Chokin' On Bones

Another Haggus split 7" post today. I've been trying to slowly catch up on all these new records that keep coming out this year. This split 7" with Heinous, an awesome gory grind band from Phoenix, AZ. was put out by a whole crew of labels (Suicide of A Species, Grindfather Productions, Fuck Your Life Records, Morbid Reality Records, and Not Kvlt Records). This is the standard black vinyl press, I couldn't find a clear vinyl copy, 33 RPM.

I'll start off with the Heinous side, which was released a little earlier than this split as an EP called "Four Under The Floor". This definitely stands as my favorite material the band has done so far. The five songs on here just straight up slap. Starting off with the devastatingly heavy track, "Chokehold", which is about as good as a first song gets. That slam part in the middle gets me every time. Heinous are an interesting band for sure; rooted in goregrind but with some war metal riffs and heavy as hell slower, more groovy moments. This is probably the recording that best conveys how great the drumming is live as well, fast and tight as hell. I also really dig the guest vocals on the 3rd track, "Dissected". At first I thought that they were trying out more non-pitch shifted, low and high vocals until I realized that it was Payson from Gimp and another person who I don't recognize. Great, great stuff, I come back to this side often.

On the flip side is Haggus, who give three tracks of fun, bouncy, gory mincecore. More songs with that earlier sound and style. Coming in hot on the opener "Septic Aroma" with a pit starting mid-paced beat and guitar leads. There's not as many blast beats as I would like overall, lots of metal-ish riffs and d-beat passages that kinda just do the job but have a little too much of a bland flavor too keep eating. But it still is hard to deny that good ol' Haggus energy every time.

Got a nice, and tidy packaging job split with both bands different art styles. That Heinous art is so great. Gimme those big, bold, high contrast B/W illustrations all day!

This split should be pretty easy to find still. Again like with all of these Haggus splits, it would rule to have the cassette version as we'll.

~VII

Mutilated Regurgitator

Anyone who collects grindcore should have at least 1-5 Agathocles records somewhere in their stacks. I myself have about 30, mainly sticking to their 7" split releases. Reviewing their records seems pretty superfluous in 2016 though doesn't it? Their best material has been re-re-re-recorded over countless releases and bootlegged records. Is Agathocles even a real band anymore? It's hard to tell how serious the members take the band now, at least in regards of writing new material. Regardless, their releases are usually always fun and I try to pick one up whenever I can. Agromosh Records recently repressed a great double 7" collection they released years ago entitled "Keep Mincing"! 2nd press on purple/dark blue vinyl 33 RPM.

These recordings were originally released on their first press of this record back in 2002. Half studio and half live recordings all done in 1988 (arguably around their best era). The A-side is all studio tracks recorded around the same time as classic recordings like "Cabbalic Gnosticism". It's a brutal recording, loud and violent. One of the best recordings I've heard from the mincecore legends. All the classics are here, like "Christianity Means Tyranny", "Lay Me Off", "Mutilated Regurgitator", and "Introtyle". The live recording has it's charm, but like too many Agathocles recordings, it's pretty painful to listen to. The (awesome) vocals bellow over everything else in the mix, the drummer can barely keep time, the riffs are buried in fuzz. I wouldn't be surprised if it was all recorded with one microphone 50 feet away from the stage. It has charm, of course, but I'll stick with record A more often then not.

Both records come packaged in a fold over, double-sided sleeve with all the info you would want to know about this record. Class.

You can probably find this in any good distro anywhere. FFO staying true to your roots.

~VII

Our Earth's Blood Part V.

