Cro-Mags Show Last Night at Europa

Seeing the Cro-Mags slay play last night at Europa in Greenpoint still has me sore as fuck. In case you were wondering, NYHC is still very much alive and kicking. Last night the Cro-mags (w/JJ, minus Harley) tore through pretty much all of Age of Quarrel and a couple of choice cuts from Best Wishes at full speed to a crowd of young, old, male female, black, white, latino, Jewish, Christian, small, big, and fucking huge (good ol' NYHC linebacker looking dudes) hardcore fans. Even with this pretty diverse crowd on hand as soon as the Mags got on stage it descended into a massive brodown throwdown pit. As a kid I was into pretty much traditional punk and ska (yeah fuck you I like ska, still) and a lot of the shows I was at would have some overflow with the 90's NYHC scene. I was pretty much entirely turned off to that crowd back then because it basically looked like the football team was out to kick the shit out of each other. And when you're 15 those dudes look like fucking skyscrapers. Seriously, a 6'3 225 dude might as well be a fucking backhoe at that point. Well, now as a fairly large dude myself, they still look like fucking Mack Trucks with arms. Fortunately the bro percentage was fairly low comparative to the entire crowd and people were able to all mosh around and have a damn good time.

Other than the fact that I'm sore as fuck and have been totally chilled the hell out all day I can totally throw my weigh behind this line up of the "no-mags". As you might have figured out I'm pretty fucking uptight and elitist about certain things in the music I listen to and in general, like every music snob asshole in the world, I tend to like "original lineups" best. However, when it comes to a small venue show it's really all about the vibe between the band and the crowd and the band with itself. This line up was all about giving the people what they want and having a good fucking time while doing it. I'm sold, go see the "no-mags."

PS: JJ gave me the number to his temple and invited me to join him for "the feast" on Sunday. Anybody want some kool-aid?

New Tracks of the Week Up

So I skipped last week outta laziness, here's the TOTW from the week before.
* Pentagram - Forever My Queen
* Flower Travellin' Band - Sartori pt.2
* Municipal Waste - Unleash the Bastards
* Cro-Mags - World Peace
* Aus Rotten - The System Works for Them
* Nausea - Tech-no-logic-kill
* Burzum - Jesus Tod
* Megadeth - Mechanix
* Slayer - Haunting the Chapel
* Motörhead - Motorhead

New ones are up. Sorry for the band repeats, I've been stuck lately.

Om - Variations On A Theme/Conference Of The Birds/Pilgrimage

So I'm totally worn the fuck out from last weekend and am too lazy to do anything besides sit around and listen to Om. This band was definitely another of my favorite finds of last year (right up there with Big Business.) Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius of Sleep playing droned out meditations on bass and drums only with what can only be called "chanting" on top. Best described as "Sleep, just more stoned." Couldn't have said it better myself.

Om - Variations on a Theme

Om - Conference of the Birds

Om - Pilgrimage

Friday Framtid and Other News

Because I'm all fuzzy right now and can't think of anything worthwhile to post, here's some Framtid videos. Fucking A is this band good.

Also, somehow, someway this blog scored me a press pass to All Tomorrow's Parties in the UK to see Sleep and Electric Wizard. Holy hell. Anyone wanna buy an amp...?

HOLY FUCKING SHIT! THE QUEEFEATS VS. HAUNTED ASSHOLE PODCAST UP!

Hello all you loyal readers out there. As you might have figured out, this blog is a place where I post other peoples full albums for you to download. WELL NOT TODAY MOTHERFUCKER! The jerks from the Sleepies invited challenged us to do an UPTHEDRUNX podcast with them over the weekend. What ensued was possibly the dumbest 2 hours of recording in the history of mankind. Holy shit, you need to hear this. We are fucking ridiculous.

Just listen. Oh man. PS: beware the "special track"

UpTheDrunx - Haunted Castle Owns the Sleepies

Full Big Business review up

Look down like 2 posts chump.

edit: 3 posts, who's the chump now?

Corrosion of Conformity - Animosity

The first album I ever posted on this blog was COC's Technocracy. That shit kills it. Now, after a few month of listening to COC every couple of days I feel it's necessary to post up their 2nd full length, Animosity. If you think Technocracy is rad, Animosity will fuck your ears with vigor. Before COC morphed in to a southern rock groove metal band, they played some furious, no bullshit hardcore. As pioneers of crossover they definitely leaned towards the more metallic side of things, but on Animosity, it's mostly a punk rock band still. In a way, they almost have an Age of Quarrel Cro-Mags meets Black Flag with Sabbath breakdowns. Throw in some super political lyrics and some of the shittiest punks-playing-thrash solos you've ever heard and you've got a pretty good pedigree for this record. COC makes me wanna drop in, thrash on, and tune out.

Corrosion of Conformity - Animosity

Eyehatework

Today I have to put together a 2 hour looped party mix of top 40 soft rock from the 70's 80's and 90's. Fuckitall.

Big Business - Head for the Shallow/Here Come The Waterworks

So the bassist/vocalist from Karp & the drummer from the Murder City Devils got together to jam with the Melvins one day. I wish stories about my life started that way...

