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After about a month of deliberating with myself, this is my final word on top 10 CD/vinyl releases for this year. I know you were just dying to find out what I liked. Thanks again for the support in 2008, we’ll be getting back to the regularly scheduled programing next week and we’ll be introducing some new features as the year unfolds. Enjoy your sparkling apple cider tonight.

Top Ten 12″/CD releases” 

1. Breathing Fire - Years Of Lead (Painkiller) 
Yes, this is on my label, but I still think it’s the best album of the year. One of the clearest misanthropic visions I’ve ever been party to. The busted sounding Traynors and tape hiss and shredded vocal chords are as dank and real as it can get.

2. Running For Cover - Dark Well(625/Art of the Underground)
This took 3 or 4 years to come out but it was worth the wait. Some of the wildest bass shit I’ve heard on a hardcore record and with much feeling. Almost on a No Comment level here.

3. Harvey Milk - Life Is The Best Game In Town (Hydra Head)
I am not a Harvey Milk O.G., but this album is great. Probably the best “white blues” lp this year. Just stinkin’ sludged out booze soaked shit kickers here. Def. better than the new Melvins.

4. Motorhead - Motorizer (Steamhammer/SPV)
Their 2nd best this decade, but a very good lp on its own. If you don’t like Motorhead, you’re dead to me.

5. Outlaw Order - Dragging Down The Enforcer (Season Of Mist)
Out of nowhere this one comes. 4/5ths of Eyehategod doing an album pretty similar to Confederacy Of Ruined Lives era EHG. Mike Williams hate-screams are still pure catharisis.

6. Sex/Vid - Communal Living (Dom America)
Couldn’t get away from these dudes this year if you follow hardcore, but they deserve the attention. Tearing apart at the seams, thrashing punked out HC tunes. Get your Deep Wound, Aspirin Feast, Neos, type fix, and thankfully they aren’t slowing down yet.

7. Extortion - Sick (Deep 6)
Absolutely 100% the best band on the planet for Ripcord/Voorhees/CapCas(early) skull in a vice style hardcore. Each proper release has improved on the previous for these guys and this is a fucking great hardcore lp. One of the best blast-beat heavy bands you can hear these days.

8. Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Primary Colours (Goner)
I guess this is my curve ball pick. Enjoyed this band’s other recs, but I can’t stop playing this one. Totally foot-tappin’ UK DIY vibe. Kinda pubby and kinda twee, but the tunes stick in your head and that’s what counts.

9. Midnight - Farewell To Hell + bonus 7″ (Nuclear War Now)
Even though Midnight is kind of punk, they’re my favorite current metal band. Perfect Venom/Fingernails/Warfare type stuff.

10. Walls - 1-sided 12″ (Iron Lung)
Kinda regressing for these guys, bringing some more speed and hardcore parts, but I think it sounds good, definitely more intense than their album from last year. Some Rorschach shit, some Unsane shit, the right amount of angular moments and pure HC fury IMO.

Top Ten 7″s/Singles/EPs 

1. Sex/Vid - Nests (Dom America)
This dropped early in the year and sort of solidified Sex/Vid’s “hot shit” status. “Excorcism” is my favorite jam by the band. Some people were bummed they just chopped and screwed a stooges riff for “Always Home”, but I say “that’s art”. Or “punk”. But thankfully this isn’t art punk.

2. Hatred Surge - Servant b/w “Bestial (Deer Healer)
This EP is like a little Swans tribute. Mostly just metallic clanging and screams that bash against your speaker cones. A brilliant curve ball from the best grindcore band, and it’s well executed at that. I’d like to see it worked into the live set some day.

3. Dead Section - s/t (self)
New band for “journeyman” Insane-Bartek. I never met the guy but he is really good at screaming in punk bands. Loved Religious War, and most of the other records hes loaned his vox to. This one goes back to the semi-metallic Swedecore of the Religious War lp with tasty results. Lots of tremolo style 16th notes and trashy solos. Best spikey punk I heard this year.

4. Iron Age - The Way Is Narrow(Painkiler/Dead and Gone)
I did participate in the domestic release of this but fuck off, it’s a good single. Iron Age are finally reaching the heights I always knew they could. All the chunky crossover power of my favorite COC, Icemen, and Cro Mags parts, and finally some good production too.