I have been on a tremendous Bastard Noise and Man Is The Bastard kick lately. I can't seem to get enough eartime with the countless hours of legendary SKULL recordings. I have been leaning more towards the Bastard Noise side of the coin though. I'm pretty sure the news of the upcoming Bastard Noise/Sickness collaboration 12" and the "The Honesty Shop" LP with the Eric Wood/Anthony Saunders line-up set it off. Needless to say, I'm extremely excited to hear both. Saunders and Wood blew my brain apart when I saw them this year in NYC. They performed some classic tracks ("Remember Thy Creator" was amazing), and some wonderful improvisations of harsh, sci-fi electronics. One of the coolest sets I've ever seen by far.
Recently Mr. Wood was very kind to me and sent over a handful of newer Bastard Noise records. To say I was deeply grateful is an understatement. This new 7" here, the 5th installment in the legendary "Our Earth's Blood" series, is one I've been very curious about since it was announced. A new nine track 7" of collabs with some of Japans best extreme sound artists. Released under Eric Wood's own label, Skull Records, limited to 300 copies on orange/yellow mix vinyl, 45 RPM.

The "Our Earth's Blood" series have all been pure noise records. Started in 1993 when the first 7" came out under the Man Is The Bastard name. Still, a very overlooked part of the SKULL's output. The 1st 7" and the follow in the series, the split 10" with The Locust, are two of my favorite records in MITB's catalog. I'm always trying to push the later on people because I think it's so brilliant. "Part IV" came in the form of a staggeringly massive 5xCD box, released in 2009. Featuring long-time and new collaborators on almost every track. This also meant longer song lengths, and is one of the most extensive Bastard Noise releases ever. "Our Earth's Blood IV" certainly dwarfs it's 7" follow-up, but this records impact is not to be underestimated. Released mainly to coalesce with the Bastard Noise Japan tour earlier this year. The line-up of collaborators honoring and "hailing" that country proudly.

"Our Earth's Blood V", is yet another unfortunately urgent and timeless message to society and the human race at large. That we are the true scum species on the Earth, and the #1 threat to it's health and beauty. The apocalypse is now and only love can help slow it down. Another diatribe of vitrol from Bastard Noise to the modern age, in both directness and sound. The recordings here are remarkably clean and clear, every texture and sound shine out in the mix. Obviously, all the tracks are on a severely tight time frame. But these masters of sound use their talents and time very efficiently. Personally I find these short, to the point, vignette type pieces to be incredibly inspirational. They hit me the same way a good 1-minute grindcore or punk song does. They get everything they need to say and play out in no time at all without any bullshit. And the consistency in quality and message on this record does not drop at all in it's run time.

Each of the nine tracks on here are simply titled "Statement I-IX", going down in numerical order. The title's reflect the lyrical format perfectly. Every song is indeed a "Statement", oftentimes only lasting a few sentences and less then a minute. But the message Eric Wood and Co. are yelling at you couldn't be more clear. The crazy amount of exclamation points in the lyric sheet should help hit the nail on the head even more. Transitioning to the music side of the record, it's exceptional. Every track balances each artist evenly. You can always tell when any of the Japanese artists are lending their own unique contributions. Naturally sticking largely to the harsh noise/power electronics side of the spectrum. All tracks but one features the classic Eric Wood growl and screech. The first two tracks, with Guilty Connector and Shayne Bowden following, are solid openers that set up the climbing intensity that follows. The tracks with Facialmess, Government Alpha and K2 are solid, abrasive sets of PE. With the classic cut up/harsh noise that these respective artists are known for. The only instrumental track with Toshiju Mikawa (most famously a member of the noise legends The Incapacitants), is a real highlight for me. Cut up edits, Trogonomic oscillations and some wonderful stuttering, staccato textures are all active and sounding off. And what sounds like a stretched, digitized vocal sample? It's a wonderful track. The A-side closer with Hiroshi Hagasawa (who most noticeably goes under the C.C.C.C name), is another one of my favorite tracks on here. Super harsh distorted walls of junk metal crash and form into ambience and vocals. Eventually climaxing in an explosive synth chord, and more harsh noise. The closing track, the shortest on the record, is a duet of sorts with Makiko Suda (vocalist for Flagitious Idiosyncrasy In The Dilapidation). Both her and Eric roar and yell over the prettiest ambience and synths on the record, signing off before you barely even said hello.

The packaging for "Our Earth's Blood V" is classic SKULL aesthetic. Bold, black font, quotation marks everywhere, and stark, black and white imagery. The record sleeve is a glued one (my favorite), and comes with a double sided insert with lyrics. Eric really does treat his records well and has spared no expense on this project. A numbered, test press version was also released for the previously mentioned tour, on black vinyl and limited to 100. It came with a shirt or a patch I think.