Long story short, Big Business is the rhythm section for current Melvins line who happen to moonlight as their own, amazing band. In theory, a band entirely made up of rhythm section (think Om or early Sabbath, and yes, I consider Iommi pretty much all rhythm at that point) should be the ultimate doom jams. Somehow, BB manage to fucking play some of the least sludgy, most driving "doom" on the planet. With the meagre vocabulary at my disposal I guess I'd call it a corkscrewing, constantly shifting, eerie yet throbbing, driving, deep, metal grounded in hardcore with a surreal lyrical bent and an equal degree of menace and joy underlying the whole production.

How's that for some wannabe music major bullshit? A+ please.

Anyways, here's there first two full lengths. I found "Here Come the Waterworks" first and couldn't get it off my turntable for months. I think I found it last summer and I still put it on every time I hit the 2nd Chance Saloon. Just as the day was dawning will fucking haunt your every waking moment I shit you not. I'll Give You Something to Cry About" & "Another Beautiful Day in the Pacific Northwest" will creep you out to the point where you have to listen to them 7 times in a row, "Hands Up" will force you, at the ridicule of coworkers, friends, family, and enemies alike, to place your hands in an elevated position. Seriously, try it. It's fucking weird.

"Head for the Shallow" kicks it off with some sweet Morricone whistling steez and leaps right into the same swirling mass of heavy confusion perfected in "Waterworks." I can't write as much about this album because it all kind of blends together in my head with Waterworks but what I noticed first was the amazing balance they manage to strike between technicality and simplicity. Listen to it. There's really no solos anywhere, yet at the same time the album is never boring, constantly changing, and rarely are there two similar parts anywhere. The mixing and mastering does an amazing job of keeping the drums, bass, and vocals in check and not letting one drown out the others as it does in so many other doom albums.

Shit dudes, Big Business is where it's at. This is probably my #1 band to watch in the next couple of years. If you like this shit don't forget to check out the Melvins album "A Senile Animal" which also features Jared and Coady.

Big Business - Head for the Shallow
Big Business - Here Come The Waterworks

Now for something completey different

Here's some puppets singing "Jungle" by Electric Light Orchestra. Thanks to the Sleepies for getting me to come out of the closet.

Avskum - Punkista

Last night Haunted Castle (minus Thom the drummer, who obviously doesn't count because he's a fucking drummer right?) were invitied over by the Sleepies to partake in a little head to head assholery in the form of the UpTheDrunx PodcASSt. Many beers were consumed, insults thrown, pizza eaten, and longing glances thrown carelessly across the room. Sadly, lost in the moment instead of playing my usual ass and thrash metal, I just played a bunch of songs about fucking Josh in uncomfortable ways. Because of this I totally forgot to play all my good fucking D-beat which was my original intention. Josh, who is a pussy, goes batshit at me fairly regularly due to my inane and occasionally obsessive need to categorize my music down to it's most stupidly compartmentalized state, while comparing his shitty excuse for a garage band (the Sleepies) to every single band that plays anything resembling pop punk at all. It's fun you should try it some time.

So, in honor of Josh's annoyance and the victory of Haunted Castle, here's some Crusty, Swedish, D-beat by Avskum. The album's called Punkista and features some nutty fucking Scandis playing to the same old beat, singing about anti-capitalism, and war crimes, and shit. Fuck me dude, northern European d-beat is just irresistable. Avskum does a damn good job of keeping it pretty close to the Discharge/Anti-Cimex sound (See "State Terrorism" for details) with some Motörhead-esque riffs thrown in there (ever since my friend Junior pointed out that d-beat is sounds like a faster, less in tune Motörhead that's pretty much all I can hear. It's driving me nuts. I think I have Inepsy to thank too. Bastards.) Anyway, long and short, it's a lovely way to start your week.

Avskum - Punkista

The Heaviest Band in the Universe

Today I have listened to nothing but Electric Wizard. After a week of trying to keep up with the Hell Yeah crew from London, who rule, my soul and body are officially crushed. The only thing heavy enough to further drive me into the ground is Electric Wizard. If you haven't ever checked it, I highly recommend heading the fuck over to STONEROBIXXX and getting as much of that shit as your tiny mind can handle. For some really interesting stuff, check out the "Pre-Electric Wizard" electric wizard. It's a comp of the material released when they were still Eternal/Thy Grief Eternal and some of Justin Oborn's Lord of Putrefaction days. Some of it is hit or miss but there's some really cool looks into their super St. Vitus/classic Sab influence as well as some awesome Doom/Death shit that, when combined with their old sound lead to their current state of Heaviness (capitalized on purpose.) Would post more but I'd rather just let robixxx take care of it for me.

PS: The password for when it asks is robixxx

Mutant Supremacy/Abbadon/Kavorka(formerly Hibagon) tonight at the Charleston

See ya there fuckers. N7 & Bedford at 9. Death Thrash Apocalypse.

Mutant Supremacy

Cattle Press - Hordes To Abolish The Divine

Listening to God's Iron Tooth on last.fm today this band came up, further destroying whatever "New York Cred" I claim to have... Apparently this band is made up of ex members of Nausea and Born Against and was birthed and resides in the city I call home. Sludgy as fuck and downright terrifying, Cattle Press is one of those gems that I love coming across.

