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.

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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.

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

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)

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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

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.

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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

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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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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.

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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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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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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

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Paco de Lucía y Ramón de Algeciras - En Hispanoamerica [1969]

And another crazy album that doesn't seem to fit in here, but hey I'm alone in here I feel like going crazy over this.
This his flamenco, a Spanish genre of music that you probably see in those clubs where women with red and black dresses play castanets. But this here feature few of those stereotypes, this is a guitar driven folk album, the folk being flamenco. Paco de Lucía is the most well known guitarist of the genre, most of his work shows a impressive skill with the guitar, he plays awesomely fast in a flamenco guitar (and acoustic guitar with 12 strings and each string is more far from the others than the standard acoustic guitar) and the songs are simple but interesting.
But forget all that the main thing about this is that it's fun as hell, like the soundtrack for a "running of the bulls" (I thinks this is what its called in english) or a pistol finghting in a mexican bar in westerns.

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Zeni Geva - 10.000 Light Years [2001]

Today I present you Zeni Geva, a experimental metal band from Japan. They are a strange but awesome band, weird in every aspect. They are fronted by KK Null a know artist in the noise field, with the rest of the members changing frequently but all of them have some experience in the free improv, psychedelic rock or noise rock fields. And what music they create you ask, well it's a mixture of hardcore punk, doom metal, noise rock, played in a minimalism, repetitive, hypnotic and chaotic way. This record is one of my favorites it displays their style with a decent production (unlike the early releases), it's a dynamic record compared to previous ones, with a more experimental edge that other more "soft" releases they put out in the previous records. You can't go wrong with this release if you are brave, mad or stoned at least.

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Guilty Connector - Mother's Bloated Corpse

Well it's time to work on this blog's noise collection!

This is Guilty Connector's Mother's Bloated Corpse and frankly I just grabbed a few of his records a  selected a random one to upload here, but don't let that stop you this his a awesome release, GC his a harsh noise artist that uses handmade syths that he build himself to create all his songs. Stylistically this sounds like any japanoise artist sounds (kinda), but with a lot of metal and punk influences, and this record displays the most obvious evidence of that (apart from the motorhead shirts he use on live shows sometimes), it includes among his noise works a Black Sabbath cover... remix... well a noise thing of Symptom of the Universe. And that should be enough to sparkle your curiosity, if not... try it anyways (if you like noise that is).

Download

P.S. Sorry for the crappy image quality of the cover.

P.P.S. I've not been posting because I lack a decent internet connection, so luckily for you (I hope) I can post stuff till the end of this month cuz I'm on vacation.

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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Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings [1995]

Sorry for the long absence - I was sure I'd scheduled that Hubelyska review for a point in the interim. Huh. Anyway, this is in my eyes Iced Earth's best album - although admittedly this opinion must be qualified by the fact that I haven't yet heard Night Of The Stormrider. Regardless, this is a stunning display of semi-thrashy power metal, its highlights being 'Creator Failure' and 'Dante's Inferno' in my eyes. That said, this is one of the few albums for which I can honestly say every song is a winner - I may appear to say it rather a lot, but that's just because I post lots of good albums here, right? Anyway, if you think power metal's normally 'gay' this might be a good place to start on your road to having a second fucking think about it. Yeah. I'm a power metal tough fairy.

320 kbps

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Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma [2012]

Hail Spirit Noir are something of a rare breed nowadays - a progressive black metal band that doesn't go on pointless meanders around the realms of tedious ambience and atonal 'experimentation' just so they could hit that 70 minute mark for the album and make it 'truly progressive'. Ahem. Rant over. Hail Spirit Noir write SONGS - even the epic 'Into The Gates Of Time' is catchy and headbangable throughout its 13 minute duration. And 'Against The Curse, We Dream' and 'Haire Pneuma Skoteino' have some of the biggest hooks you're likely to hear in metal this year. That's not to say it loses touch of its black metal roots - and for this reason, it's very likely to be well up in lots of people's year-end lists. Hail the black spirit.

320 kbps

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Dispair - The Progress Of Human Extinction demo [2012]

I just heard this whilst surfing the blogosphere, and I was so impressed I decided to post it here immediately. Dispair is a Finnish crust band with heavy reliance on d-beats, but the music is great - think a base of Why-era Discharge with a nice sprinkling of Anarkist Attack era Anti-Cimex. So basically the sounds of two d-beat legends combined in 2012. This sort of music is so rarely made nowadays that anyone making it is actually doing something quite original despite the style having been around 30-odd years. Dispair are going to be great in the future. Watch this space.

Bandcamp link, so variety of bitrates

Bandcamp

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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