In 2001 I was assigned the Pleasure/Disgust LP from Finland's HERO DISHONEST to review. I fukkn loved it - hyper energetic fastcore that was smart, witty, and had more thought and originality in one song than most bands of that ilk could muster on an entire record, and my positive review reflected those impressions. The following year when I was assigned their second album, Juggernaut, for review, I assumed it would be a let down (if only because the first record was simply that damn good). It was anything but. In addition to espousing the virtues of this excellent (and, it would seem, prolific) band, I mentioned in the pages of Maximum Rocknroll that should HERO DISHONEST ever want to tour in the USA that I would be more than happy to host them and book a tour....because no band would ever take up a total stranger on an asinine offer like that, would they? A few weeks later I got a call from the then coordinator who let me know that a certain Finnish band was looking to get in touch with me...uh-oh. After trading a few messages we realized that we were going to be playing together in København later that year and figured we would use that opportunity to make a plan. Instead we just used that opportunity to get really really drunk and dance to G.I.S.M. and then Vellu told me sometime after dawn that all Finns are naked, drunk and wielding knives. I informed him that he was, in fact, clothed and knifeless (the drunk part was well sorted), so he stripped in the middle of the street and started pleading with passerby to loan him a knife since he was Finnish. So yeah...the tour was on. HERO DISHONEST came over in fall of 2004, touring on their third excellent record Let Your Poison Scream, and then they returned two years later. I love the shit out of this band, and their lust for life is rarely paralleled - bands that play punk music are a dime a dozen, but when you cross paths with the right people, it sticks with you. 2006's When The Shit Hits The Man is easily one of my favorite records of the '00s (yeah, they just kept cranking out quality), and I think last year's Alle Lujaa might even be better still.
This tape was released by a collection of Russian labels for one of their many tours there. The first two LPs, split EP with REBOUND, the demo and various compilation tracks and covers. 62 songs in all, clocking in at almost 80 minutes, and I can assure that it is all quality. A band that covers OUTLAST and AGNOSTIC FRONT on the same release gets my vote, the guitar solo in "Part III - Let Go" is just icing on the cake.
7 comments:
"(...) had more thought and originality in one song than most bands of that ilk could muster on an entire record"
>>> But WHO are those other BAD bands? Correct me if I'm wrong, but every single day you seem to give every band of every style of punk on the whole planet über positive reviews, so it becomes hard to trust such remarks coming from your blog. Don't get me wrong, I follow and enjoy Terminal Escape + appreciate your efforts, but I feel that when there are no negative reviews ever, positive reviews become irrelevant. For what it's worth... Cheers, John.
I saw them on that tour! Man, I forgot all about this band, thanks for posting this.
John - why would I post something just to slag it off? Plenty of negative/neutral reviews from me in various publications, I try to share things I actually like....
Your point is valid though, can a guy REALLY like 1500+ tapes that much?!?!
Cheers!
Duder picked the wrong band to call you out on. The other bands on this blog are excellent, Hero Dishonest are mega-excellent- yes, they are that damn good.
What does this guy think this is, Yelp? Would he trust your blog more if you posted more garbage. Maybe John can blog about mediocre demos that he is lukewarm about, but I hope the Wizard keeps on with his good humor and great demos.
Hey Wizard, thanks for the reply. Just had this on my mind and thought I'd share it. "Bury D", my comment wasn't meant as a diss on this blog or Hero Dishonest (who I have nothing against), but for what it's worth I think to know what you like (and why) it's important to know what you don't like (and why) so I wouldn't be against more bad reviews of mediocre demos, sounds fun... Maybe I'll take your word and start a blog on that subject! Cheers, John
These comments made me chuckle. In defense of the Wizard:
For what it's worth, it's pretty clear that the Wizard spends a lot of time (as do other tape bloggers), ripping tapes, naming files, uploading to whatever site will host it for 6 months before it gets shut down, and then goes out to play shows in multiple bands, see multiple shows weekly, work as a shitworker for MRR, review music for various other publications, and also works a pretty physically demanding job. To be honest, I don't know how he does it all!
In short, why waste time with all of that for a piece of crap tape that sucks? I get your point John to a certain extent, but this shit takes time. And who has time for filler just to make some useless point on the internet? Personally, I think it's clear that the Wizard has good taste (except for maybe the noise stuff?) so yeah, only good stuff gets posted. Then it's up to you, the listener, to decide if you like it as well as the Wizard. And if you don't, well, move on to the next tape.
This blog is obviously for sharing music that he likes. It would be a waste of his time, and yours, to turn it into a clearinghouse for "meh" punk.
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