Bush Pig - Bush Pig 7"

Label: Amphetamine Reptile
Year: 1989

Is it possible that we never posted this long lost gem? I checked the archives and didn't see it, so before I delete it off my computer (it's coming out of rotation on the ole iPod), I figured I had better remedy this situation. Stat!

From the makers of King Snake Roost comes this little treat of deranged noise rock. And what a treat it is. Delightful! There are members of Mudhoney, Lubricated Goat, and other freak-a-zoids on board for the ride, but if you know King Snake Roost, then you kinda know what you're getting into. It's muscular, burly, unclean dirges of bass-driven hate-speak. And I mean that in a good way.

* Originally posted 11-07-09, reposted 08-31-15

DL

Glazed Baby - The Big Smoonya 7"

Label: Sweet Fetus
Year: 1991

First, to address the elephant in the room (no, not me...fucking fat jokes), the name Sweet Fetus is just about top of the list for a record label. Hell, it's on my top ten baby names, it's just that good.

Second, this is the debut release from the somehow overlooked and rarely cited Massachusetts behemoth, Glazed Baby. A band who produced one of the bigger, nastier, uglier strains of noise rock ever. Sonically, they fit right in with what was going on in and around Boston at the time, La Gritona, Luca Brasi, Slughog, Bull Roarer...that type of overbearing, lurching, destructo-rock.
Glazed Baby got heavier over time, this record isn't as thick as they would become, but it shows their hardcore and noise rock influences as well as a healthy appreciation for straight up rocknroll music. Which, if I can be frank here, is the bedrock (pun not really intended, but not avoided either) to most shit worth a shit (music or otherwise), and you can tell that Glazed Baby have a few Black Oak Arkansas records filed away with their Black Flag and Rapeman. We all should.

P.S. - today is my birthday and I have no lunch plans as of this entry, so...come buy me lunch. Thanks in advance.

DL

Shit And Shine - Cherry

Label: Riot Season
Year: 2008

Weirdness uber alles.
Sometimes music, sometimes noise, sometimes conceptual art(?).
Lots of circling drone patterns, flavored with unsettling sounds and "vocals" (some found and some manufactured by the band). Not for the faint of heart. More for the kind of person who would knowingly rent a house boat with a slow leak in the hull, invite a few of their friends who can't swim all that well, throw a dinner party featuring rancid shellfish and a Bulgarian polka soundtrack,  then stand back to enjoy the prolonged death spiral. Bathing in a mix of malfunctioning electronics and the pained cries for help as each guest slips below the waves, one by one as they lose their battle treading water. Not sure if you remembered to pack a life vest yourself.
That guy.
Not sure if it's fitting to say "enjoy", but...try and enjoy.

DL

World's Fastest Car - Demo Recordings

 

Label: bootleg
Year: 1998

Lot's of Walter lately...what's going on?
Well, I'll tell you.
At the risk of revealing the proverbial "how sausage is made", or "inside baseball", or what the fuck ever phrase is correct, I'll grant you a sneak peek into the inner workings of this very blog. This one, right here. See, since this (the blog) has gone from a sweaty orgy of it's heyday (relatively speaking...the heyday, not the orgy...that part was happening on the regs) to a one man champagne jam of today (champagne of beers mainly) it can be difficult to stay motivated or productive when dealing with this (again, talking about the blog...the beers are not a problem, hence my quadruple chin). Sometimes I need a kick in the pants to stay on task and keep this ship afloat until our captain (oh captain, my captain) returns from his exile to regain control of the rudder.
Sometimes that inspiration can come from unlikely sources, as it did in this case. A short pep talk and the kernel of an idea has now blossomed into a blog related project (as nerdy as that sounds) of me compiling a list of favorite records to post. Specifically, in this case, I'm going for NYHC 7"s, since it's a particular sweet spot for me. More on that soon (I'm almost done pulling all the shit together).
Point being, I've been balls deep in a NYHC rabbit hole of late, and naturally that involves a whole heaping helping of Walter Schreifels related ephemera. Including his not so NYHC mid-late 90's post-Quicksand project, World's Fastest Car.
After a hasty break-up with Quicksand, Walter called on Arthur from Mind Over Matter/Bad Trip, Alex from Chain Of Strength/Inside Out/Against the Wall and drummer Erik Stams, and went about fleshing out a new batch of songs that broke away from the chugging staccato of Quicksand and went into a more melodic direction. It didn't last very long though, and while in retrospect Walter has said he gives this period and material much more credit than he did at the time, the band never really congealed into a working unit. Plus, a lucrative Quicksand reunion offer was offered...and taken (briefly), so World's Fastest Car came and went.
Two demo recording sessions are culled together here representing the whole of the World's Fastest Car demo repertoire (I think). A good amount of these songs were reanimated into Rival Schools numbers, but some were jettisoned and never heard from again. Which is a shame, as they are great songs. As you would expect. There is a whole album recorded that features some of these songs (different versions), but that was never released. Island and Revelation Records passed on it once the band broke up before it's release date was even set.