Straight up "Sludge" this is not. Doom, hardcore, death metal, industrial, and a generous helping of grind all creep their way in to this de-tuned mishmash of pain. Keeps it interesting in a gnarlier, creepier Dystopia/Grief/Noothgrush kinda way. Definitely less "stonery" and more grindy/deathy. This shit will turn the bluest day gray.

Cattle Press - Hordes to Abolish the Divine

PS: Props to Prolly for coming through on the album art. Solid. www.johnprolly.com

YEAH DUDES!

Here's a little gem from a time when metal ruled and I wasn't even a glimmer in my dad's drawers.

Heh... oh so true....

If you can get me a copy of this, I will love you forever

I seriously need whatever the fuck this movie is. Like, bad. Real bad.

The Big Scion Rock Fest Recap Review Thing Part 5 - The Wrap Up

Well, I was just going to let this thing die but instead I think I'll finish it. So after the complete sensory overload that is seeing Neurosis I had one last show to "get through" (isn't my life tough?). Rumors and scandals abound about black metal at Scion. The first and definitely most fucked up of these was that Nachmystium was kicked off the bill because a German Anti-Fascist group somehow wrongly convinced the head of Toyota events that they are a nazi band. Dude, there are Jews and like a Puerto Rican guy in the band. For fucks sake, did you even read the lyrics? I wound up grabbing some beers with one of the dudes and they are, understandably, fucking pissed about it and are in the process of taking legal action. Blake from the band had this to say:

"
Nachmystium Accused Of Being Nazis, Booted From Scion Rock Fest

by Scott on March 2nd, 2009

Nachmystium I didn’t make it to Scion Rock Fest on Saturday, but I saw last last week that Nachmystium was not going to be playing the gig. At the time I didn’t know why, but this morning the new comes that they were rumored to be a Nazi band and when the promoters of the event got wind of this, they denied them their show. Lambgoat.com posted the following statement from frontman Blake Judd:


“Nachtmystium has sad news today with a once-again recurring issue surfacing from the wake of our past. We’ve been forced, at the request of the promoters and the folks at Scion/Toyota, to pull out of the Scion Rock Festival, scheduled for Saturday, February 28th. This news came to us just this past Tuesday and was very disheartening to say the least. A troubling, and unjustly-applied notion that we are, or ever have been, in any way, a “Nazi” band or a political band on any level, is completely absurd and we are disgusted that there is someone out there who really believes we are of this ilk. It made it as far as the sponsors of this events desks, and now we are forced to pull out of it after some political threatening on the part of these ridiculously uneducated person/people who have caused this ruckus."

So with that casting a weird shadow over the whole day, there was a much more happily exciting rumor knocking around that Norwegian Black Metalers 1349 had their legendary drummer Frost with them in the states for the first time. In other words, the gnarliest fucking black metal drummer in the world was supposed to be in a small room shredding shit up. For free. I wasn't gonna miss that. Despite hunger (there was NOTHING to fucking eat there that cost less than like $7 and for that you got one of the shittiest burritos ever), overwhelming drunkenness, exhaustion (we were heading in to our 12 hour of metal at that point), and the associated delirium, we headed back in to the appropriately named Hell/room 2 to catch 1349's set.

Aside: This is after a brief stop in Purgatory to catch some of our friends' Zoroaster's set. Since we saw them the week before at a better venue and hung with them for a while, we figured they'd be ok with us checking out some other bands. If you ever get a chance to see them, do it, it's like standing in the world's loudest fucking lightning storm. Lemme put it this way, roughly $25,000 of amplifiers for two dudes, a custom hand made light set up "played" by Dan the drummer, and more fucking smoke machines than your tiny mind can process. Heavy. Very, very heavy.

Sadly, the rumors of Frost finally making it to the states were false, however, their fill drummer Tony, fucking held that shit down. Hard. While there was no firebreathing, there was nothing but a wall of the blackest of metal. Ravn & Co. spew a churning, roiling, brand of noise that lives true to the spirit of the 2nd wave of Norwegian Black Metal while taking it to the next level. The riffs are tight, the drumming is unspeakably fast, the sound was fucking killer (actually surprisingly so for a black metal band...), and they keep shit interesting by changing it up with some straight brutal shit, some rockers, and they even had a few that had a definite new Darkthrone metal punk feel (which they pulled off with aplomb. Fucking blew me away actually, I'm pissed I can't remember the name of that song. Best of the set). Fortunately for my tastes at the moment, 1349 isn't really super in to the whole atmospheric thing so it was pretty much just a straight thrash-off the whole set. Highlights include "I Am Abomination," and something about like Maggot Foetuses (the punk song). I'm not super up on their back catalog but through my exhausted, drunken haze those definitely stuck in my mind. Since seeing them I've definitely been stoked to hear their new album. I'm way in to the recent direction that Norway has been heading in terms of a more "rock'n'roll" black metal harkening back to the first Bathory albums and Swedish/English first wave d-beat/crust. It's good shit.

