Jute Gyte - Isolation [2012]

Jute Gyte might just be the second coming of American black metal. Although this one-man (Adam Kalmbach) act's sheer prolificness (18 albums - not all of which are black metal - since 2006 and 10 over the past two years alone - and yes, that is a word - Google says so) might lead the unaware prospective listener into dismissing his work as thoughtless and just churned out for the sake of it, I can assure you that is not the case. No, here, Mr Kalmbach produces a fine collection of riffs, brought together with delightful cohesion to make a fine black metal album. Aside from the ambient title-track, which, to my ears at least, is just futile and does not improve the album at all, every song is a winner (as with all the best albums). Although this won't quite crack my top 10 of 2012 (a fine year for music), it's on the edge of it and well worth a listen.

Bandcamp

White Medal - Yorkshire Steel demo [2012]

YAAAAAARKSHIRE! YAAAAAARKSHIRE! Or so we say whenever we come across a Southerner (for what it's worth, the Scottish are Southerners too). White Medal originally attracted my attention with their 2010 Agbrigg Beast demo - and although that didn't seem to be much cop at the time, it's grown on me. Still, this is a lot better. For a band that have been around just 5 years, White Medal have certainly done splits with some prominent bands - first the almighty Skullflower (back in 2010), and more recently Caïna (meh), and Slægt (I haven't heard the split itself yet, but Slægt are a solid Danish band - their S/T demo is worth a listen). As for this, well, it's raw black metal. Far from revolutionary, but what White Medal do, they do it very well. Songs are constructed with a hypnotic feeling, and this is well achieved.

128 kbps

Mediafire

Dying Fetus - Destroy The Opposition [2000]

Although Dying Fetus have a large role in unleashing the hordes of shitty deathcore bands at the moment, no-one hates 'Slaughter Of The Soul' for what it influenced, so why should this be hated? Dying Fetus' first two suffered from horrific production values, so this was their first album which could really stand on compositional ability alone.

320 kbps

DMCA complaint received. For a dead link. For an album released 12 years ago.

Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless [2001]

In all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of this album. Sure, I like it, but I don't deify it as many latter-day grindcore fans seem to. But then again, I'm not a fan of the likes of Gridlink and Cellgraft which this undeniably influenced largely - I like my grindcore punky, not technical. That said, it clearly is a seminal album, and one of the best examples of the style it pioneered. For that reason, it's worth a listen even if you only listen to grindcore from time to time as a novelty. It will never, in my eyes, reach the level of seminality (is that a word?) of the likes of Terrorizer and Brutal Truth, let alone Repulsion and Napalm Death, but it's on the second tier certainly. Don't be influenced by the torrent of over-technical shit it spawned.

192 kbps

Mediafire

Blasphemy - Blood Upon The Altar demo [1989]

The surprising thing about this demo, the precursor to the legendary album Fallen Angel of Doom, is that its production is actually clearer than that of the full-length. Certainly, when just getting into Blasphemy, it helped me personally to overcome the murkiness of the full-length, especially with my then-predisposition to more overtly melodic forms of black metal. That's not to say it isn't completely ferocious - it is - but it's a little more accessible than the album. But it's more than just alternative recordings of the songs found on FAoD - not only do four of its full tracks not appear on the album, but the structure of the recording offers an entirely different perspective. Really, this is, if not equally seminal, almost as seminal as Fallen Angel of Doom. It's worth a listen if you have any interest in black metal (and for what it's worth, it's also easier to get on CD due to the 2007 Osmose reissue with Gods of War).

v1 VBR

Mediafire

Stuff I'm looking for

If anyone's got any of the following, an upload would be very much appreciated:

Bestial Death - Suicide Of The Immortal demo
Archenemy - Violent Harm
Black Dethe - Any or all of the demos
Dragged Into Sunlight - Terminal Aggressor EP
PDF: Pawel 'verneer' Nazarewicz's 'Building A Bankroll: Full Ring Edition'
Mutant - Wreck Your Neck EP
Morriah - Let The Sword Fall demo
Nifelheim (ITALY) - Parabiosis demo
NAPALM DEATH DEMOS (other than Hatred Surge - Punk Is A Rotting Corpse is a fake)

Re-re-upload: Blasphemy - Fallen Angel Of Doom [1990]

Another debut, Fallen Angel Of Doom should be played to all poseurs at maximum volume. Ahem. Now banned from playing in the USA, Canada's Blasphemy were surely one of the best early black/thrash bands, not to mention the pioneers of the whole bestial black metal scene. Although much aped since, especially by their countrymen, Fallen Angel Of Doom remains untouched in its pure uncompromising aggression and quality. Not to be passed up upon.

Re-upload notes: I've added a little bit to the description to reflect the general higher quality of the bios of recent uploads, but I'm not sure I'm going to do this for every album as it would simply take too long. Also, it's a different rip with a better bitrate.

320 kbps

Mediafire

Re-post: The Gerogerigegege - Yellow Trash Bazooka EP [1993]

The Gerogerigegege the most eccentric noise you'l ever find, lead by a weird man that dresses like a lady and a exhibitionist that masturbates on live performances. The musical portfolio is vast and included punk releases, grindcore, harsh noise, ambient, music concrete and conceptual works in dozens of records spread over 15 years. The band has currently vanished and since the early 2000's no one know exactly what happened to them especially the frontman. But enough about the band's background this is one of their grind and noise releases it is an EP famous because it features 79 tracks in less than 15 minutes. Basically you hear 1,2,3,4 in most songs and a quick burst of instruments, sometimes the vocalist says the title of the song and it's over to the next one. My personal opinion over this is that it's funny if you like it or not it's up to you...

Re-post notes: This is so good it needed more spotlight.