DL

Castles - You, The Organ Grinder

Label: Eyeofsound
Year: 2012

Belgian/English band who take a mathcore idea (or whole lot of ideas) and run it through a Big Business meat grinder of heavy rocking (you may recall Big Brother from such posts as yesterday's). Leans more Botch than Big Business mind you, but it's important to note the influence (whether real or imagined by me) as it helps distinguish this record from a smoldering heap of old Escape Artist albums.
Tempos change and riffs fly in and out of the window, but the underlying current is one of muscular heft. I'm a sucker for big muscles. So sexy.
If you remember the band Capricorns, then this record will feel familiar...like the strong embrace of a man's muscular arms around your body...pulling you close...keeping you warm and safe...

DL

Big Business - Tour ep III

Label: Wantage USA
Year: 2008

Three songs here, two of which would show up on the 'Mind The Drift' lp and one which is a Shocking Blue cover. I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, that these are different recordings than what ended up on the album.
Is it possible to pull a muscle in your heart? Or, is there such thing as a three day long, extremely minor heart attack? I've had this pain in the left side of my chest since Sunday (today is Tuesday to all my Gregorian hustlas) that feels like I'm pulling on a sore muscle when I move in certain ways. Most notably when I raise my (double) chin up and to the right, or lift me left arm and pull it back. Seems like this could be death knocking on my door, so I sorta want to know if I should be expecting to live three more days, a month, twenty minutes? Somebody please call an ambulance.

DL

Clouds - Legendary Demo

Label: Hydra Head
Year: 2007

Last week was slim in terms of posts (not in terms of my mid-section), so I would like to kick off this week with a rollicking, rocking, rolling, riffing party of a record.
Take the Motorhead/Danzig approach of Doomriders and marry that to the big swinging rock of mid-later period Cave In, and viola. Clouds. You like a tasty lick? Clouds. You like a ripping solo? Clouds. You like Sir Lord Baltimore as performed by Scissorfight? Clouds. You like skipping the last 19 minutes of a record on account of it being an aimless dub? Clouds.
The record was put together out of a Boston Frankenstein of powerhouse players. Jay Cannava of 27 and Miltown is on bass. A guy named Q who's played with Cave In, Panic, J/Q, Doomriders, Magic Circle, and King Duane Sunnapee is on drums. And you got a dueling guitar attack from Jim Carroll of The Hope Conspiracy, The Suicide File, and Pure Love, alongside Adam McGrath of Cave In, Zozobra, Kid Kilowatt, and King Duane Sunnapee. Solid personnel. No slouches.
Take off your shirt, get a sunburn, and listen up!

DL

Christian Fitness - Love Letters In The Age Of Steam

Label: self released
Year: 2015

Andrew Falkous, the voice of Future Of The Left and mclusky, has returned with another "one 'man' band" release under the name Christian Fitness (a great name, right?). Not solo, as there are contributions from others, just to be clear, which he is. And which you should understand now.
Listening to this record once, twice, three times a lady, I'm struck with how unique Falkous' "sound" has become, and how pleasing it is. As soon as you here it you say, "oh yeah, this guy again. I love this guy". As abrasive as he can be, as much as you feel in the crosshairs of his considerable barbs, you always feel happy to hear him again. At least I do. Sure, you will hear influences that helped craft the "sound", maybe The Fall, maybe Wire, maybe The Wedding Present, possibly Brakes, occasionally The Jesus and Mary Chain, ostensibly the Smiths, periodically Rites Of Spring...that twitchy, scratching, driving post punk sound you like. That stuff. But really, just look at mclusky and Future of The Left if you really want to know what this will sound like, because it has all that glorious buzzing bass, slashing guitars, and the wry cynicism which has come to benchmark that "sound" we've been referencing.
It's just nice to know that as we laugh at our own self-imposed demise, there will be troubadours sound tracking our doom with this kind of vigor and joy. Makes you not feel quite so bad about shuffling off into the infinite dark void of nothingness, you know?
Go forth and purchase early and often.