After 12 straight hours of metal, we dragged our asses over to El Myr for some Burritos with Sammy Shred of Apocalyptic Visions to discuss the finer points of passing out at the bar, douchebag yuppies who get in the way of us getting more beer, playing some shows in NYC, and burritos. Skot Webster, a fucking gentleman of the highest order dragged us home and will forever be a saint.

While not going in to too much detail, Vic and I spent the next 2 days SNOWED THE FUCK IN IN ATLANTA! What the hell was that all about? This, while putting a damper on my plans of getting the hell out of that shit hole also allowed us to experience the joy of more southern food, the wonder of an ATL strip bar, the company of new friends, and the pain in the ass of getting to and from the airport a few times and having to reschedule 6, yes SIX fucking flights before finally getting on a plane back to NYC.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Disfear - Live the Storm

So this is what I really meant to post when I woke up this morning. Strangely enough, it also happens to be bands featuring members of other famous Swedish Death Metal bands (something about the grammar there doesn't work but fuck you, I'm too lazy to fix it). For fucks sake, I've had like 2 pots of coffee today. Leave me alone. Blowhole.

Right anyway, so Tomas Lindberg from At the Gates + Uffe Cederland from Entombed + straight up straight ahead rocknroll D-beat = great fucking idea. They've been around for forever kind of in the background of all their other bands but this shit rules. Here's their latest full length. If you ever get a chance to see them do it. They rip through a set.

I want to sound like Uffe Cederland all the fucking time.

Disfear - Live the Storm

Hammerfall - Renegade

Since I couldn't remember what the hell I wanted to post up today, here's some Überghey SvenskaPöweredMetåls! Fuck I love this shit. Features the drummer of In Flames and a whole lot of songs about glory and motorcycles and shit. It's amazing what other shit Swedish Death Metalers are in to.

And happily enough this reminded me of what I really wanted to post!

FUCKIN SWEET! Here's the video. I need way more plate mail in my life.



Also, fuck you Mike, this post makes up for it.

Hammerfall - Renegade

Oh yeah!

Sweeeeeettttt... I'm totally gonna fry myself.

What the hell was it I was gonna post?

Fuckin A man, when I woke up this morning I had something super awesome to post. Now I can't remember fuckall what it was. Damnit...

Cro-Mags - Before the Quarrel

Finally back to the business at hand. Music. Ahhh.
For your kick off to the week I offer up "Before the Quarrel" by the Cro-Mags. This isn't technically an "album" so much as a collection of the demos for the classic "Age of Quarrel." Though it may be blasphemous to say, I think I like this more than AOQ... well, at points. BTQ is a pretty awesome snapshot of the Mags completely off the leash. The recording is raw as hell, the band is a little looser, a little faster, and a little rougher around the edges. What really makes it for me though is that JJ sounds completely at the end of his rope. Just unhinged all the way and on full tilt. AB the BTQ version of "World Peace", "Malfunction", or "Signs of the Time" with the AOQ version and you'll really hear what I mean. AOQ is amazing and set the tone for the beginnings of crossover and NYHC but compared to a lot of BTQ it sounds genuinely overproduced (hard to fucking believe).

I'm not really sure why but for some reason I hear a lot of euro-punk discharge/oi influence in here. Might be the singalong choruses or something.

Take a listen, hell take 10. The minute "World Peace" hit I was a convert.

Cro-Mags - Before the Quarrel

Mutant Supremacy/Abbadon this Thurs @ Charleston

Death metal punx DIY delux playing the Charleston on n7 @ Bedford Ave this Thursday at 9pm. See ya there fuckers.

Fuckthedrunx!

So our half-gay, half-retarded, all emo, 9/10th BOCES friends over in the Sleepies have put out yet another blight on your ears in the form of an UpTheDrunx podcast. If you're not familiar with the upthedrunx series of podcasts, let me break it down for you. It's two awkward assholes, living out their puerile college radio fantasies in the form of an openly unlistened-to, torturously long, unprofessional, mixtape abortion featuring the worst in the shit you listened to as a teenager, hackneyed 80's indie rock, and occasionally some unknown, Ergs soundalike garage punk band from either Brooklyn or New Jersey. Basically, it's the worlds saddest attempt a making something that may, one day, in an alternate universe, grease these two schmucks into some NYU grad with one too many chromasomes little boy shorts.

In other words, I've listened to every one. Start to finish. The day they came out.

Fortunately for you motherfuckers, this week is the best one they've done. "How is this possible!?" you might ask... well let me tell you. This installment is their meagre attempt to berate the mighty Haunted Castle into joining them in a Sleepies vs. HC upthedrunx podcast.

Well fuck them, it totally worked. Me and Bones are heading over there on sunday to get "uncled" and "abrasive" and to "play music" while "insulting each other's taste and dick size" and perhaps "fuck each other..."

You'll know when it happens. Oh yes, you'll know... Man am I looking forward to this.

New Tracks of the Week Up

Here's last weeks, this weeks up now.
* HERE'S A SPECIAL POST SCION TOTW
* Neurosis - Given to the Rising
* Torche - Fire
* Kylesa - Hollow Severer
* Toxic Holocaust - 666
* Skeletonwitch - Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery
* 1349 - I Am Abomination
* High On Fire - Baghdad
* Zoroaster - Spirit Molecule
* Krallice - Wretched Wisdom

HELL YEAH crew in town!

