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Y'all know I'm pretty generous with the amount of love I spread on here. I use this blog as a way to spread a positive word about things I think should be heard. Writing about something that isn't my taste, or something I genuinely just don't agree with isn't really, and has never been my goal on here. Especially since I choose almost everything I write about, I naturally just gravitate towards the tapes and records I listen to a lot. This post today is a big one, I might get a little sappy but I'm not going to worry about it. This is a release that means a lot to me, and hit me like a ton of bricks when I first heard it. Beggin' For Oxys debut vinyl release, their very elusive 7" EP, "Just Another Tired Ass Powerviolence Record", self released by the band sometime last year in a run of 100 copies.

Before continuing, here's a little personal rewind. Last year, my friend Matt who does an excellent noise project called Machine Moon, and I, started to arrange a week long tour for 2018. Fortunately and amazingly enough, Beggin' For Oxys were able to join the caravan. The tour inevitably happened and ended a few weeks ago, and was without a doubt the best tour I've ever been on. It was a real privilege for me to be able to spend time with and see BFO perform for a week straight. Watching their various types of performances was incredible. It didn't matter if Mark's guitar wasn't working that night, and could only do vocals, if they played their planned set or everyone was too drunk to care. They brought the house down every night. When they did perform their songs, it was some of the tightest and hardest shit I'd ever seen. The way they gradually just let the set collapse down into sheer noisecore chaos was executed flawlessly. One of the most exciting and fun bands going right now in my opinion. Mark knows how to write a twisted ass riff, and Aaron is an absolute beast on the drums.

Getting on to the actual record however, this is Beggin' For Oxys when the chaos is much more controlled. Actual riffs and songs as opposed to their noisecore side. The funny as hell title is more or less a good indication of the more focused structure of the songs. Beefy, loud, out of tune guitar riffs and rapidly quick and changing drums. This is like powerviolence performed at it's most cynical, but you're still able to take it seriously. I'm honestly fascinated at how they write their songs; it's a very seamless blend of improvisation and legit composition. The wonkiness of it leads to so many memorable moments. Starting right from the Melvins-esque intro riff to the opener, "Content". Or the nu-metal guitar scronks and grooves on "Overpowered/Underwhelmed" and "Underpowered/Overwhelmed". Like a weird mix of Charles Bronson and Final Exit. Not to mention that this whole record sounds like it wants to literally dig your ribcage out of your body and throw it against a graffiti covered concrete wall. It's a rock solid, pleasurable punch to the face front to back.

Everything about the packaging was done by the band, and they went and got the record pressed themselves which I really admire. Every cover is unique and hand drawn. They usually seem to stick with the small lettering spread out over the front on this record. However I was lucky enough to grab the cock cover copy that's pictured above. As soon as Mark drew it I needed it  ( edit: cover art by Ben Durham). And yes there are lyrics, you can't stop the sneak dissing.

True as fuck dead wax etching too. 

Now in addition to the 7", down here in the USA, Uninvited Records did a slappin' cassette reissue that's also just excellent. As usual, Joe has treated this product with the utmost care. Everything looks and sounds clean, crispy, and is wonderfully assembled. This was released in a run of 40.

So yeah, I own three copies of this excellent record. I'm not ashamed of this at all.

~VII

We Out Here Doin Bad Shit

This was a tape that caught my attention towards the end of last year, and it really stuck with me even though I only visited it a few times online. In the noisecore world, a band or project like Cuck Dirt doesn't pop up all that often. Nor does any band with this kind of blatantly goofy aesthetic, end up being this good. "Cucked To Death" was released by Uninvited Records, a tape label that everyone who isn't a goddamn coward should support. A total of 40 copies were made.

Maybe it's a little off to call Cuck Dirt noisecore, since the songs here do seem to have a little bit of extra thought put into them, as opposed to the usual improvised short blasts. This is more of a Sissy Spacek/Nihilist Commando/Beggin' For Oxys type of band. Sharp and intense song composing/lyrics and an energy level that doesn't let up. There doesn't seem to really be any sort of guitar or bass on here, just blown the fuck out drums and super intense vocals. I mean, there's definitely a lot of noise, especially towards the end where this super distorted and deep bass frequency shows up. But for the most part, Cuck Dirt makes a lot of racket with seemingly the bare minimum.