"WE ARE THE ONLY FUCKING MENACE TO EARTH!!!'

Another triumphant chronicle in the "Our Earth's Blood" series, and another essential item in the Bastard Noise catalog. Thankfully, you can still find this record in many distro's with a quick google search. Best band ever. 

~VII

Into The Void

I am not the kind of record collector that likes to passionately waste their money on multiple variants of the same album. I've done it here and there for a few beloved band. Extortion and +HIRS+ being the first ones that comes to mind. Even then a lot of the variants were generous gifts or things I stumbled upon at an unbeatable price. I do empathize with the thrill of hoarding different variants and oogling over the minor to extreme differences between them. And honestly if it wasn't for economic responsibility I would probably be buying a few more color pressings of some choice favorites. One album that I can't seem to ignore buying multiple copies of however, is the monumental metal opus, "Master Of Reality". My personal favorite of the first four Sabbath albums, and comes close to being my favorite album ever. I've loved this album from the first time I heard it to this present day. Every time I listen to it I still get the same emotional and gut reactions, during the same parts since I first heard it when I was 7-8 years old. A few days ago I stumbled upon a very cool looking copy that I had never seen at a record fair. At the too-good-to-pass-up price of 8 buckaroos. Now is as good a time as any to post about it, ay? Here is my third copy of "Master Of Reality", on Warner Brothers Records, with a green shield label.

This album has been talked about to death and dissected over it's 30+ years of existence, so I won't go too deep into why this album's great. Because you certainly should already know. In fact, if anyone who is reading this right now has never heard "Master Of Reality", I dismiss you. You need to get on your metal tip and hear this.fucking.record. Incredible, monumental, masterful, perfect, and all of the above are adjectives I can apply to this album. It stands out in the bands first few classic albums for many reasons. For one, it's the heaviest album Sabbath made in the 70's, I don't care what anyone says. You thrown on a track like "Into The Void", or "Lord Of This World" and the crushing dirge of Iommi's guitar will floor you to this day. Those two tracks I'll even put against "Iron Man", "War Pigs", or "Black Sabbath" as the best songs of the bands career. Geezer Butlers bass has the heaviest presence in the mix of the classic albums. Holding the grooves down masterfully, while jamming and supplying tons of low-end heaviness. It's also one of Sabbath's most spiritual and religious-themed records at the time. A trait that I didn't pick up on as a child, but is almost overpowering when I hear it now. Especially on tracks like "After Forever" or "Into The Void". Depicting Jesus and God more as entities that are to be admired rather then blasphemed. It comes off a bit corny to me nowadays, but it does raise questions why people thought they were shouting "Hail Satan" in their music all the time.
When my parents first showed my this album, I'll never forget, it was like hearing my life come into focus. I was immediately hooked by the classic, sliding groove and hook of the "Sweet Leaf" riff. It was heavier and more captivating then any rock music I had heard at the time, and Black Sabbath quickly became my favorite band for many years. Man, so many memories and times spent with this album. It's honestly hard not to flood this post with my life's musical history, because this really is ground zero for me. Heavy metal music became a thing that I focused and obsessed on constantly, and it really paved the road that my life would go down over the years. And here I am; still going crazy about music, and still supporting the loudest, dirtiest bands. Maybe not so in love with metal these days, but no matter what dominates my interests, "Master of Reality" will always hold that special place in my heart.

So, this here beaten and rustled looking copy is a really cool looking variant from 1971, manufactured in America. Of course, the all-blue text is what sold me on buying it. I had never seen any copies that looked like this and I think it looks so cool!! Apparently this was a "club edition" pressing, whatever that means. Probably not a part of the first press because the cover doesn't have embossed lettering. It doesn't include the extra tracks in the listing like the very first runs (I do have a super beat copy with them though, pictured below), so I'd reckon this is a 3rd or 4th issue. Sounds great too, the vinyl's in pretty decent shape.