Download

Laurasia Awaits Us - Apathy Remains Victorious [2012]

This is a band request, and although I can't give it 100% approval due to not having listened to the whole thing (it's not really my style), the tracks I listened to on YouTube seem decent enough. Laurasia Awaits Us is a self-described Finnish post/doom metal band. Although the former is represented by just a little tinge of the NeurIsisian axis, the latter comes across relatively well. The riffs seem good enough too. Recommended for fans of sombre doom with harsh vocals.

320 kbps (I presume)

Mediafire
Rapidgator

REVIEW: Kabul Golf Club - Le Bal Du Rat Mort EP [2012]

Firstly, I’d like to apologise to the band for the time it took me to get this review out. I’ve been in touch in the interim, but four months after receiving the promo copy should be, and is, unacceptable. With that out of the way, on to the EP itself. Although I don’t have the packaging in front of me (left it in Oxford like a twit), I remember it being pleasantly, but not fantastically presented. It’s a very simple digipack – without booklet or anything. However, the presentation is more than adequate for what I believe to be their first EP. The artwork is done in a noir style, with some hideous creature (or maybe it’s one of the members) skulking around in the dark – it’s not the prettiest thing you’ll ever see, but it does suit the music contained therein.

As for the music, the band claim to take influence from acts like At The Drive In, Shellac, Blood Brothers and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Unfortunately, as the only one of those four I’ve heard is the latter, I’m not really qualified to comment on that, but what the music provides is noisy (an attribute provided by the delicious fuzzy bass sound), angular math rock with hardcore influence (but stopping short of full-blown mathcore). From my limited experience within that region (I’m afraid I didn’t really explore much more once I heard Cows), the style is executed adequately but not fantastically. Indeed, although there are some hooks within the music, they are rather transient in the memory, and after four listens to the (fifteen-minute) EP, I could remember nothing save for the general sound and parts of the first and final tracks (the latter of which had a video released – once again, it’s nice to know that a band know what their stronger material is). Indeed, the fact that structures and melody-rhythm associations are often repeated does nothing to help the memorability of the material.

The sound would, I think, be made a little more interesting were the short noisy passages to be extended, either the quieter ones or simply the short passages of crushing atonality. This is not solely for the fact that they provide contrast to the otherwise nigh-on relentless stop-start approach to the music (which, although enjoyable in small doses, should not be repeated for fifteen minutes lest they become nothing but irritating in my humble opinion), but also because they themselves seem well-composed and, in the heavier atonal sections, project an almost nihilistic feeling at the listener. They would also help, I suppose, to distinguish KGC more from the rest of the scene and provide them with a unique style (for what it’s worth, they’re closer to Godflesh than Meshuggah).

Instrumentally, it would be lying to suggest that KGC are anything but competent – although for the most part nothing particularly special technicality-wise is attempted, none of it is particularly simple to play (or at least, none of it seems to be, syncopated rhythms abound in the EP). Furthermore, the production of each instrument is done nicely, and it comes cohesively together as a whole. Despite my gripes above about the composition, the result of this is that KGC would work very nicely as background music were it not for the undoubtedly-intrusive stop-start approach. I must, however, say that there is one weak point instrumentally – the vocalist, although competent, is very generic in approach and really adds nothing to the music. I’d go as far as to suggest that this would do just as well were it fully instrumental.

To summarise, I’d say that although there is nothing inherently wrong with the music of Kabul Golf Club, there is likewise little to elevate them above being ‘average’. Math-rock aficionados may disagree with me, but there is nothing special about this. It’s not offensive – far from it – but I really would not recommend going out of your way to seek it out.

5/10

I'm not sure whether I have permission to post a download link, but apparently The Elementary Revolt posted one at the band's request, so I'll link you there.

Official website

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Axegrinder - The Rise Of The Serpent Men [1989] and a couple of demos

Seeing as we've all been saying (okay, I've been saying) for a while that this blog sorely lacks some classic crust, I thought I'd mark my return home (and thus more frequent posts for a while) with some of it. Axegrinder is one of the classic British crust bands, and as was the trademark of that time period, there's no d-beat to be found here. Instead, there's a sound that's described much better by this post at the Terminal Sound Nuisance blog than I could ever do (incidentally, it's a fucking solid blog, you should check it out if you have the chance and are into punk music). But I'll just lazily paraphrase the post - the demos are more like Antisect while the full-length is more like Amebix. The demos included in the file (I'm not uploading separately because I'm lazy, so if you already have the full length and have a poor connection it might be best to find the demos elsewhere) are the Grind the Enemy and Live in Wimbledon demos from 1987. Sorry about the poor quality of the latter.

96 kbps (LiW); 128 kbps (GtE); 192 kbps (TRotSM)

Mediafire

UK distros anyone?

Hello again, sorry for the lack of posts (I may start borrowing links from elsewhere and crediting - thoughts on this?). Basically, I'm coming to those of you who follow the blog to seek knowledge about UK distros. Recently I've vastly upped my CD-buying habits (14-15 per month has been standard of late), but Amazon and Ebay can fall short of my needs from time to time, and there are not many quality UK distros that I know of (PlasticHead etc can fuck off).

In case you didn't know these, here's a few I've used, or have been thinking of using:

Aesthetic Death (the guy who runs it is super-nice, I ordered a Pensees Nocturnes CD - £5 including postage! - and when I barely expected it to be sent, I got an email apologising for the delay because he'd been in hospital. Yet to receive the CD but I will update this when I do, it's only been a week)
Me Saco Un Ojo (ordered at the same time as Aesthetic Death, yet to hear a peep, but the prices are excellent in general. It's not really feasible to buy one item though, even within the UK as shipping is a little dear)
Todestrieb (never ordered from there as the prices aren't great, especially as shipping isn't included. No cheaper than going into HMV)
Feast Of Tentacles (again, never ordered, but a good and varied selection with decent prices - run by one guy too, so needs support)
At War With False Noise (see above)

Undergang - Til Døden Os Skiller [2012]

So, uh... death metal's coming along pretty well at the moment, huh? Although many may laugh derisively at many of the 'new old school' of death metal, claiming that we 'don't need more Incantation clones', there's no more shit in there than there was in old school death metal. The difference being that this time around, bands get to make albums and distribute them well-ish, via the internet. But to the point in hand. Undergang is a Danish band who, although they do take influence from Incantation, sound more like the old Finnish scene to me, with a little dose of Stockholm too. And what's more, both albums are available for free on Bandcamp. I've named the post after this one because it's the one I'm better acquainted with and thus can more heartily recommend, but there's really no reason why you shouldn't listen to both.