5. Slang - 20th aniversery 3×7″ (HG Fact/MCR/Bloodsucker)
One of Japan’s long standing powerhouses mark their 20th anniversary by going back to their roots a bit. Just thick, driving, hardcore with some dis-core overtones and burly vocals too.

6. Double Negative - Raw Energy (Sorry State)
Probably the best of the 80’s revival crowd at this point, although they were all around to see the real thing, so I’m not sure what that means. This time they offer some self recorded tracks on an E.P. Basically the same thing as their 12″ but with less polish than before. Gets you in that COC, Attitude Adjustment, Final Conflict, mode, and it’s good.

7. Inmates - Now We Talkin’ Hardcore (Even Worse/Way Back When)
Cleveland heroes return with their first new recording this decade. Riffs from the Thrash Til Death school, but with the lyrical sensibility of A.O.D. Obnoxious spiteful kick you in the teeth kind of hardcore. Glad these guys are still out there doing it.

8. Pig Heart Transplant - Nature b/w Nurture (Deer Healer)
I’m not a noise guy, and this works in just the right amount of pure noise and fractured hardcore to hold my interest. Feedback screeching, cavernous drums, ranting shouts. Like a fucking migraine.

9. No Peace - Zombie Brains (Decision of Fate)
Another Cleveland cult classic in the 90’s style. Great live in studio style recording, kinda has that early discharge style fuzz and rickety drum sound, but with plenty of that Americanized Japanese sound that H-100s/early 9 Shocks did. Lofi hate punk that doesn’t suck.

10. Satanic Threat - Into Hell (Gloom/Hell’s Headbangers)
Occasionally a novelty record can be cool. This one is in the style of Unity/7 Seconds/Minor Threat but with Satanic lyrics courtesy of the Nunslaughter guys, and Shaun (formerly of Gordon Solie MF’s and Annihilation Time). Perfect Unity style vocals, perfect early 80’s tuneful hardcore, and ridiculous Satanic lyrics.

Top Ten reissues 

1. Hellhammer - Demon Entrails 3xLP (Century Media)
It would have been extremely easy to fuck this up, and I was worried, but I have to say this is one of the best reissue jobs I’ve ever seen. Great sounding audio transfer, beautiful packaging with lots of rare photos and drawings, for one of the most important heavy bands of the last 30 years. It goes above and beyond several times over. I kind of can’t believe this is on Century Media. Long overdue, but thankfully not rushed.

2. Paintbox - Earth Ball Sports Tournament vinyl (Prank)
The day I found out Chelsea from Paintbox died I got depressed. This is not something that generally happens to me when a musician dies. His playing is so consistently brilliant though, and Paintbox as an ensemble on this album are incredible…unmatched…perfect. One of the best ever. Seriously. I’m very happy it’s finally pressed to vinyl. Always playing this.

3. Cro Mags - Age Of Quarrel w/ unreleased demo tracks CD (self)
Okay the only reasons this isn’t @ #1 is because it’s not on vinyl and because there are more tracks from this unreleased demo session that aren’t included. HOWEVER, this does include some unheard demo songs recorded by Don Fury, 2 of which were never on a Cro Mags album, or official demo release. They are heavy as hell obviously.

4. The Icemen - The Iceman b/w It’ll Be Your Grave (Reaper)
The Icemen are a love ‘em/hate ‘em NYHC/Crossover band that only ever managed a couple of singles for releases, so unearthing 2 pro recorded demo tracks for a new single is a real treat. This thing sounds great (good remix/mastering job), has the same visual aesthetic as the band’s previous releases, and the music rips. This is how it’s done people.

5. Systematic Death - Systemania 4xLP (Partners In Crime)
Aside from these being a great “everything in one place” set, they are really nicely made, and I have to admire someone that is willing to basically put out 2 double lps at once of the same band. And a hell of a band they are. Essential early thrash paving the way for so many after.

6.Black Sabbath - The Rules Of Hell 4xCD boxset (Rhino)
Finally a decent remaster of Sabbath’s Dio Years with some good behind the scenes style liner notes too. Heaven and Hell is, IMO the best power-metal lp ever so it’s nice that the world is acknowledging Sabbath made good music after ‘75 again.