Photo by John Prolly. The one and only.

Ok now that that pain in the ass review is finally (almost outta the way), I can get back to the fun shit! Like hollering at the HELL YEAH/Charge Bikes crew who are in town from London. Motherfucker know how to enjoy a Sunday that's for fucks sure. Anyway, check out the HELL YEAH Blog! written by Juliet.

The Big Scion Rock Fest Recap Review Thing Part 4 - Boris, High on Fire, & Neurosis

Well boy am I fucking lazy this week. Sorry this is stretching out in to a fucking month long process but I've had a shit load of other stuff going on. Anyway, here's your next installment.

After a solid hour and a half of thrashing myself mad, it was time to head back outside to catch the end of Boris's set. This was the 3rd time I've seen them... in theory... The 2nd time I fell asleep midset... Long day, don't ask. Right, this time I didn't fall asleep and they were solid solid solid. Boris is great for a variety of reasons. Their ability to go from a 20minute beatless ambient drone straight into a 70's prog metal jam, into some punk inspired breakdown, right back into doom jams; their flare for showmanship; the sheer volume at which they play; the fact that their guitar player doesn't even make it to my shoulders! Hell they're pretty much just great all around. Their performance at Scion was definitely up to par with the first time I saw them as Wata, Takashi, and Atsuo used all the tricks at hand to achieve the highest degree of spacey stonerness possible. Fog, flashing lights, gongs, white sparkly shirts, double necked guitars, massive stacks of Orange and Sunn amps, you know, all the usual suspects. I only caught the last 20min of their set and they were in full swing the whole time. Fucked if I can remember what the songs were but they were loud and there was enough smoke that you could actually see the lights even though it was still daytime. Long and short, fun even if you don't smoke.

After Boris I tried to get in to Harvey Milk but the security guards were starting to get dickish and claimed the room was "at capacity"... which is some bullshit considering I saw like 40 people walk out of that motherfucker. Anyways, they sounded heavy as shit from the outside but I couldn't tell what was up inside.

Since that shit was full I headed back out to score a good spot for High on Fire under the main tent. As a massive Sleep fan and a pretty big HoF fan I was pretty stoked for that show. Vic and I scored a spot basically front and center and kind of set up camp. The tent packed out around us and was pretty much full to the brim from there on out. Matt and the gang came out, took their places, and rocked the fuck out. Playing a pretty even split of songs from all their albums they kept the fans happy with their patented blend of speedy yet sludgy riffing. Matt was looking surprisingly good (probably due in large part to his decision to wear a shirt...) and all three members looked generally happy to be on stage in front of a huge crowd.

OK fuck this I'm tired of not posting other more fun shit than this. Here's the short version.

High on Fire was fucking awesome, rocked hard, crowd was in to it. Bang.

Neurosis. Hard to put in to words just how fucking amazing they are onstage. If you've never seen them you really need to fix that shit. They play like once every millenia and it's always packed and generally far away but if you can see them, get on that shit. It's not so much a concert as a fucking experience. The video, the extreme volume, Steve, Scott and Dave looking like the physical embodiment of a fucking nightmare, the completely massive riffs. In a weird way, even though they're a "doom" band with a hardcore history, it kinda harkens back to the old Hawkwind type hippy extravaganza shows of the 60's when the idea of what a pop concert "is," was still up in the air and music, video, and spectacle all combined. Fortunately, Neurosis crowds tend to be fairly hippy free but the spectacle is still there. Their new material is really heavy on the ambience and atmosphere and even for a thrash fanatic, if you let it, it'll get you in to a nice trance. Throw a few beers in to the mix and you can nod off with the best of them. That is of course until they drop one of their massive hits. The first time I saw them in Brooklyn I couldn't hear for a week and a half and I almost shit my heart out the sound was so intense.

In ATL the sound wasn't quite as overpowering but the spectacle/set/performance was just as intense. Fuck me man, I would cry if I ever met Scott or Steve in an alley. Massive, unabashedly threatening, tried by fire, and undyingly hardcore. If you don't believe me head over to the Shrinebuilder Blog and read that post. Fear is a word that comes to mind. Anyways, they were everything I wanted to see. If you're trying to see them, just remember they pretty much stick to the slow heavy stuff and lean towards the new right now.

The Big Scion Rock Fest Recap Review Thing Part 3 - THRASH ATTACK w/ Skeletonwitch & Toxic Holocaust

Moving in to hour three of the festival we headed upstairs to Heaven/Room1 to catch Skeletonwitch's set. I've seen the witch a couple of times now and every time they just get better and better every time. The guys in the band are some of the chillest people you will ever meet. Genuinely nice guys who play some fucking killer metal. They have a new album coming out sometime in the somewhat near future and you could tell they were amped on the new material, totally reflected in a spot on performance. Considering they weren't quite ready with most of the new material, the set was their fairly standard Beyond the Permafrost lineup with one song from the new album. I was too busy thrashing to catch the name of it but that shit ruled. Way catchy, a little less black metal than their older shit but on point. Definitely had more of a riffy catchy feel to it.

