NOTHING

I picked this one up blind based solely on the presentation, then I completely submitted to the sounds and let them sink in. A dark collision of '80s goth and ambient music with distant dreams of industrial depression that never quite set in, all while predating synth heavy bleak beauty that would evolve out of black metal. Moments of "In Command Of Constellations" are perfect recreations of '80s dark dance floor brilliance, but this release is far deeper than such a casual comparison would suggest. Orchestral elements seep in through tracks like "The Precision In Drowning," but it's with the weight of Barber, crushing in its gorgeous simplicity. For fans of CLOCK DVA, BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE, those who celebrate Pornography as the greatest record by THE CURE, and anyone losing the battle for meaning - The Grey Subaudible is nearly an hour of sounds bookended by walls of noise.

THE GREY SUBAUDIBLE

NOTHING is the creation of J. William W. (current AGALLOCH bassist and prolific solo artist). This 2000 recording was initially released on CD, but was re-issued in 2012 on cassette by the very impressive Nostalgium Directive. 

SHADOW LAUGHTER

When No Statik played Tampa, Florida last month, we arrived to find EX-FRIENDS and PERMANENT MAKEUP already entrenched behind the venue's merchandise area. No big deal, but we had a stupidly large array of shirts and needed to spread out, so we set up our veritable shopping mall on the other side of the room with our pals/tourmates ASSHOLE PARADEand proceeded to have a quite excellent evening. As we were on our way out, a one of the guitarists from EX-FRIENDS walked up to me with a scrawled note wrapped around a tape. Dude gave me a sick demo, but couldn't come to the show because "work sucks" (feel your pain, buddy). The vaguely interesting part is that he put it in the merch area, where no one from our band set foot all night, and since the outside of the small package read "Terminal Escape," it's only because someone got nosy and read the note that the tape ever made it to me... and I'm glad it did. SHADOW LAUGHTER play earnest UK82 styled hardcore punk with vocals that seem to be trying to break out of '80s US hardcore shouts with only occasional success. This sounds like a teenage band in all of the best ways - the drummer is trying so desperately (check out the lurching start to "Living In Fear," it's pure ramshackle bliss), and though the songs are relatively simple, the way SHADOW LAUGHTER attack them is fukkn great (and on a side note, they have the coolest name I've heard in ages). Shit like this is just a part of what makes going on tour just as exciting as it always has been. 

SHADOW LAUGHTER

KYKLOOPPIEN SUKUPUUTTO

Sometimes bands come around and everyone says they are real good and I figure that I'll get around to getting into them eventually so I snag the records based on recommendations from The People I Trust and then they...they just kinda get filed away because I got into something else. Or I had to work. Or I went on tour and got juiced on a bunch of bands I played with. It's not that I'm proud of this shortcoming, and I freely admit that bands I am friends with and/or have done shows for in the past have fallen victim to what is either my short attention span or the maximization of input, but it's a fact that I'm also not exactly ashamed of. KYKLOOPIEN SUKUPUUTTO were one of those bands, I even fukkn saw them on their 2010 US tour, but I was "working" and couldn't soak it in. My loss. But I've been making up for lost time this week celebrating their vinyl output (I kept the records - I knew their day would come) and this absolute ripper from 2004 (also released by the band as a CDr demo). You can describe it simply as Finnish hardcore if you like, and you wouldn't necessarily be wrong, but these dudes are just so damn fast, and the vaguely ramshackle quality to the drums gives the whole recording such a wild vibe. The best breakdown you will hear all day ("Sivustakatselija") fumbles into the one midtempo track, "Itsekkyyttä Itsesuojelua," which sounds almost Swedish but it's just too damaged and and abrasive. These nine songs will absolutely kick your ass. I may be late to the party, but I'll show up eventually...and fortunately for me, this one is still raging.