Here are all my copies so far. Starting from the top, we have a 1971 press with the extra titles. A beautiful NM copy of a later Warner Brothers pressing with embossed letters (my main playing copy), and the newest edition. 

             

I still would love to get an original Vertigo label press, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. I wouldn't mind getting a 180g. pressing too, just too hear it remastered. One of the greatest albums ever.

~VII

Brickbath

I've been waiting for Mellow Harsher's follow up to their "Demo 7"" for a long, long time. It was a solid bunch of songs for sure, but were drastically improved on with MH's more recent outputs. The two songs on the "Bitter Cold Compilation", split 7" with Internal Rot, and my long awaited "Served Cold EP", solidified them as one of the most exciting grindcore bands in the Midwest. The "Served Cold EP" was very recently released by Washington D.C. based label Malokul records in a run of 500. 100 were on orange and 100 on purple, the rest on black. Malokul very generously sent me an orange and black copy for this review. 45 RPM.

I've heard these songs dozens of times on Bandcamp, and was always thoroughly satisfied with this EP. It keeps some of the roughness of the Demo's recordings, but with the clarity and precision of their more recent output. The vinyl pressing definitely highlights this. Man is it nice to hold a new, physical MH record. Like all their releases, "Served Cold EP" is a brilliant example of how to pull of herky-jerky, techy grindcore, in the right way. The vocals, riffs and brutal drumming all trade off and switch with surgical precision, but they keep it tough! There's no flashy guitar noises, or plastic and sterile sounding production. It doesn't sound like this shit is just wanking, it's earned. Mellow Harsher apply their musicianship into actually writing some fantastic, blood boiling songs! With some very well written breakdowns that thankfully avoid blatant Infest and Crossed Out worship ("Brickbath", "Stepped On"). Playing this in my room I can't help but thrash my fists around and stomp-mosh around the place. Also, probably my favorite snare drum of the year, this drummer is unstoppable.

I love the consistent, crude, colored pencil drawings that Mellow Harsher uses. They're effectively bleak and at the same time raise questions. Mainly why the Charlie Brown sweater? Anyway, Malokul gave the "Served Cold EP" a very nice glued sleeve package with a thick vinyl pressing. No insert however.

The orange vinyl is only available exclusively through the Malokul Records webstore. The purple vinyl is actually a band-only exclusive. So I might pick one up when I see them this month. Just to round everything off since I have 2 of the 3. They look beautiful.

One of the best grindcore EP's of the year. Worship Mellow Harsher.

~VII

Lazy People Must Die

Continuing Hades Mining Co.'s reign of terror through this blog, comes their split 7" with Canada's genital stain on the music world, Cum Sock. Guys, this one is truly for the heads. I mean this one's rough, real rough. I need a cup of coffee, an upper, and a shower after I get through listening to this piece of wax. Limited to 100 copies on this rather nice looking green marble vinyl, 33 RPM. As always, released by Continuum Records.

I'll just get Cum Sock's side out of the way first, because it is truly and honestly horrible. Aside from the actually decent guitar sound that they miraculously achieve, I can't say a single decent thing about this. If you ever wanted to hear a guy junkie-snarl the words "ASIAN PUKE PORN" into a peaking microphone over the sloppiest thrashcore you heard in your life, get a friend. Also you may just like this record, maybe. Uninteresting, and schlocky noisecore that overstayed its welcome and only bugged me. Not even the charm of it's sloppiness won me over here.

Hades Mining Co. side is another live recording, most likely the full set of that night. The main chunk of their half is another sludge rock opus, entitled "The Return Of Shock Puss". The charm that's lost on Cum Sock's side is thankfully returned on here. But not in huge amounts, as I never really preferred any of HMC's slow stuff to their total noisecore. The sheer audacity of everything this track is admirably fun though. Riding a 70's stoner bass riff and guitar solo freakouts. Literally, imagine the worst 2 AM rock n' roll bar band you ever saw, it's this. The second and last track is a simple, farted out noiscore track. Leaving the crowd in an empty void of awkward applause.

Real good, cut n' paste style printed sleeve with a classic image from the freakier side of internet on the cover. It also comes with a stick of the whole cover, which is now considered packaging and thus cannot be placed anywhere.

