bidhardcore.com

Assorted links:

• Paul Mawhinney’s record collection.
• No matter how many times I read this hot dog story its still funny.
• A little write up on the Sklipknot 7″ by someone who just decided to check it out for the first time.

Some heavy hitters you missed:

• Green Day - 1000 Hours 7″ test - $215
• Green Day - Slappy 7″ test - $225
• Grout - Do It Yourself 7″ - $1425
• Freestone - Bummer Bitch (Cooch’s alltime favorite song!) - $544.69
• The Faders - Cheatin’ / Library Book - $213.50
• Tear It Up - Nothin’ LP (purple splotches) - $155
• Koro - 700 Club EP - $1025
• Hugh Beaumont Exp - $826
• Antler Joe and the Accidents - Go Commercial - $770
• Deep Wound 7″ - $332
• Big Boys - Industry Standard - $300
• Joe College & The Rulers - $299

This weekend I am moving to a new place. I hate moving. I hate moving more than anything (taxes, traffic, taking tests) ever. My brain is mush. After I’m moved I will make real posts again. Except then my girlfriend is moving to NYC which means I will either write longer posts, or get writers block…

WTF

Despite the fact that I just wrote up the Ringworm lp last week, I’m doing an Integrity entry today, which may do much to further erode my credibility, but seriously fuck it. This one’s rare and also, I love it. Integrity and Ringworm being arguably the only cool “metal-core” bands ever (despite certain members of the former), in a court of law, this might be exhibit-A. Humanity Is The Devil (on pink vinyl). Despite all the baggage that this band carries, all the bad blood and ripped off mail orders, it all washes away when you play this.

At certain times I’ve felt this was the best Integrity record, which is funny because it’s a 10″, and we all know it’s one of the stupidest formats known to man. But here it is adorned with one of the only legitimately good Pushead covers of the 90’s (man I wish this was a 12″ EP so bad) and featuring a lean 6 songs with crisp production, each delivering maximum payload. It opens with what some have termed the best 1-2-punch of the 90’s.  “Vocal Test” into “Hollow”.  I’m sure many will disagree. Well if you do, to paraphrase Raybeez, this mic is your mic, this stage is your stage… and thus implicitly, this blog is your blog. Vocal Test is one of the most absurd intros ever. Literally it’s just a hard riff with wordless screams laid over it. It sounds so stupid when describing it, but whether you’re 16 or 27 it’s a fist-pumper when you’re hearing it. The segue into “Hollow” is a distorted bass line reminiscent of the Cro-Mags glory days before a snare roll leads the charge for the rest of the band. As the riff descends the vocal delivery builds to an urgent chorus which features guest vocals by Ringworm’s Human Furnace, who has never sounded better than this. When the break down comes, it’s huge. Stadium huge, which is only emphasized by Aaron Melnick’s vintage Hammett-style soloing. It pulls on you from inside your chest and lifts you up, or maybe pulls your down depending on how you’re looking at things. There are a few riffs/parts in songs that have given me goose bumps every time. For years this has been one.

Psychological Warfare brings back the slow crawl of Those Who Fear Tomorrow complete with “Micha” style plucky bass intro. It fits well after the up tempo openers. I think it (as well as the track Abraxas Annihilation) was written by Frank Novinec (formerly of Ringworm), and I also think these were his first creative contribution to the band. Both bring to mind the older Integrity sound but with more precision and less meandering.The lp closes with “Jagged Visions Of My True Destiny…” a contemplative hardcore approximation of Metallica’s “Fade To Black” that works the same kind of clean guitar intro and then builds it into a thick wall of anger and melancholy with of course, liberal guitar soloing. It may not be for everyone, but it’s definitely for me.

Copies of this record on pink vinyl are supposedly limited to less than 100 as it was a mis-press, however, I’ve seen a considerable amount in my life and would guess there’s at least 200. Nonetheless it’s the version of “Humanity” to have. The insert inside it has a photo of the band from their brief lineup with Bob Zeiger as drummer. He’s wearing an SDS shirt which is kind of cool, and Integrity were definitely making reference to various Japanese hardcore bands in interview material and whatnot at this point. Somewhere I have an ad for a G.I.S.M. tribute that Dwid was going go put out, hmmm. Tomorrow I promise not to write about a record from 1990’s Cleveland.

