TERMINAL ESCAPE

EXTREME HARDCORE

2012-01-27T00:59:00.000-08:00

Leaning more towards the DIY metal that was floating around the underground tape trading world and concentrating on bands from the South, Extreme Hardcore is a 90 minute excursion guided by cult hessians and determined small town thrashers. Texans DEAD HORSE start the party with three tracks - this band was just a whisper to us Oklahomans at the time, but their tracks hold up brilliantly. BLUCK, crossover maniacs TRANSGRESSION, and downtuned churning primitive death metal from Alabama's RANDOM CONFLICT continue the battle while raw noisy hardcore from RADIATION SICKNESS and SKELETAL EARTH wrap up the first round. After a 6 minute death metal opus from NOCTURNUS, Tennessee's FOREVER UNGRATICAL CORINARIC TECHNIKILATION (F.U.C.T. - whose Dimensional Depth Perception full length completely melted my high school mind some 20 years ago) blaze two bombastic burners that are worth the whole download and are followed up by ripping old school HC from fellow Tennessee denizens REDNECKS IN PAIN. CONFRONTATION dish out three tracks (one from their 1989 EP), and we take a trip to the Northeast for legendary weed thrashers EXIT 13 and PHLEGM, who offer three more each to close out the party. This comes from a time when snail mail was just simply mail and underground legends were born...and before the word Extreme had anything to to with sports.

EXTREME HARDCORE COMPILATION 1990

FUNERAL SHOCK

2012-01-26T07:05:00.000-08:00

This band came out of nowhere just as I was leaving the Bay Area in 2002 and kicked the entire region in the dick. A crew of powerviolence veterans spewing spite filled bare bones hardcore punk might have been just what punk needed to knock people down a notch and get them out of their big boy britches. "Punk Ass Nitpick" starts with a creepy crawling riff that channels early LA and delivers with the unbridled fury of '80s Detroit, and then lurches forward for 20 seconds of rage before the guitar torture that makes up "Hang The Jury" kicks in. Six songs in just over seven minutes on the demo, FUNERAL SHOCK blew through a few singers and several vinyl slabs before packing it in. Members of DEADBODIESEVERYWHERE, SPAZZ and CAPITALIST CASUALTIES in case you still need convincing.

FUNERAL SHOCK

COLD LOVERS

2012-01-25T06:50:00.000-08:00

Often, the best part of playing in a band is getting to see other bands, and this was the case a few weeks ago when NO STATIK played in Chicago. Naturally the show was awesome (after all, Sarah set it up so this should come as no surprise), MANIPULATION, NATURAL LAW and CREEM were all every bit as good as expected, and I was riding on a endorphin rush after my 30 degree post sunset dunk into Lake Michigan, but that night was all about COLD LOVERS. Half the members of FENCED and a few rockin' dudes make up this outfit, and as much as I love the demo you are about to hear, the live wall that crashed down upon me when this band played was exactly the reason I love punk. Chaotic and disjointed mid paced hardcore with distant and hollow female vocals competing for your undying affection with primitive and distorted single note lead guitar. This is no bullshit and total rule, and while I initially detected an absently introspective goth vibe from my first several listens to these songs (a vibe I admittedly struggle to detect after seeing them live) my ears now hear earnest and determined songs, plowing through me like a bulldozer - as much in your face as digging right into your heart. Best band...I wish half of the shit I heard was half this awesome.

COLD LOVERS

Get this tape: coldlovers(at)gmail(dot)com

TROTTEL

2012-01-24T06:58:00.000-08:00

It's been over two years since I posted the first TROTTEL demo, and this one has spent that time lurking, waiting for it's moment in the sun. Today will likely be cold and dark for most Terminal Escape readers - winter has that effect - but let this '80s Hungarian punk be your light. Ignoring the ill advised and poorly executed Simon & Garfunkel cover, this is excellent UK anarcho influenced female fronted punk from Hungary. And it is awesome.

CHRISTMAS DEMO '86

ABDUKTION

2012-01-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a long weekend. The CONQUEST FOR DEATH SHOWS with DANGERS were a blast, but between that and life's incessant obligations, I think I need a nap. So no long winded prostrations today - just ripping raw hardcore punk from Texas. Seriously, this shit will melt you.

ABDUKTION DEMO 2011

OUT OF TOUCH

2012-01-22T00:04:00.000-08:00

Posted their 1991 demo a while back, but two years later Nagoya's OUT OF TOUCH got even better. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Raw, noisy, and fast as shit.

OUT OF TOUCH 1993 DEMO

SECRET POLICE

2012-01-21T00:17:00.000-08:00

A snarling dervish of a demo - early DIE KREUZEN meets HOLY SHIT! in a bar: they get drunk and play fast and that is all. Fukkn good jams, period.

DEMO TAPE

ODOUR OF DUST AND ROT

2012-01-20T04:04:00.000-08:00

More sounds from a certain circle of incestuous black metal savants, this 60+ minute comp features many of the regular suspects (GLOSSOLALIA, ODZ MANOUK, ABSUM, TUKAARIA) as well as newcomers KUXAN SUUM and NIHILOBSTAT and a few uncredited tracks (which I suspect might be attributed to RHINOCERVS, the label responsible for this compilation).

The presentation is as good as the contents, even more so than is typically the case with this crew, harsh and distant black metal sounds are accompanied by a booklet filled with pages of bleak images. Basically, it's exactly what you expect aurally and aesthetically.

ODOUR OF DUST AND ROT

THE MANUAL AND THE MACHINE

2012-01-19T04:14:00.000-08:00

Soundscapes that fall somewhere between early SONIC YOUTH dirges and present day versions of electronically driven bedroom genius. If the modern age of musical innovation is just going to take us back in time and submerge us in the sounds of my youth, then I must confess that I relish the thought of getting wet. All gothy and weird, THE MANUAL AND THE MACHINE might take a few listens to sink into, but their distorted and distant missives are abrasive and welcoming at the same time..and I find myself seeking comfort in their arms.

BOILER MAKER

SLEEPER CELL

2012-01-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

A lot of stuff from the early '00s gets overlooked, and plenty of it with good reason. Generic rehashes of genres past were running rampant, and kids didn't really seem to know how to deal with hardcore as a twenty year old genre - in other words, when DOWN IN FLAMES started, MINOR THREAT was as old as THE BEATLES were when MINOR THREAT started and too many bands seemed hell bent on trying to recreate magic that they never personally experienced, and the result (while often very fast) was often quite stale. But as with any rough patch, just kick the dust around for a minute and you'll uncover some magic. Boston's SLEEPER CELL tend to slip through my mental cracks more often than they should; I rarely listen to their LP but every I time I do I am reintroduced to how fukkn great it is, and last night while trying to find a place to store yet another daunting box of cassettes I was reminded that I hadn't blasted this demo in half a decade. My loss. Seven songs in under nine minutes, packed with awkward blasts of breakneck hardcore. File this shit between TALK IS POISON and TEAR IT UP, even though it starts with an S. Think about it...it makes sense.

SLEEPER CELL 2003 DEMO

ARTE ZABOTAJE

2012-01-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

High energy Mexican punk with more than their acceptable quotient of sing along choruses that temper fiercely insistent vocals and guitars that are constantly on the verge of breaking down. ARTE ZABOTAJE look to classic Spanish punk and DEAD KENNEDYS for influence, and their bouncing anger will have you looking for the rewind button when it's over. You won't find one of course, because this is the internet, but I'm sure you can sort out an arrow to click or something else that will help you listen to this again.

DIRIJE TU ODIO

METH SORES

2012-01-16T02:21:00.000-08:00

These San Jose mutants don't just have one of the best band monikers I've ever encountered, they also crank out the most profoundly brilliant garage genius meets blown out noise punk insanity I've ever heard. Take Helios Creed's guitar and inject it into lost TYRADES tracks performed by GAI (yeah, I drew that line...get into it). The only thing wrong with this tape is that it's only 8 minutes and change. Seriously, listen to "All I Do Is Live" and tell me that when the drums switch to double time at 1:20...tell me that this is not total perfection. If you can tell me that, then you are very good at lying and you are not my friend. Noisy raw and completely fukkd - I needed this music when I was 17, and I need this music now.

DEATH VIGIL

IMPATIENCE

2012-01-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

Seemed appropriate to post something from Wisconsin today, so here's the blast that brought me to my knees the first day I pressed play. Devastatingly heavy hardcore, tougher than any breaux-core nonsense and not even remotely contrived, Milwaukee's IMPATIENCE inject the unbridled fury of hate filled east coast hardcore into an impassioned midwestern assault. Churning and metallic breakdowns make me want to pull my hair out and throw shit across the room - this demo is just fukkn ferocious. The words are every bit as unforgiving as the music, drenched in fear and contempt. A monster, ready for battle.

NEVER ANY PEACE

Never Any Peace comes from Sacred Plague

LOS CAIDOS

2012-01-14T06:51:00.000-08:00

The guitars that start "Odio" will haunt you, and the ensuing three and on half minutes will eviscerate you. These Argentinians have achieved greatness, injecting dark vibes and a '90s basement delivery into manic fastcore. This is their third demo and, as much as I dig the first two, this self titled banger is total fukkn perfection. Male/female vocals and riffs that will melt your brain - and it's fast.