Til Døden Os Skiller
Indhentet Af Døden

Hopelorn - Tuonen Musta Joki Virtaa Sydämessäni [2012]

Back to more blackened crust. Hopelorn are a Finnish band who have a mainly 'black' version of the style. Their riffing is simple enough to be classified as fairly punky, but in itself is most certainly black metal. However, the battery is mostly given over to a typical d-beat with some blasts thrown in, and the structures, despite this being five tracks and 29 minutes, are fairly 'crusty'. But what about the content itself? Well, it's very decent. There's been a fuckton of the style around over the past few years, but Hopelorn are one of the better practitioners, as shown particularly on the track 'Mänskligt Avskräde', although every song here is a winner in reality. What's more, it's available as a free download through their bandcamp page, so you don't really have any excuse at all to not go and listen.

Bandcamp

Mr. Bungle - California [1999]

Wow, how did this take so long to get posted? If there was ever a prize for most insane of the musical insane geniuses, Mike Patton would certainly be a strong contender.

Not content with his funk-metal outfit Faith No More, in 1991 Patton created Mr. Bungle, as an outlet for his more experimental work. The first self-titled album could best be compared to a heavy metal Frank Zappa, complete with funky basslines, stream-of-consciousness vocals, and toilet humour (plenty of toilet humour).

But it seems this wasn't crazy enough, as in 1996 the Bungle released Disco Volante, which may have tried just a little too hard to be kooky and erratic, and loses coherence somewhat as a result. However just three years later the band released California, their masterpiece. It was the metaphorical 'just right' album, where the funk was the funkiest and the crazy was the craziest. But this album still had plenty of surprises up its sleeve, in the form of a plethora of different musical ideas from all kinds of sources (much of the album draws on various aspects of '50s music, from surf to doo-wop to good old-fashioned rock n' roll). The LP is an absolute goldmine of creativity, and although all the tracks are fantastic, penultimate song "Vanity Fair" just about sums up the feel of this extensively varied yet simultaneously crystal-clear album.

10 tracks, 44:14, 40.57 MiB

Zippyshare (Mp3, 128 kbps)

Stream: Dragged Into Sunlight - Widowmaker [2012]

If you like good music, you will like Dragged Into Sunlight. And their new album is available to stream. I'm listening right now and although the 15 minute intro track is overkill, this is sounding pretty sexy.

http://www.terrorizer.com/2012/10/26/widowmaker-by-dragged-into-sunlight-is-streaming-with-terrorizer/

Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud [2012]

...And then there's this. I won't be surprised if this gets pulled within moments of me posting it, but what the hell, it's worth sharing. If you're a metal fan that's been living in a box for the past four or so years, you could be forgiven for not hearing of the most recent work by the mastermind behind Strapping Young Lad: Devin Townsend. The Project albums were a big four-album concept touching on - as Townsend's albums always seem to - themes relating to self-discovery and internal evaluation. The album series told a story of sorts: You had the tense and uncertain Ki, contemplating if heavy music is really worth the emotional trauma. Then there was Addicted, an big album of dumb fun that tried to make heavy music poppy and danceable at the same time. After this came Deconstruction, an album that can best be described as throwing a big box full of ideas and guest musicians into a ceiling fan and recording what happens. Finally there was Ghost, wrapping up the project in a willowy, "everything is wonderful" kind of way, a great way of wrapping up a great album series.

And then he goes and releases another one. Oh well, it was a nice idea while it lasted.

The release of another album under the Project moniker just out of the blue like this kind of suggests that the name of "Devin Townsend Project" is just the "Devin Townsend Band" of the moment (well, the lineup is the same, I guess): Simply another title for yet more of Townsend's solo work.

But enough about semantics, what's the bloody album like? Well, if we're going to liken it to any of the Project albums, I'd have to say it's like Addicted to the power of The Final Countdown. The LP comes with metaphorical hooks up the ass, especially in lead "single" Lucky Animals (described by Townsend live as "the most annoying song in the world", and frankly it's easy to see why). Most of the tracks here have simple verses, big choruses and - once again similar to Addicted - slightly disappointing mid-sections. Songs like Grace and the first 'proper' track True North could either do with being a bit shorter or a little more varied. But oh well, repetition is the very essence of pop music, and while this is very unlikely to be a chart-topper (I think it reached #65 or something here in the UK), a lot of the songs could quite cheerfully be played on Radio 1 and be greeted with chorus singalongs and tapping feet of the day's rush hour commuters.

I haven't really said enough about the album for this to be a full on review (you'll have to wait until my 2012 roundup for that - yes, I am still doing one), I will at least say it's bouncy and memorable enough to be good for a spin or two.

13 tracks, 49:52, 97.04 MiB

Zippyshare (Mp3, 224kbps)
Edit 28/10/12: Well, that didn't take long.

The Bakerton Group - El Rojo [2009]

First up, I'd like to say hello everyone! It sure has been a while. All the well-known file hosts seemed to lock down on music uploads at roughly the same time I went to university, so I kinda crapped out and stopped uploading stuff for a while. But fear not! I'm back and starting off with an album that came out three years ago.

"Who are The Bakerton Group?" I hear you ask. Well, they may be better known for some of their other albums, including Blast Tyrant, the bluesy From Beale Street to Oblivion and of course the dark and brooding Ghost Reveries.