Pretty good for 1 year of releases. Shit-fi has called the opening drum beat to Realities of War “the shot heard round the world”. As far as Hardcore goes, thats’ pretty true.

Dudes, dudettes, I’m back. In my weekend travels to Seattle, I learned a few things.

1. Layne Staley does not have a grave, he was cremated. R.I.P.
2. Ben Shepard owns a bar & parties hard.
3. When the sun comes out in Seattle, it’s actually shocking how beautiful it is.
4. Jive Time is a really well kempt record store. No bullshit.
5. Ethiopian food can clog my bowels for days. I think it’s that spongy bread.

Now that I’ve returned, you’re probably expecting something massive, but I’m afraid you’ll come up short. The Fuck-Ups “FU82″ 7″is hardly massive. Although it bills itself as a “6 song Mini lp” it’s really more of a “6 song 7″ E.P.” The Fuck Ups kinda sound like if Flipper was an actual hardcore band to me, but maybe meaner and less self hating. I guess it’s not surprising they have a Flipperish vibe as they come from the same scene, which is where Fang was from too. This is one of the first hardcore records to really get a reputation as reactionary, and being from the bay area, I’m sure they got a lot of shit for it. All these stupid ‘lofi hatepunk’ bands you’re hearing now owe their left nut to the Fuck Up’s crowd baiting.

The cover has the most disgusting looking baby ever taking a switchblade in the head. Fucking gross. It’s released on the band’s own Fowl records in a few different editions (either 2 or 3). I think there’s some peach covers, some green covers, and some pink covers, and I believe each says which pressing it is. Green is first maybe?

Here in Boston there’s few records our shared HC heritage cherishes more than Jerry’s Kids - “Is This My World” lp. Such a fine and perfect combination of raging speed, huge hooks, ripping solos, and powerhouse drumming. Where the fuck do I even start? How about the opening guitar wash that burns away into squealing feedback and a bass break in the first (of numerous) anthem “I Don’t Belong”. “I GOT A FEELING THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG/I GOT A FEELING THAT I…/I DON’T BELONG HERE/I KNOW IT’S TRUE/I DON’T BELONG HERE/AND NEITHER DO YOU”. These lines are simple and direct but they frame the record in the perfect teenage angst and punk anger within the first minute.  The vocals seethe with anger and bile and the kind of frustration that jumps through the speakers and hits you in the chest.  The music follows this path as well. Rick Jones aside from delivering these vocals also holds down the bass guitar with ease and style. He’s flanked by two of the best to ever rip a 6-string: Chris Doherty (also of Gang Green), and “Rockin’” Bob Cenci. The way these dudes shred the strings - it’s caustic and percussive. It’s a constant wash, like all 16th notes and none of them muted. I’ve never heard a guitar attack this powerful and sustained, what’s even crazier is the shots of them going insane on the back of the lp. One shot of Doherty has him on top of the crowd with his guitar, the other jumping off the drum riser. The photo of Censi has him on his knees, eyes closed soloing, and when Cenci shreds a solo sit the fuck down, because school is in session. Without a doubt one of the greatest of all time. All of this is backed by the smash and bash finesse of Brian Betzger, one of the best to ever sit behind the old buckets in a hardcore band. I mentioned a second ago how percussive the guitars become as they sustain their constant 16th note picking, and part of what’s  so great about this is it gives Betzger the opportunity to go absolutely wild. I don’t think you’ll find a record with this many wild speedy fills anywhere else. I mean the band just sounds insane right off the bat. 

