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Metal Monday vol. 15:
Today is Monday so here’s Bloodcum’s - Death By A Clothes Hanger lp w/ a reasonable buy-it-now price. Bloodcum were infamous for a couple of things, for one, they’re kind of the Roger Clinton of crossover-thrash. Why? Because their guitar player was named John Araya, a fact which their quasi-sketchy label, the infamous Wild Rags, had no scruples about playing up (if you’re lost here TOM Araya is the singer and co-founder of the world famous Slayer). In addition it’s rumored, but not confirmed that they insisted Bloodcum’s singer go by the name Joey Hanneman to play up the “Slayer’s Younger Brothers” angle (corresponding to Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman).

The story is that the members were also Slayer’s roadies, and would come to hang out at practice, after which they would pick up the band’s instruments and goof off. Over time they became relatively competent, recruited a couple more members, cut a demo, and then issued this album, which as you can see by the title (not to mention the band name) is about as tasteful as taking your date to Wendy’s. In terms of music most of the songs owe heavy debts to The Accused, Cryptic Slaughter, Suicidal, & D.R.I., really the only thing in common with Slayer is solos which were clearly lifted from the King/Hanneman school (or more acurratly: King/Hanneman/King/Hanneman/King/Hanneman/King) of “play a bunch of random notes as fast as you can for about 6 seconds”. Lyrically things are definitely on the Accused/Suicidal end of things. There’s a song about how much it sucks to get married, some gory murder glorifications (Son Of Sam, Live To Kill, Sike-O-Path –predating Mental), the rediculous (and kind of hillarious) title track, and my personal favorite title Belligerent Youth. This definitely didn’t win any awards for originality in the day, but if you just want some competent ripping cross-over, look no further.

By the way, this isn’t an mp3 blog, but if you want to check out a good one, and/or want to hear Bloodcum, hit up: http://truepunkmetal.blogspot.com/. It’s got tons of killer downloads and some cool “personal” stories by someone who was actually around to see most of the bands that I only get to talk about.

Another genre classic in limited picture disc form: here’s Kreator’s beloved Pleasure To Kill, an original picture disc pressing on Noise. Actually that’s not entirely accurate, this version of the record, for reasons I’m not entirely sure of, has an alternate title: “AFTER THE ATTACK”, and contains an extra song of the same name. For this reason it’s particularly desirable with collectors. I feel like it may have been pressed before the actual general release pressing of the album and thus was released in this slightly altered form, or maybe it was just done to confuse people into buying the album twice, but either way, it exists as an interesting variation. I may have mentioned it in a past posting, but typically these pressings of noise lps, as well as some colored vinyl pressings were offered through mail order catalogs that came inside most of their lps, and generally are supposed to be limited to between 3,000-5,000, which was a small amount given vinyl being the dominant format at the time, and that Thrash was hugely popular.

People tend to make a lot of the fact that Kreator are a German band, and that early German thrash is much more raw, and therefore more credible than say American bands coming out at this time. To me the difference has always seemed relatively negligible, although there certainly is some sloppiness on the part of many a German Thrash band, there are plenty from the United States (and the rest of the world of course) that are comparable. It’s true though, the vocal delivery on Pleaure to Kill makes none of the rudimentary attempts at staying on key that some of the bigger bands from the United States were at the time and maybe for that it gets a couple of extra “rawness” points, but other than that it’s a pretty technical affair. Most people drop it as a touch-stone for proto-Death Metal and a lot of the guitar lines and the overall speed of the music definitely make a case for that, it sounds sinister and grim and has enough percision in the execution that it’s only a down-tuning and gurgle vocal away from firmly treading Death Metal territory.

Metal Monday vol. 13:

Here’s a lost classic: Absurd - Drained Of Bodily Chemicals(that’s Scam-017 for the careful reader). Before you protest: this is not the infamous German band with moronic political leanings. This is a should-be-classic Swedish Death Metal band with that muscular and agreeable Sunlight Studios sound. If they had delivered an lp it could have easily been held up with all the greats like Entombed, Dismember, Carnage, etc. Unlike many of the more incestuous Swedish acts Absurd’s members never went onto anything I’m aware of other than the singer doing some time in Expulsion. Originally Drained Of Bodily Chemicals was a cassette release, subsequently it was picked up by the Seraphic Decay/Skindrill guys, presumably for very little in return. One thing that stands out to me a bit about the recording is the fairly natural drum sound which is a little out of the ordinary for the time and place (even some of the stick clicks are left in), but helps inject a little extra energy in the recording. I’m pretty sure this is the first pressing for sale, the 2nd pressing has a pink cover (I THINK). This is definitely in my top 3 Seraphic/Skindrill releases just for overall quality of the songs and powerful performance, worth $40-$50 if you’re interested. B-Side track “See Through Me” is like a mini-Left Hand Path (the song), complete with ominous keyboard overdubs, and horror-movie-soundtrack style leads. All hail the BOSS Metal-Zone.