DL

V/A - New York Eye and Ear Control

Label: Matador
Year: 1990

Long out of print compilation with some of the earliest released material of some of those bands that people talk about a lot as being "real good", or at least "important".
At the time of this release I was pretty much under the singular influence of the post-'88 NYHC resurgence, enjoying whatever Revelation saw fit to release on colored vinyl that month. I was like many a man my age, raised on SST and COC (rap freestyle!) and Dischord and stuff, and looking to "expand" into "more mature" music, which somehow Quicksand and Supertouch seemed to be at that time. But (let's talk about your big 'but') being the super well-rounded, well-adjusted, hyper intellectual guy that I was (am?), I would buy pretty much anything that looked different or offered any promise of being loud and fucked up. And this record had Royal Trux on it, and I liked Royal Trux, and it had Cop Shoot Cop on it, and I liked Cop Shoot Cop. So, it was purchased (on CD even...big spender), and listened to a few times and the free jazz ran me off, back to a GO! 7" or something. I couldn't do the free jazz. I still can't do the free jazz. I don't trust those who do.
The bands:
Dustdevils (yes, scratches a Sonic Youth itch)
Timber (eh, sorta lifeless, but has an ex-Swan)
Fitch (no)
Cop Shoot Cop (yes, good and weird)
OWT (no, synth damage that soothes but doesn't deliver)
Borbetomagus (no, death by clarinet)
Circle X (yes, droning strangeness, future Loudspeaker, ex-Crucifix, ex-No Fun)
Royal Trux (yes, a 'Twin Infinitives' track, and a droning loopy one to boot)
Railroad Jerk (yes, this band has aged extremely well, I think I listen more now than I did then)
The Biggest Square Thing (yes, featuring Athens, GA ex-pat Sue Garner who moved to NY before it was cool)
Rudolph Grey (yes, borderline self indulgent, but enough SST muscle to be great)
Unsane (yes, it's fucking Unsane, I mean, what else do you want?)
Fitch  (no, again)

DL

Gaytheist / Rabbits - Gay*Bits (preview)

Label: Good To Die
Year: 2015

You all know I'm not prone to wanton hyperbole, and certainly I'm never reckless in my proclamations of "greatest ever" and the like. This is well established. This is the trust in which this entire ramshackle blog thing is contingent, right?
So, that being said, based on the three song preview that Good To Die Records has provided for the new Gaytheist / Rabbits split lp (cleverly titled 'Gay*Bits [I don't get it?]), I'm ready to declare this as potential Album Of The Year. Three songs in and I'm comfortable in this statement.
You hearing me?
You hearing this?!
Go here and hear it!

DL

Warhammer 48k - Uber Om

Label: Emergency Umbrella
Year: 2004

Last time we visited with Warhammer 48k was back in 2009 and their 'Ethereal Oracle' album. A great album mind you. The band showed a trans-Atlantic kinship with big, noisy, lurching, rabid bands like Hey Colossus, Part Chimp, Todd, and Vandal X (Belgian, but I'm going to count it on account of the pomme frites). This time around (which is...stay with me...actually further back in time) listening to Warhammer 48k I hear different influences. This time I look west from their Missouri home and see Thrones, Karp, and Dead Low Tide, with their murky thunder soaked melody. Not that this is a "feel good" pop record, far from it, it's still very twisted and sinister. It rides high on bad vibes much like the SST catalog did circa 1984-1986, but it has the chops to keep their heads above water. Despite all the waves of seemingly formless noise washing over the post-sludge rock ocean bottom, they never lose direction or succumb to  self-indulgent wankery.
Of note; "Haunted Abortion" is one of the better song titles you will hear today.
After this band, they moved to Chicago and formed Cave, which had an offshoot called Lazer Crystal, and one called Bitchin' Bajas in case you want to continue digging.
I'm already hungry for lunch at 8:39EST....am I pregnant?

