PREKURXOR

A shroud of white hiss surrounds this entire recording like the mist of a winter morning the likes of which this band can never experience in their home city-state of Singapore. Somehow, a band from a city with an average annual temperature hovering in the mid 80s (those are Fahrenheit degrees, I'm not quite sure what the C temperature is, but I assure you that it is quite warm...and muggy) has managed to make sounds that are so desperately bleak and unbelievably cold. Impersonal and distant black metal.

WHEN ALL LIGHT DISSIPATES

KANGRENA

Legendary Spanish hardcore punk. I don't really need to tell you you should listen to this....do I?

ESTOC DE PUS

LUASA RAELON

Ohio's LUASA RAELON sounds like fog. Subtle swells of brooding and pervasive sound that sink into you. It's dark but totally comforting - that is until "Glorious Times" hits like a jolt of lightning, crashing to earth with the nuance of a bulldozer. While the final two tracks fall more in line with the opening of Beyond The Gates, the cacophonous interlude between the first and last segments shines a more sinister light on the final two compositions. A powerful audio journey.

BEYOND THE GATES

EEL

More noise-not-music bands are going to start incorporating actual noise and power electronics, and it is going to be awesome. Pittsburgh's EEL are certainly not the first, but they take the chaos over the top in a glorious manner - urgent pogo punk is treated to an insistent barrage of mindfuckery and over indulgent manufactured sound. Howling vocals are buried under hollow guitars and a wash of electronics while the rhythm section pound out comically simple punk anthems. Confused? Just look at the title of their demo.

DRILLMESS MADNESS VIOLENT PUNKER SCUM

DETROIT DIESEL

Rarely does a band aim for something so specific and nail it so perfectly. Japan's DETROIT DIESEL set their sights on Motor City proto-punk, filthy high energy rock & roll with no holds barred action from start to finish...and then they squeezed the trigger. Only two songs, but this is screaming punk rawk the likes of which will put hair on your balls and beer in the face of the motherfucker standing next to you. That's what he gets.

DETROIT DIESEL

AGATHOCLES

Legendarily prolific Belgians AGATHOCLES have been cranking out epic bursts of politically fueled grind/hardcore for two decades (and counting). While the quality of their output varies greatly (and they are as famous for regurgitating songs and live recordings as they are for their willingness to do split records with...well, anyone), this 1992 recording is simply outstanding. Distributed on all formats over the years (often released under the title Use Your Anger), this cassette incarnation of 1992 recordings comes from Mexico and shows AGATHOCLES at their more hardcore, less grind finest. Bare bones thrashing with throaty vocals (that keep making me want to listen to INFEST, though never before have I drawn a parallel between those two bands, and I probably never will again). Some live stuff, some studio, all of it excellent.

CULTURE OF DEGRADATION

DIE HARD

While I've seen the members around for a while, last month's Subversion fest was the first time I saw DIE HARD live. 4pm, first on stage in a room sparsely populated with the smattering of punks who were on time...and they fukkn leveled the joint. Well written, full of power and expertly delivered hardcore punk. Fast, forceful and with just a touch (maybe even accidental) of '90s East Bay influence. There is nothing that I want that isn't here.

DIE HARD

KAM HASSAH

Indulgent and dark...very dark. KAM HASSAH are power electronics digested and expelled in the form of mood and mind altering sound. Controlled and calculated chaos.

LE ORIGINI DELL IDOLTRIA

1000 TRAVELS OF JAWAHARLAL

On the 2000 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? tour in Japan, we were lucky enough to play with heaps of killer bands.  Sharing the stage with CRUCIAL SECTION, LIE, SHIKABANE, 324, FUCK ON THE BEACH, SLIGHT SLAPPERS (and that's just Tokyo!) was somewhere between awesome and intimidating, but as is often the case in the US, it was the more out of the way (or at least off the foreign touring band circuit) that really killed it - even though the shows were smaller, playing in Okayama, Fukuyama, Nagasaki and Fukuoka was worth the whole damn trip. There were some kids at one of those shows that didn't fit the Japanese punk mold...they cooked food before the show and wanted to talk about Ebullition Records and the then current crop of US hardcore bands more concerned with emotion and community as opposed to those focused on fashion and thrashing. And they were as powerful live as they were friendly in person. 1000 TRAVELS OF JAWAHARLAL are certainly emo so the more stringent among you are welcome to move right along (and please come back tomorrow), but these are brilliantly written heartfelt hardcore songs delivered with total honesty. The excellent Owari Wa Konai 12" came out in 2003, has been blogged relentlessly in the new millennium, and I highly recommend it. Don't get me wrong, seeing GAUZE for the first time was still the highlight of that trip, but meeting these kids could not have been more refreshing.