Wait, what? Yep, that's right. The Bakerton Group is essentially the US stoner rock band Clutch, with the help of former Opeth keyboard player Per Wiberg on the ivories. This, their second full-length, is a psychedelic blues-influenced instrumental album. In terms of a description of the album, I've said about all there is to say in that there last sentence. What I can add though is that this album has a pretty damn cool feel to it. It just feels like a bunch of dudes jamming in the spare room of their house, with a bit tighter production. So kick back like the constellation on the cover and give it a listen.

10 tracks, 47:15, 68.55MiB

Zippyshare (Mp3, 195kbps)

Spotlight: Fifteen Dead

Okay, quick story for you all. Fifteen Dead are fucking awesome. Story complete. I did say quick. In case you weren't aware, I've loved the recent emergence of dozens of incredible blackened crust bands, and Fifteen Dead are one of the best (along with Ramlord). They've only been around since 2010, but they've already created a discography of impressive size and quality. I still haven't heard the split with Chronocide (I really should - Chronocide are great too, much more of a blackened death sound than Fifteen Dead though), or the live demo, but the rest of the stuff is catchy, angry, and moderately atmospheric. What's more, it's all available on Bandcamp, mostly for free. So seeing as I can't upload, I'm going to treat you all in this manner.

Bandcamp
Facebook
Buy shit

Can't upload here...

Hi, just letting you know that my university internet is fairly closely monitored so I won't be uploading until December (I have next to no time anyway). There should be a couple of reviews popping up soon too (sorry about the delay to Kabul Golf Club).

Also, because I can't leave without some musical indoctrination, check out Chapel's new album Satan's Rock And Roll (blackened Motorhead worship with awesome songs) and the new Anaal Nathrakh, Vanitas, which manages to be quite a bit better than Passion on first impression.

Unlikely to be many posts until December

I've just got to university and I think internet is monitored, and this, in addition to not having much time, means that I can't post much. I'll try and get one a week up.

Swindon This Is Swindon (compilation) [1980]

WARNING: This release is not remotely extreme in any way, shape or form. If that bothers you, go give Black Pentacle a visit. This certainly deviates from the norm here at Court In The Act, but it's a good deviation in my eyes (which are currently fucked over by hayfever). This is an obscure compilation of bands from Swindon in the early eighties - indeed, these seem to be the only tracks which exist for each of these groups according to last.fm (although Bantu share their name with a reggae artist). So, what about the music? Well, I'm not very good in this area, but I believe this is a rather catchy take on new wave with just a little smattering of punk added for the sake of it - all four bands play similar styles too. I found this on the wonderful no longer forgotten music blog.

320 kbps

Mediafire
Zippyshare
Rapidshare (dead)
iFolder (dead)

Re-upload: Ulver - Bergtatt: Et Eeventyr 5 Capitler [1994]

Ulver were always overlooked in terms of Norwegian black metal's second wave, but this album, which implemented folk element to a much greater extent than 'Nattens Madrigal...' illustrates why that shouldn't be the case.

Re-upload notes: No particular reason for re-upping this one other than the fact that it's the oldest one that I haven't received a DMCA notification for.

270kbps VBR

Mediafire
Zippyshare

Re-upload: Strapping Young Lad - City [1997]

The insane genius Devin Townsend has created in his lifetime some of the world's craziest, and best music, but this is his best - that's certainly saying a lot. A piece of industrial metal that is avant-garde despite largely holding popular structure, it should not be missed in any metal fan's collection.

Re-upload notes: This contains a few demo versions of tracks as bonuses. I've got to admit I'm not much of a fan of Townsend's post-SYL work but most of the SYL stuff is great.

160 kbps

Mediafire
Zippyshare

Sanctuary - Into The Mirror Black [1990]

Okay, I admit it, I am a power metal fan/faggot (depending on your point of view). I can't help it when some of it is as awesome as this, Sanctuary's second and last album from 1990. You see, power metal is at its best not when writing 7-hour long conceptual odysseys, but rather when they write some ballsy songs (see: Running Wild, early Blind Guardian). And here, Sanctuary write songs with surprisingly socially aware lyrics for metal music - admittedly, the 'Long Since Dark'/'Epitaph' duo isn't quite up to the par of the rest of the album, but the quality of the likes of 'Future Tense', 'The Mirror Black' and 'One More Murder' is beyond question. It's quite thrashy in places too, so could provide an entry album to power metal for those into the more extreme ends of metal. Unfortunately often overlooked when considering the genre, this album is a classic.

192 kbps

Mediafire
Zippyshare

Nurse With Wound - Rock 'n Roll Station [1994]

'Do you remember? It was 1959. The observatory. What a strange story. Rock and roll session is a session where we can do what we want to do. [...] Everything is possible.' These lyrics from the opening title track of Nurse With Wound's 1994 magnum opus Rock 'n Roll Station. Although their (well, really 'his' - it's a project of Steven Stapleton) music is fairly indefinable, to newcomers it's normally a mixture of industrial and avant-garde, but on this, Stapleton took a break from the norm to make a more rhythmic record, which was controversial among existing fans to say the least. Regardless, it's far from mainstream and is a stunning album which should be listened to again and again and again.

N.B. This is a 1996 re-release which features a remix of the closing track.

192 kbps


Mediafire is being a bitch so you're just going to have to use:
Zippyshare

Merzbow/Shora - Switching Rethorics split [2002]

So this is one of the more interesting splits you're likely to hear in the near future. If you have any knowledge of noise whatsoever you're almost certain to know of the crazy Masami Akita, otherwise known as Merzbow. On the other side of this split is the Swiss band Shora, who despite having turned to wishy-washy post-rock on their most recent album Malval actually play a decent brand of angular, chaotic hardcore in the vein of mid-era Converge here (and I believe this is the only release in which they actually use vocals). The two styles juxtapose surprisingly well (the Merzbow side is in his post-millenium style - I'd name a release but there's so fucking many). Seriously, both acts are very impressive here. Go for it.

192 kbps

Mediafire
Zippyshare

Re-upload: Cro-Mags - The Age Of Quarrel [1986]

N.B. The archive and files have the WRONG year on them.