Recommended if you like bad music.

~VII

Mr. Jolly Fucker

Sleaford Mods is a musical group that I have shamelessly been head over heels for this year. A duo based out of Nottingham, England that have very rapidly put out numerous singles and LP's over the past two years. I've heard record collectors kind of hate them, and I can't pretend I don't see why. Their style and delivery was a bit of a challenge to listen to and absorb at first, but I kept coming back to it. Generally a good sign that there is definitely something with abstract substance there. The rapid-fire, ornery lyrical pieces that vocalist/lyricist Jason Williamson shout-raps are mesmerizing. While music-maker Andrew Fearn's minimal, post-punk flavored beats provide the perfect amount of punch and energy for whatever topic is on the tongue. A punk band in their attitude, but much fresher and more original then any of the rehashed punk bands of today. There is as much influence from bands like Crass in their tunes as there is from Suicide or The Fall, or Wu-Tang Clan. Tyrannical, sarcastic, opinionated, and incredibly British.
While the Mods discography is massive, they mainly thrive as a singles band. There are too many mandatory 7" cuts to buy at one time, and many are going for a pretty penny these days. Thankfully though, these are routinely reissued with many different collectable colored pressings and sleeve designs. So I was finally able to score the brilliant "Mr. Jolly Fucker b/w Tweet Tweet Tweet" single. The 4th edition, with an orange cover and vinyl, 45 RPM. Released by Forth Dimension Records.

"Mr. Jolly Fucker" is one of the first SM songs I fell in love with, and may just be the jam of the century. A perfect two minute romper of fast paced lyrical wit and a slamming, hypnotic beat. Unfortunately, no lyric sheets have ever been provided for this single, so I am still left a bit unclear about what Mr. Williamson's main message is here. The usual pessimistic and disgruntled attitude towards the privileged and hoytie-toytie people that take up space is prevalent. Little pokes like "pushing out office turds" and rotting away in the isles of the Co-op store are just a few of the many quotables I notice. And the immortal, cut and dry chorus/hook that is simply, "JOLLY FUCKER"! Such a great song, this is definitely one of my favorite 7" records in the collection at the moment.
The B-side is a track that was later put on the end of the album "Divide and Exit". Another wonderfully written and catchy little ditty targeting the masses apathetic nature towards real life (according to me). "Dead weight is living flesh", what a great line. "Tweet Tweet Tweet" is probably one of the best early examples of a "singing" Sleaford Mods. Jason's vocals follow more of a rhythm and melody on here, with some great back-up vocals fleshing the sound out more. We even get some piano and a little bit of electronics. All around fantastic!!

The 4th edition of this single comes in a sturdy glued sleeve with orange artwork and vinyl. A nice, thick slab of wax that sings clear and loud!

So far this year, Sleaford Mods have also put out my favorite album of 2015 with their recently released "Key Markets" LP. I might get around to posting that, it's amazing and definitely worth all of your ear time. 

~VII

Death Rattle Hummer

I am officially admitting here and now that I am completely done with "unlistenable" formats. Like any vinyl nerd, I get a kick out of weird sized and shaped records. They're strange, and uncommon and certainly cool to have. But at a certain point, I reach a point where I physically can not listen to a record because of it's formatting. For example, I can not play this little 3" lathe cut. It's at this point just basically an art piece I have sitting in my collection (along with all my other 4"-5" records). I know you can wrestle a manual-driven turntable to play records this size, but your boy doesn't have that shit. And I can't pay the big bucks for a fancy ass turntable right now. So here is this piece of art. A 3" black lathe cut record between Hades Mining Co. and Colostomy Baguette? from Australia.

You may be asking yourself, "how much music can you actually put onto a 3" record"?. In Hades Mining Co.'s case, fifteen seconds. Fifteen seconds of the most pointless audio ever cut onto carbon fiber. Half of it is a sample, the other have just solo guitar wanking. It's such shit. Colostomy Baguette? manage to cram in 4 more seconds of ear abuse then HMC. on their side. Some standard fare, sloppy, lo-fi grind that actually manages to have a couple changes in their track. This record actually comes with a download card, so you can  still listen to these songs if you're that tormented. If I payed money for this I would be so mad.