LOS CAIDOS

OZRIC TENTACLES

2012-01-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

Seriously, fukk a bunch of punk points, right? I mean, you can't use them for shit and other punks only resent you for having lots of them, so why not flush them all down the toilet with a blast of past-century psychedelic instrumental rock 'n roll? Equal parts PINK FLOYD, HAWKWIND, ALAN PARSONS and LSD, OZRIC TENTACLES cranked out an impressive cassette-ography before 1989's Pungent Efflungent, their first proper and official release. While their catalog certainly ventures too far into jam band territory for my liking, these early efforts are no-rules and guitar solo laden without stepping into hippie territory. This was put to cassette (minus two of the songs found on the full length), backed with some way less punk stuff which I have shared here - just in case the paint had not peeled itself from your jacket in disgust after hearing "Hgog In The Ether" and you are up for more torture.

PUNGENT EFFLUNGENT

REGRETS

2012-01-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

Released early last year, this downtuned rager slipped under my radar until recently, but I'm glad I picked up the blips and paid attention. Equal parts CURSED, HIS HERO IS GONE and MÖRSER, Chicago's REGRETS concentrate on the calculated attack and just simply destroy. The vocals are overbearing and weighty, and the band is at their best when they slow to a painful crawl and let that harsh voice take the lead. Crushing, oppressive and excellent.

POST DIGNITY

FALLOUT

2012-01-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

I decided a couple of months back to concentrate on demos and cassette releases on Terminal Escape, and started Escape Is Terminal (don't thank me for the original blog title, I've already congratulated myself plenty) as an outlet for live recordings, but it didn't seem right to let this Italian gem languish on a blog that is in its infancy and likely has a much narrower appeal. FALLOUT unleashed this collection of live tunes in 1985, a few years after dropping an essential ripper in the Criminal World EP. Classic thrashing Italian mayhem very much in line with WRETCHED, EU's ARSE and other contemporaries and recorded live in 1984/5 at various venues. The sleeve is a cut/paste hodgepodge (and in Italian) so I fear that my editing might be a little lax on this one, but that's no reason to keep these songs from entering your life.

INSURREZIONE

BONELESS RATS

2012-01-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

A raucous storm of hardcore damage, Florida style, with just enough hooks lifted from the early '80s to hold your interest. Six raw studio tracks and a live set from Sluggo's in Pennsacola. Rules.

FIRST TWO YEARS DEMO

BONELESS RATS

MASSGRAVE

2012-01-09T02:08:00.000-08:00

Bombastic. Chaotic. Thunderous. Cavernous. The always excellent Hardcore Survives label dropped this bomb a while ago, and it makes my head spin every time I hear it. Exactly what you need this morning...exactly what you need every morning for that matter.

MASSGRAVE

FANTASY ISLAND // HADALS

2012-01-08T02:31:00.000-08:00

Harsh electronic fukkery from FANTASY ISLAND backed with crashing waves of sound from HADALS. One track from each, 25 minutes of sonic manipulation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Last show of tour tonight. Denizens of Baltimore-City, come revel in sound at The Bell Foundry with LOTUS FUCKER and AT THE GRAVES. It will be wonderful.

LITTLE ITALY

2012-01-07T07:51:00.000-08:00

I must like that STARING PROBLEM tape a lot, because I keep referencing it. This time the nod comes not from another Midwest band but from some killer New Yorkers called LITTLE ITALY. Take those breathy female vocals and set them to raunchier and more feisty music...like our Carbondale heroes mixed with a punked out Jon Spencer. Whatever the nonsensical descriptors, the shit fukkn rules.

LITTLE ITALY

By some insane coincidence, today's post features a band from New York City, and tonight NO STATIK is playing a show in New York City. What are the fukkn odds of that?!?

LIFE ENDS

2012-01-06T06:04:00.000-08:00

Blasting insanity in the West Coast Powerviolence tradition. Ferocious Germans weaned at the teat of DESPISE YOU and INFEST make quite a racket, plowing through 16 venomous songs in less than 12 minutes. Unrelenting and wondrous.

DEUTSCHLAND VERRECKE

NO STATIK in Cambridge, Massachusetts tonight with CREEM, NATURAL LAW and NO SIR I WON'T at The Democracy Center. Come vote on getting your face rocked off.

DEFEAT

2012-01-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

Fist banging melodic crust never went out of style, it's just that too many bands started doing it poorly and you stopped listening. In case you missed Malaysia's DEFEAT the first time around, here is your second chance. Start sewing those patches back on your trousers, kid.

SHADOWS OF FEAR

Philadelphia: 508 South 5th Street awaits your presence. Tonight we will be sharing a room with SICKOIDS and THE BROOD.

POLISKITZO

2012-01-04T05:44:00.000-08:00

POLISKITZO are associated with the Silenzio Statico crew in Los Angeles, but it's hard to say exactly where they fit in. I've seen them several times, but I don't think I've ever seen them live at a show where they were meant to play. POLISKITZO are the dudes who spend the show smoking weed and tripping on acid in the back (or around the corner) and then when you least expect it (or when you are ready to leave) you look up and they are on stage. But you can't leave because they are too damn good, so you wind up staying at the show until three in the morning. The layered vocals are what make this demo stand out from their first, but the music is still blissed out So Cal punk with a tasteful touch of '70 NYC glam punk on the guitar. Prepare to get stoked.

POLISKITZO

NO STATIK tour continues tonight in Columbus, Ohio. The last time I played at The Legion Of Doom we battled the circuit breaker for a frustrating 15 minutes before calling it a night. Let's hope that the IBEW has paid them a visit since then.

DIE KREUZEN

2012-01-03T00:07:00.000-08:00

1982 demo. Flawless Midwestern hardcore punk. We are playing Milwaukee tonight, so it seemed appropriate. One of the best US hardcore bands ever. Five songs in just under seven minutes. In case you were wondering, it's pronounced "dee", and not "d-eye."

DIE KREUZEN

Milwaukee tonight at the CCC...SIN ORDEN is playing too, but they are called NO ORDER tonight just to keep with the "No" theme. It is good to come home.

WILD CHILD

2012-01-02T01:02:00.000-08:00

This slab came out of nowhere and launched itself into my heart - fierce and fiercely snotty power punk madness from The City Of The Viking. Take early '90s rippers like FILTH, BLACK FORK, LOS CANADIANS and mix it with a touch of that weird early '80s LA by way of Sweden magic. Or what if EDDY CURRENT were high on crack? Take a moment and Ponder a future filled with sweaty basements and fingerless leather gloves. Yeah, the future looks good, huh?

WILD CHILD

NO STATIK visit Minneapolis tonight, and will be spreading our seed in The Rathole with F.O.T.E. JUHYO, COKSKAR and RIFLE DIET. Ask a punk if you don't know what to do.

DEATH COUNT

2012-01-01T00:52:00.000-08:00

I had plans, I swear. The plan was genius - I was going to take you, the reader on a geographical journey to correspond with our tour, but instead I went to funeral. So instead of ringing in 2012 excitedly downloading the MY LAI demo as I had originally planned, I'm going to pummel you with the fastest SE Asian grind you have ever heard. After trying to wrap your brain around the next 15 minutes of your life you'll realize that, as usual around these parts, you're a winner even when you lose.

DEEP SEA IN WEIRD MIND

Happy New Year from Chicago. By the time this show takes place, I will have plunged my stupid ass into Lake Michigan. Chicago residents come witness the underground union of blog nerds and my first live experience with one of my favorite new bands.

END RESULT

2011-12-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

Killer UK82 influenced shits from Australia, but injected with thrash energy and CRASS ingenuity. Be careful, these songs will sink in before you even know what hit you. Happy new year.

END RESULT

With any luck, I will finish playing this show and go to a place where someone will be playing this tape at maximum volume. Pittsburgh, I look forward to spending an evening with you.

FUCKED UP MIXED TAPE II

2011-12-30T05:09:00.000-08:00

Mix tapes are perfect for tour, this tour starts on a Friday, and Friday is (conveniently) the day that I post mix tapes. This tour will start with one hour presented by the cover models for SPIN magazine's 2011 year end round up (weird), Toronto's FUCKED UP. Perhaps just another spoke in the wheel of hype that has been this band's very existence, this is the second collection of blips, blurbs, rarities and guest appearances issued in criminally limited editions on cassette...URBAN BLIGHT, SEX VID, DANGER LOVES, SOCIAL CIRKLE, LOOK BACK AND LAUGH, COLD WORLD and BRUTAL KNIGHTS make appearances alongside demo versions of future FUCKED UP classics (though, as a crotchety fuck, I don't really consider much of this band's output past Baiting The Public to be classic), outtakes and outbursts. "Dangerous Fumes" and "David Comes To Life" are still killer, but our heros fronted by Manno on the SHOP ASSISTANTS tune is probably the single best minute on the whole damn tape...except for the DANGER LOVES jam, so I guess Manno is kinda the star here. This is what happens when a band has a great idea that is actually as good as they thought it was going to be when they were drunk.