Cro-Mags' debut is one of the quintessential albums of the New York hardcore (punk, not techno) scene. Although I'm not normally one for talk of 'Street Justice' and the like, preferring my comfortable bedroom, this is catchy and essential.

Re-upload notes: Don't think the N.B. is still true after the re-upload but I can't be bothered checking. Also, don't bother checking out any of the other material, very little of it's any good (OOH CONTROVERSIAL).

192 kbps

Mediafire
Zippyshare

Re-upload: Pulling Teeth - Martyr Immortal [2007]

This is one of the best recent hardcore albums. The anger and hatred in it is obvious, and although I don't agree with all the lyrical ideas (I think vegetarianism is illogical (veganism, not so much)), it is nonetheless rousing and thoughtful. Closer to 'Scum' than 'Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables'.

Re-upload notes: Yes, there are breakdowns. No, this does not make the album shit. They are tastefully used and very effective. All of Pulling Teeth's other material is also good, except for their swansong last year, the name of which escapes me for the moment, but that was bitterly disappointing.

160 kbps

Mediafire
Zippyshare

Atomski Rat - Iluzije Stvarnosti [2012]

I haven't even heard this shit yet, but I was so excited when it popped up on the Degen Erik (excellent blog) RSS that I just had to post it. Seriously, Atomski Rat's debut EP (I think it was up here but it's still a Megaupload link - I'll sort that out in the next few days) was some seriously good noisy, crusty hardcore shit and essentially got me into the awesome Serbian music scene (also check out Dishumanity in particular). For a short while earlier in the year, it was looking like the band was never going to release more material but now they have - and it's a full-length (although I'm as of yet unsure of its actual length I'm guessing it'll be around 25-30 minutes long). The track I've heard from Youtube is very solid too, and there are some other samples on there in case my fanboyism wasn't enough to convince you. I never normally do this but I'm nicking a link from Degen Erik (dear other blogs, if you use a link at least acknowledge the source):

Mediafire

Foreskin - Anger Management demo [2012]

Trying to catch up a little on my backlog of band submissions - I've got a new rule, if you haven't noticed - I'll post it if I think it's good (and I'm unlikely to listen to it if I don't like the genre it's described as - take note, the guy who sent dubstep). Sorry to all those who have been waiting. Anyway, Foreskin are a crossover band from Lahore, Pakistan, and this is their fourth demo (although I was unaware of their existence until now). It consists of two tracks - the first is a little slower and seems to have a little black metal influence (although thrash is still the primary factor) and next to no hardcore, whilst the second, title track sounds like a mixture of Crossover-era DRI with a little bit of Sabbat (Japan) mixed in.

Unfortunately, the songwriting is a little bit lacking and doesn't really have anything to set it off, or indeed to set it apart from other bands of the style. Ultimately, the reason is the lack of hooks in much of the music - there's nothing which really drags the listener in (and I don't necessarily mean a chorus, it just seems like background music to me). That said, it's better than a good deal of material being produced by better-known thrash bands today (the recent Testament album being a good example), and is more than good enough for background music.

Members of the band have numerous other projects between them - the vocalist, Hassan Umer, sings for a crust band called Choots (and in all honesty, the Choots material sounds better to me), and he and guitarist Sheraz Ahmed were also members of a death/grind band called Multinational Corporations (production lacks a little bit, but it's solid deathgrind and heaven knows this author appreciates the Napalm Death reference). Ahmed is also in death metal bands Marwolaeth and Dionysus (from the tracks of the other bands I've listened to, I think Foreskin is actually my least favourite but it's still good material).

Anyway, I recommend this material to anyone who just can't get enough thrash in their life. Don't go out of your way to get it, but now you're here you might as well have a listen. Have fun.

Bandcamp
Mediafire

Re-upload: Whitehouse - Mummy And Daddy [1998]

Along with the splendid Dedicated to Peter Kürten, this is probably Whitehouse's most celebrated work. As varied as power electronics is ever likely to get (ahem), this is something worth listening to for all fans of the odd.

Re-upload notes: Realised I hadn't posted anything for a few days so I decided to pick a page of old posts at random and re-upload the first thing that took my fancy. 'A Cunt Like You' is a splendid song.

192 kbps

Mediafire
Zippyshare

Septic Grave - Beyond The... demo [1994]

Septic Grave were a little-known Swedish death metal demo act - no significant 'members of' (they have links to Prophanity and The Embraced but nobody else), and they only released this demo and the Caput Mortuum EP. It's a shame, because this demo is really good. It has a semi-Sunlight Studios sounding production, but it doesn't really fit too many of the common features of Swedeath - it doesn't have the rapid pace of any of the scene forerunners, except for the rare use of blastbeats. Admittedly, that may be due to their relatively late appearance on the scene, allowing foreign influence to more thoroughly permeate their sound, but nonetheless, this is excellent material with great songwriting. If you're fearful of demo sound quality, don't be, because this is incredibly well mixed - each instrument can be clearly heard along with all the melodies (and I don't mean that in a gay Gothenburg manner but more in a strictly musical manner).

256 kbps

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Napalm Death - Utopia Banished [1992]

Although, strictly speaking, Napalm Death's late 80s/early 90s heyday had probably ended by the time Utopia Banished came to fruition, it's just about similar enough to Harmony Corruption to be included in that era by some - and it's a solid album. Although the riffing style is much closer to the semi-dissonant approach used in the Diatribes era, the songs themselves are much more visceral and aggressive than most of the band's late 90s output. In particular, 'Cause And Effect (Part 2)' and 'Got Time To Kill' are stunning efforts which fit well among the death/grind of the previous few years. It's also, in my eyes, Barney Greenway's best vocal performance on any Napalm Death album, although it's a narrow matter as his style changed very little over the years. Still, a recommended album.

160 kbps

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Mule Skinner - Abuse [1996]

Mule Skinner are a death/grind band from Louisiana who are not particularly famous (indeed, the only member they share with any remotely famous band is ex-vocalist Joe Caper with Righteous Pigs), but who make that sort of death/grind that just hits the spot - it's aggressive and full of blastbeats, but with enough breaks from that to give an element of variety to the album. This is their only full-length album, and before this, they had only released a demo and a single. It's excellent stuff, though, and I highly recommend it to fans of Harmony Corruption-era Napalm Death, and particularly to fans of Abuse (that's ironic)-era Wormrot, or, in fact, to any grindcore fan. Give it a pop.

VBR, v1

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Re-upload: Immolation - Close To A World Below [2000]

It really is astounding how Immolation, just one year after their defining Failures For Gods, could produce such an immense follow-up. Once again leading the scene (Incantation notwithstanding), this is not an album to be missed.

Re-upload notes: Okay, I've been convinced that this is their defining moment rather than my beloved Failures For Gods, and I suppose it is a little bit idiosyncratic than their other work. Regardless, I strongly suggest you listen to both - they're both wonderful albums and some of the best music death metal has to offer.

320 kbps

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Re-upload: Discharge - Realities Of War EP [1980]

Another pre-'Hear Nothing...' Discharge release here. Discharge are pretty much the kings of hardcore punk, despite ill-advised trips to glam metal on 'Grave New World'. This EP was recorded in 3 hours, and so has a great punk vibe to it, throughout its 5 minutes.

Re-upload notes: Although it doesn't quite touch on the quality of Why or Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, Realities Of War is certainly a solid release, even by Discharge standards. It's the first studio evidence of the d-beat as far as I'm aware (their '77 demo is just straight up punk), which adds historical value to the release.

192 kbps

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Warfuck - The Weak And The Wicked [2012]

Just to prove I do actually post band submissions when I like them, Warfuck is a French grindcore band - or rather, power duo - who play music based on the more riffy side of grindcore (think Nasum and Rotten Sound rather than Discordance Axis and Human Remains). The best part of the album is by far the excellent drum work, but the riff work is catchy and solid too. If there was any justice in the world, Warfuck would be much bigger than shitty bands like Gridlink already. The one less enjoyable element of the album is the vocal approach - they sound rather sterile and compressed, which to me doesn't suit this style of grindcore - nor does the production which is a little too clean for my tastes. Still, it's a good album and I recommend it.

320 kbps (I think)

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Listen to it here

Doomed - From The Crypt EP [2010]

Doomed are a Slovenian death metal band. That's the simple introduction to them. I'll continue by saying that their music is available free from Bandcamp, and that it's a mixture of the old school (particularly Morbid Angel to my ears) with a splash of new school mannerisms thrown in (don't worry, this doesn't mean Necrofaggist-wank or breakdowns). Sure, this could describe a whole bunch of bands, but what sets Doomed apart is their ability to write songs - particularly opener proper of this EP - 'Chainsaw Puzzle' - but every track is well constructed and a joy to listen to. They're changing their name to Verminate soon because (quote from their set at BoA) 'some assholes took our name', but from what I've heard of their new material, it's equally solid. Somebody should sign these guys before they start writing shit music (the three links here are just examples of what happens when death metal bands' creative juices are left to stir for too long - the reason why we want Doomed to make more music quickly!).

320 kbps

Bandcamp
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Bloodstock Open Air 2012: The Review

A terrible group rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ accompanies the shuttle bus transfer from Lichfield to Catton Hall. My hand is numb and my fingers are practically lacerated from carrying a poor plastic bag filled with food and beer from the local Tesco. I need to piss. But there is nothing which can detract from the fact that in a few minutes’ time, we will be arriving at the 2012 edition of Bloodstock Open Air.

90 minutes later, the tents are up, the first beer is consumed, and we head over to the arena, which should be opening. It’s very hot. The gates open, and the carnage duly begins. We start with a brief look around the stalls – at first, CDs and t-shirts both seem rather expensive, but there are some cheaper stalls (I pick up 4 CDs over the weekend).

But anyway, to the bands. The first band of the weekend, and one of the two I see on Thursday is Saturnian. They play the same music as Dimmu Borgir, but on a lower scale. I’m not a huge Dimmu fan so naturally this doesn’t appeal to me much, but it’s a passable way to begin the weekend. I miss Marionette and Bloodshot Dawn, so the next band I see is Viking Skull. They’re much more enjoyable than Saturnian – and I should think so, they’re essentially headlining the pre-party – and their riffs and songwriting truly get the show on the road. The setlist is a little poorly ordered, as two songs are played in a row which essentially had the same riff, but it’s a headbangable set nonetheless. The night finishes with comedy from Steve Hughes, who is a decent, but not fantastic comedian (the appeal to the Bloodstock crowd clearly comes from his billing as a heavy metal comedian and the fact that he used to be in Slaughter Lord).

Friday begins on the New Blood stage with the band In Coma – the only reason why we stick around for the entire set is that they’re the only band on at the time. Their brand of core-y melodeath is dull, and the female harsh vocals are poorly done to the point of being grating. Still, they’re not as bad as the appalling Malefice on the main stage. The jump-da-fuck-up attitude is as laughable as their music, which is modern groove metal interspersed with breakdowns. If the choice weren’t between them and a symphonic power metal band, I’d be leaving at this stage.

Speaking of power metal, Freedom Call are a much more attractive proposition live than on record – they’re great fun, and although their music might not have any depth to it, this cannot spoil the ‘happy metal party’ they espouse in either drunken or broken English. The first band I’m really looking forward to of the weekend is Grand Magus, but unfortunately they’re a little disappointing – the set is good, but it really does show how the material from newest album The Hunt pales in comparison to older material. I didn’t get there at the very start, but I don’t believe they played anything from their masterpiece Iron Will either. That’s not to say they give a bad performance, mind.

