MARATHON

Simplicity can be a very powerful tool. Controlled beats, the subtler side of power electronics, a gentle blanket of manufactured tape hiss to curl up with. MARATHON listens like an ambient space synth excursion, but eschews traditional synths and sounds in almost every way ("III" as the primary exception). It's a curious excursion, and MARATHON truly does seem they are trying to lure you in instead of merely entertain you. I recommend reaching out....meet them halfway.

MARATHON

POISON NOVA

You got two yesterday because I figured one was so standard that you should already have it anyway. 

You're Welcome. 

There's another world where fukkn everyone knows this band, and the underground metal world swoons over Indonesia's POISON NOVA. In this world, however, they may be lost to most rippers outside of Indonesia. There are only two songs on this cassette, but.....just, wow. I think that this is what power is supposed to sound like. You can tell me they are too polished if you like, you can even tell me that this is like my HECATE ENTHRONED to your GORGOROTH demo. And I'll tell you that these kids from Cirebon fukkn slay.

TURNS GREY // FROM A LEASH

YOUTH BRIGADE (DC)

Surely you've already done this, right? The first two demos from (the superior) YOUTH BRIGADE (the one from DC), from 1981 and 1982 respectively. This is what hardcore punk is supposed to sound like, and note the UK82 meets neanderthal vibe of "Full Speed Ahead" if you're wondering exactly what I'm talking about. These recordings have been passed around and officially issued booted and reissued, but I kinda think that tracks like "Moral Majority" need to be blasted on (and from) third generation cassettes that manic teenagers copied in their bedrooms late at night and mailed across the country to eager ears. That's the story behind this copy, and I feel like it helps.

YOUTH BRIGADE (DC)

FEX URBIS

I was hooked on this London band pretty much instantly. Damaged, filthy jangling guitars and vocals drenched in intellectual nihilism, sexual pretense and self harm - it's like PHANTOM LIMBS reborn in 1987 as DREAM DECAY. And also THE COWS. It's a caustic and brutal sonic display throughout, but don't let the subtleties pass you by...it's like your very existence, right? It hurts, and it's disgusting, and buried in the filth you find joy and purpose. If you're lucky. Blood & Guts sounds like the purpose. FEX URBIS go hard, kids, and they wanna take you with them. I can only urge you to listen, and to pay close attention when you do. 

BLOOD & GUTS

I'm alright

I'm alright

I don't need to keep my life

Out of sight, it's a simple plan

Out of mind, living in tombland

HATEMAIL KILLERZ

I saw HATEMAIL KILLERZ a few times when they were active and my memory is that they were weird ass kids who just played really fast. While I don't think that assessment was too far off, cranking this 2001 demo with the perspective of years makes for a completely different listening experience. In short: HOLY SHIT. Fifteen songs in twelve minutes, Meg's vocals are just insane....almost as wild as the drums. HATEMAIL KILLERZ listen like DETESTATION on a meth fueled HERESY bender - just so fukkn fast, with a drum attack that rivals any that I have ever heard. So listen to The Cardboard Effect and put yourself in turn of the century Central Valley, California. The agricultural wasteland where the stench of sulfur hangs in the air and pours out of the pipes, where the politics are complicated and escape feels impossible even though the ocean is just two hours away. Maybe that's why they were playing so fast...maybe HATEMAIL KILLERZ just wanted to get the fuck out. 

THE CARDBOARD EFFECT

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STREET THUNDER

Sometimes I wonder if "sound artists" are just pandering to neophytes like me. Playing shitty new age records at 78rpm and treating the result with some kind of space reverb and calling it modern hypno-psychedelia....or worse, convincing ME to call it hypno-psychedelia (or something even more pretentious). Just slapping loops of piercing sonic introspection on top of each other shouldn't make me want to pay attention. It shouldn't....but fukkn STREET THUNDER got me anyway. Even the track titles beg ridicule: "Meteor Shower," "Cosmic Residue." Seriously?!?! Yes, seriously. There are two more tracks also, and their titles are even more pretentious, and still I fell into a dream-like state listening to "Venusian Naturism" at full volume last night. Galaxies listens like a sensory deprivation tank, a full immersion in sound. And contrived or not....I'm all in. 

GALAXIES

KERETIK

Talk about a band who grabs a sonic vibe and refuses to release it, Finland's KERETIK are a raw, dark, ominous churn from start to finish. Mid tempo euro stench with pained leads, shouted vocals, and a cacophonous chug that is worthy of the highest possible praise. Songs like "Must We Suffer?" come from a past planet , and they sound more present than ever - all I want from this demo is more tracks.

TERRA MATER