You really have to hand it to Skeletonwitch though. They totally have the stage presence thing down. Between the mirror image left/right handed guitar players, the full on greasy metal manes, and the lead singer's fucking amazing dance moves, they are just so so good on stage. NOTE: Reference picture below isn't from the Scion show.


In summation, the witch was heavy and fast, the crowd thrashed, the band sounded good, there were no visible fuck ups and people were really getting in to the vibe. Killer.

If Skeletonwitch was the sweet high school during-the-day–janitors-closet-makeout-sesh-foreplay, Toxic Holocaust was definitely the scoring-in-the-back-of-your-Volkswagen-outside-of-your-girlfriends-mom's-house-even-though-you-have-a-buttcut-and-bleachblond-hair of follow-ups. Joel and co held that shit down like a 10 ton weight with their first Bathory album black-thrash mayhem, they shredded through their set with a vengeance. Highlights included 666, Evil Never Dies, and Feedback, Blood, & Distortion. You gotta hand it to the guy, Joel definitely has his thing, that thing is metal, and he does it well. I've missed them twice before in the last couple of months, never again will I show up late to that show.

The Big Scion Rock Fest Recap Review Thing Part 2 - Kylesa & Torche

Before I get in to the who, what's, & why's, let me explain the wheres. The venue is this crazy place called the Masquerade. I have no fucking clue what part of the city it's in, but it's gigantic. It had an upstairs (heaven or room 1) a downstairs (hell or room 2), a third side stage (purgatory or room 3) and a huge outdoor stage under a tent. Heaven and Hell were both pretty sizable venues on their own and I'm going to guess that there were well over 5,000 people there. Probably closer to like 8K. Not really sure. Anyway, the first two bands I saw were outside on the main stage. (quasi)hometown favorites Kylesa kicked the day off at right around 1:00pm. Under the tent was already packed when we got there which was a good sign of things to come. Sadly, the sound guys hadn't worked out all the kinks quite yet, most people were pretty sober, and it was light outside. Despite all these setbacks, Kylesa still ripped it open. Laura's vocals were super high in the mix, and although it sounded kind of funny, you could really hear how gnarly and abrasive she can get. Sheer grit and growl. Compared to the other Philip and Corey (the guitarist and bassist respectively), she really held down the fury.

In general the songs were the driving, heavy, blend of metal and punk I've come to expect from Kylesa. I do think putting them in the opening time slot was a strange decision because of their GA native status but all in all it seemed to work out. Most of what I heard was off "Time Will Fuse It's Worth" and the earlier albums but I'm pretty sure they had a song or two off of the upcoming (or already leaked depending on how in the know you are...) Static Tensions. I'm not exactly a Kylesa expert yet but I know they fucking ripped on all their songs, especially "Hollow Severer" and "Where the Horizon Unfolds." You could really hear Laura's vocal cords ripping apart on "Horizon". All in all a good set under not the most favorable conditions.

After Kylesa, Vic and I opted to hang in the big tent to catch Torche's set. Recently, I've been listening to a shit ton of Torche. All of their albums, even the poppy new one. Shit is just addictive. I saw them last summer playing with Boris and they absolutely wrecked me. At that point I'd only heard snippets of their stuff and a song or two here and there. Walking in to that show midset destroyed my perception of them. It was easily one of the loudest, heaviest shows I had ever seen up to that point. Grinding, 50ton riffs, falling from the sky like anvils. When they played Meanderthal I thought I was going to suffocate under feedback and distortion. Exactly what I wanted to hear again at Scion. Sadly, when they got on stage there were only three members left. Leaning heavily on their later, more melodic songs, Torche kind of struggled through a mountain of equipment fuck ups. The bass amp died super hard in the middle of their first song and they had to borrow a head from one of the other bands. Again, it was still early in the day, the sound wasn't really dialed yet, and everyone was pretty sober at the at point, even still they managed to eek out a passable set. I'd really recommend seeing these guys at an indoor venue with good sound though. Totally makes the set. I'm not sure what they have in their future but I think I lean more towards the earlier, floor sounding stuff.

After a good solid 2 hours of doom, it was time to head inside for some fucking THRASH!

continued in part 3...

MOTHERFUCKING PENTAGRAM!

I have been forwarned, reviewed my choices, and am ready for this 20 buck spin. FUCK YEAH, I'm seein' Pentagram in an hour at Webster Hall in NYC.

Killer.

The Big Scion Rock Fest Recap Review Thing Part 1 - Getting there.

So now that I've had a week to cool the fuck down and readjust to humanity (as opposed to Atlanta) I think I'm gonna get down to brass fucking tacks and write this review of what I saw at Scion Rock fest. I can't really figure out a good way to break this shit down so I'm just gonna go from start to finish.

The long and short of how I got to go to SRF has to do with my friend Victoria. She's an ATL native and sings in one of my bands and is generally good solid people. We got to sending emails back and forth one day about shows and music and shit and, of course, the conversation turned to the upcoming Neurosis show down in ATL. 15 minutes later I had a forwarded email in my inbox with the message "You have reserved 2 spots for the Scion Rock Fest." Despite the fact that I'm pretty much broke right now and we were talking about the show like it was a cool but unattainable goal, Vic had decided to light a fire under my ass. A few weeks and a few hundred dollars later we were on a plane to ATL.