DL

Rival Schools / Onelinedrawing - Rival Schools United By Onelinedrawing

Label: Some
Year: 2001

Back to Walter. I always come back to Walter eventually.
Rival Schools was a tough sell initially for the simple fact that they weren't Quicksand, even though I (we) wanted them to be. In retrospect I (we) should have known to trust Walter and let him lead us into a new era, he won't steer me (us) wrong. Would he?
I mean, for Christ's sake, he had fucking Sammy Siegler from ever NYHC band ever on drums! He had Cache from Iceburn on bass! He had Ian Love from Burn on guitar! I (we) should have just sat back and let this one go nuts.
But that wouldn't be in the grand tradition of music fans (snobs) having a difficult time in allowing our heroes and heroines to evolve past what we feel is within acceptable parameters. And in this case, I (we) wanted more Quicksand. Something loud and heavy and with those stuttering stop/start rhythms that Walter had helped popularize. I (we) are dicks.
Turns out Rival Schools were a slow burning success (musically anyway) that rewards repeated listens to allow the songs to worm into your memory and lodge themselves there for days at a time. Walter always had a knack for sneaking melody into hardcore and post hardcore, so it shouldn't be a stretch to hear those melodies front and center.
But by now you've heard Rival Schools I'm sure, so you know all this.
Here's the ep they did with Jonah Matranga's (ex-Far, New End Original) Onelinedrawing solo project. And it's not crystal clear, but both bands (granted one band is a solo endeavor) are playing on all the songs together, so it's not "pure" Rival Schools or Onelinedrawing. But that's cool I think . Not that I'm a good barometer of what's cool or not...I like Rod Stewart after all.

DL

V/A - Shiny Grey Monotone Radio - Show 15

Label: n/a
Year: 2015

Welcome back to the greatest on-going mixtape jamboree currently in existence on this blog!
Show numero 15, blasting straight out of the gate with an underappreciated power pop gem from Pines of Nowhere and giving you some "catchy" jams prior to a visit to the Austin noise rock neighborhood, and then the damn thing just goes nutso all over the place. It gets ugly, and then it gets uglier, until...we all die. This one goes deep (that's what she's never said...sad face) and eschews more big name bands for straight gnarliness and heft. Doesn't disappoint (unless you're asking "her"...she'll tell you it does).
It flows better than the above description will lead you to believe, trust me. I put a lot of effort into sequencing these things. I do it all for you...for US...for our baby!
I'm suggesting you pair this volume with a brisk jog to start, some interval training (push-ups, burpees, jumping jacks, squats, dips [find a park bench!], then mountain climbers...sets of 8-15 [depending on fitness level {SGM not responsible for any injuries acquired during workout...that's legally binding, for real}] repeated 4 times each), then, by the time you get to Skewbald you should be jogging back home (1.5 miles each way should do), and your cool down stretches might get weird as soundtracked by Brain Handle...but...feel the burn(?).
Please post photos of results to the Shiny Grey Monotone FB page.

The bands:
Pines Of Nowhere
Gods and Queens
Thirty Ought Six
Ed Hall
Johnboy
Switchhitter
The Huguenots
Scrid
Inappropriate Tough Guy Behavior
Bert
Ipecac
Bushpig
Skewbald
Pissed Jeans
Grids
Twin Stumps
Brain Handle

DL

Hip To Death - Punk Will Never Die, But You Will

Label: self released
Year: 2011

Here's an Atlanta band that's been kicking around the proverbial "scene" for a few years now, but they don't seem to get the same attention that some of their peers have received. And maybe that's because they defy easy categorization, or because they don't seem especially eager to put out records with any sort of regularity, or...I don't know.
It's a two piece, husband and wife duo, who have culled together influences from all around the post hardcore, post punk, and post rock universe to lay down a wash of tuneful noisy bliss.
Some of these songs could have come from Sonic Youth's earliest records. Some of them could have been featured on the 1981  'Hell Comes To Your House' compilation. And some of them would be perfect for a set at next year's Austin Psych Fest. See what I'm saying? They can come at it with a frenetic pulsing energy, or they can lay back and let the sounds just crackle about, creating their own patterns and rhythms.
I slept on this band for a long time...like a lot of folks it would seem, but no more. This is a killer record worms its way around your ears and with a darkness and sophistication that doesn't come around that often. Don't be like me, pay attention to this one.

DL

V/A - Manifest(o)

Label: Infernal Racket
Year: 1999
Infernal Racket was a relatively short lived label out of Pennsylvania who put out a handful of really great noisy, sludgy, stoner-y records in the late 90s. This compilation has them teaming up with their friends at Hydra Head, Escape Artist, and others to give a survey of what they were into at a particular moment in time.