After a short break for some lunch, I catch the first few minutes of Moonsorrow on the main stage, who seem live like they are on record – decent, but overlong and not involving – before going over to the Sophie Lancaster stage to watch Sweet Savage. For a band who are famous for a Metallica cover, the reformed NWOBHM band come across well, despite their material not being particularly strong and frontman Ray Haller’s insistence on talking about Metallica all the bloody time. Their newer material sounds about as good as the older, but clearly the whole set revolves around playing ‘Killing Time’, along with their closing Thin Lizzy cover.

Back to the main stage, and Iced Earth are playing. I can’t call myself a huge Iced Earth fan, but I do really enjoy Burnt Offerings and The Dark Saga, so I’m disappointed that nothing off either of these albums is played, focusing instead on last year’s Dystopia and presumably other more recent material. It’s obvious that Stu Block is a talismanic vocalist, and it’s clear that recent songs would be boring without him, although his machismo is not endearing. There’s time for a half-hour break before Sepultura, who promise a set of classic material but in fact deliver mostly Chaos AD material along with a few tracks off the abominable Roots and Kairos. It’s great when they play ‘Beneath The Remains’ and ‘Arise’, however, and although ‘new’ vocalist Derrick Green comes across like Fred Durst at times, he doesn’t detrimentally affect the old songs at all. It’s an energetic performance ruined by a god-awful setlist.

Once again, a half-hour break before the mighty Dio Disciples. The performance is a fitting tribute to the late, great Ronnie James Dio after whom the main stage is named – both Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and Toby Jepson do a good job at sounding exactly like him, and the set visits every stage of the man’s career, from Rainbow, via Black Sabbath and his early solo classics, to the later stages of his solo career (‘Magica’, for instance). The crowd sings along and it’s the best performance of the weekend so far.

I arrive to Watain a little late after getting dinner, unfortunately missing my favourite song of theirs (‘Malfeitor’), but the melodic black metal band puts on an impressive stage display, being the first band of the weekend to use pyrotechnics – and with the darkening sky around us it works particularly well with songs like ‘Stellarvore’. Naturally, the setlist mainly rotates around Lawless Darkness and Sworn To The Dark, but those albums are there strongest material. As their set runs some way over their allotted time, I leave about 15 minutes early to catch the end of Alcest. There’s little difference between Alcest on record and Alcest live, but the atmosphere in the Sophie Lancaster tent is perfectly conducive to their brand of blackened shoegaze, and the quality of frontman Neige’s work is well apparent.

And so to the day’s headliners, the almighty Behemoth. Perhaps the least famous of the three headliners, their studio material is probably the strongest of the three, and their live performance is more than a match for it. After having to pull out of the festival previously due to a cancer scare, frontman Nergal is glad to be alive, and the night adds to the mystique of old material and the brutality of the likes of ‘Demigod’ and ‘Slaves Shall Serve’. Closing with ‘Lucifer’ is a good idea, and what appears as a fairly mundane track on Evangelion comes alive in the live setting as it brings in the night. The mix is very good, and it’s possible to pick out individual melodies and instruments during blastbeats, which is an unfortunately rare occurrence.

After a shockingly good night’s sleep, the first band of the day is Apollyon on the New Blood stage. Much better than their counterparts In Coma of the day before, their slightly death-y thrash metal wakes everyone up. They’re not a band I’d seek out to listen to, but they’re more than passable. The first band I’m really looking forward to of the day, however, is Benediction. Death metal with d-beats is a great idea, and I don’t see why more bands don’t play that style. And despite Dave Hunt’s lack of properly functioning legs at the moment, they put on a great performance, the large crowd they draw (at 11am, no less!) attesting to the quality of the Brummie veterans.

I have a brief look in at Savage Messiah, but they’re uninspired and the mix does them no favours – a generic modern thrash band playing generic modern thrash is not something I really want to waste my time on, and I don’t see why Earache Records (a fairly consistent label for those not aware) waste their time on them either. Much better, however, are Dripback – although by appearance we’d presume they were either a nu metal or ‘wigger slam’ band, they actually play a very palatable mixture of death metal, grindcore and hardcore. They use breakdowns tastefully and in extreme moderation rather than to excess, and the enthusiastic response they receive from the crowd is well deserved.

Chthonic are a fairly generic symphonic black metal band, and their fame is due to three main factors. Firstly, they’re Taiwanese; secondly, they use oriental scales and occasionally instruments in their music; and thirdly and perhaps most importantly, bassist Doris Yeh is very attractive. Still, these things can’t make up for a frankly lacklustre performance, and although their most recent album Takasago Army was a big step up in terms of quality, they still essentially embody the term ‘overrated’.

I don’t like Crowbar so I give them a miss, and there’s nothing on any of the other stages until the almighty Mayhem. After they open with ‘Deathcrush’, it’s fairly certain the set is going to be good, and although the weather is a little bit too… happy for the band to have their full effect, mixing newer stuff with classics about evenly works well, and they even pay tribute to their legacy by closing with ‘Carnage’ and the title track off the Pure Fucking Armageddon demo. A very impressive performance by one of the bands of the weekend.

Winterfylleth are very, very dull live (although I’m warming to their studio output), so after a couple of songs from their set I leave to go and see Sanctuary. Although the two new songs they play are frankly terrible, their older material is performed with the same aptitude I don’t doubt it was in their heyday. It’s a very good performance, and of course they close with the classic song ‘Battle Angels’.

Back at the Sophie Lancaster tent, and Witchsorrow put on a very good performance – they play stoner-ish doom, a style which I’d never seen live before, but their excellent riffs and atmosphere make for a great set – I’ll have to give their album a proper listen. After this one, I’ll even let them off for entitling a song ‘Breaking The Lore’ (if you don’t get that, you clearly need to go back to metal school).

The only New Blood band I’d heard before the weekend is our next stop (frankly, who gives a shit about Hatebreed?). Doomed are a hugely promising band – the From The Crypt EP is very good, and the Slovenian bunch also put on a great live show. Unfortunately very few people turn up to see them, and I don’t manage to catch one of the t-shirts they throw out, but this can’t deter either me or them. They’re changing their name soon due to problems with other bands sharing their name to Verminate, so keep an eye out.