FUCKED UP MIX TAPE II

NO STATIK east coast/midwest tour starts tonight in Alexandria, Virginia. Come visit us, or visit Prank and snag our new record...either way you will be a winner.

TROY SCHAFER

2011-12-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

I got this tape in the mail almost two years ago, after I posted the brilliant KINIT HER cassette. The same parties are responsible for these sounds, and as much as I enjoy the KINIT HER release, I think that these minimal psychedelic drones are mesmerizing. Two tracks, both just over 15 minutes...odd and disconcerting at times (that's a good thing), taking recorded sounds to new places, but doing so with a confident subtlety. I am ashamed that it has taken me this long to share.

ANUBIS COME IN

MOHORAM ATTA

2011-12-28T00:09:00.000-08:00

Another Bay Area band that I missed while I lived elsewhere, MOHORAM ATTA bridge that metallic hardcore - emotive crust gap wonderfully. Got home from a week of pleasantness tonight, on a plane to experience some unpleasantness tomorrow. I will listen to this while I fly.

MOHORAM ATTA

ODZ MANOUK

2011-12-27T08:05:00.000-08:00

Even more haunting black metal from the circle of Southern California madmen that call themselves Black Twilight. While I still leave discussions on the subtle nuances of the genre (and this crop of incestuous bands) to the experts, this is some of my favorite stuff from a very prolific group of outcasts. Once again on the Cepusculo Negro label, the sound wraps you like a shroud...tuck in.

ODZ MANOUK

USURPER

2011-12-26T00:28:00.000-08:00

Sent in by a Friend Of The Escape, five tracks of pained distorted hardcore from Boston. You know the drill, and USURPER do not disappoint.

USURPER

QUIET RIOT

2011-12-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

I am a shameless fan, have the tattoo to prove it, and these 1979 demos are QUIET RIOT's original lineup cranking through proto-Sunset Strip glam rock before they became radio friendly heavy metal. Randy Rhoads is still wielding the axe in these sessions, his stint with Ozzy would start later that year, and this is the same lineup that dished out two glam LPs in Japan before crumbling and then being resurrected by DuBrow to become the first of the LA sleaze rock bands to land a major label deal. Rhoads is prominent on this recording, laying down screaming leads and more swagger than on his later (and far more famous)

work. Several generations old, the tape shows some wear, especially on Rhoads' six plus minute live solo near the end, but you don't have to have a QUIET RIOT tattoo to get into the alcohol soaked party vibe...it does help though.

1979 DEMO + 1978 LIVE

PARLOR

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

This reminds me of an upbeat version of STARING PROBLEM. Similar guitars, similar vocal trade offs, just amped up and sassier. They are both from Carbondale, and they both fukkn rule, so I suppose it's possible they could be related. PARLOR are awesome, and make me feel like maybe I should learn how to write songs instead of just mastering the volume knob.

PARLOR

KILLED BY NOISE

2011-12-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Total mayhem in the form of ripping fastcore, grind and hardcore from 20 different Czech bands. While I'm sure that single sentence will scare some people off, Killed By Noise far surpassed expectations and is varied enough (within the confines of sheer distorted brutality) to easily keep my ears peeled for the entire hour. The first side is an all out assault with LYCANTHROPY, ANTOFAGASTA, INTERNAL HATE and others, while the flip mellows slightly and leans towards '90s hardcore. HEAD INJURY and THEMA ELEVEN are hardcore of the anguished and emotional variety...but never mind that whole "mellows slightly" crap, because LAHAR and CAD are about to excavate you a new shit shaft. This chaos came from Impregnate Noise Laboratories, released in 2004.

KILLED BY NOISE

THE WASTE

2011-12-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

Kinda tough to track down much info on these UK82 circa 1985 Exeter punks, but their two demos made their way onto this band-made cassette and I am grateful that it would up in my hands. THE WASTE cruise through 13 songs with discordant guitars and vocals shouted with an honest urgency. They probably fall in line with a heap of other bands who got lost in the shuffle of the mid '80s - playing classic UK punk while the scenes were moving towards thrash and metal. Easy to imagine "Britain in '85" as a stone cold classic, but I'm afraid that is going to have to happen in an alternate universe while the rest of us raise our fists (and pints) to "Mindless Violence" and "Well Hard." Up the Punx.

DEMO 1+2

SURRENDER

2011-12-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

As the title suggests, this tape compiles all of the recorded material for the Bay Area's SURRENDER up to their 2010 European tour. Modern anarcho punk with male/female vocals in an updated version of the umbrella that sheltered many different and unique bands in the world of '80s UK political punk, but with the added (and welcome) influences that come from members reared on '90s US emotional hardcore, with the focus turned inward both politically and musically. Awesome band live, and brilliant recorded, this tape culls both EPs, the split with ACTS OF SEDITION and the LP that was released by the record store down the hill.

DISCOGRAPHY 2010

HEIMAT-LOS

2011-12-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life gives you lemonade, and you add too much sugar and wind up making it all gritty at the bottom of the glass. And sometimes life gives you a tape packed with killer '80s punk and hardcore demos and you share them with your friends one by one. Life is kinda funny that way. HEIMAT-LOS did a pretty killer discography CD with this dude that you should buy, but in the meantime, here is their five track creamer from 1984.

HEIMAT-LOS 1984 DEMO

THRÄSHERS

2011-12-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

Raw and ferocious skate thrash from the same folks responsible for bands that Monday visitors should be well familiar with like ELECTRIC FUNERAL and DESPERAT. They've taken their magic DBeat dust and applied it to early '00s influenced thrashcore, and the result is predictably brilliant. That guitar sound? I would pay plenty of studio bucks for that - perfection. But when it comes from these fools, what the fukk did you expect?

10 TRACK DEMO

LAZARUS TAXA

2011-12-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

The midwest seems to breed a certain strain of crust that has been unhindered by the scourge of third rate melodic crust, undaunted by countless regurgitated recycled riffs on to the crap heap of plastic and petroleum waste. These are bands who seem determined to make important sounds even though their very nature will ensure that to most casual listeners they will be crammed under the same umbrella that critics have placed over the glut of unimaginative heavy melodic music over the last few years. MASAKARI and PROTESTANT come to mind, and I hold Michigan's LAZARUS TAXA in the same regard. I feel the same way I did when I first heard this brand of throat searing hardcore so many years ago, the low end the punches you in the gut and the frank unapologetic nature of the lyrics is obvious not only from the singer, but the whole band. It's not giving a fukk in all the right ways, and their melody, while sporadic, seals the package with a turned head and a fist to the chest. Though I take exception to the lyrics in "Cold Feet," I probably wouldn't have when I was 20, and that means they are probably hitting the right nerve. A band that makes my inner teenager seethe while making my outer 40 year old think...that's what I'm looking for.

LAZARUS TAXA

Released in 2010 by Désordre Ordonné.

CIGARETTE

2011-12-17T00:37:00.000-08:00

Painfully slow and agonizingly airy sounds from the DC area, CIGARETTE take an hour to shuffle through a dozen songs. Breathy and deliberately adorable, their songs are like CODEINE on 'ludes, with guitars floating through an evening sky thick with memories of lost love and a shroud of whispered promises. If Nick Cave were a well adjusted suburban adolescent with none of his malice but all of his vision, these are the the songs he would write for his girlfriend...or maybe it's the music Wayne Coyne will make when he is 80 years old, and CIGARETTE are just ahead of their time.

BLUSH!

NO STATIK plays in Reno tonight. It's in a house, the one where the punks are. Look for it, it's close to the casino where I'm going to win a lot of money tonight. Seriously, a LOT.

THE HERE AND NOW

2011-12-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

Sixteen different bands from all over the DIY spectrum, ranging from CÜLO, BUNNY SKULLS and POSITIVE NOISE to legendary one man noise punk VILENTLY ILL and recent Escape visitors BURNT OFFERINGS. The potential for hardcore monotony is high on a comp full of ragers, and The Here And Now avoids this with plenty of ambient noise, and acts like DEATH BUDDHA and AUDIBLE XXY clock in some of the finest moments on this comp. A slice of sound from the North Coast...

THE HERE AND NOW

**NO STATIK plays Portland tonight at The Know. It's Grant's birthday, and he will very likely be intoxicated.**

DOTS

2011-12-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

Snotty and irreverent KBD styled punk courtesy of one of the only dudes I have ever kicked out of my kitchen. I mention this not to talk shit, but because I think that would make him proud. Sounds of DETENTION and ANGRY SAMOANS collide with SHOCK and RIP OFFS covers, bringing DOTS' vision into clear focus. The reproduction is a bit spotty, and I want to read the lyrics about as much as I want to make the singer breakfast again, but I'm quite happy to blast his new bands from time to time.