We got in to town late friday night after a close to 3 hour delay and two $9 beers in the airport bar (fuck that shit) and basically crashed the fuck out at our friend Scott's house in Decatur (technically not Atlanta but couldn't really tell the difference).

Anyways, the first thing you will notice about Atlanta when driving in from the airport is that the "city" is a shithole and feels like a bunch of weird ass, endless suburbs. Apparently these suburbs contain enough people to have earned the title of "city" but fuct if I saw much of that there (4th ward withheld, shit felt relatively legit I think... I dunno I was wasted on my way home from the titty bar. More on that to come much much later). We crashed out early because we had to be up at like 8 to get online to get wristbands to ensure ourselves entry in to the festival. Being a free fucking show involving Neurosis and High on Fire and shit (coulda swore it was sponsored by Orange considering that pretty much EVERY FUCKING BAND THERE WAS PLAYING ORANGE AMPS. Sorry, jealous) it was basically guaranteed to "sell out" fast. Fortunately we got there at the perfect time, scored entry early (still had to wait in line in the rain for a while while some HARD DUDES shared parole violation stories...) and then ate the shit out of some biscuits and gravy at the Majestic, a diner not far from the venue. Now this may seem like an inconsequential detail to most people, but I take my biscuits and gravy VERY FUCKING SERIOUSLY. That shit was delicious and cost like $6. Fucking sweet. Anyways after that we headed back to the venue where part 2 commenced...

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath through Sabotage

Every once in a while you need to get back to the basics. To go primitive in a way. To cut the crap, strip it all down, and get back to origins. For me, this basically means listening to nothing but Black Sabbath for days/weeks/occasionally months on end.

Sabbath, the be all and end all of metal. They started it, nobody has or probably will ever do it better. Ask anyone who knows me, I believe that statement with absolute conviction. This is not to say that there aren't other amazing bands out there and fuck everything that isn't Sab, it's just to say that, when it all boils down, there's a reason why they're still selling albums every day 39 years after the release of their first album.

Now I know everyone has their own stories of why they love them and I know there's established history and all this bullshit but I wasn't there for any of that so I have this idealized image in my head of the first time people ever heard this band. Here's what I picture. It's 1970, the summer of love is passed (1967), Woodstock just happened (May 1969), fucking hippies are everywhere, peace and love, blah blah. Then all of a sudden Hendrix is dead, Nixon is president, and this crazy fucking band with a satanic name from Birmingham England, which was basically a post industrial shit hole at that point puts out an album with an eerie as hell witch-looking motherfucker on the cover with an opening track featuring thunder, doomsaying church bells, and lyrics like:

"What is this that stands before me?
Figure in black which points at me
Turn around quick, and start to run
Find out Im the chosen one
Oh nooo!

Big black shape with eyes of fire
Telling people their desire
Satans sitting there, hes smiling
Watches those flames get higher and higher
Oh no, no, please God help me!"

Holy fucking shit man. I know it's basically just fucked up, detuned blues rock, but seriously, if I was some hippy kid sitting around at that time and I heard that I'd probably lock myself in a closet and cry for my mother for days on end. It's like all of the peace and love, idealistic bullshit crap that lead to Reagan 20 years later when the grown up hippies wanted to not pay their taxes any more came crashing down in 3 fucking chords. Damn. You just don't get that heavy any more.

I mean, on top of all of that social relevance bullshit, there's just no denying that all of the songs are perfectly crafted, massively heavy, anthems of doom. Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi tuned down a few steps and brought the songs back to the riff. Yeah there are solos, damn good ones too, but honestly what drives Sabbath and all of their gazillions of followers is the riff. The opening of Sweet Leaf, the bass breakdown in Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, FUCKING WAR PIGS MAN! THE WHOLE DAMN SONG! It's undeniable. Bill Ward, possibly the most underrated member of the original line just ensured the perfection by doing something most drummers of the era just couldn't figure out. How to play just enough and no more or less. None of this excessive jacking off bullshit, just the beat and spartan as fuck fills where necessary. Add Ozzy's wailing, high pitched, vocals bordering on the edge of drug and paranoia fueled insanity and you have the ultimate band.

Anyways, here's the first 5 albums. Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Sabotage. In order. These are the foundation of metal. It's like a textbook for how to do it right.


Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Black Sabbath - Volume 4
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Sabotage

Working On Another Epic Post

Sorry about the delay kids, sometimes ripping music and uploading it takes infinity times more than it ought to...

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone, & Supercoven (Remastered)

Here's some of the Electric Wizard I promised you last week. All three of these albums are cornerstones of the metric shit ton of doom I've been listening to all weekend, therefore, I must spread this disease to you. Take it. Take it in your earholes. 3 times.

For fuckssake, Electric Wizard is the "heaviest band in the universe." How much effort/superlative language do I need to use here fuckers. Just listen. If you smoke you should probably do that first. I don't, it's heavy enough that I get high just thinking about listening to it. Yeah, it's like that. Dopethrone is considered their best but start wherever the fuck you'd like.

