This Party Sucks

Another Hygiene Records co/release. This time teaming up with Reality Is A Cult Records to bring us all the fantastic 2nd EP from Cheap Art - "Desocialized", 33 RPM, mint green vinyl.

This is another record I reviewed on Operation Grindcore, so again, I won't go into to much detail. I'd definitely chalk this up as one of my favorites of the year. Non-stop, loud and hardcore as fuck fastcore. They added a new girl vocalist this time, and I definitely like her addition. Their first record was more powerviolence, and straight forward, but she adds a new dynamic of intensity to the band. Gives the attack a little more variation. Plus, they got a hell of a lot faster. Great record. Great cover art too!

I think this is just a photocopied cover sleeve. Nice and DIY. Cool, definitely photocopied insert too. There were 3 color variations of this record, and the yellow and mint green were both limited to 50. There are still plenty of these available at the Hygiene Records store (edit: not the mint ones though).

~VII

Amputee

Another classic for y'all here. I'm an avid collector of ANb, and have amassed almost their entire discography, except for the split 7" with Halo (so close.so many times). I'd definitely consider them to be my favorite grindcore band, their discography is a masterwork. I definitely think that their early 7"s were some of the bands best material, and out of all of those, the second self-titled EP is by far my favorite. Here's the limited blue vinyl pressing, 33 RPM.

This record was just Scott and Jay according to the notes. It's definitely some of the heaviest early ANb material, Scotts tone is so beefy and thick, and the drums have a nice full tone to them. Every song on here is a winner, even the several micro songs that take over the A-side. It's just full on burning metal sludgy grind, and in my opinion, has one of the top 5 best ANb songs closing the A-side, "Amputee". This track is just one of the best slow, simple, chugging, monolith of heaviness. I love how they would just write these total crushing slow jams and throw them in the middle of their records. Something I consider influential.

I love all the artwork on this. Dig those awesome center labels!! As mentioned, this is the limited blue pressing that Clean Plate did to compliment the regular black press. The blue was limited to 200. I bought this copy last month, I've owned a black copy for a while.

Here is my black and blue copies together.

~VII

Margin For Disintegration

A little more SKULL worship this time around. Actually a lot more, and for the Bastard Noise side of the spectrum. A classic 90's release, back when hardcore was at it's most experimental and 10"s dominated. This is the Man Is The Bastard Noise/The Locust split 10", black vinyl, 33 RPM.

This is one of the more fairly common MITB/BN releases, and I definitely think it's one of the best. Their side is one of my favorite noise recordings ever. Period. It's so fresh and unusual sounding; almost dark ambient at times, then switching to harsh noise, then power electronics, a wall track, abstract spacey sounds, it's all over the place. The diversity of sounds is best shown with the center piece of second long micro tracks in the middle. Good stuff, but the longer tracks really are the best. Great lyrics, sung in a myriad of vocal styles. 100% brutal.

The Locust side is unfortunately not as thrilling. If you didn't know, this was back before they went all weird and keyboardy and interesting and...good. Okay it's not bad per se, but the tracks just aren't very exciting or captivating. Powerviolence with a hint of 90's skramz-core stuff. To my knowledge the Locust members actually despise this recording, hence it's slim probability of a reissue.

I see this go for 10 bucks on Discogs. SO WORTH.

~VII

Period Fuck

One of my more left field loves of 2013 comes to us from the lovely city of Chicago; the LP reissue of the debut album from Rectal Hygienics - "Even The Flies Won't Touch You", black vinyl, 33 RPM.

This was originally released on a cassette with a different cover by Depravity Label. Torn Light Records took over for this much needed reissue. For those who don't know, this band shares members with Sea Of Shit, and I believe Socially Retarded, and it's sludgy, noisey, hardcore rock thats as grungy and obscene as the name suggests. Knuckle draggingly simple musicianship (the second track, "Transvestite", just consists of an open strum bass string and random guitar hits), and a raw, blown-out, basic is brutal delivery. And PC policers be warned, this stuff is not for weak vanilla stomachs. It's like a good mixture of Brainbombs, Pussy Galore, early Swans and maybe even the Melvins?? I dig it a lot.

Decent packaging job. A silkscreened cover, but a slim one. So there's no spine on this, which is a shame. Very nice foldout poster though. The image is the cover for the cassette.

These guys have a new 7" coming out on Diseased Audio. Can't wait for 2 more sides of dirt!

