worse after that. have fun buying this, you'll wish you slipped into a coma. this is boring southern rock with a touch of metal. but hey, no one will listen to me, Sabbath's sheeplike fans will buy it anyway..i think it's time to take this band out and shoot it, it's way past its prime. well that's all I gotta say about this abortion. and no, this isn't a 1 off review, I'm back motherfuckers! though bishop will be the only one that cares..or maybe he won't even..fuckin hell I do this for the love of it

the waste not just something to be sung 7 ep

we beging the revived pt with some anarchopunk from 1986. a pretty damn good record, mix of melodic parts with hardcore. not that easy to pul off but they make it work. these lyrics have been done to death a lot i know but still i like them. stop the hate and drunken saler are my favorites. the two most melodic songs on the ep. weird! maybe i'm going soft haha. 12 minutes of pretty damn good anarchopunk. not great but rather enjoyable. get it on the web or something. ps i'm still looking for new records to review

still not fucking dead

hi. i'm back this time for good. i can't give up this blog. i'll be back to reviewing records and ranting about shit i hate. nothing much has happened in the past year. i've simply not cared about anything. but i'm back now, and next year will be full of my ranting. please comment on the posts. that's part of the reason i left. please comment

nihilistics s/t ep

here's an interesting record. the nihilistics were from new york and existed in the 80s and may still be around now..they're known as the guys who ripped off the duch hardcore band suspence and then did everything possible to say they did the song first. don't know what i mean? look it up! this ep is well interestinng. the drums seem to be doing whatever they want with no real reguard to the music. oh wait..so does everything elce..the bassest must have been off on another plannet. the music is very good, sloppy and uh..nihilistic..the lyrics are what you'd expect from this sort of band..pain, death, bla bla bla. they later got tighter and released a really good lp but to me this is the best they did. it's so primative. how seriously this band is taken is open to debate and depends on who you ask. though i'm sure this stuff is just for laughs..get this now. and i'll try to post more as the year goes on..i do have a lot of records, just feeling burnt out

review of my birthday show!

on Saturday i had a party at my house and bands played. shitty intro i know but..well let's get on with it. first off the show was supposed to start at 4. at 6:30 no bands showed up. me a a coupld guys jammed a bit. then it was time to do what i said i would do last year...as fucked up society made history (well history for me) the music was a bit crustier and metallic than i expected but that's the great thing about this band. i'm the only member. it'll never sound the same! i blew my voice out after like 3 songs and had to do low vocals. the kids seemed to love it and i had a great time. next came bullet brains. they were pretty cool as always. they kicked some ass and were quite original (more about that later) next is where i rant. some idiot got the bright idea to have social overload, play a split set.....someone should have asked me but no. actually a band called self played for like 5 seconds..more about them later. social overload were great. the band they played the split set with had energy but..one of the dumbest names around. and i'm friends with the singer. the band's name is vulva essers....what the fuck is a vulva esser? i don't know. anyway after they played some other band played. at that point the show had to stop before the neighbors called the cops. my only complaint was the self, vulva essers, and the other band (blaster master if i remember) they all sound the same! i really could not tell them apart! it's a good sound sort of a crust/grind thing but i honestly had trouble telling them apart. social overload i could tell. bullet brains i could tell..but those crust bands. i'm not knocking them i just wish they'd do something to make themselves sound different. although when recorded vulva essers has a very good sound, almost spasmatic in the starts and stops. i'm not saying i'm pissed that they came i loved seeing them (though if bands would have come earlier they would have played more) and i got to play a set. i'm very happy. also, the drummer for v.e is pretty sick. but please v.e, self and blaster master, you guys are great and really really nice chaps. but maybe add something that the other doesn't have. oh and a quick fuck you to every band and everyone who couldn't come out.

