Clap Crap

Gonna kick back on a harsh and frosty Upstate NY day and talk about another lil'ol Facepalm Death tape that Colton sent me a while back. This time it's a split with the almighty Napalm Death Is Dead! Another Japanese noise/shitcore band featuring the legend himself, Ucchy. But you, who reads this blog, should know that by now. Discogs says that this tape was released in a run of 125 by the Hotel Broslin label, however this looks pretty obviously like a redub/self bootleg. I'm fine with it regardless.

THANKFULLY Colton has decided to put both bands sides over this probably 45+ minute per side long Pavarotti tape (could you imagine rewinding this to the end just to hear the flip side?). NDID open this greasy trash up with a large chunk of hand clapping noises. A nice little nod to their fellow split mates. Also ingeniously, the claps also serve as the count in to the blow out bursts of bass noise. Hyper repetitive and not the least bit musical, but the recording still has different "movements" if you will, in classic NDID tradition. I always like to see how the band uses the microsong/noise burst formula, but manage to create wholly engaging and hypnotic pieces with the subtlest of changes. Enjoyably crappy in the best way, as I expect and adore.

 Another way for me to almost immediately get on board with a release is to put a picture of Godzilla on it. I love me some Kaiju. Anyway, Facepalm Death's side starts up as soon as Napalm Death Is Dead are finished. They do everything just so right by me, it's like the looked at all my personal check marks for what I want in a noisecore band. Ridiculous and mysterious samples from assuredly fucked up films only the deepest of freaks would watch, harsh cut-up tape edits, tough vocals, and an angry as fuck but still down to earth vibe about them. The editing and composing of this side is vicious; warp 2 drum machine blasts, going into harsh techno drums, gym whistles, electronics flipping out, toilet sound bass guitar. It's all there and it all flashes by in the blink of a ripped-off eyelid. I love it all!

Nice little insert here giving you all the info you would or would not want. The dub job is also crisp and fantastic, so big shouts to Colton for the nice work.

Buy this, obviously.

~VII

Obsessed With Cruelty

Here's a split that I'm sure most people in the noisecore world are pretty hip to already. Obviously, I just got around to getting it in my grubby mitts. The incredibly mysterious and aesthetically pleasing group, Facepalm Death, have been floating around for the past couple years. I always see friends posting tapes that they've released. Actually, FpDth mastermind Colton Pickles assembled maybe the most impressive noisecore compilation from last year, simply called "Pieces". Still haven't gotten that either. This is the split with Mental Abortion, released on Perverse Taste Tapes and Breathing Problem Productions last year.

Mental Abortion is a band that I actually really like a lot. They're definitely one of the more impressive and focused noisecore bands (yes, a full band) that has come out in the last several years. Hyper sexual, titillating, and extreme in their subject matter and imagery. Basically what you would get if a bunch of serious power electronics/harsh noise people started making grind, which is what Mental Abortion is. Their side is all recorded from a live show, and it plays out how a standard noisecore set does. Short bursts of blasting and screaming with pauses in between, sometimes so they can say the tracks title, recorded super lo-fi of course. By far the least exciting stuff I've heard from Mental Abortion, but it's serviceable.

The Facepalm Death side fucking rules! I heavily dug this side a lot; tons of variation in "song" structure and lots of different sounds and tones. Like a mix of Ops-Psf, Traci Lords Loves Noise and Nihilist Commando. Sometimes there's lyrics, mostly for the shorter songs, samples from exploitation movies, and impossibly fast programmed drums that are simple but effective. Noisecore that sort of play's like a mixtape made by someone who lives in a warehouse full of fucked up instruments. Definitely the winning side on this split for me.

The aesthetic of this tape is on point too. Mental Abortion's sexually obscene imagery takes up a little too much space, but the lay-out and look of everything is super nice. Really good sounding tape too, crispy as hell.

~VII