6 SONGS

DEAD DOGS

2011-12-14T00:02:00.000-08:00

Not sure how they pulled it off, but these Winnipeg rockers managed to inject keyboard driven juvenile punk into blistering hardcore. There are no keyboards, and these folks are surely not juveniles, but somehow this feels like a group of hopeless teenage bedroom punks in front of a laptop making the most excellent hardcore record you've never heard. For those not yet versed in the language of my cryptic accolades, these are all compliments. Driving and vaguely off putting hardcore punk from the Canadian plains, DEAD DOGS didn't go to the prom, they spent that night making music instead. It was the right decision. Don't know anything about this band except for this demo, but this demo rules, so it's enough.

DEAD DOGS

SCREAM

2011-12-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

Most casual punks know SCREAM as the band that the dude from NIRVANA played drums for in the '80s, but those of us who know the Dischord LP from start to finish know different. But SCREAM is a tale of two bands, and both tales are told inside today's zip file. The four song banger from 1981 features two tracks from the aforementioned LP and two others, all urgent and ferocious in their pubescent intensity - a truly great tuneful (melodic before it was a dirty word?) hardcore band harvested from the same fields that brought us so many mandatory pieces of the USHC puzzle. So, the question is: "What the fukk happened?" Also included in today's post are three separate two song demos from 1985/6, showcasing SCREAM at their most shitty. Cock rock would be a generous descriptor, but the heyday of that coke stained genre had long since passed, and even L.A. GUNS might have shied away from a song about dreaming of a damsel while pulling on your pud. Two versions of "Walking By Myself," a musical jaunt down the highway of terrible ideas that seems to be yearning for sellout status, but is so much more awful than even the commercial radio rock was at the time. Worth it for the '81 demo (obviously), and as for the other six tracks? Well after you have a laugh and shake your head, bewildered that such a downhill slide can occur in such a short period of time, on most western keyboards the Delete key is located in the top right quadrant.

SCREAM - 1981 // 1985 //1986 DEMOS

SKULLKRUSHER

2011-12-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Raw as fukk, years before studs and shoelaces were en vogue. The tape cover shows nine tracks, but alas there are only four jams on my copy. Just a little taste from 2001, to let you know that this black clad raw punk shit is not the flavor of the month for some people, it's the flavor of life.

THE BOMB RAID

PSYCHIC BLOOD

2011-12-11T00:37:00.000-08:00

Noisy shoegazing adult punk sounds dredged though guitar alt rock (SST-era SONIC YOUTH/DINOSAUR JR., HOUSE OF LOVE) come your way from Western Massachusetts with great success. After a feedback laden title tracks that swirls in and out of focus, PSYCHIC BLOOD launch into "Annihilator," which makes me pine for Daydream Nation like few things that have crossed my ears since I first heard that slab. The recording is distant and hollow, straining to reach the top shelf, though the band seems completely content (and confident), an absolute necessity when making music often labeled as pretentious. More mandatory with subsequent listens, PSYCHIC BLOOD have moved on to the vinyl format with even greater success. This one's a sleeper, but don't snooze.

LEAVES

CÜLO

2011-12-10T00:04:00.000-08:00

Back to Chicago for a second time this week, here's the long overdue return of CÜLO to Terminal Escape. Their first demo made my head spin; 1000mph hardcore punk offered with pure abandon, just the way we like it. Equally killer vinyl slabs followed, and then this: the six minutes on the first side of this white shell make up some of the nastiest lightening speed hardcore that I've crammed into my earholes this year. A brief foray into DISCHARGE's "A Look At Tomorrow" is the only time I miss the presence of a four stringed assailant, and the track that follows more than makes up for any sense of loss I may have felt. One note keyboard solo? Yeah, we got that. Raw and fukkd in all the best ways...the flip side features the Nuke Abuse EP from Punks Before Profits, and this tape came from Frankenjew. Mandatory hardcore.

MUTANT MUSIC FOR MUTANT PEOPLE

CONSPIRACY OF GIANT NOIZE WOODPECKER MUTANT FROM OUTER SPACE (Vol. 1)

2011-12-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

Averaging well under one minute per song, seven international bands blast through 27 fastcore gems on this comp. New York's I OBJECT start a truly international comp that includes bands from Sweden, Czech Republic, Indonesia and Belgium. KOBRA XI's raw grinding madness leads into '00s thrashcore from JACKSTONE, bringing to mind TOTAL FURY - a vibe that continues with the USHC stylings of Sweden's DICK CHENEY. POWERCORE might be the most ferocious band on the tape, fast and blown out hardcore perfection, but the whole comp rages. An hour that goes by without listening to hardcore is an hour that you could have spent listening to hardcore. Don't make a mistake you'll regret.

CONSPIRACY OF GIANT NOIZE WOODPECKER MUTANT FROM OUTER SPACE (Vol. 1)

JUNGE FRONT

2011-12-08T05:23:00.000-08:00

Taking their name from the youth wing of a proto-Nazi political movement banned in 1982, Frankfurt's JUNGE FRONT (Young Front) managed only one vinyl release in their short lifespan. 1984's Politick is a quintessential Deutsch Punk slab, and this 1983 demo was a perfect warm up for that release. In classic D-Punk form, JUNGE FRONT flit between straightforward beats, rudimentary ska and jerky post punk, all tinged with gruff snarled vocals. The quality varies widely (both in terms of sound quality and technical proficiency) but even the no-fi ridiculousness of "Teddybär" is enticing, if only for the random appearance of group female backing vocals. The snare fights constantly through tape hiss, which serves only to add to the charm of these 12 songs. Borderline inept (and they often veer south of that border), JUNGE FRONT are nothing short of excellent to my ears - this is the kind of earnest determination that cannot be faked. My copy came on a tape with FUNERAL ORATION, END RESULT and DIE KREUZEN demos, but I nicked the cover from the brilliant Tape Attack blog, a must-visit source of '80s German punk, no wave and avant sounds.

EWINGER HASS

CEMETERY

2011-12-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Some folks are taking the current injection of '80s goth into DIY punk a little more seriously than others, and doing so with frightening success. Enter: CEMETERY. A Chicago quartet making music that begs for a dark corner, arms folded in silent frustration while vocals snarl out the very emotions that you've spent your entire adolescence suppressing. Driving, deliberate and decidedly punk, CEMETERY temper their attack with ambient numbers to close each side, giving a genuinely creepy vibe to the tape before you flip it over and get drawn in by distorted bass and guitars that scream in from 30 years ago and pick slide into your list of current favorites. Be careful, this one sneaks up on you, and just gets better the more you listen.

CEMETERY

HARSH VIBES

2011-12-06T05:20:00.000-08:00

Nasty, mean hardcore filled with awkwardness and hatred. The vocals are stressed to the very breaking point and their US styled approach is like a ton of bricks on your soul. Eight songs in under 12 minutes.

HARSH VIBES

This comes from Knochentapes.

SECOND AUSCHWITZ

2011-12-05T04:41:00.000-08:00

By the time these Dutch maniacs released 1985's Murderers, their seventh cassette offering in just two years, their musical skills had improved so much that many of these unnamed 15 tracks almost sound like songs. Like 1984's The Arse Of Mankind cassette, these are politically charged inept anthems assailing governments and animal abusers with equal ire, to the tuneless mess that can sometimes pass as music. Noise punk has rarely been so cacophonous, and SECOND AUSCHWITZ prove that practicing and good riffs are for jerks. Primal and raw anarcho chaos.

MURDERERS

THE GUILT

2011-12-04T05:37:00.000-08:00

Every I see this tape staring at me from the Shelf Of Cassette To Share, I think something along the lines of "Shit, I still haven't put that up? It's so damn good," and then promptly let THE GUILT return to the back of my mind while I sink another evening into turning gloriously analog sounds from years past into an unrecognizable sea of 01s and 00s. Redemption is Worth Nothing, the 2010 demo from DC's THE GUILT, a half hour of smart and determined hardcore that is able to set its sights firmly forward while sneaking fleeting glances over the shoulder at the forefathers (and the generations that followed). I hear SWIZ, and then I hear early '00s positive hardcore disguised as heartfelt '90s DIY basement magic. "Talk Hard" sounds as much like something you might hear on the radio and actually like as "Just Fight" sounds like a lost OUTLAST track, but both sound urgent and anxious - as does the whole tape. I always hated THE REFUSED, but I find myself thinking about all of the reasons that everyone kept telling me they were great, and those are the same reasons I keep coming back to these eight songs. Maybe I wasn't ready for Umeå's heroes back then, but I am certainly ready for THE GUILT now. Well written and expertly crafted songs, offered up with honest sincerity...sorry I waited so long.

WORTH NOTHING

BURNT OFFERINGS

2011-12-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

Sparse synthesizer driven sounds from this Michigan duo clearly worshipping at the wax covered altar of '80s Wax Trax Records fodder. Their debut is filled with eerie samples, minimal electronic beats and vocals that might be pretentious if not so successfully anonymous. A CHRISTIAN DEATH cover, lyrics lifted from ALIEN SEX FIEND and Al Jourgensen, surely you get the drill? Ghosts of early (pre-disco) MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT, CLOCK DVA join forces with solitude and adolescence on this tape, with great success. 77 Records, thank you.