4 SONGS DEMO

MEN AS WITCHES

As much as I enjoyed their 2010 debut, this offering from MEN AS WITCHES is just total devastation. Six minutes of unholy doom of the highest caliber, descending into a bleak shroud of black metal by way of oppressive sludge. If the next release is as much of an improvement as this one is, then I would suggest extreme caution.

MEN AS WITCHES

PIG DNA

Bombastic mid tempo punk recorded in a chasm of confusion. It's hard to discern their intent for much of this cassette, but PIG DNA are hiding dark secrets beneath the distortion - flirting with harsh inward metal and self indulgent dark punk with equal efficacy. I received this tape in the mail on the very same day I purchased a copy from Thrillhouse, I am a lucky man.

CONTROLUUUFUUCKER

Terminal Escape is trying a new host today. Feedback is appreciated - I want your time spent here to be as pleasant as possible.

PREGNANCY SCARES

Guitars have rarely sounded this perfect - gain cranked to the absolute max and intensity piercing through the speakers. No distortion, but the sound is just disgusting...blown out in the Superfuzz Big Muff way, not the DISCLOSE way. The vocals are every bit as intent on chaos, and endless saliva drenched spew that simultaneously harnesses teen angst and young adult desperation. The demo comes from 2011, they made a record with Deranged last year..sometimes I wish Canada were not so far from my house. Actually I wish that quite often. "(Not) The Rat" is my personal favorite, but seriously: the slow part in the middle of "X-Ray In My Head"? That shit is just plain perfect.

PREGNANCY SCARES

There have been a few problem posts over the last few weeks, several of which were difficult to deal with because I was out of town and away from the Terminal Escape Song Bank (also known as a computer). Mediafire has obviously been sucking a big one and I'm looking elsewhere, a daunting task considering what is currently hosted on that site. But for now, HYSTERICS has been once again re-named, re-zipped and re-uploaded, as has the Underage Minneapolis comp. This will be the last time for both of these. In addition, 2011's STARING PROBLEM has been reloaded, and I fixed yesterday's MELLOW HARSHER (wish I could blame Mediafire for that one, but I think alcohol was actually at fault). I am open to suggestions for alternate file hosting (both from uploaders and downloaders), and I will make a switch in the next few days. As for problem posts, please don't bombard the comment section, save that for accolades, witticisms, criticisms and valuable background or insight - just send me an email and I will get to it as soon as I can. Ideally, the entire Terminal Escape back catalog, all 1200 posts and counting, are available for download...I will do my best.

MELLOW HARSHER

As advertised. This shit is disgusting.

MELLOW HARSHER

DUAL FORM

You know when you go into those record stores where there's just a ton of shit and it doesn't even seem worth spending the time looking for something you will like? Well if you ever needed a reason to keep digging, here it is. Dual Form is a two cassette, 60 minute journey through sound that I never would have come across were it not for perseverance and a desire to hear things I have never heard...electronic music, synth drenched other music weirdness, aural hipsters colliding with infectious beats and more. A world of sound is represented on this compilation - my introduction to a world of artists previously unknown to me. See, the discount bin is totally worthwhile.

DUAL FORM

HYSTERICS

Olympia has been cranking out much (and over) hyped bands with alarming frequency for the last few years. Some of these bands are not worth half of the accolades the internet bestows upon them (and some are worth even less) but the scene in that bizarre little 'shire is a force to be reckoned with nonetheless. HYSTERICS might seem far removed from the knuckle dragging hardcore scene that is in the process of defining Olympia circa '13 (GAG, WHITE WARDS, GRIMACE), but that illusion is a testimony to how legitimately killer that city is these days. Ruthless all female hardcore - ferocious and brilliant. Tracks on this 2012 tour cassette come from their EP, demos, two live radio sets and one 2010 rehearsal jam. This band is so fukkn good.

USA TOUR 2012

INSTIGATORS

I figure that INSTIGATORS shouldn't really need much of an introduction, right? Many of these numbers wound up on their 1986 sophomore effort Phoenix, but there are several outtakes and rehearsal tracks here as well, more than enough to keep the nerds interested. And in case you don't know, the first EP and full length are mandatory listening.

MARCH '86

MONUMENTS TO RUINS

I miss bands like this. Perhaps many of them don't really pack the same punch 15 some odd years later, but I'll take earnest intensity over en vogue posturing and calculated rehashes any damn day. Florida's MONUMENTS TO RUINS released and excellent anarcho-crust EP on Tribal War around the turn of the millennium and a 12" that I have never heard, but this demo predates both...dual vocal mostly mid tempo crust nodding heavily to NAUSEA and in line with contemporaries like CONTRAVENE and ANTI-PRODUCT. Holds up quite nicely, especially tracks like "Ruins."