7. Amebix - No Sanctuary (The Spiderleg Recordings) (Alternative Tentacles)
This phase of the Amebix is kind of my favorite so I like that this is all nice and neat on one disc that can be got anywhere. Dark and dirgy, Killing Joke via a punk squat.

8. Gauze - Binbou Yusuri No Rizumu Ni Notte vinyl (Prank)
I know this album just came out last year, so it’s kind of not a reissue, but I’m just happy it’s on vinyl. It’s a great album, and like every other Gauze recording there’s certain things about it that make it unique in their lexicon. I love the rough recording and it sounds killer on wax.

9. Adrenalin O.D. - Wacky Hijinks Of… 2xCD (Chunksaah Records)
I’m happy this is back available for the masses and not on shitty GTA records at that. This has tons of extra stuff including the amazing Let’s BBQ 7″, which has one of the best punk leadoff tracks ever played. Shit AOD vs. Godzilla, you’re moshing with a bowling pin. Hopefully some young impressionable Bouncing Souls fans will grip this and get a clue about real deal NJ punk.

10. H-100’s - Dismantle + outtakes 12″ (self)
A stone-cold Cleveland HC/Punk classic available again at last, and as a big loud 12″. This is as raw and real as it gets. Some cool outtake curiosities pad out the sides, but this is really about the original 7″ tracks which are remastered and loud as fuck. “I was born/so now I suffer”.

The year is winding down and tomorrow most of you will be enjoying your figgy puddings by the fire, but if you get a break please enjoy a few gifts from your pals over here at bidhardcore.

Beyond live on WFMU 1988
This is my personal favorite NYC radio set that’s out there. Yes, even more than Supertouch, Breakdown, and any other.

Rigor Mortis - Holocaust/Warriors Of Doom 7″ an often overlooked NY Death Metal Gem. HC fans should like this too. Some parts remind me of Breakdown. These guys became Immolation.

The Guns - Unreleased ‘85 lp - 256vbrSome of you know this was bootlegged by Dwid as bonus tracks on a Bowel CD that was released when Dutch East was footing the bill for Dark Empire releases. This is great lost early Cleveland HC. Most of the rips of this out there SUCK.

Ripping Corpse - Splatter Remains demoRed Bank NJ’s finest deathrash act. This has been on the Internet for years in a crappy mono version. This is a rip I made from the 12″ vinyl pressing that was issued in the UK, of course at a high bite-rate.

Meat Puppets live 6-30-81An early snapshot of the Meat Puppets in hardcore mode. They are ragged as hell but great at this how. They do probably the most obnoxious (but I think sincere) 4-Tops cover ever. Pscyhocore forever.

Hopefully there’s something on that list that you’ve never heard, or need an upgrade on, if not, well I hope Santa hooked it up.

…and what would hardcore be without the hardcore thank you speech? Here it is:

Seriously a big thanks from me and AJ to everyone who’s linked us on their blogs/websites this year, all the people who come to the site daily and leave comments or send links. HUGE thanks to Stuart Schrader, Colin Tappe, Tony Rettman, Cooch, & Jon Westbrook for their guest posts at various times. Thanks to spellcheck for making me seem marginally less stupid, and thanks to the Internet, for making it all possible. It’s been a solid year now since I started posting on here and the response has been sort of amazing, so from me and my ego, thanks. It means a lot.

Have a good holidaze here (wherever).

I can’t believe one of these isn’t on ebay this week.

btw - i couldn’t shrink this down. it’s just too good.

Another entry in the XClaim saga - DYS “Brotherhood” used to be my favorite, although now I consider it to be a bit of a lesser entry. Still it has a special place in my heart and the first few songs are all stone cold ‘82-core classics.