After tearing through 4 more tuneful shredders comes the side ending epic, “Raise The Curtain”. In the business, we call this a slow burner. This one’s slow and heavy and dangerous. The lyrics are abstract, dark and paranoid referencing blood-shot eyes, and a blood stained mind. The song lurches along for about 3 minutes and then begins to fall apart, ending about 30 seconds later, perfect timing for an intermission. The B-side goes back into the power thrash with tracks like Build Me A Bomb (Build me/Build me a bomb/Then all my problems/Will be gone), and No Time, stopping for another dirge detour in the form of “Lost”, maybe the only song on the record I wouldn’t call a homerun. Hey 11 out of 12 isn’t bad. There’s nothing wrong with the song, but it’s sung by Bob Censi and is quite slow. Switching speeds and singers in the same song just interrupts the album’s flow too much for me.

Anyway things end perfectly with the title track, the conclusion to the initial expression of anger and frustration. “IT FEELS SO COLD ON THE STREET/THERE’S NO MORE FEELING IT’S ALL CONCRETE/IS THIS THE WORLD I MUST LIVE/I’M FORCED TO FORGET HOW TO GIVE/ — IS THIS IT? IS THIS MY WORLD?” After a pair of verses and choruses the song builds up, climaxes and then fades out, leaving you to ponder the question at hand I guess.  Seriously, if you don’t love this one, there’s not much hope for you.  

A killer. A crusher. The Worm… The Promise. This is one of the most classic records of the 90’s, standing the test of time twice over as far as I’m concerned. Ringworm’s debut lp “The Promise” is also quite notorious for sounding like total crap. The fact that it has overcome that infamy and is known firstly as just a great metallic hardcore album is quite a feat.

Ringworm released their demo in ‘91 (I think), and it has quite a bit to offer as basically a hybrid of Entombed, Cro Mags, Raw Deal, and Slayer. It’s pretty thick sounding not to mention one of the first recordings of its kind, and it prompted a “deal” and a little bit of cash from Incision Records to do an lp. According to liner notes in the reissue, the first day was spent dicking off, drunk as hell, and the next day the band realized they had nothing usable recorded. A couple days and a rush job later they had The Promise. There’s nothing wrong with it really, but it’s kind of thin sounding, and some of the rerecorded songs sound tighter on their demo. This is also part of the charm, it’s a punk band playing metal loose and simple and if it was different it wouldn’t quite be the same.

The Promise opens with a soundbite of some dude saying “There is no God” and then a quick guitar rev into the “Numb” intro. If Warzone were evil instead of good, maybe this is what their intro would have sounded like. It has some speedy tremolo picking and then eventually goes into a double bass-heavy chugging part. When the intro ends the band rip into Blind To Faith, a pretty straight forward anti-religion number and an all time classic. It cuts with a choppy crunch and thud like Raw Deal’s Tell Tale but again with more of an evil death metal type riffing style. The vocals come with an instantly recognizable and unique style and delivery, I’d expect nothing less from a singer known as The Human Furnace (seriously), and he really proves why he has that name because he spits straight FIRE. The album works its way through a few more tracks peppering the attack with some blast beats and single note tremolo stuff to enhance the death metal vibe, before coming to the title track and centerpiece of the album.

The Promise (the song) works a heavy minor key progression that almost borders on an actual melody. Vocals get some additional echo treatment which is surprisingly sparse for an album that’s this “metal”. A positively murderous breakdown ties this one up nice and neat with a good skank beat. The B-side takes off with Death Do Us Part which opens with a bass line worthy of a Breakdown demo but within about 20 seconds finds itself in Repulsion territory although the blasting isn’t quite as fast. Consumed is a 5 second jam which there’s also a version of on one of the Bleaurgh comps. It goes right into 13 Knots, a Ringworm fan fav. If you weren’t sure where the band stand on religion, I believe the proclamation in this song of “I have touched the face of God/and it is cold and it is dead” should help you along in figuring it out.

The original pressing of this record is on Orange vinyl as seen here, probably out of 1,000. I have seen a couple of black copies, and I recollect that the band seemed to not know about these existing. My guess would be there was an overrun of a couple hundred covers and the label pressed the black vinyl later to fill the covers out and sent them to distributors.

Today I shall let the pictures do the talking… got a couple of nice Bad Brains tour shirts. I used to have a yellow version of the ‘87 one. Also there’s a Cancerous Growth shirt which is a masterpiece as you can see.