Arson Anthem - Insecurity Notoriety (2010)

1. Naught

2. Foul Pride

3. Isolation Militia

4. More Than One War

5. Insecurity Notoriety

6. Pretty Like That

7. Initial Prick

8. Crippled Life

9. Polite Society Blacklist

10. If You Heard This You Would Hit Me

11. Hands Off Approach

12. Has Been/Has Been

13. Primate Envy

14. Death of an Idiot

15. Independant and Busted

16. Kleptomania

17. Teach the Gun To Love the Bullet

Bishop: I loved Arson Anthem’s self-titled EP. When it came out, there were no other new bands about doing anything as raw and unhinged. It was like a throwback to all those crust bands that have either buggered off, or are shadows of their formers selves. But I’m gonna be honest, the album bores me to hell. I dunno what it is, it just didn’t grab like the EP did, and I was pretty bummed.

Elliott: Damn, I need to hear the EP. Whenever I hear about mainstream thrash I’m nervous. Will it be like Metallica? Pantera? Metalcore? Well, even though this has a member of the groove legends (and by mainstream I mean in the metal community), this is pretty damn good skate thrash with punk influences, with the singer of Eyehategod and Hank Williams III. So, the album bores you? I’ve always known you were weird.

Bishop: I burn out pretty easily with music like this, always have. Saying that though, I'm going to retract my previous statement. I'm giving it another spin and it's actually much better than I remember it. Short, snappy and varied. My worry with albums like this is that everything going to be too repetitive, but each song really stands out. Brilliant, angry thrash punk. I must've listened to the wrong album initially - either that or it's just a grower, but I doubt that, it jumps down your neck too fast for it to have time to grow.

Elliott: It's sort of a grower. I was put off by the weird sludgy parts. The three second stuff, as far as repetitiveness goes with music like this, I don't really care as I'm looking for brutality first, if it's fast and pissed off I don't care. Hank III is one hell of a drummer, and Mike has a great voice. Also the mix is raw without being like the EP.

Bishop: The mixing on this is a thousand times better. Like you say it retains the raw crust sound they were obviously aiming for without making it sound like someone's scraping the inside of your eardrum like the EP. Everything's tight and confident. They all knew what kind of record they wanted to make, and they made it. No mess, no fuss, no confusion. You know what you're getting.

Elliott: Now don't get me wrong I enjoy that mix (Suburban Mutilation's LP comes to mind), but for music like this and musicians like this a more professional mix fits. Drink a few beers and put this on, it works on so many levels! Think they'll ever put out anything else?

Bishop: Maybe. I'd like to hear at least another EP from them. It's one of Phils' side projects though, so it probably doesn't have long before he loses interest.

Elliott: Yeah, he'll be back to Down or whatever crap band he plays in now. I'm surprised he plays the guitar as good as he does. As anyone reading this blog knows I'm not a Phil fan, so when I heard about this record I was thinking oh no. In fact the only reason I checked it out was the singer and drummer, but I was surprised that Phil could actually play. I've never heard his black metal band.

Bishop: Hey, nothing wrong with Down. The new EP was pretty good. Anyway, we can both agree this is a good record, yes?

Elliott: Yeah, this LP is quite good. One thing I have noticed, has mike lost his voice? I much prefer his vocals on Eyehategod's albums.

Bishop: I honestly never noticed. Doesn't sound weak to me so I don't think it's so much losing his voice, it's either refined with age or he's approached this project differently.

Elliott: I actually think it would have been cool to hear Eyehategod vocals on this album. It's just strange to me. I also love the short sludge moments, they go from slow to fast so many times!

Bishop: Yeah, I like the fact that it's not all 100mph constantly. It doesn't feel like an insult to my intelligence unlike other records in this genre, it just feels honest.

Elliott: You know me, the faster the better! But I like that they slow it up and they do it well. Many bands try to do it but it just comes out bad, these guys know what they're doing. Well they should they're all well-known metal musicians! Still has that southern feel - in a good way I mean.

Bishop: You mean not in the "kill the blacks, marry your sister" kind of way, right? I personally don't hear the Southern influence, but maybe that's just my Brit ears not being able to differentiate. I guess it's more noticeable to Americans.

Elliott: Different kind of southern influence, I'm talking NOLA sludge. It just sounds Southern. Blues influence. It's hard to describe. I’ll say this: it has pretty much everything you'd expect from this kind of record, good musicians, good mix, ass kicking thrash. If you're a new band look to this record.