Open Up starts it out with a classic mid-paced bass part and Dave Smally’s distinct teenaged voice cracking. For those keeping score, this is his best vocal performance ever (by far). The song rails against hardcore and punk dropouts (irony!) in a truly fist pumping manner. Next comes, what in my opinion is the unquestionably best DYS song, More Than A Fashion. This track opens with the classic DYS stompy mosh part which is utilized in a few of their songs, but is best displayed here. It’s an in your face straight edge anthem ripping at the seams from all the youthful energy coursing through the band before they explode into a fast part that repeats the lines “Straight Mind/Razor’s Edge…”. It also contains the straight edge lyrics that I relate to more than any other:

“It’s a way of life that says I don’t need
Hangovers, freak-outs or expensive weed
Rather buy a record any day
My mind is here, not far away”

I mean really - that pretty much breaks down my world view here people.  Next comes Circle Storm, which is a pretty great anti-racism thrash number. Perfect use of gang-vocals on this one. After that you get City To City, another alltime great, with the heaviest riff on the album and a pounding beat that gives the toms a workout. A great mosh track, you can’t go wrong with this. Closing out side A is The Girl’s Got Limits, which is kind of an inept AC/DC style jam. It’s pretty good but kind of kills the vibe a little bit especially right after a song that proclaims “We’re Serious and We Won’t Go Away”.

Side B starts with the title track which has a similar construction to Circle Storm. Great powerful throbbing hardcore thrashing. Of course it’s a song about your brothers/friends, etc. Obviously this combined with the last song makes it sort of obvious these aren’t the most socially progressive young boys, but what do you people want? The next 3 tracks, Yellow,  Stand Proud, and Insurance Risk are all good jams, but are kind of the less notable jams on this album. Even if they’re not all as good as More Than A Fashion though, they’re still pretty good, and better than the filler tracks on The Kids Will Have Their say. Anyway, things close out with Escape, which for some reason (I’ve never quite known why) opens with some King Arther based sample. Anyone know what that’s about? Anyway this is the archetypal Boston dirge. Lots of cheap echo on the vocals, a grinding two-note guitar riff - it’s pretty good but it also ends with the lines “Crawl into the blackness/scream into my mind”. I can’t really do much with that.

Anyway that’s all 15 minutes of Brotherhood, encapsulated. These days it just doesn’t compare to the precision and power of My America or Is This My World, or just the out and out low-brow idiocy of the Negative FX lp (honorary X-Claim release). Not sure what else to say about this one really. I still need a copy actually.

Black Market Baby - Potential Suicide (Limp)

Black Market Baby were a classic example of a band that just never was right with their timing when they were around.  They had a couple of aborted singles before Potential Suicide b/w Youth Crimes finally became their official debut. It’s a great slab of up tempo British influenced punk, but it came out the year hardcore happened in DC, and while there were plenty of people who took notice of the band, they never really got that much recognition, although if they’d released the Crimes Of Passion b/w America’s Youth single in 1980, they might have had a better shot. (BONUS POINTS for 2 songs about Youth). Eventually they released an lp on Fountain Of Youth in 1983 that’s a bit long, and has bad cover art, but still pretty well liked. I once passed on a test press for like $50 — WHY? There was a second lp recorded in 1986, but the band had gone through several sets of members by then, and their little bit of popularity had waned. Without a label they broke up, and eventually released the lp posthumous on Bitzcore from Germany.

Side A is Potential Suicide. The guitar slinging in th the opening riff is really nice, kind of like something the Huskers might have done midway through their career, but with a rougher kind of incidental Oi vibe. Maybe that comes from the tough marching floor tom that drives the song along and contrasts with the shimmering chords on the guitar.

Side B is Youth Crimes which has a good rockin pogo beat. It sounds like they were really taking a lot from British stuff of the time, but there’s something looser and distinctly American about it. The vocal delivery is energetic and snotty via Boyd Farrell and it has that kinda throaty, post-Lemmy delivery you’d hear on some Riot City record. There’s some good off-key harmonizing with a back-up singer in the chorus too that really holds the whole thing together.

I think this, along with the Unreleased 1980 single, and their tracks on the Connected compilation are the backbone of any argument in favor of Black Market Baby’s greatness. If you’ve never enjoyed their tunes, the blog world ought to be able to help you out.

There’s a repressing of this single on White Vinyl on Yesterday and Today records that also has a different cover. The original version is on Limp and has a yellow sleeve.

Quick one today - file under “late 80’s sxe cult favorites”.

End To End - s/t 7″

End To End’s lone 7″ is sort of remembered as being the only other release on Foundation Records, a label better known for the release of Chain Of Strength’s “What Holds Us Apart” debacle. I think I like the End To End record better, but as you should know, I love the first Chain 7″, and hate the second. Unlike “What Holds Us Apart”, End To End deliver 3 tracks of raw and ragged sxe/HC, and then tack on an unnecessary cover of an SSD song from a live show. Aside from the live cover song though this thing’s great. I wish they’d recorded a demo or something else.