~VII

Dead On The Floor 30 Seconds Into The First Band

So every Insect Warfare collector knows that there's that one little teeny weeny annoying release they have that drives you crazy. The split cassette with The Kill. Well, RSR, the reissue saviors, re-released it on a nice red flexi, 45 RPM.

Even though the release is more widely available, and on an arguably prettier format, this still isn't a very satisfying IW record. Their track is actually taking from the split 5" with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, so if you have that too (which I do), I guess oh well on that. The Kill track is good, just a solid metallic ripper as they do, and do well. None of them are bad songs, but the brevity is brutal.

Extended artwork cover.

~VII

Puppy Mill

I've been on a real kick with everything involving the SKULL lately. It's no secret that I absolutely love Bastard Noise and Man Is The Bastard, in fact, I say that the later is one of the greatest bands ever. They were a band like no other, and we're a monumental force in hardcore music's progression and creativity, that I don't think has been matched yet. Today this arrived in my mail box; an OG copy of "Thoughtless" on white vinyl, 33 RPM, all inserts intact and included.

There are many reasons why it could be argued that besides being a monumental powerviolence band, MITB could have also been a full on progressive band. Taking as much influence from hardcore music as jazz or art rock. Always an ever swirling cast of players and contributors, MITB never settled down creatively. I feel like "Thoughtless" was when they reached their peak. They had a rock solid line-up, the best recording they probably ever got, the noise was integrated very well and tastefully, and their lyrics and compositions got as complicated, spacey, introspective, and heavy. I think it's one of the coolest records there is.

Very minimal packaging on the outside. Just a plain black sleeve with a MITB sticker serving as the art. I waited and waiting to get the white vinyl version, and it had to be OG. No reason why, especially since it was recently reissued, but I felt the urge to own an original hard on this one. And it's beautiful. The inserts are where this package truly shines. Classic stuff.

It's an easier to find record now, due to the aforementioned reissue (which I may pick up). Pick it up if you haven't.

~VII

Days Turn Black

For those of you living under a rock, Infest have been pretty active for the majority of the year, playing shows all over the US. One of those dates was at this years Maryland Deathfest, which of course, was a huge deal. I believe it was their first ever appearance on the East Coast, and I was fortunate enough to bare witness and experience it. I met someone there who came all the way from Australia to see the show even! Fantastic show, as expected, and they actually got a special releases for these shows out. It's something I was actually wondering if they would do, any sort of new material would be huge. Low and behold when I walked up to the merch table, they had a new 7", which I promptly bought. Infest - "Days Turn Black", 1-sided 7", 45 RPM.

Not exactly "new" material, just unreleased. All of the four tracks on here were unreleased cuts from the "No Man's Slave" session. And honestly, it's pretty obvious why the tracks were left of the album. The three originals on here aren't really all that great. At best, it's just mediocre Infest songs. A couple weirder riffs are thrown in that don't really work, but the Negative Approach song at the end is decent. Not a strong release on it's own, but I'm still very happy to have it.

A nice, sturdy glued sleeve, with the credits and info very unfortunately printed on the inside of the sleeve. Whyyyyyyy.

~VII

Preprogrammed

Another Hygiene Records release, the first vinyl record they ever released. The fantastic Abuse. - "A New Low" 7" EP, pink vinyl, 45 RPM.

I also did a review for this at Operation Grindcore, so again, I won't go into much detail. Long and short of it, if you want a really super solid hardcore/violence record, you can't go wrong with this. One of my favorite EP's of the year, by far. Their upcoming full length is definitely one of my most anticipated records of the year, the tracks that I've heard so far have been amazing. This pink vinyl variant is actually limited to 40, some sort of weird error in the pressing. Very nice to have. Check out Seitan Worship for some super Abuse. praise. Great band.

~VII

Excessive Bullshit

Hygiene Records is a newer label out of North Carolina that I have been becoming more and more loyal to with every release that they put out/help put out (it's also owned and operated by Priapus frontman Jordan Noe). Here's one of the more recent outputs, co-released by Evil Purple Bastard. Gets Worse - "Negative", transparent green vinyl, 45 RPM.

I already did a review for this over at Operation Grindcore, so I won't get into to much detail. Anyone who was a fan of their self-titled 10" last year should know what to expect. Early-Weekend Nachos worshipping powerviolence, expertly recorded and pummlingly heavy. Good stuff. The packaging is just as impressive. Thick, glossy cardstock, double sided, fold-over cover, with a thick black dust sleeve, and every copy is on green vinyl. This thing looks damn good, the pictures don't really do it justice.

I believe Hygiene Records still has copies, as should Evil Purple Bastard. 

~VII