KYKLOOPPIEN SUKUPUUTTO

STAGNANT YOUTH

Ominous and hostile, Houston's STAGNANT YOUTH bring worlds of warcrust and relentless UK metalpunk crashing into each other with unparalleled force. Fronted by deep, gravelly vocals and seasoned with Swedish leads, these kids make it clear that they using familiar elements to create a sound that is wholly theirs. What if S.H.I.T. relied on fearsome power instead of affected guitars and reverb (to be clear, that was not meant as a dis on S.H.I.T. in any way)? What if PROXY skipped the leads, kept the hooks and then played crust? I could easily pick apart my favorite moments on this stellar demo (the half time finish of "Shameful" would be near the top of the list), but the transition from "Invasion" into "Reign" is just a few steps short of Word As Law-era NEUROSIS without seeming remotely contrived, and when that transition is over...? You're moshing.

STAGNANT YOUTH

CHRISTMAS TREE TAPE

Look, I already know that posting a 70+ minute noise compilation is a sure fire way to get most of my legion to move the fukk on to whatever other internetting you do to waste your workday (and good job on that day wasting, by the way - your boss is probably an ass and you probably don't get paid enough anyway, so fukk 'em). But for the more adventurous, for the hungry, for the curious, I give you the 2011 Christmas Tree Tape. From TANGERINE DREAM-esque ambiance to bizarre electronic tape manipulations, this compilation had me hooked immediately. Sequenced with care, even the more terrorizing efforts (DR. QUINN MEDICINE WOMAN, THE DAVID RUSSELL SNAKE, 56K, DEAD PEASANT INSURANCE) are palatable when presented between minimal synth (WATCHWORD, TUSCO TERROR, TOUCH SCREEN, RADIO PEOPLE) and some seriously transcendent other worldy shit (OUTER SPACE, COAGULATOR, HEADBOGGLE, MOTH CLOCK). Favorites for these ears are HOWLAND RUSSELL (sparse and brilliant minimal techno), LESLIE KEFFER (analog synths pulsing like mad, "Caves, Finally" is mesmerizing), and TROGPITE (somewhere between early CONTROLLED BLEEDING and late '80s Wax Trax Records fodder reproduced 16rpm, if this doesn't trip you out in the dark then your mind is perhaps made of steel). ALLEY VISION, QUICKSAILS, and COLLAPSED ARC round out a well designed collection...those of you who take the plunge will be justly rewarded. As it should be.

CHRISTMAS TREE TAPE

YUMEFUDA

It's difficult to explain what exactly "Japanese Hardcore" is and how it differs from "hardcore punk." But it's different, and this YUMEFUDA demo is a quintessential example. Gangs of chorus vocals and lead yowls snarled with pure fury that almost completely masks melody. The riffs are infectious, but the maximum charge of the whole recording makes it hard to do anything but break shit. The leads here are more sparse than many of their contemporaries, allowing all encompassing raw power to take center stage. If the swarming madness of "Meet My Dream" isn't the jam that kicks you in the ass today, then you might need to reevaluate things (and "Live On Alive" might just be the track that reminds you why you're here - it's rare that anyone can drop a COMES comparison in the vocals, but here it is). For those trying to compartmentalize YUMEFUDA, they could perhaps get lumped in with bands like GESHPENST and ACCOMPLICE, though I think that might be more due to scene affiliations than actual style. From what I can gather, this demo, a screaming EP and a track on the all female Hard Core Mess Japankore Omnibus (with GAIA, SINK and others) is the extent of their output...but if the shit is this good then I will happily digest all nine tracks repeatedly.

JAPANESE HARDCORE

HEDLOK

Sometimes you don't want to know if a band is succeeding intentionally or if they are just some mutants who slipped on a banana peel and fell face first into brilliance instead of dogshit. But however it was concocted, HEDLOK's brand of primal thrash metal is unfuckwithable. Utterly sinister basement filth from Indiana (BLACK FUNERAL anyone?) that sounds exactly like the pure evil it purports to be. This four song banger is their second tape in as many years, a complete departure from the much more produced Behold The Deathsquad full length that came in between the two, a release that makes it clear that HEDLOK is no accident. 

HEDLOK