More DCHC in the form of the oft neglected: 1-sided Deadline lp. AKA: Deadline - “8/2/82″. Released on Guy Picciotto’s Peterbilt label in the early 90’s in a 12×12 hand screened manila envelope, I doubt most people even knew what they were buying when they got it, and with a pressing number I’ve heard as 300 or 500, it’s really scarce now.

Deadline is the definition of “also-ran”, but I hereby declare this to be one of the 10 best 81-83 DCHC recordings that I know of (and I’m pretty sure I know most of them). The only previous release by Deadline are 3 fairly lackluster tracks on the Flex Your Head comp, and if not for the fact that their drummer was Brandon Cantry, later of Rites of Spring and Fugazi (among others), there wouldn’t be much at all to say about those tracks. They’re sort of a less skinhead oriented Iron Cross vibe. Kinda slow, sort of heavy for ‘82 hardcore, but not that great. This 1-sided lp though, which was originally a demo bears little resemblance to those tracks. It’s much faster, buzzing with energy and speed, and may induce spontaneous slamming.

There’s nothing really ground breaking that happens on the Deadline 12″, but it’s really well played, and catchy. Most of the songs are a more tuneful take on the Youth Brigade demo, or maybe like if the Faith wasn’t as preoccupied with melody and just kinda… “went for it”. Maybe that’s a little contradictory, but let’s just say, it’s somewhere in between the two. An important piece of it are the super energetic vocals of Ray Hare, who delivers in a higher register than Youth Brigade’s Nathan Strejeck, and with more omph than The Faith’s Alec Mackaye. When he gets to the last verse of the song Closed Door and shouts “sick of people who don’t know what they’re doing” it’s like having someone grab and shake you while yelling in your face. It has a sense of urgency and importance despite being a pretty pedestrian line in the song.  The next song, Outside The Law has an equally cathartic delivery in the chorus of “Anything to get by/Anything to survive” as it rises with maximum intensity over the mid-paced riff. Most of the lyrics deal with these typical kind of teenage anger releases, with some basic political stuff mixed in, but it’s that sense of urgency that makes it count. It’s the intangibility that comes from a great delivery.

There’s sometimes not a lot you can put into words about a good genre record. Deadline weren’t originators, or really important for anything. The reason they’re worth mention is because they played meat and potatoes USHC really well, better than a lot of their influences and peers, and definitely better than half the bands better known than they were/are. Their songwriting is surprisingly developed, albeit simple, their vocals and call response backups are electric with energy, and the songs last just as long as they need to. If you don’t know this record it was finally issued on CD via Dischord/Peterbilt last year. If you were ever into early DCHC I highly recomend it.

PS - you’d be well advised to check the seller’s other auctions

Feeling hazy and anemic today, and there’s something fucked up on my eyelid. Perfect to make today’s Metal Monday focused on Dream Death’s “Journey Into Mystery” lp. In my world, this is the best lp on New Renaissance records no contest, except for the licensed Bathory and Sepultura records they did. Oh Anne Boylan, you really fucking struck gold on this one.

Dream Death are probably one of the first bands to owe a serious debt to Celtic Frost in the USA, or for that matter anywhere I guess. This lp pretty much sounds like it could have come right from Tom Warrior, except that the vocals take a little more of a Slayer style bark/shout. The guitars are a gloriously treble-less grind, oozing riff after riff onto the doomy landscape of the music. Each song is a mini-epic the shortest running about 4 and a half minutes. Honestly there’s really nothing else I feel this record owes itself to nearly as much as To Megatherion. “Elder Race” is an absolute crushing steam-roller slow-mo track veers into explicit reptoid-lore a hundred times more insane than Axegrinder’s Rise Of The Serpent Men. Other tracks are about zombies, blood rituals, and other generally evil subjects. The album definitely sticks to a specific influence and formula, but still has enough touches that let is rise up as its own entity. Also of course, in the New Ren tradition, it has some great budget metal artwork. Observe: