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

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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

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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

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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):

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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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Re-upload: Doom - Police Bastard EP [1989]

Although it's but a few minutes long, this is my favourite release of Doom's - and considering how most of their releases are considered seminal in the crust genre, that is saying something. The title is very much linked to the police brutality that took place in the UK in the late 90s - peaceful protestors were beaten up and hassled purely for arguing a cause.

Re-upload notes: Best Doom material, this EP is among my 10 favourite records ever. If you haven't heard it, listen to it.

256 kbps

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Re-upload: Doom - War Crimes: Inhuman Beings [1988]

This highly politicised record is one of the key records of the entire crust punk sound, which would in the future influence bands from an entirely different background (Darkthrone being a good example). 37 minutes of pure punk energy.

Re-upload notes: This is, along with the Police Bastard EP, the best crust record in my opinion. Unparalleled in simplistic, but great compositional capabilites, although some of Doom's later stuff would pale in comparison (World Of Shit is rather mediocre), this has stood the test of time.

320 kbps

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Re-upload: Amebix - Arise! [1985]

The dawn of crust, literally. Probably just about perfected it too in the same album. Many other influential bands (for instance, Doom, Napalm Death, etc.) drew influence themselves from this. Unerringly creepy.

Re-upload notes: I really can't be bothered to write much more at this point but the above seemed so uninformative I should add to it by saying that most of the other Amebix stuff is great too (including Sonic Mass) - I just can't bring myself to like the demos and struggle a little with the Who's Your Enemy? EP. 

128 kbps

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Greedy Mouth - Eat//Smoke//Poop demo [2012]

So I re-uploaded the first Greedy Mouth demo for you yesterday, and hopefully it's whet your whistle for this one. I honestly couldn't pick between the two. This one's longer, although it's still a short release. Anyway, back to the music. Female-fronted powerviolence, despite being more common than most other extreme music genres, is still something of a rarity (I think Stapled Shut and Despise You might have female elements to their vocal attack but don't hold me to that, I don't look this shit up unless I'm posting something). Greedy Mouth certainly make it work well. Each of the tracks here is a little bit more focused on the musical approach rather than the samples (although the delightful samples are still very much present).

256 kbps (or whatever from Bandcamp)

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Re-upload: Greedy Mouth - Demo 2010 [2010]

I wouldn't lie to you, my faithful readers. This demo is fucking ridiculous. Powerviolence at its logical extreme - spanning 6 tracks, the six tracks of this span just 127 SECONDS, approximately half of which is made up of samples. All this culminates in a swift, sharp kick to the bollocks. Particularly fun is the longest track of the bunch; entitled 'Wax On, Wax Off', it comes in at 31 seconds. Highly recommended.

Re-upload notes: I still think this band has the potential to be one of the biggest powerviolence acts in a couple of years if they keep churning out releases of this, the Eat//Smoke//Poop demo (coming soon) and the Seitan Worshipping Power Violence EP. Keep your eyes open.

160 kbps

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Re-upload: Nuclear Assault - Survive [1988]

Re-upload notes: Disregard the below, it's largely bullshit, but I can't be arsed re-writing a whole bio right now. This is a great thrash album though.

It may be a cliche to say that a band have 'matured' over the course of two albums, but it is not the case at all here. If anything, this is even faster and crazier than debut 'Game Over'. It's my favourite Nuclear Assault album.

Similar artists: S.O.D., M.O.D., D.R.I.

320 kbps

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Napalm Death - Live In Wacken, Belgium (bootleg) [1987]

So, after a few days' delay, here comes the next part of our Napalm Death marathon. I believe I have twenty-six items to post in total which is rather appropriate. Anyway, this is a 1987 bootleg of a gig in Wacken, Belgium, which is surprisingly good quality for a) 80s grindcore and b) a bootleg. If anything, it's slightly cleaner than Scum in all its glory. Anyway, this is a short, but very interesting reminder of why Napalm Death fucking rule and why Gridlink should stop using their guitars to masturbate.

192 kbps

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Re-upload: Napalm Death - Hatred Surge demo [1986]

Although not quite grindcore at this stage, due to not possessing a capable drummer, Napalm Death still, on their most famous demo, created some fairly intense hardcore, albeit with more than a touch of post-punk to it at times. Certainly it has a rather apocalyptic feeling to it in songs like 'Abbatoir' and 'So Sad'. Different versions of Instinct Of Survival, Control, Sacrificed and Caught In A Dream are very interesting for any Napalm fan.

Re-upload notes: This should be the start of a Napalm marathon. Every full length and some EPs, demos and boots of the best band ever. Also, if anyone has any of the following, could you upload it somewhere for me (all the Napalm Death material I'm missing):

Live At Rock City
Live In Vietnam (bootleg)
And, Like Sheep, We Have All Gone Astray
Kak
Unpopular Yawns Of Middle Class Warfare
From Enslavement To Obliteration DEMO
Tsunami Benefit split
Live In Japan split

Cheers.

