AGHORI

This is one of those recordings that just takes you away. Released in painfully limited quantities in the early '00s, Blackmass Of Hate was given the proper (cassette) treatment by Parasitic Records a few years ago (thanks for that). A quarter hour into this release, when the drums painfully slog through the last moments of "The Imp Of Perversion," is the first time that I was aware that AGHORI were not permanent...and still it seems like their presence will continue indefinitely. Crushing, somber, all encompassing doom in three excruciating movements that will rattle your bones and your soul. Should go without saying that maximum volume and darkness only serve to enhance the experience...let it sink in.

BLACKMASS OF HATE

ACCÜSED

1987 collection of outtakes and live tracks from a band that should need little introduction. If you are like me and think that Martha Splatterhead is "fine" and More Fun Than An Open Casket Funeral is actually not really essential at all, then I suggest you get into this cassette immediately. As the title suggests, these bangers all pre-date their first studio platter, and everything contained in this plastic shell is fukkn gold. The later stuff here flirts with the crossover/thrash they would become famous for, but way more punk tracks then I was expecting (foolish, I realize, given the timeline of these recordings). So yeah, I shouldn't have to talk about the band, because you already know them - you just might not have known that they were this good. That's why I'm here...you're welcome.

THE ARCHIVES TAPES 1981-86

Was it colored by hand...? Maybe.

EXCAVACATIONS // BLACK EAGLE CHILD

Sometimes, the discount experimental section at your local record store can be your friend. Two separate doses of layered ambiance from Portland's EXCAVACATIONS and Milwaukee's BLACK EAGLE CHILD. Both acts compliment each other well....EXCAVACATIONS have an calm but eerie ambiance not dissimilar from some SIGUR RÓS stuff, while BLACK EAGLE CHILD offer a campfire comfort that I'm not ashamed to say I quite enjoyed. An excellent way to end the day, and $2 well spent.

EXCAVACATIONS // BLACK EAGLE CHILD

GORILLAXMONSOON // VEXED

GORILLAXMONSOON spend the first 90 seconds of this split with a one riff intro that creates a mountain of tension that you just know is going to come crumbling down on you, and even when it does you aren't quite prepared. After an intro that features a gutsy five second silence and a fist clenching yeeoowl, they launch into five tracks of killer 'crew incarnated as devastating heavy hardcore. The breakdowns, the backups, the chugs, the determined falter in the vocals...it's all there, but GORILLAXMONSOON are none of the posi hardcore that those elements might imply. Pissed, desperate and brutally honest, these five tracks are real. And then GORILLAXMONSOON hand the torch to their neighbors in VEXED and the reality gets dark in a hurry. That desperation fades into depression, and the grey area comes out in the music as much as the vocals - which is saying a lot, because the vocals give me chills. Five minutes of crushing, blasting hardcore/pv sandwiched in between four minutes of painfully slow riffing, the VEXED side of this tape is a really dark counterpart to the already dark flip...none of these kids are fucking around, and I would love to hear more from both. And for those keeping track of the places where all the good bands come from, GORILLAXMONSOON are from Chico, California, and VEXED are from up the road in Redding. 

GORILLAXMONSOON // VEXED

STIKKY

I know that history somewhat relegates STIKKY to the joke-band category, maybe it was the lyrical content? Perhaps the artwork and/or hilarious liner notes? But take a minute to listen to those fukkn drums and find a hardcore band that was playing faster in 1987...or any year since for that matter. An absolute blur of teenage angst and fart jokes, these three kids from Santa Clara were relentless and the tracks hold up brilliantly today. So good.

"_______________________"

I was feeling generous and re-upped the "3D-and-a-half" demo, because if you need eleven STIKKY tracks, then you probably need 63 more. Also threw in a live Gilman set from 87. You're welcome. 

THE ALLIANCE

There are a few stamps of approval that will make me buy something blind almost every time, and Los Angeles by way of Detroit label Nostilevo is one of them. There's no "sound" per se, but the label's distinctive layouts are a guarantee of quality, and it makes taking that step into darkness as easy as ordering that second cocktail...you may not know what's going to happen, but you know you're going to like it. 2013's The Alliance is one hour of sound that proves my point - 13 artists culled from the Nostilevo roster to create an impressive collection of hypnotic noise and carefully controlled industrial chaos. There's the minimal electronics of SCORPIO & GLASS, a devastating SUICIDE-esque tracks from RITUAL HOWLS, dark dance synth in multiple forms (dirty and ominous: CRAOW, classically self indulgent: PHASE FATALE), a filthy rhythmic industrial collaboration from LIABLE, and BLUE KRISHNA's perfectly placed sample laden cool down track at the end of the tape...there's more, but you need to be listening and not reading my drivel. A stunning collection, you're welcome.

THE ALLIANCE

FREDDY K. AND THE BREEZE

A little something different for you, my friends. Maybe you want some weird christian outsider rock with a singer who is (sometimes) a dead ringer for Fred Cole, especially noteworthy on tracks like "The Kids Were Tough As Nails" and "Ineligible Contestant For Life." Somewhere between the story telling style of DAVID ALLEN COE and freaked out acid drenched space folk crashing face first into your annoying dad jamming in the garage after a few too many Old Styles. One of many greats I've scooped from the bins at the St. Vincent de Paul in Albuquerque, second only to the antique mall near my mother-in-law's house for potential scores. I've seen the private press vinyl issue listed for sale as "garage punk," which makes me laugh a bit, buyer beware!! Favorite tracks: "Different Shade Of Love" and "Old Hippies." 

RANDOM ENFORCEMENT