This record comes packages in a very tidy looking, double sided sleeve. Hand numbered out of 97 copies. Once again, this is for true noisefreaks and lovers of all that is dumb.

Cute lil' thing ain't it? Pick this up from CONTINUUM if you dare.

~VII

Adult Diseases

Sometimes in my self-appointed roll as a music critique, I am generously and randomly send wonderful packages from bands or labels in return for me to review their records or tapes on this blog. And given that I rarely buy grind albums anymore because of my severe lack of frivolous online spending, these instances really help keep things going. Even if I do feel undeserving of all the kindness sometimes (gifts are kinda sorta hard for me to accept). The next batch of posts will be regarding the longtime Rochester, NY band Hades Mining Co. and their Father label Continuum Records. Gotta give a big thanks to Continuum operator and HMC member Dave, for very generously supplying me with some of these pretty limited releases. So, thank you Dave.
I figured I'd start with a post about this record. Given it's been obvious how much I enjoy records by our favorite Japanese duo Sete Star Sept. Any new SSS record is welcome into my home, and this one is definitely one of their more interesting 7" splits. Black vinyl, limited to 149 copies on black wax (the rest were on color), 33 RPM.

I've always had my eye on the latest batch of Hades Mining Co. splits. Even though I wasn't that initially impressed with them in brief streams online, they've been working with some cool bands. They're definitely one of those noisecore bands. They're totally oldschool sounding, genre fucking, completely free slopcore noise. One that you could write off as absolute talentless shit for their obvious wankery and fuck-you to actually "writing a song". Or a band you can take in with that great, sort of B-movie experience. Enjoying it for all it's flaws and just having some fun. And you're both right. Because goddamn this is shit, but I definitely do dig it. Four tracks make up Hades Mining Co.'s half. Opening up with a slow as molasses, drumless, doomy bass riff driven opus. Industrial, hissing guitar feedback and occasional soloing are a constant too. Basically sounding like the worst Sunn O))) cover band you've ever heard. HMC have embraced going totally slow and sludgy, which I think helps set them apart. It works better sometimes (definitely in this case) then others. The rest of their side goes more into standard noisecore territory. The second song even features a saxophone (standing ovation), and the band just proceeds to clusterfuck the crap out of anything resembling music. The last track is so lo-fi it literally sounds like a recording, of a recording, recorded and played through a cassette Walkmen.

Sete Star Sept's side was a very interesting and fulfilling listen to me. I love it when SSS record stuff that's a little stranger, more adventurous and creative then the standard noisecore fare. Unfortunately these are usually kept for their VERY limited cassette splits and don't see much vinyl treatment. This batch of songs is definitely in the spirit of this side of the band. The massive opener (taking up more then half the side) consisting of almost riffless bass feedback, with sporadic drum hits from Kiyasu. Sort of reminds me of the last track from their split with Lung Cancer, the feedback almost works as a power electronics instrumental. The next 4 tracks, entitled "Square Root A"-through-"D" are quick instrumental noise bursts, ending with a track that consists solely of Kiyasu's drums and some cartoonish grunts. I've never heard the band be this bizarre and different on any of their 7"s. So that right there says something It's a wild ride, and is one of the more unusual vinyl splits from them that I own.

I always saw the black and white, fold-over cover packaging that Continuum gave their releases and was not impressed. But only because it just looked like photocopied covers on printer paper with low pixel count artwork. But actually no, these are professionally done, sturdy and glossy sleeves. I was very pleasantly surprised! Hades Mining Co. certainly keeps a consistent aesthetic, and I like that a lot.

There were two 7"x7" inserts included for each band. Each one displaying an eye-bleedingly high amount of color in contrast to all this black and white. I kinda honestly wish these were the images for the sleeve, but it's a cool bonus. The test pressings were all adorned with these covers I believe.

This split is still available from the LABEL, and I've started to see it pop up on Discogs. If you feel up to it, dive into this slop. For true noise freaks only.

~VII