This review is brought to you by copping out, sleep deprivation, and not giving a fuck. Stoner rock has ruined my will to do anything...

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Electric Wizard - Supercoven (Remastered)

New Tracks of the Week Up

Here's last week's:
* Earth - Seven Angels
* Black Flag - My War
* Cro-Mags - Signs of the Times
* Mozergush - Volcanic Pigstars
* Amenra - Le Fils Des Faux
* Megadeth - Poison Was the Cure
* Municipal Waste - Beer Pressure
* Gwar - Bring Back the Bomb
* Asta Kask - AB Böna & Be
* Manowar - God of Fire

New ones up now.

GUEST POST! Josh of the Sleepies reviews the SCREAMING FEMALES: "What If Someone Is Watching Their TV?"

So a minute ago I asked little Joshybearteddypants from the Sleepies to do a guest review of whatever the fuck he wanted (Englebert Humperdink excluded. I can't type that shit without laughing and laughing out loud at work draws attention to the fact that I am a nonproductive member of the office. Which I am." Anyways, he decided to do a review of a real album instead of sending me like the "5th Reich's greatest Dinnertime Classics" or something. Anyways, here it is. If you don't like it tell him to eat a dick and die, not me. I've already had seconds thank you.

SCREAMING FEMALES - WHAT IF SOMEONE IS WATCHING THEIR T.V.?

Despite an obvious lack of dragon or unicorn imagery (or whatever the hell gets No Gods, No Vegetables going these days){EDITORS NOTE: Fuck you clown, I like dragons. That shit rules.], New Brunswick's Screaming Females seem to strike a near perfect balance of pop sensibility, sincerity, sass, and for lack of a better word, "balls" on "What If Someone Is Watching Their TV?" that can appease even the crustiest of posers [EDITORS NOTE: THAT'S ME!]. The album opener, "Theme Song", sets a tone that makes the Screamales (as they're affectionately called by some) come off like an irritated 4 year old on a sugar high {EDITORS NOTE: That's a good thing in this case... I think?]. The bass and drums lock in to create a solid, danceable bounce throughout the track while the guitar shrieks along coupled with nails on a chalkboard screaming.

As the songs pass, the band proves that they're equally as capable of showing a sweeter, more tender side with tracks like "Little Anne" and "Mothership" while still leaving the listener intrigued and uncomfortable largely due to frantic, angry and seemingly terrified sounding vocals. It becomes abundantly clear that the notes the signer can't hit are perhaps even more poignant and effective than those that she can {EDITORS NOTE: further proof that knowing how to play is for dildicks. Read: I play in Haunted Castle].

The album's final track, "Boyfriend" serves as the perfect cherry on top [EDITORS NOTE: Cherry on the mind again you fucking perv? God you're a degenerate.], reuniting the listener with that irritated child who reared his ugly head during the first few songs. Although he seemed to calm down through some of the middle tracks, "Boyfriend" reminds us that the Screamales are still capable of erupting into a screechy, unsettling and utterly irresistible mess. Their unique songwriting, heartfelt sincerity and raucous musicianship makes it easy to see why they're one of the best local bands around. Their next full length, titled "Power Move" comes out April 14th [EDITORS NOTE: That's my fucking birthday. Sweet dude.] on New Jersey's Don Giovanni Records (home of Hunchback and The Ergs!).

FINAL EDITORS NOTE: The more I listen to this, the more I think you just wanna poke the singer. And the drummer too probably. Actually, yeah, you definitely wanna poke.

Screaming Females - What If Someone Is Watching Their TV?

Ullr, mighty lord of the snows...

Please heed my prayers and halt your mighty onslaught! I beg of you, allow me passage out of this place that I might offer musical tribute to you in New York. Goddamnit, get me the fuck outta Atlanta...

The aftermath

Oh man, Vic and I are straight fucking whipped from Scion Rock Fest. Yesterday was easily one of the best fucking days of music I have ever seen. I can't believe I'm thanking a car company for anything, but scion ran that shit pretty much right on point all day without a hitch. I mean I have some issues with security stupidity but all the bands were basically right on the dot and sounded great. I'm writing this shit from a phone so this won't be my big review of every little thing that happened but I figure I'll at least give a quick rundown of events while waiting for my 3hrs delayed flight.

At the end of the day the bands I got to see were:
- Kylesa
- Torche
- Skeletonwitch
- Toxic Holocaust
- Boris
- High on Fire
- Neurosis
- Zoroaster
- 1349

I didn't catch full sets of all bands but those were ones I caught enough of to be able write about. Every one of those bands was something to write home about. There were a few I would have liked to see (Harvey Milk, Krallice, wolves in the throne room, & Baroness for example) but shit either got in the way (security dildo bastards) or I was just having too much fun at another band. Sadly I couldn't score press passes so I gotta do all my interviews over the phone at some later date, but like I said before, more details to come later.

P.S. It is snowing like something out of fucking revelations. In Atlanta. Which is in Georgia. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT ALL ABOUT!? Seriously.