Rabies Caste - previously released on 'For The Vomiting Truck Drivers', but...oh, so satisfyingly burly.
Isis - previously released on the 'Mosquito Control' ep, but again...I mean, it's when Isis were really going for it...so good.
Superhighway Carfire - previously released on 'Shell Of A Man', you may have missed that record though, which would be a shame if you like having two shoes clapped against your ears like I do.
Wally - previously released on the 'Freud' album. Really good, burly shit, with lots of changes packed into a compact song, yet avoids sounding like a disjointed mess.
Time In Malta - previously released on the 'Construct and Demolish' ep, one of the best bands of this era to play the noise-core/metalcore style as they mixed in some older D.C. influences.
Cave In - previously released on 'Until Your Heart Stops', still holds up as a barnburner of Slayer-core.
Meatjack - previously unreleased (that I know), throbbing wall of hate-noise from a band criminally underrated. Super nasty.
Dropnickel - previously released on the 'Digging It Up' compilation, which, there's pretty much no way you've heard before unless one of your cousins is on it. I think you'll dig their big, swinging grungy rock though.
Stillwater - previously unreleased (that I know), but I think this is the Stillwater who put out a record on 1124, but...not totally sure. Sounds like a band that would have been on a bill with Mind Over Matter and JJ Paradise Players Club circa 1997.
Cavity - previously released on the 'Goin An Arbor' 7". Still makes the hairs on your arm stand up with their impeccable Sabbath/Flag assault.
Scrid - previously unreleased (that I know) but a real overdriven doozy of clawing, scratching, stroked-out blasting.
Bobbykork - posthumously released on their discography. One of those quintessential "finds"...a "who the fuck?" band that will rip your face clean off your...ummm...face.
Calm - previously unreleased (that I know of), teeters on the oft-maligned "alt metal" line, but messy and loud enough to safely fall into an acceptable home here.
Burn It Down - previously released on the 'Eat Sleep Mate Defend" ep. Easily my favorite ex-Hardball band...mean and heavy.
Turmoil - previously released on the 'The Process Of' album. Easily my favorite ex-Conviction band...also mean and also heavy.

DL

Bl'ast! - For Those Who've Graced The Fire

Label: Rise
Year: 2015

Wait, what?!
NEW Bl'ast! and Nick Oliveri is in the band? And they have both Chuck Dukowski and Dave Grohl playing on this 7"?
What's the down side?

DL

Unwound - A Single History: 1991-1997

Year: 1999

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Here's a band I find myself coming back to over and over again. The music never gets old because they never bought into what was in fashion at the time, they were constantly taking elements of punk, indie rock, noise, space rock, and even free jazz and molding them into new and exciting combinations. What is presented here is a chronological survey of their singles, compilation tracks, and some demo material. 

But you knew that huh? I mean, you're here, at this blog, so I would assume you are familiar or at least aware of this band. Seems they are far more popular now than they were when they existed. I caught them in Atlanta a couple of times around the New Plastic Ideas and The Future Of What eras and there wasn't a full house either times. And these weren't big houses. So I don't know, maybe you haven't ever listened to Unwound, maybe I'm being presumptuous. Well alright then, let me try and describe this band...I've honestly never really thought about it, so I'm winging it here folks. My best shot would be; take the push and pull of the early 90s Dischord sound (Fugazi, Circus Lupus, Nation Of Ulysses), mix in some of the frantic emo skuzz of the Vermiform punk style (Born Against, Moss Icon, The Great Unraveling), a dose of the spare syncopation characteristic of the late 80's math rock crew (Bitch Magnet, Slint, Bastro), and dunk the whole mess into the murky pop of the mid period SubPop label (Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Seaweed). It's pretty much a combination of the best music produced in the past two decades distilled down by one of the best bands of the past two decades. 

If you don't have this, please get it. You need it. It is important to your growth as a human.

*originally posted 10-08-08, reposted 08-07-15. Sidebar: if you haven't already invested in the Numero Group's Unwound box sets, I highly encourage you to, it's well worth your hard earned money. Seriously. Find it here.

DL

Pleasure Forever - Alter

Label: Sub Pop
Year: 2003

We've covered the VSS before, and I think we covered Angel Hair as well, but we never did get to Pleasure Forever (or Slaves for that matter).
Well, that's dumb, especially when concerning such smart music.
You see, Pleasure Forever might have risen from the smoldering ashes of one of the best hardcore bands of a previous generation, but they quickly dispatched of that frantic noise and began embracing an altogether more sinister tone. A tone that takes from the murder ballad Nick Cave-isms of Black Heart Procession, and injects some driving Girls Against Boys post hardcore by way of the Doors seedy underbelly-of-the-city-at-dawn bad vibes. A complex mix, but never inaccessible. If you put your ear real close you'll hear why Gold Standard Laboratories issued the vinyl version. The elements of gothic and death rock and classic dark punk (the Damned) are all bubbling just below the surface, and add a suitably unsettling "feel".
This is a record I revisit often, it has a timeless quality that holds your attention with each subsequent listen.