192 kbps

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We Sleep In This Machine - EP [2012]

We Sleep In This Machine is a local band - the guitarist is a friend of mine, but I try not to be biased - who play a fairly standard brand of melodic post-hardcore (if any of the metalheads who follow the blog think that means Enter Shikari then no, you're some distance off). But hey, originality went with the turn of the millenium anyway. What is important is their strong songwriting and cathartic feeling, which is present in every song on this 7-track EP. I believe the track titles refer to the month in which the track was written - which, despite being somewhat original, is not a method by which I feel tracks ought to be named. Recommended for fans of The Carrier, Life Long Tragedy and to a lesser extent Modern Life Is War. Available as a sliding-scale download from their bandcamp.

Bandcamp

Anti-Cimex - Anarkist Attack EP [1982]

Anti Cimex are, quite simply, legendary. They are THE band of Swedish crust punk, and considering the strength of the Swedish crust scene over the years, with the likes of Shitlickers, Driller Killer and Bombanfall, that is saying quite a lot! This is their first EP to my knowledge - although information on them is not too clear - and although the crust element here isn't too developed, largely due to the date of release, it remains a very solid piece of hardcore punk - some records are worshipped more for their legacy than their actual quality (cough cough Master Of Puppets cough cough), but this is the real deal. The brevity of the EP only adds to the sheer ferocity of it - each of the four tracks on offer here has something uniquely Swedish, nay, uniquely Anti-Cimexian about it, and yet manages to still fit squarely within the hardcore punk genre. Classic.

128 kbps

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The Swanky's - The Very Best Of Hero [1985]

Yes, that apostrophe irritates me as much as it does you. But I'm willing to overlook it just this once, as this is pretty much the defining album of Japanese hardcore punk. As that won't mean much to many of my readers, imagine if S.O.B. had released Don't Be Swindle in the early to mid 80s - this essentially sounds like that (with a few differences, obviously). Don't worry, it's also the case that this sounds far more different to Never Mind The Bollocks than the cover would suggest. In reality, this is proto-grind, with the emphasis on the 'proto'; for much of the album this is closer to standard punk than grind or powerviolence, but when The Swanky's (ugh) let rip, for instance on 'Damaging Noise', one can certainly hear a few of those sounds in the mix.

320 kbps

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Court In The Act Thrash Week: D.R.I. - Dealing With It [1985] (re-upload)

Over the next week I will be posting a classic thrash album a day (or rather, scheduling them all now for later days), most of which will be re-uploads as I think the blog had the thrash bases fairly well covered before the great Megaupload holocaust.

Crossover thrash at its finest. This has a (very) heavy dose of hardcore punk with just a bit of influence from the then-emergent thrash scene, but it's an album which is mandatory listening for fans of both genres. Fast, catchy, the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles do it to perfection here.

Varies between 192 and 128 kbps

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Dishumanity - Radijacija [2010]

Anyone who's been reading this blog for a while probably knows that the second I saw the words 'Serbian' and 'd-beat/crust' associated with this release, I was salivating everywhere. And it doesn't disappoint; if this is your sort of thing, get it. Now.

Re-upload notes: The fact that I was salivating is insignificant as I do that all the time.

128 kbps

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Receptionist - This Is Everything [2012]

This year has been great for all sorts of -core so far (well, the good ones), and this is another fine example of why. Receptionist play a decidedly progressive take on hardcore, that falls just short of something 'mathy'. Complex yet catchy, this band from Oslo combine all the requisite elements of a solid modern hardcore album with aplomb, and it's a wonder that it was released on Bandcamp rather than a well-respected label. I usually hate to call bands the next iteration of a classic band usually as my predictions end up wrong, but if Receptionist continue along this path they could quite easily be the next Converge (or Rorschach, for those of you who might call me out for naming Converge as seminal) (they are though).

320 kbps

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Satanic Malfunctions/SM-70 - Born To Lose, Out To Lunch split [1988]

I've been listening to the new Napalm Death pretty much constantly since it leaked yesterday (I'm not posting it here just now, it's not hard to find), and it rules. Also, sorry for the delay in posts the blog's had, my lethargy has caused this somewhat. Anyway, I've got something somewhat rare, but awesome for you here. I was recommended this by an old curmudgeon on last.fm after I asked for proto-grind/powerviolence in the vein of Siege (well, he recommended Satanic Malfunctions). And boy, it does that job damn well. Satanic Malfunctions, a band from a town only about 30 miles from where I live, are certainly the faster, and probably better of the two, but the German SM-70 are no slouches either - the former is probably a little closer to Siege and early Napalm Death, whilst the latter has a fair amount of mid-80s European Oi! influence. I love splits, and this is an excellent example why.

128 kbps

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