Testament are fucking huge within thrash circles – just bordering the big 4 in terms of importance. Personally, I don’t like much of their post-80s stuff, but this is an exciting, energetic performance. The older stuff is marred a little bit by Chuck Billy’s new, inferior vocal approach, but it’s still impossible to deny the vitality of classics such as ‘Into The Pit’, ‘Practice What You Preach’ and ‘Over The Wall’. The fact that ‘Native Blood’ seems to be the only song the organizers play between bands on the main stage makes it irritating to listen to now, but Testament are Testament and that’s what Testament are.

I give Orange Goblin a miss due to being absolutely knackered, and with low expectations head over to Machine Head. Their music’s no longer attractive to my ears, and Rob Flynn gives an absolutely retarded speech about house music, generalizing fans of the genre to background music listeners, but the 13 year old in me erupts and songs like ‘Halo’ and ‘Davidian’ are not only well performed but send the crowd absolutely wild. That said, you won’t find me joining the ‘MACHINE FUCKIN’ HEAD!’-chanting idiot parade soon.

We start Sunday with Seprevation, who are a very nice surprise on the New Blood stage. They play old-school style death/thrash, and although they wear their influences literally on their sleeves with a Sepultura ‘Schizophrenia’ shirt and a Sadus cover, their music is undeniably good, and induces the only 10.30am moshpit you’re ever likely to see. After them, Kobra And The Lotus are a huge let-down. The Canadian band play trad-ish metal with female vocals, but the riffs are neither interesting nor exciting, and said female vocals are constantly shrieky and high-pitched to the extent that they begin to hurt my ears after a while.

An early lunch means that the next band I see is Flayed Disciple. Although the misogyny is not cool, the music is, and the furious headbanging in the crowd is for a reason. Their debut album Death Hammer is well worth a listen. Unfortunately they didn’t play my personal favourite ‘Ejaculate While Killing’ before I went to see Nile, who played a set filled with mainly post-Annihilation Of The Wicked material, aside from the closing brilliance of ‘Black Seeds Of Vengeance’. It must be said they put on a good show, and although their new album is somewhat disappointing, they know what their strong material is (‘Lashed To The Slave Stick’ gets played), despite the conspicuous absence of ‘Papyrus Containing The Spell To Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is In The Water’.

The Black Dahlia Murder are not very good. Although they’re preferable to the other bands on at the time (Crimes Of Passion and Dream Catcher), they really don’t have much going for them aside from one strong album in Miasma, off which they play only one track. The tough-guy attitude is irritating too – I turn up to cries of ‘FUCKING BRUTAL’ and ‘It’s fist o’clock! Get those hands in the air motherfuckers!’.

On the other hand, Evile are excellent. Although their studio output has been lacklustre at most since debut Enter The Grave, it does translate well to the live arena. The crowd is wild, and tracks like ‘Cult’ and ‘Infected Nation’ become good all of a sudden. Closing with the fantastic ‘Thrasher’ (the song featured on Rock Band for which they are known) can’t be a bad idea either - the pits are insane for its duration.

Although Anvil are best known for the Spinal Tap-esque documentary about them, they actually produce fairly good NWOBHM-style music (it’s not actually NWOBHM due to them being Canadian). Certainly both ‘Mothra’ and the title track off their magnum opus Metal On Metal come across well (there’s a rather surreal guitar/vibrator solo in the middle of the former), and their recent material is surprisingly strong. Frontman Steve Kudlow seems genuinely delighted to be there, which adds a delightful whimsical element to the performance.

Paradise Lost are decent, but not great. Opening with the monumental ‘The Enemy’, their set descends into weaker mid-period material rather quickly, with only ‘As I Die’ off Shades Of God from their classic era – no rendition of ‘Gothic’ to be found. The tracks off their latest album Tragic Idol have a curious vocal element to them where Nick Holmes’ voice seems to be half an octave higher than on the record without creating dissonance.

The second-to-last band of the weekend are the incredible Anaal Nathrakh. Although I’m beyond tired at this stage, I can’t resist the pits for this one, and Nathrakh blaze through a set that is best described by the title to closer ‘Pandemonic Hyperblast’. Visiting every album on the way (including a delightful ‘Do Not Speak’ from Domine Non Es Dignus), Dave Hunt is as brilliant in his second performance of the weekend as he was in his first with Benediction. To top it off, a ‘wall of death’ forms upon the utterance of ‘We’ve been told by the organizers we’re not allowed to ask you to form a wall… (wall of death forms)… of death, wall of death, wall of death’.

The final night is headlined by the legendary Alice Cooper. Playing a set filled with classics and one new song (‘I’ll Bite Your Head Off’), his performance is spectacular as expected (despite a drum solo in the middle) – he arrives on stage dressed as a spider for ‘Black Widow’, and visits the likes of ‘I’m Eighteen’, ‘Is It My Body’, ‘Poison’ and ‘School’s Out’ on the way through to spectacular encore ‘Elected’. The arena is full of burly metalheads singing their hearts out for ‘Only Women Bleed’, and the performance is very involving despite the lack of stage talk. Undoubtedly the best performance of a fantastic weekend.

TL;DR:

The excellent: Dio Disciples, Watain, Behemoth, Benediction, Mayhem, Witchsorrow, Doomed, Seprevation, Evile, Anvil, Anaal Nathrakh, Alice Cooper

The good: Viking Skull, Freedom Call, Grand Magus, Sweet Savage, Alcest, Apollyon, Dripback, Sanctuary, Testament, Machine Head, Flayed Disciple, Nile

The average: Moonsorrow, Iced Earth, Chthonic

The bad: In Coma, Sepultura, Savage Messiah, Winterfylleth, The Black Dahlia Murder

The dreadful: Malefice, Kobra And The Lotus