SONGS ABOUT SEX

UNCONSCIOUSNESS

2011-12-02T06:03:00.000-08:00

For about a year, John and I hosted a Mix Tape Exchange in Milwaukee. Interest began to wane after a few months, but on those first couple of exchanges people really pulled out some big guns and spent some serious time putting the tapes together. This is how mix tapes are supposed to be made. Dave was a transplant from Buffalo (he has since returned) and is one of the most seriously critical music listeners I have ever known, so it came as no surprise that his submissions were consistently excellent, but Unconsciousness might be his finest work. There are bursts of hardcore that break up the 90 minute journey (LORDS OF LIGHT, G.I.S.M., KRIGSHOT), but this tape is essentially a tortured evening in a dimly lit room full of confused inward stares and sweltering doubt. From beautifully innocent female songwriters to grizzled gravel voiced songwriters, from MAN IS THE BASTARD to THIS HEAT, from the only KISS song I ever really liked (but performed by MELVINS, so it's even better) to the equally crushing and far more musically intriguing TOADLIQUOR. Unconsciousness is bookended with two tracks acid drenched distorted psych jams with soaring (and endlessly soloing) guitars from PSYCHIC PARAMOUNT, a band that I first heard through Dave. He also introduced me to PHARAOH OVERLORD who have provided the soundtrack for countless late night drives since they came into my life, and THE GIGOLOS "This Generation," which has since become one of my choicest jams - an infectious KBD tune with an undeniable mod/powerpop energy. Fortunately for you, PHARAOH OVERLORD's "Test Flight/Blackout" from III closes the first side of this tape in brilliant fashion, and "This Generation" makes an appearance as well...so you win. There is an art to making a great mix tape....and Dave is an artist.

HOW DO YOU THINK MY FATHER FELT...RESORTING FINALLY TO THE BELT

In addition to making mix tapes, Dave does time in excellent bands. Seriously. They are all good, and if you have seen them then you know I am telling the truth. CAGES. RUNNING FOR COVER. GAS CHAMBER. DEAD LANGUAGE. THEY LIVE. There are more, but that should get you started. I guess today is Dave Day.

SK8NIKS

2011-12-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

This demo will likely take longer to download than it will to listen to - SK8NIKS blast through two tunes and finish the program before you can even dust off your skateboard. Nerdy and irreverent Japanese hardcore in the vein of IDOL PUNCH or JELLY ROLL ROCKHEADS, except that this banger was dished out before either of those bands had achieved any notoriety. Consider SK8NIKS an under appreciated part of that same wave of early 00s Japanese hardcore: fast, thrashy madness. And seriously, who the fukk releases a two song demo tape?

ESCAPE THE HUMAN LIMITS

VICOUS BRICKS

2011-11-30T07:47:00.000-08:00

From the opening snarl, from the 45 seconds of unbridled disdain that starts "Decay," there can be no doubt that VICIOUS BRICKS are angry. The tracks that follow are measured but unhinged, crushing hardcore delivered with a HELLHAMMER ferocity. There's something in the water in Florida.

VICIOUS BRICKS

VIRUS

2011-11-29T05:20:00.000-08:00

All of these songs save one ("Systematic Violence," arguably the best song on the tape) appear in different forms on the You Can't Ignore It Forever demo, also released in 1984, but Dorset's VIRUS are too fukkn good to let a tape slip by just because you have already heard the songs once before. Or twice. There's a MOB styled moodiness to their anarcho brilliance - the vocals have a mournful lilt even when shouting out the determined mantra of a 1980s UK peace punk band. Such a brutal shame that this band only managed to record a handful of songs before calling it a day, VIRUS were fukkn brilliant.

INFECTED?

The liner notes were typed on the back of the cover, not photocopied, and the cassette was done up by hand...both seemed worth including.

ZONE

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Not a long lost demo from the superb Japanese ragers, but a new demo from a Connecticut trio aiming at the hearts of raw punk fans worldwide. Noisy as shit, disjointed and amateurish delivery, howling feedback competing with howling vocals...I'm guessing they are teenagers, and the fire in the lyrics only serves to reinforce this belief. They will prevail, indeed.

RAW HELL

MR. BUNGLE

2011-11-27T10:36:00.000-08:00

I worked at a local chain restaurant when I first moved to San Francisco, providing excellent customer service to business men and women downtown, giving everything that wasn't nailed down to any person who appeared to have a shred of humanity, and doing lines off the food prep counter at 4:30 in the morning just because I could. That job helped finance many of my early tours - band shirts were printed on the inside of restaurant shirts that I ordered from corporate, gasoline was paid for with money leftover from excessive manager voids, and a charming smile ensured that it would all be waiting for me when I came home a few weeks later. I crossed paths with a lot of interesting people during my stint behind the counter, and food was unofficially free to any bike messenger, punk or weirdo smart enough to work through the unspoken code of the illicit hookup. The tattooed electrician who came in for lunch with his crew turned out to be the guy who was distro-ing my band's then new EP, the straight looking dude in khakis who I had seen a few times at shows wound up married to my good friend and I toured four continents with him behind the drum kit. Bands would quietly stop by on their way out of town based on a rumor of a cheap meal, and people I met only because I gave them free food became friends that I still have today (nothing lasts like a relationship based on free shit). One morning, one of the regular recipients of my "fukk the man" disguised as generosity asked if I wanted to come see his band that night - he offered to put me on the guest list as a thanks for all the free sandwiches. He looked to be a pretty square dude, a rather noteworthy beard if memory serves, but I figured a random show was as good a place to take drugs as my bedroom, so I told him thanks and asked him where the show was. "The Fillmore," was his reply. This was about to get interesting (for the non-Bay readers, The Fillmore is one of the oldest venues in town and holds several thousand people, random squares typically don't play there - famous squares do), my free lunch guy had seemingly secured a gig opening for some rock stars, and I was going to waltz into one of the most storied rock clubs on the west coast. I didn't see the dude for most of the night, but the place was packed as shit and I got my first glimpse of MELT BANANA that night (they were the first band, and they blew my mind). MR. BUNGLE was the headliner, before Patton had gone off the deep end of overindulgent art/weirdness and scatological obsession, and they were actually pretty good. Though I was more interested in trying to figure out if the masked saxophone guy on stage left was in fact the same Zorn who had contributed to MR. BUNGLE's then new album (still not sure), they blasted through a legitimately ripping set and left the stage with a packed house screaming for whatever was their funk/metal quasi-hit at the time. They didn't play it, but instead returned to the stage to clear the room with a 30 minute improvisational noise encore - no structure whatsoever, just cacophony and a chorus of bewilderment from the quickly thinning audience. The free food guy? He was the drummer. I never talked to him about the show, but I kept on giving him free sandwiches whenever he stopped by.

THE RAGING WRATH OF THE EASTER BUNNY

This demo came from 1986, years before anything approaching notoriety, when MR. BUNGLE lived in Northern California and seemed as obsessed with EXODUS as with toilets and funk.

THE OILY MENACE

2011-11-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

I got super stoked on this when I heard it last year, and fully intended to share the sounds immediately...if you people could only imagine how amazing I would be if I actually managed to pull off a fraction of the things that I have "fully intended" to do during my adult life. But, as with most of my "accomplishments," better late than never, and please enjoy Michigan's THE OILY MENACE. Clearly taking their cues from the earlier and more original bands under the heavy umbrella, elements of melody are eschewed for raw blasting violence, and sweet candy hooks are skipped over for bursts of unbridled power. Downtuned non-formulaic '90s crust with a downtuned '80s death metal delivery...and band who takes their cues from The Dead Of Night... is at least starting off on the right foot. Oh yeah, and they are really into kale, which is my favorite vegetable. Enjoy.

MODULISTIC TERROR

FERAL KID MIX TAPE Vol. 1

2011-11-25T00:12:00.000-08:00

Continuing in the tradition of mix tapes used simultaneously as promotion, celebration and hype, Buffalo's Feral Kid Records dish out this plastic shell filled with glorious sound. The reason I like the label (and one of the many fine attributes of said label's empresario) is that there seems to be no real focus beyond the simple requirement that the music be good, and this mix tape follows that guideline rigidly. Not to imply that these songs from all over the spectrum don't make for a cohesive listen, quite the contrary, but FATHER IGNORANT's "Sex Ceiling" into "I Bleed Cash" from GOLDEN BUFFET certainly falls a little outside of the prevailing punk wisdom these days. That's why this comp rules. Made up of bands mostly from upstate New York released by, affiliated with or friends with Feral Kid, including SKATE KORPSE, GHADDAR, BROWN SUGAR, UTAH JAZZ, PLATES, MAYDAY and several others. The main stand out is the fact that none of these bands sound particularly like anything else - I can't say this is a hardcore comp or an weird punk comp, though some of the bands featured would surely fall into one of those categories, but most of these bands write songs that aren't concerned with the square hole they will wind up shoved into, and it makes the ears perk up at virtually every turn (or flip of the tape). I snagged this (and the fukkn sick new BROWN SUGAR 12") when man responsible was in town last weekend...didn't see them play because I make poor life choices sometimes, but an hour at the beach is better than no time with your friends at all, right?