MONUMENTS TO RUINS

PURE GROUND

I will return to raging studded distorted Noise Not Music next Monday, but I figure since a healthy chunk of that scene is fast becoming obsessed with goth sounds that this PURE GROUND cassette might not be too much of a stretch. Robotic and stark electronic sounds equally at home in a dark corner or on a crowded dancefloor, these four tracks are total winners. From primitive industrial sounds to modern smart reinterpretations of infectious synthesizers in 20 minutes or less. A total killer.

DAYLIGHT

From Chondritic Sound, of course.

IMPETUS INTER

Quite some time ago, I heard that the guitarist from DESTROY was in this band who were totally different from DESTROY (I think someone told me they sounded like RITES OF SPRING, which I guess I can kinda see but probably wouldn't make the comparison myself). So I checked them out and the LP sounded like late '80s DC manifested as Midwestern '90s basement rage. I liked it, and I still do. Nearly two decades later I play in a band with that guitarist, and our short tour is over tonight, so there you go.

IMPETUS INTER

SIN DIOS

In the mid '90s stories of their live shows and their fierce political stance starting trickling into my life, and though their records were more melodic than most of the generi-crust I was listening to at the time, the sound of SIN DIOS caught me instantly. As the cover suggests, this cassette compiles releases from 1991 and 1993, lightning fast and hopelessly catchy Spanish hardcore punk, like SUBTERRANEAN KIDS or ROUSE presented for (and with the intention of) motivating and radicalizing what was then a new generation of punks. Maybe it'll work now too.

RUIDO ANTICAPITALISTA // ALERTA ANTIFASCISTA

WATER TORTURE

Super fukkn mean powerviolence from New York. "Grey" is among the heaviest things I've heard in years and their sporadic use of electronics packs a wallop (seriously, how crushing is "Enslaved"?). They spend less than eight minutes dishing out these eight songs, but their efforts are appreciated.

WATER TORTURE

Knochen Tapes made this possible.

X=

I have been putting this one off for ages, waiting until I find a way to give this cassette the credit I think it deserves. But instead I procrastinate and Pennsylvania's X= have just been languishing in the "someday" pile. You know it's something a little special before you even open the thing up; those eye holes in the cover art have bolts through them and the whole thing is packaged with meticulous care. The music is no exception...at the roots this is just hardcore, but their is nothing casual or "just" about the way these sounds are presented. The impact is personal from the outset, nothing about this music is phoned in or thrown together and it shows. Maybe you've heard it before, you just have seldom heard it done this well, from the instantly addictive intro to ""Why Not Now" (which actually brings to mind the start to the NEON PISS debut) to the 45 seconds of stripped down old school USHC of the title track that closes out the tape, X= are smart and serious. 

SEEING GREY

NEVER KNOWS

Another release from the Break Up label in San Francisco. NEVER KNOWS offer up four tracks of infectiously minimal electronic music nodding admirably in the direction of TANGERINE DREAM and similar projects. I have listened to these sounds a lot since they came into my life.

THE FATE TAPE FAIT TAPÉ

UPSIDE DROWN

I am in a band that lives mostly in Oakland, California. Tonight we are playing a show in Olympia, Washington at a place called The Meth Lab. UPSIDE DROWN are a band from Oakland, California. Their cassette was released by Antiquated Future from Olympia, Washington. This band sounds more whimsical than my band, but I still felt like the similarities were worth mentioning. Also worth noting: this cassette will waste the time of raw hardcore elitists and this cassette is packaged beautifully. That is all.

MOOD MUSIC

- even dead bodies take up room - 

NO CHILDREN

A project band from Albany that played one show and then scattered, NO CHILDREN are better than most outfits who spend painstaking hours perfecting their craft. Throaty vocals (I know who I think they sound like, but the comparison is so far removed from the sound of the band that I fear it would give you the wrong idea so I'll keep it to myself) and insistent punk delivered with raw garage ferocity. People from this band are in other bands that you should like.

LIVE AT SPORTS BAR

IN DISGUST

Pretty much you get this or you don't. There might be other bands who grind, there are certainly other bands who punish (though few with an intensity anything approaching these fools), but there is only one IN DISGUST. 15 songs in just under 11 minutes.

REALITY CHOKE

NO STATIK starts a short tour tonight in San Jose at Finca Mission (don't know? ask a punk). Also playing the show will be REPLICA, PERMANENT RUIN and INDUSGUST. San Jose Supremacy.