ADAM MOWERY // 30 YEAR HEX

Two different artists making totally different sounds but creating very similar vibes in the process. ADAM MOWERY takes a base of breathy acoustic guitar and layers in 4 track bedroom psychedelic sensibilities where appropriate (fortunately, they are appropriate all over the place). Exceptionally laid back sounds suitable for candlelit nights or perhaps mood setting mix tapes for that special someone.

While I dig the acoustic side, the noisy lethargic garage goth from 30 YEAR HEX is much more my speed.  Painfully paced and gorgeously distorted brilliance, these are the miscreants that sat in the corner at the junior high dance, plotting all the glorious ways they could ruin your life. Like lost early FLAMING LIPS demos excavated and enjoyed without dusting off the years, this tape has...something. But luckily, it's the thing that tapes need to make them awesome.

30 YEAR HEX // ADAM MOWERY

RABIA

Noisy, raw and hopelessly brutal rehearsal recording from Japanese maniacs RABIA. This is the shortest post on Terminal Escape, with the possible exception of christmas day 2009. Dig in to the most chaotic 87 seconds of your life.

RABIA REHEARSAL 1993

RABID LASSIE

The late '80s were a bit of a musical wasteland. The DIY network was still it's infancy, and there were heaps of bands trying to leapfrog into superstardom (or some perceived notion of what that might be) off the backs of underground punk. Straight edge had taken a new form in New York City and in the San Francisco area a whole scene was sprouting up in virtually every warehouse that could house a few dozen sweaty punks. San Ramon is in the armpit of the Bay Area, sitting about halfway between Walnut Creek and Pleasanton...a cultural wasteland, but in 1988 it was still spitting distance from the burgeoning scene in Berkeley and forever in the suburban shadow of the vibrant punk legacy San Francisco forged just a few years earlier. Enter RABID LASSIE - ripping straight edge hardcore with all of the fury of early SF thrashing punk, but delivered in the style of GORILLA BISCUITS, INSTED and other second wave straight edge gems. Sadly, they never made it to wax, save for one MRR EP comp, but their two demos are packed with unpretentious and hopelessly infectious hardcore....this is the second, a self titled seven song banger from 1988. No cover art, as this came to me on a tape compiled by a Bay Area resident some 20+ years ago trying to share the US scene with a tape trading pen pal overseas...no need to share the other new East Bay band he championed, because I figure everyone here has heard OPERATION IVY, right?

RABID LASSIE

CRIMINAL CODE

I first heard CRIMINAL CODE in Seattle, they opened the NO STATIK/MARTYRDÖD show and I was suitably impressed. Driving and urgent punk, but drenched in flanged '80s guitars, like ADOLESCENTS gone hopelessly goth and awkwardly reigned in, I thought. And I liked it.  I bought a tape, figuring that the 3$ investment would bring boundless enjoyment to my ears...but it was blank. I saw them again in SF a few months later, sharing the stage with the equally awesome BIG CRUX - CRIMINAL CODE had a new drummer (a Reno denizen) who suited their style even better, and who played a less laid back and more ferocious role in the band, and all of a sudden I heard HÜSKER DÜ in their songs and I liked them even more. I bought their new EP and a second copy of the demo. The EP was good, but the demo...was blank. So naturally it was with much hesitation that I pressed play on this second cassette release, but thankfully my ears were rewarded by the leap of faith taken by my digits, and I was greeted with analog versions of the sounds that made me dig this band in the first place (and the second, for that matter) - call it shoegazing punk gone hardcore, or EFFIGIES and ARTICLES OF FAITH gone new wave, but these jams are a perfect combination of many of the styles that personified my adolescence and they are delivered with gusto. I eagerly await their forthcoming 12" slab, but let this blast tide you over.

LIVE ON SONIC REDUCER

Courtesy of the fine fellows in CRIMINAL CODE, here is their first demo which I have dutifully downloaded and then taped onto my previously purchased blank cassette for enjoyment during a future time when computers are understood to be the enemy to the world that they really are. 

2011 DEMO

EXTREME HARDCORE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All three METH SORES demos included in this download.

IMPATIENCE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.