The band name aside, Cuck Dirt does not seem to have a real overt political message. All the lyrics are just random non-sequiturs. Such as having a local Dollar General that doesn't stock Jolt Cola, doing drugs, and maybe one of my favorite song titles in recent times; "A Picture Of Edward Scissorhands But It Just Says 'Edward Hands' And Instead Of Scissors He Just Has Normal Hands". Almost every song is kick started with a fitting sample, and I can't pound in enough just how well composed everything is. The whole EP flows fantastically, starting aggressive and ending with a gargantuan amount of sound, and using a ton of varying tempos, and heavily engaging vocals to keep the momentum high! This tape just slaps, end of story. 

Another wonderful product created with tons of love and care by Joe and Kayla of Uninvited Records. The label just does fantastic work, and Joe is one of the realest and most genuine people supporting noisy shit. No complaints at all with this tape. 

Definitely click the link at the top of the post and check this tape out. I sincerely hope there's a follow up release for Cuck Dirt. 

~VII

Human Garbage Disposal

I was after the Sulfuric Cautery/Suppression split for longer than I wanted to be. Every day that I didn't have this tape in my hands I died a little more inside. It's hard for an east coast boy like me to find releases from bands like this in the wild. I haven't been able to find any of the recordings on the internet too which made my interest in it all the more extreme. Now I finally have it, I was able to pick it up when I saw Suppression in Detroit, and it's a thing of beauty. 

Sulfuric Cautery are probably underground grindcore's most beloved band right now, and for good reason. They really do take speed and brutality to a whole other level. Some of the craziest shit I've heard in years. I think their side is one of the first that had Trashy from Pizza Hi Five in the line-up. It's fucking great, obviously; noisy, brutal, the perfect fix for a blast beat junkie. Trashy and Ryan spew their respective vocals constantly in a wash of chaotic roars. Issac does what Issac does, the most insane blasting you've ever heard. It's a total slaughter fest from the beginning, to the ending batch of noisecore songs. Sulfuric's mix of complete chaos and precise song structure is in a league of it's own, and this side is a great example of all their strengths. 

Suppression are the supreme lords of their craft right now, a fucked up and lo-fi noisecore/powerviolence/noise rock hybrid. I have no idea how they are able to write this many songs at such a rapid pace, but they do, and here we get 16 total bangers. Legitimate, composed songs with lyrics, each one distinguishable from the last. From full on noisecore, to riffy, fuming stompers. What other band can put pitch-shifted vocals over a twisted Minutemen/Lightning bolt style bass riff and a blast beat and have it be amazing? Another real stand-out is the track "Art in Death"; I adore how the drum rhythm matches up with the delayed and looped bass hits. Seeing how perfectly they pulled the track off live only cements their perfection. It also ends with a wonderful 2 second track, a wonderful final hit.

I love the cover art on this. A wonderful Pettibon style/"The Burning" mash-up. This tape was a joint release by Chaotic Noise Productions, Feel Good Grind, Blast Addict, and Grindfather for the overseas crowd. I suspect Jason from CNP/Suppression had the biggest part in assembling them, as the general layout and packaging is pretty familiar. I also love the groovy, textured boarder on the cassette itself. Little details like that help make releases stand out to me.

In closing, you should already know.

~VII

Organic Refuse

A couple weeks ago while I was on tour, my buddy Ben slipped me a copy of this here tape that he helped release on his label Craniophagus Parasiticus Records. Later on the trek, while we were all chilling in Chicago, this tape was put on in the background. Amongst the clatter, hilarious conversations, and heavy intoxication, the music on here went straight to my ears like a heat seeking missile and I was blown away. Now officially released (also by Septic Brain Tapes and Misanthropic Ignorance), here's the Cystgurgle/Vomitoma split tape.