FERAL KID MIX TAPE Vol. 1

INFERNO

2011-11-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

"A fiery eruption of clamorous urgency, storming out insistent pursuits of turbulent aggression into crushing unrestrained power. INFERNO boils over in flailing thrash excitement. A blazing outfit of riveting nitro speed and amplified havoc, much like the BASTARDS or the NEOS. Crank this one into the reels and explode."

- Pushead (MRR #10, December 1983)

GOTT IST TOT

SHRAPNEL

2011-11-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

Welsh bangers SHRAPNEL left a criminally small output before calling it a day, but with this and the Restricted Existence demo in your stable, I guess it's not really necessary to crank out a bunch of crap to beef up your discography. UK82 styled punk circa 1983 with gloriously amateurish lyrics ("We're just working class // So they can stuff their education right up their ass") that look at the world with the bleak and uncertain frustration of 1980s teenagers. Pogo your asses off.

THEY CONTROL OUR DESTINY FOR WE LIVE IN MISERY

Accompanying this post is a 35+ minute live set from SHRAPNEL, also from 1983, which can be found on ESCAPE IS TERMINAL.

MUTANT VIDEO

2011-11-22T08:53:00.000-08:00

Subtly sinister, synth driven sounds from the Seattle. The entity behind SELF COM sits at the center of this project, and the similarities are notable, but MUTANT VIDEO quietly expand on the minimal sound of that project, adding more electronics, a distant mournful bass guitar and manipulated percussion while remaining within the rigid confines of sparse dark ambience. Not exactly a roaring return after my three week absence, but this recording got me through many turbulent flights and more than a few sleepless night while I was south of the equator, and it seemed fitting to share.

"HEAD SCAN" - PART/ONE

WHEN THE WIZARD GOES ON TOUR, TERMINAL ESCAPE TAKES A NAP.

2011-11-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

With about 5 hours in between the last note of our 11/1/11 show in San Francisco and our airline departure for São Paulo, everything seems pretty much normal. Sweaty, exhausted, fighting the first stages of total physical shutdown - I can't think of a better way to start a tour. Thanks to COPS! (who might just be my new favorite SF band, I am awful fickle in that department, but every time I turn around there's another band blowing my face off) and BOOM BOOM KID from Buenos Aires, who started their US tour with us as we prepare for the aural devastation of their home continent. No updates on Terminal Escape until the last week of November, but stop by Escape Is Terminal from time to time as I'll have a few live jams to sprinkle on your toast. And check out CONQUEST FOR DEATH, because I'm guessing Craig will have some pretty entertaining tour blogging for you to read.

CONQUEST FOR DEATH // SARJAN HASSAN

2011-11-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

Malaysia's SARJAN HASSAN have visited the escape before, a full on blast of retro crossover thrashcore. Sick. CONQUEST FOR DEATH started as a project of sorts, and has evolved into a sporadic juggernaut - a vessel that has brought a constantly evolving network of friends to half a dozen continents. In 2006, our pal Kiku (ASSFORT, CHARM) was visiting San Francisco from Tokyo and he and Devon (WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, ALL YOU CAN EAT) concocted a one-off studio project. The project included Alex (SAY BOK GWAI, cult Bay Area '80s thrashers MORBID LIFE SOCIETY) and was recorded by Craigums (YOUR MOTHER, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, LOVE SONGS) who not surprisingly contributed guitar work to the project. The result was a self titled EP and plans for a west coast stint later that year with CHARM and Tokyo's fast/noisecore monsters U.G. MAN. I was drafted for that tour, and the next few years was/has been a whirlwind that included members from three countries and tours of five (soon to be six) continents. The songs on this split were culled from that first session, written and recorded in one afternoon.

HUMAN ERROR

TRUNCHEONS

2011-10-31T06:47:00.000-07:00

Staying in Montreal for another day, this Noise Punk Monday plays host to TRUNCHEONS. A ten track cassette with screaming guitars and throat melting yowls soaked in reverb. It takes a couple of songs for them to revert into pure DBeat, but when they do you wonder what took them so long...you can feel the sway of the crowd forcing you violently to the front of the room and then they shift gears and kick into a blistering rage. The shit is on point. Members of H.O.P.E., AFTER THE BOMBS, THE TOTAL END and others.

TRUNCHEONS

VILE INTENT

2011-10-30T06:22:00.000-07:00

I was pleased that Canada's VILE INTENT were every bit as ferocious live as their recordings suggest. Taking liberal cues from classic powerviolence as well as modern purveyors like THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE, these Canadian crushers unleashed their second EP earlier this year. It is great, and they were nice enough to make it available on cassette.

REGRESSION TO THE MEAN

ABSURDO

2011-10-29T04:40:00.000-07:00

Absolutely brilliant Spanish punk. Ferocious and impassioned guitars jangle and and scratch over breakneck hardcore punk delivered with such a delicately precise touch that ABSURDO almost come across as poppy, even though their attack is full throttle throughout. Vocals are snotty and snarled, and the songs are fukkn packed with hooks - fans of early '00s Copenhagen will eat this shit like candy. Fans of good punk rock will eschew such base attempts to woo potential fans and be genuinely and simply wowed by the brilliant jams. 13 songs in as many minutes, and enough quality to get you through the next week.

ABSURDO

If available, additional copies can be acquired from cintespodrides(at)gmail(dot)com

GET OFF MY LAND

2011-10-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

A hunt saboteurs benefit cassette from the late '80s featuring a handful of bands you know (INTERNAL AUTONOMY, SOFA HEAD, AOS3) and heaps more that you are about to enjoy. BEDOOHA's first tune comes off like a killer WIPERS outtake, R.D.F. would have been a favorite of mine had I heard them at the time, and the B side of the tape is packed with lo-fi dub brilliance. HAPPY SHOPPERS' two drugged out tunes take the cake for my ears, while THE AK47s and a bedroom 4 track instrumental from MR. LULLEY are total winners. A chilled out and not at all serious sounding comp, meant to benefit a wholly serious cause.

GET OFF MY LAND

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY

2011-10-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

Last year the world was all a buzz about the mighty return of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY. The seminal North Carolina band was going to unleash their '80s fury on eager punks everywhere in the form of the lineup that brought us the Animosity LP. Rejoice!! Gone are the wasted 1990s and the groove metal and the (almost) top 40 hits and the revolving door of sterile "musicians" with long hair slogging away on the third tier cock rock touring circuit - C.O.C. are fukkn back!! They booked a west coast tour, and the punks were salivating - we've all seen the videos, and we know the records inside and out - early C.O.C. were the fastest and most sinister thing going. They were from North Carolina (and they looked the part), and the only thing more fierce than Reed behind the kit was Mike motherfukkn Dean with a four string assault weapon strapped to his chest - this band took the BLACK FLAG model, made it faster and re-tooled it for the second coming of hardcore. There was a show booked in San Francisco with a ton of bands I was admittedly less interested in, and then I found out that an old friend's band was playing across town - so I skipped the show, convincing myself that it was probably going to suck anyway. It was an easy argument to make; CORROSION OF CONFORMITY had a really killer run, but it lasted only a few years until their first break up, and the two decades that followed are filled with utterly forgettable schlock that a small but determined handful of punks keep trying to make excuses for (no, Deliverance is not "pretty good for a rock record," it totally sucks). 1990s C.O.C. has about as much relevance as COLLECTIVE SOUL, so how could the people responsible for that crap possibly deliver anything other than a novelty punk reunion performance, good only for old timers and ex-punks who haven't seen a hardcore show in years, right? So I was on my way home from my friend's show when I got a message: "Got an extra ticket to the C.O.C. show - it's yours for free if you want it" (thanks, Paul), and in an instant all of my convincing evaporated - "FUKKN Animosity!!" so I jumped in a cab.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY

4 track 1985 demo, aka The Good Shit

So what's the moral of the story? If you have seen the supposedly-once-again-awesome CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, then you know that they sucked. Sure, they were technically proficient, but it was sterile and limp. Getting a group of accomplished rock musicians to play hardcore is easy - we punks aren't typically virtuosos. But what I saw was a room full of eager fans trying to get excited while three accomplished rock musicians slogged through songs that they seemingly hadn't given a shit about for 25 years, and it was painful. It was the epitome of "going through the motions," a band who can no longer pull an audience with their commercial music falling back on what little street cred they have left to pry another $25 from the wallets of a handful of dedicated hopefuls.

ESCAPE IS TERMINAL

I started another cassette blog, the world apparently has more cassettes than Terminal Escape can contain. Escape Is Terminal will exclusively feature live recordings, and will be updated 2-3 times a week. Today's post is a C.O.C. set from Washington DC, recorded in 1985, when they still had teeth.

TUKAARIA // ODZ MANOUK

2011-10-26T06:24:00.000-07:00

I will leave black metal accolades and descriptors to the experts, but rest assured that if I offer you a metal cassette on Terminal Escape then it is one that I feel achieves some significant goal. In the case of TUKAARIA, it is relentless and genuinely haunting lo-fo kvlt sounds presented as self absorbed goth music. ODZ MANOUK are even lower fi and more traditional black metal, with everything but a tinny guitar and sporadic crystalline keys buried in a wash of murky distortion. This is another release from the Rhinocervs label, who have yet to disappoint.