I believe End To End were originally known as Addiction (classic example of a t-shirt band), and they were fronted by former Justice League vocalist Roa. Honestly I’m sure if you search the Internet there’s a good summary of their history, I don’t really feel like digging up all the details of a band w/ one single, but at some point they did a name change and out popped this 7″. Reminds me a bit of Unit Pride but much more angry and less melodic. None for All is a fast thrasher with powerful gang backups, lasting about a minute. Stake Your Faith kicks out a good mosh riff and then digs back into the speed. Actually both of these tracks sound a bit like they could have been on the first Chain of Strength 7″. Stake Your Faith has a great choppy stop start section though that I don’t think Chain would have thought to come up with. Reminds me a little of Pushed Aside or Headfirst which are sort of in the same vein (late 80’s cult sxe). The last original song, Too Bad, fades up with a simplified variation on the main riff to Malfunction and then finds itself in more stop start territory. Again a little like something Pushed Aside or Headfirst coulda cooked up. Weak lyrical moment (imo): the song opens with the line “Fuck You”. It just sounds bad. But still - this is a good song.

Anyway, this was a one time pressing of 1000 or 1500, and I think I’ve heard of some on grey vinyl but I could totally be imagining that. Appealing to the readers here to sort me out on the pressing info. Anyway if you don’t wanna drop the $20-30 for one of these, there’s a nice CD reish on the reliable Indecision records.

Oh P.S. check out my year end wrap up sentence fragments over at Radio Silence book dot com, and if you haven’t peeped it out yet, throw the book on your Xmas list.

Back on Metal Monday with a cult classic: Trouble’s 1990 self-titled lp on Def American, which happens to be my favorite Trouble release. 

Trouble is noteworthy for a few reasons, not the least if which is that it was produced by the oft over rated, but occasionally brilliant Rick Rubin, and released through his Def American imprint. Up to this point Trouble’s recognition outside of metal diehards had been pretty limited. They’d issued 3 albums, 2 of which, “Psalm 9″ and “The Skull” are often seen as their best work. Unfortunately for their bank accounts, Trouble specialized in a traditionalist blend of 70’s neo-classical albums like Judas Priest’s “Sin After Sin”, and early doom standards, principally the backbone of the Black Sabbath catalog. If you don’t know, that wasn’t exactly a stock heavily traded in during the 1980’s, so it must have been kind of astounding when this album dropped, 3 years after their previous and backed by the guy who’d produced a whole bunch of stuff that you like, and also a ton of shit. Oh the other thing about Trouble: they were White Metal band, in other words, they were vocally Christian. Obviously that’s not really towing the line in the metal world, but if you haven’t got the message yet, this band never towed the line.

Probably most important to evaluating Rubin’s production on Trouble is knowing that he’d produced 2 Danzig albums right before this one, and seems to be trying to fit Trouble into a similar doomy blues rock mold. One thing that makes that not really work is the shrill and trebley sound of the record (although it’s not nearly as bad as the follow up, Manic Frustration). Another thing that plays against that sensibility is that Trouble are by design elaborate. Vocally Eric Wagner has, shall we say, a well trained voice. He’s from the Halford school of metal, and isn’t afraid of some high notes. Similarly the guitar attack of Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell can be quite busy, although they know how to hang back and keep economy on their side.

Do not be mislead though, this album is GREAT. The recording (despite the shit mastering job) is still clear and heavy, the songs include many of the best of Trouble’s career, and the album as a whole is even and well executed. Psychotic Reaction is an instant standout track with a dirty shit-kicking groove, (oh and I’m pretty sure Metallica ripped it off for Enter Sandman). Misery Shows is a pretty tasteful power ballad, and a reworking of a song from Psalm 9. It kind of has a Pink Floyd via heavy metal feel. The Wolf has an uptempo speed-rock drive like Judas Priest’s Tyrant. All of these are just on the first side of the lp, but the second side is just as memorable and rewarding.

Since Trouble didn’t have much success on Def American this lp went out of print pretty quickly and isn’t too easy to find. To my knowledge there have been no subsequent pressings either. Keep an eye on it.

Next week I will be posting again.