04 September 2014

LOSS FOR WORDS


Alex from MORBID LIFE SOCIETY lent me a handful of tapes last week, and while I haven't gone through the whole batch yet, there are some real screamers in there that will be appearing here and the first installment completely kicked my ass. The opening chords of "Divided" on 1987's Too Much Pain sound like HICKEY playing AC/DC, and the riff that follows is a hardcore scorcher that would be at home in the N.O.T.A. catalog...and then the dudes launch into a primitive thrash metal assault that absolutely must be heard. The demo is a straight killer from start to finish - tracks like "Out For Yourself" manage to combine DC hardcore circa '81 with Bay Area thrash circa '83 and it's all so brilliantly raw and untainted by success or money...and "Victim" will smoke any of the other tracks on the as-yet-unreleased Bloodstains Across Upstate New York comp (I'm talking to you, Biff, these fools were from Elmira). In addition to the Too Much Pain tape, this post includes the notably rawer Why? and Nothing For Nothing demos, both from 1986 (the latter is a life affirming exercise in rough, primal hardcore/thrash). These sounds are pure, just listen to the vocals that come in over the end of the solo in "Shattered Silence" and you'll surely agree that it's the gnarliest shit this side of VOID, even if the band thought they were playing thrash metal. If the rest of Alex's bag is as good as this shit, then we are all in for some insanely crucial jams.




2 comments:

Patrick M said...

man, i used to drive to Elmira every summer from '88-about 2000 to visit my grandparents, and that is one of the last places i would expect to find a punk band. i can totally see why they were bored , pissed off and frustrated.

Robert Plante said...

Thanks, been looking for some of these. Upstate NY homeez (I'm from Troy).