TUKAARIA // ODZ MANOUK

ROSE CROSS

2011-10-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hopelessly dreamy female fronted garage punks from Georgia. Sweaty, filthy and distorted, this tape sounds like TYRADES felt the first time I saw them - ROSE CROSS are much more restrained, but it feels the same. Most of these tunes clock in around the one minute mark, and as infectious as the vocals are, their mastery of The Riff is what really puts this banger over the top. Blown out to shitsville, beer cans flying, this is brilliant.

ROSE CROSS

MANIA

2011-10-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

Raw fukkn punk from the Silenzio Statico tape label. Long Beach's MANIA churn through eight UK influenced burners - tell me that "Radiation Nights" isn't a ripper and I'll call you a liar.

RADIATION ACID CLASH

SALAD FROM ATLANTIS

2011-10-23T00:43:00.000-07:00

SALAD FROM ATLANTIS started out playing purely fukkd noisy UK punk on The Squat Sessions, and then progressed (in terms of both talent and vision) with Where's My Future? to a high caliber and totally unique act. Göd Peäce and Greenery continues the journey with four songs showcasing SALAD FROM ATLANTIS as a more mature band playing driving UK punk with brooding and snarling goth-eque vocals. "Something In My Cyder (mänträ)" is a plodding psychedelic tinged number that sounds just a touch off its axis, while "God Loves" closes the tape suggesting that these chaps had aspirations loftier than the alleyways of Brighton...excellent and moody sounds.

GÖD, PEÄCE AND GREENERY

HUNTING PARTY

2011-10-22T00:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's hard living in San Francisco. It seems like I have to have a new favorite local band just about every damn week. Conveniently, the guitarist for my last favorite local band also has a hand in this new juggernaut. HUNTING PARTY are mean and frustrated hardcore punk, steeped in internally driven and intelligent '90s hardcore. Members of MIGRAINE, VACCUUM, ECOLI, YADOKAI, FACE THE RAIL, DESOLATION, SYNTHETIC ID and plenty of others. No rules, no convenient subgenres, just ugly. Four songs, all awesome.

HUNTING PARTY

San Francisco: NO STATIK, FUTUR SKULLZ, HUNTING PARTY tonight at El Rio.

THEE HEAVY '70s

2011-10-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

My pal Brad lives in Milwaukee, he has a hand in (or is responsible for) TRTRKMMR, NO SANCTUARY, and OTEASANEK, and he likes making tapes. Fortunately for me, I have been on the receiving end of a few of them over the years. And fortunately for you, I like to share. As the title suggests, the next 90 minutes of your life are about to be filled with mind melting doses of heavy '70s psych and hard rock - guitar solos will pan from side to side and raspy men will howl with a pained intensity while a parade of drummers effortlessly bash the shit out of their kits - but never forget to swing. Especially amazing jams include NIGHT SUN and the start of the ANTROBUS song, but there is not a single clunker on this mix. Fans of the Seeds Of Inspiration cassette will want to jump on this immediately, those who enjoy rock 'n roll should do likewise.

MAXIMUM VOLUME YIELDS MAXIMUM RESULTS

In the interest of completism, Brad's tape came with the following liner notes for the uninitiated:

1) The name "INCREDIBLE HOG" was a play on the comic book series "The Incredible Hulk." 2) DEMIAN is post-BUBBLE PUPPY. 3) ANTROBUS was previously known as IRON CLAW. 4) BUFFALO were the first non-British band signed by Vertigo Records, they were from Australia. 5) LEAFHOUND developed outy of the remains of BLACK CAT BONES. 6) JERICHO were one of the few hard rock bands to come out of Israel in the 1970s, previously known as JERICHO JONES. 7) THE FLYING HAT BAND was Glenn Tipton's pre-JUDAS PRIEST project. 8) NOVEMBER were one of the first Swedish hard rock bands to sing entirely in Swedish, they put out three albums and were quite successful in Scandinavia. 9) LINCOLN STREET EXIT were one of the few (if not only) mid '60s, all-Native American (New Mexico Sioux) hard rock bands to actively records and tour. 10) Marky Ramone played drums for DUST before moving on to play with Richard Hell's VOIDOIDS and then the RAMONES. 11) DAEMON was formed by two members of ATOMIC ROOSTER, the band name was later changed to BULLETT and then HARD STUFF. 12) The PENTAGRAM track is from the 1972 demo, members were also in STONE BUNNY and BEDEMON around that time.

CAUSTIC UPROAR PART II

2011-10-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

Abrasive and relentless garage hardcore. I cannot think of a tape I have heard that is less concerned with being cool, which makes it infinitely cooler than all of the cool tapes you'll never hear because they were pressed in quantities that barely hit double digits so they can remain mysterious and seem desirable. Twelve songs here, and the tape still just manages to scratch the 10 minute mark - great fukkn songs delivered honestly.

CAUSTIC UPROAR PART II

HYSTERESE

2011-10-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

Melodic garage punk with fukkn teeth, I love it. I know a lot of my friends really dig THE MARKED MEN, and Germany's HYSTERESE kinda remind me of that, but faster and way punker. They also remind me of THE SOVIETTES, who I also love (it might just be the female backing vox, though I think it's something more), but they are also punker than that. These songs rule, even though there are only four of them. There is, however, a new 12" record for you to buy after you fall in love with this demo. And you will fall in love with this demo.

HYSTERESE

FYRCE MUONS

2011-10-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

A while back I spent a few months on The Escape posting weekly contributions from Oklahoma - I'm not sure how many people not from Oklahoma cared, but I spent a number of my formative years there and therefore the existence of punks and/or weirdos from that state is important to me. One of the tapes I borrowed from Blake that was used to mine these fine Oklahoma punk nuggets contained two bands, both recorded from vinyl, that I had never heard of and could find little or no information about: FIERCE MUONS and THE HOSTAGES. The latter was a killer female fronted art/punk act that will make an appearance here whenever I can track down the song titles, and the former was a brilliant and primitive minimal synthy no wave thing...hard to imagine that it came from Oklahoma in any era much less the early 1908s. FIERCE MUONS were hard to research, and it was only recently that I discovered that it would have been easier to track down this mystery EP had the label misspelled the band's name correctly. Oklahoma City's FYRCE MUONS released their sole EP in 1980 on Cynykyl Records, and the five songs it contains are sparse bursts of frustrated art weirdness. I recently snagged a copy of that EP, Programming & Production For Profit, off of the world wide web and was able to give these bizarre songs a little bit of context, though I confess that this "mystery solved" has only served to pique my interest even more. FYRCE MUONS are a confusing combination of small town bedroom recordings meeting up with truly visionary no wave sounds - ahead of their time regardless of zip code. "Smother" appears to be about huffing gas, a practice I participated in while living in Oklahoma at least once, and the rest of these tracks make about as much sense as recreationally inhaling fumes meant for internal combustion. If there are more recordings, then I want to know about them.

FYRCE MUONS

INFERNÖH

2011-10-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

I missed the boat on this one, it sold out before I even knew it existed (like most of the things D-Takt & Råpunk put out). The word on the street was that INFERNÖH are the second coming of ANTI-CIMEX, and while I don't necessarily subscribe to that opinion, this is certainly one of the finest plastic shells to pass through my hands in quite some time. Justin loaned me his copy so I could share it here and you too could enjoy Scandi-beat madness and searing leads. Guitarist from SKITKIDS has a hand in this, in case you needed anymore reason to dive in - it's every bit as good as advertised.

INFERNÖH

GEESE

2011-10-16T00:36:00.000-07:00

Solid and rocking hardcore with just enough rock and roll. The base here is traditional Japanese HC, but GEESE add slick bluesy solos and the vocals put just a little more pelvic thrust in the monitor than you are probably used to. Make no mistake, this isn't some schlock rock - these dudes just pop collars of their leather jackets before they hit the stage and Die Is Still Rock drips with that attitude...while it scorches.

DIE IS STILL ROCK

EARTHSURFERS

2011-10-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Chaotic and psychedelic noisy punk, kinda like if SKATE KORPSE, THE SPITS and FACE THE RAIL all got really high and recorded with KURO at the helm. I was on the fence for a while with this one (the folded piece of paper with zero information was a turnoff as well, securing their apparent yearning for mysterious status), but I have hopped off of that fence, and landed squarely on the side of "this is awesome and I want more." No information to share, not even song titles (see last sentence's parenthetical "mysterious" jab), just a suggestion to get into these drunken distorted sounds.

RYDERZ OF THE WYLD WAVE

Deep Tapes is responsible for this and a load of other genuine weirdness. Get lost in it.