This split is wet, brutal, hyper blasting gore to the limit! Everything I love about ridiculous goregrind is on this tape, it's all just so good! Cystgurgle, a drum/bass duo from Thailand, are up first for a crushing A-side. This was my first exposure to them and DAMN, this shit is boiling lava hot. This is that supremely fast, super tight, Inopexia/LDOH-style goregrind right here. The drummer is absolutely insane (yes, these are real drums), everything is just impossibly fast. This is one of those rare times where a professional recording actually made this sound a lot better than it would have otherwise. The kick drum and snare hits are pulverising! Same with the vocals and bass, there's obviously credit due there. The bass is a little whishy/washy sounding, I would have liked it a little more pronounced, but when Cystgurgle are blasting away I don't really have a complaint at all. I could listen to this every day!

Vomitoma should need no introduction to people who know gorenoise/grind. Now on it's 10th year, the Vomitoma project has no signs of slowing down, and apparently will only release recordings with real drums now! On this split, the drums were supplied by Adrian from Putrefuck, who does a pretty great/appropriately sloppy job. This whole side is just disgusting, as anyone would expect. Jen's toilet water vocals are some of the best in the game, it literally sounds like the noises melted, human viscera would make going down a rusty drain. WHile the impactful speed and viciousness of the Cystgurgle side isn't quite matched here, the dirty/medical atmosphere on Vomitoma's half is on another level. This is that kind of gorenoise you want to listen to when you want to watch sketchy internet dissection videos, just fabulous!

Everything about this tape was done 100% pro, and it completely looks and sounds that way! The dub is crispy, loud, and certifiably dank. I'm super happy for Ben for helping put out such a beauty!

Any of the labels I linked above should have this available. Don't skip on this, it's my favorite tape of the year so far!

~VII

Smashing My Faith

I recently made a purchase that I never thought I would be able to make. It's a big one, I've been after this tape ever since I got into Seven Minutes of Nausea. The legendary split cassette with the Brazilian grindcore band Necrose. Released on Sem Nome Tapes in the mid 90's. They're all hand numbered, I'm not sure how limited this was.

This was one of the very first 7MON recordings that I got to hear, thanks to good ol' Youtube. It was pretty instantaneous love for me, it's everything I was looking for in fast music at that time. The drumming, the way the drums sounded and the no-fi fidelity of the whole thing was intoxicating. I still can't figure out how the drums are really being hit, to this day. It's like a Crass drum roll mixed with a blast beat. The way every song was just a sudden, sharply edited burst of noise with the gnarled vocals of Mick. This recording is a definite stand-out in their discography.It's up there with the true classics like "Thrashbora" and the Sound Pollution split. Just a constant, raw and crushing blast of short song brilliance. One of the last really, really, really great ones for a while.  I just really wish this came with lyrics. None of the 301 tracks have titles or lyrics, which is unusual for them. Regardless, it's a ripper, total perfection.

 Necrose was a fairly prolific grind band in the mid to late 90's. I'm honestly not very familiar with their material outside of this tape, but the 26 tracks on here (three of which are covers) are very nice and gross. Primitive, raw riffs and playing, but it's just so damn pure and earnest. There's a big Celtic Frost tinge to the riffing, definitely lots of good ol' metal influence here. The drummer is just slamming away as fast as he can, you can feel how hard the snare is getting hit. The vocals are totally putrid and gargled, the mic was cupped for sure!! This is the kind of raw grindcore that's easy to make, but hard to pull off in a captivating way. The urgency and punk as fuck attitude this band has make the songs a lot more powerful. I definitely find myself going towards the Seven Minutes of Nausea side, but that's not to say Necrose's side should be ignored. This is quality primitive grindcore!!!

Great layout on this, doubled sided with a very tasteful blue tint. Again, I just wish there was a 7MON lyric sheet.

If anyone one else has this release, I'd like to know what your cassettes look like. Both sides are dubbed quite well, I got to say.

Who knows when I'll ever be able to find another 7MON cassette split. This thing rules, having it makes my life a little more fulfilled.

~VII