DL

Slug - Swingers

Year: 1992

Label: Magnatone

This is a collection of singles and ep material from Slug, a triple bass wielding art/noise beast from Los Angeles. They take their cues from Swans, Einsturzende Neubauten, Head Of David, Birthday Party...stuff that doesn't usually get played at the cookout. Also, if it helps, they have split 7"s with Cherubs and Unsane, so they keep good company. 

It's heavy, dense, messy, throbbing, and hateful (that's what she said), which is pretty much why you're here right?

*originally posted 08-20-08 (one of my very first posts......awwwwww), reposted 08-05-15

DL

Nirvana - MTV Live 'n Loud 12-13-93

Label: Bootleg
Year: 1993

Hey, remember these guys? What ever happened to them? Seemed like they were poised for big success, and then...poof, they just up and disappeared Probably got feed up with trying to "make it" and just went and got real jobs. Maybe somebody let them know that there was a band called Bush that had already beat them to it (Candlebox too for that matter).

Well, anyway, regardless, there was this one time they were on television, Mtv to be precise, and they broadcast this 10 song concert. Which was pretty cool for Mtv back in those years...and would be pretty cool now, assuming they actually played music. Not too long ago a dvd collection of this show was released that has the entire set including bonus tracks and stuff. You can go buy that, assuming there are still stores that sell music (maybe Mtv.com sells music...who knows, the interweb is a mysterious and beguiling place that I tend to steer clear from), but for now right now, you can listen to these choice cuts from a band that narrowly missed their window to stardom. If only...huh?

DL

V/A - Magic Bullet Sampler - vol. 2

Label: Magic Bullet
Year: 2015

Magic Bullet has been quietly carving out an interesting niche over the past 18 years, releasing a slew of offbeat records and carefully curated volumes from bands who have defined their chosen genres. They once leaned heavily on late 90's scream bands, but have since (always, really) broadened their scope to include all manner of heavy (and not so heavy) music. Three cheers all around to a great label still fighting the good fight. Peep this compilation, and then o pick up your favorites off it (my vote goes to Meatwound and Wailin Storms, but don't let me sway your judgment).

Sweet Cobra - a house favorite here at the ole blog, super catchy, driving, heavy noise rock. This band has yet to disappoint
NY In 64 - some mid-90's post hardcore emo feel, has teeth but no tongue (instrumental). Members of East Of the Wall and You and I.
Meatwound - reason enough to download...stop, drop and roll. Burly as fuck noise rock.
Bleach Everything - straight forward hardcore ripping. If it ain't broke...
Wormwood - throw a towel over your head, and have your friend wail away with a baseball bat in a slow, rhythmic fashion. Half of the band Doomriders.
Ancient VVisdom - hmmmm...well, you can't win 'em all.
Harmonic Cross - some of the same dudes from the aforementioned Bleach Everything, this time going the opposite direction into shapeless ambiance.
Brother Dege - somber blues folk, less Robert Johnson more Dax Riggs. 
Ides Of Gemini - dreamy dark disturbances.
Wailin Storms - this band is an unexpected revelation, death rock with gusto, they channel Samhain, Christian Death, TSOL, and drag it through the hot southern sun until it blisters and bursts. Super good!
Zex - easy, breezy poppy punk played by ladies and gentlemen in studded leather jackets.
Integrity - I mean, c'mon man. It's a live version of 'Dawn Of The New Apocalypse' off their high water mark record, complete with requisite "Cleveland is violent" stage banter...exactly what you want from Integrity!

DL

American Heritage - Millenarian

Label: Translation Lost
Year: 2006

Keelhaul vs. Mastodon vs. Capricorns...essentially.
Otherwise, it's a really big, loud, brutal, twisting, complex, heavy, ugly briar patch of gut punching riff after riff after riff, accompanied by a rhythm section more akin to road construction than your average rock band. It's math rock turned up to maximum volume and run through a series of distortion pedals.
Later American Heritage eschewed vocals for the most part, and while this one is chocked full of them, it's got he most bellowing and yelling of any of their releases I can think of.
Good music to soundtrack your next backyard demolition derby themed party (which, by the way...where's the invite?)
Recorded and mixed by Sanford Parker, and mastered by Scott Hull, which only adds to the punishment.

DL