EUROPEAN HARDCORE

2011-10-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

In the interest of full disclosure, this tape has a rather misleading title, but I'm guessing that Finnish and Italian Hardcore didn't really have an interesting ring, so the tape maker just lumped in the whole damned continent. And while a tape called Finnish and Italian Hardcore might inspire titillating excitement in your loins, you would have a hard time constructing an arsenal as potent as this one. Most of these tracks come from relatively (or extremely) sought after records, so the true collector scum among you may skip this tape, but we common punx will be treated to indispensable tracks from KAAOS, NATO, INDIGESTI, CADGERS, SEKUNDA, DACHAU, TERVEET KADET and others. This is a masterful 90 minute trek through the annals of hardcore legend. Mandatory.

FAST LOUD HARDCORE

12 Bands, 90 Minutes, 74 songs

LEGION OF PARASITES

2011-10-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

LEGION OF PARASITES just fukkn kill - ripping pre-thrash UK hardcore punk. Smart and snappy with rapid fire drums that will jackhammer these five songs into your skull until the guitar intro to the title track just comes unhinged. This band has been well documented, and some of these sounds appear in more polished versions on the mandatory Undesirable Guests 12" and equally essential The Prison Of Life LP. Do this shit, you need it.

DEATH WATCH

BLACKEST WOODS

2011-10-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

This whole crew of Norwegian weirdos sure does make some killer music. BLACKEST WOODS flirt with black metal presentation while playing aggressively dark trudging hardcore interspersed with oppressively dark doom laden sludge. The vocals are almost over the top enough to sound ridiculous, but they land squarely in the evil camp, giving off a seriously twisted vibe throughout all four songs. Twisted plodding madness from a family that has delivered nothing but weird and awesome. This one is both.

ALL MY CHILDREN

DANIEL LENTZ

2011-10-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

Easily dismissed as some pretentious new age shit, Daniel Lentz's 1986 composition Missa Umbrarum is a genuinely soothing collection of unconventional "instruments" and vocal treatments...avant garde ambient sounds. This dude was way ahead of the early '90s swell of suburban intellectuals and college students extolling the virtues of medieval Gregorian chants and trying to convince their friends that they were hip to ENYA way before she started adding those contrived dance beats to otherwise pure and valid musical sounds...DANIEL LENTZ began avant composing in the '60s, and was actually worthy of such pretentious accolades. Struck, rubbed and tapped glasses combine forces with bells, rasps and voices to create a subtly disconcerting composition for people who wear turtlenecks.

MISSA UMBRARUM

What, you never wore a turtleneck? Not even as a misguided pre-teen? Well, your loss (both in the world of ill advised fashion and in the context of this tape). Also, DANIEL LENTZ is a visual artist too, look at his things here.

NÖ PÖWER

2011-10-10T00:49:00.000-07:00

It's Monday, do I really need to say anything else? You know what you are here for, and NÖ PÖWER is it. It's noisy, the guitars jerk off on random tangents and the vocals sound like they were recorded in a a cave. Like I said...it's Monday.

NÖ PÖWER

This tape was brought to me (and thus to you) by Statue Story, who are also responsible for the MOENDA tape that blew your minds last spring. Respect. Band can be found here.

TAB!

2011-10-09T00:15:00.000-07:00

Total retard thrash from Milwaukee. These wingnuts can barely seem to make a song last more than 30 seconds and cannot tear themselves away from subjects related to artificially sweetened soda. Instead of judging, perhaps you should just let go of your inhibitions and pretentions and just live a little...I mean really, you've earned a day of juvenile entertainment, haven't you? And even if you haven't, these 13 tracks will take up less than 400 seconds of your day, and you probably spend more time than that taking a shit, so really - what have you got to lose? Just listen to this while you are taking your shit. There. Problem solved.

TAB!

It's Sunday and it is now officially autumn, and I am posting a band from Wisconsin. If you know me, then you know what that means. If you don't know me, then make something up and go with it - your random guesses are probably way more punk than the truth.

FAMILY STONED

2011-10-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

Even though they achieve only marginal success some of the time, Olympia's FAMILY STONED reach such dreamy heights when they fire on all cylinders that their efforts cannot be ignored. Wandering from psychedelic dirges through a sea of guitar effects into a deliberate (and hopefully intentional) re-appropriation of a FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND guitar lick (or at least half of one), this quartet makes a mature leap into the world of droning retro sound. The vocals don't always work (and indeed they are the only downside to this cassette that my ears can detect), but the constant and deliberate pace and the monotonous guitars create an aura that conjures up lonely late night smoke filled rooms. And drugs. When the vocals do work to their advantage, FAMILY STONED sound like WOODEN SHJIPS interpreting early SONIC YOUTH - and also drugs.

FAMILY STONED

RAW WAR

2011-10-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

This was the third cassette comp release from Xcentric Noise Records. I could try to spend some time describing it, but I figure that Pushead did a pretty good job in the review section of MRR in 1983 when this gem was unleashed: "The best international sampler cassette available, with bands from Brazil, Canada, Finland, Holland, Italy, Norway and U.K. Features TERVEET KÄDET, NEOS, OHLO SECO, INDIGESTI, RATTUS and more! A lot of jarring explosive doses of chaos from the world of punk" (Maximum Rocknroll #5, March/April 1983). Lots of live tracks, some tunes from records you might have if you are a collector scum, SIB, 5º BRACCIO and NY RAVERS are probably my favorites on this tape, although the RATTUS and TERVEET KADET tracks are pretty unfukkwithable. And remember ADMASS, those inept UK punk miscreants who made a pair of of yawn inducing appearances on The Escape? Yeah, they made it onto this tape filled with '80s international heavyweights, and Gary Bushell is still a cunt.

RAW WAR

My copy came to me sans cover, and thus sans track listing. Thankfully, Kill From The Heart came to the rescue in both departments.

NAILS

2011-10-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

Not to be confused with the current hardcore act from the US, Germany's now defunct NAILS fall in line with some of the best introspective melodic hardcore bands from the '90s. Angry and serious, but with hooks galore, NAILS dished out top notch mature hardcore until their demise in 2010. This tape contains all of their recordings.

NAILS

CANCER // DIPERS

2011-10-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

Four posts in a row that barely (or don't) crack the ten minute mark, and the second from New York fukkn City. CANCER blaze through their four nameless USHC tracks in one four minute blur (and they are presented as one four minute track) - nothing fancy, no bullshit, but these songs will sneak up on you. They are pretty great at first listen (pay special notice to the sparse but necessary solos), and they become indispensable after subsequent jams. DIPERS are F.O.T.E. (Friends Of Terminal Escape), so an objective description is difficult, but suffice to say that their smart and raucous hardcore is just as awesome here as on the last tape I tried to shove down your throat. Eat The Life does good work, and I endorse their behavior.

CANCER // DIPERS

NUCLEAR CULT

2011-10-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

It doesn't get any faster, any meaner, or any more intense than NUCLEAR CULT. These German maniac blaze through 8 songs in just over 4 minutes on their 2009 demo, played with precision and ferocity unmatched.

HEIMSPIEL

Because nothing says matrimonial happiness like German fastcore, I would like to thank Karoline for being my partner in this nonsense. We were married fourteen years ago today, and I am pretty happy about that. Here is a picture, it's pretty much the only one that we got without shadows on our faces. My hair is awesome, but not nearly as awesome as my wife.

LAST CHAOS

2011-10-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

They named themselves after a CROW song, so the Japanese influences shouldn't need to be mentioned, right? Australia's LAST CHAOS come from the same family tree that bore the fruit called TEARGAS, so it should also be assumed without mention that they are really fukkn good at cranking out high quality over the top hardcore punk. Well, I guess I just mentioned it, but I just want to be sure that you know everything that you need to know. And you need to know that LAST CHAOS are about to level you with 520 some odd seconds of galloping raw punk with a few nonsensical solos and vocals echoing back from the doors of ridiculousness. Yeah, it's awesome, but so are garden fresh cantaloupes. I'm not one to tell you what to do, but unless you have a fresh cantaloupe in you backyard right now, waiting to be picked, then I suggest that you listen to LAST CHAOS. Really loud, so the juice runs down your arms.

WILD MEN

CREEM

2011-10-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

Seriously, this shit is awesome. Four gnarly and pissed hardcore punk songs in under six minutes. Midwest hardcore meets '80s NYHC - I can say it until I'm blue in the face (or type it until I'm numb in the fingers), but it doesn't really matter if you're doing something original, just as long as you are doing it right. And CREEM are doing it right. Their new(ish) EP is really good too.

HATES

RAYOS X

2011-10-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles has not made an appearance on The Escape in a while. Around the same time I realized this, I saw the second RAYOS X demo sitting on my shelf. Lonely. Waiting to be shared. My next move was an obvious one, and here is your tape: Sufrimiento. Stellar Spanish language sing along ass shaking punk rock from a band that plays punk better than anyone has in years. There is nothing new in what they do, and they do it with casual perfection. Awesome.

SUFRIMIENTO

Get their first demo here, check out a blog from one of the dudes here, and if you live in San Francisco then go see these motherfukkrs tonight at El Rio with LA VOZ and GENERACION SUICIDA. In my daily list of reasons to stay alive, these three bands in one room is very near the top.