Yes. A Double posting. Kind of just to get back into the swing of things here.
This dude is selling all kinds of Metal stuff, probably from a collection. Mostly decent thrash and death offerings.

One cool thing not too many people know about though, and a good candidate for a thrash metal sleeper is the series of Speed Metal Hell comps on the New Renaissance label. This one,
Speed Metal Hell IIIis my personal favorite of the series. Basically the label took submissions from new bands, and put demo tracks to vinyl, handing out “record deals” to the best or most willing to sign what was probably a bad contract. Some of these bands went on to issue cult favorite lps, like Necrophagia, Dream Death, Blood Feast, and Wehrmacht, but many of the tracks contributed by them were never re-recorded, making them exclusive. Some bands even make their only vinyl appearance on one of these comps (the excellent Papsmear for instance).

Speed Metal Hell III was issued at the total saturation point for Thrash Metal (’88 or ‘89), a few of the groups on it are already starting to veer into Death Metal-isms, and almost all of them owe a heavy debt to Slayer both in the style of riffing and vocal delivery/phrasing, but most also have something that makes them distinct among the pack. As stated in the past much of the best of this stuff is still limited by genre conventions, but even so it’s cool to see what can be done within those parameters. There’s also a couple gems like the Necrophagia track that have very little to do with Slayer, and much more with just sounding as ignorant and brain dead as possible. Seriously this is one of the least accomplished Metal songs this side of Bathory and Warfare Noise comps.

The slaughter continues… this week will be a weird one as I head for Texas to get infinitely bummed out on indie rocking douche bags all trying to get their stupid art band signed to Matador. “First world problems” as they say. I still plan to have content coming daily, but I’m not sure how it’s going to work out yet - so don’t freak.

Anyway… here’s a death metal standard - Autopsy “Severed Survival” lp on Peaceville. This copy has the original artwork on the sleeve, which of course means it’s not a repress. Autopsy stood out during the early 90’s death metal flood, in part because they worked a sound that had more of a connection to hardcore and punk, with a prominent and dirty bass sound, and a relatively (compare to Sunlight or Morrisound) raw recording. The vocals, while definitely in a death metal style growl, were also free of much processing or effects, which kind of puts this lp sounding more like a lot of band’s demo tapes, only without the shitty tape noise. When compared to peers like Entombed or Deicide, or even Carcass after their first lp, Autopsy sound downright rustic. You take a song like Service for a Vacant Coffin which has al the memorable qualities of the best of the aforementioned groups, but almost going back to a riff that you would have heard on To Megatherion, it just stands apart from something like Morbid Angel where everything is blurring together after the first 5 minutes. BTW: the crucial bass playing on this album is courtesy of Steve DiGiorgio, one of the few Death Metal bassists to play with his fingers instead of a pick, which partially accounts for the unique bass sound.

Some other things to think about:

1) Cooch’s (that’s Chris Minnicucci to you outsiders) brother used to be a serious Metal Maniac in the 80’s and 90’s, he says Autopsy is still the best. He’s mainly into baseball cards now.

2) Ray Santilli, the conman behind the Alien Autopsy hoax of the 90’s originally worked in the recording industry. I know it may come as a shock that someone working in music turned out to be a conman, but pick yourself up off the floor. The claim was that Santilli had recovered an original film reel documenting the autopsy of an alien recovered from the alleged Roswell crash site. The footage was broadcast on Fox, (maybe not the Peaceville of broadcast tv, but probably the Earache, or perhaps Relapse) but later revealed to be a hoax. Santilli claimed there had been an original film reel, but that it had been damaged after he viewed it, and only a few frames were salvageable, so he recreated the alleged footage in an empty apartment done up to look like a hospital. Interestingly, when Santilli worked in the music industry, one of his ventures was having artists rerecord their classic tracks for new releases, probably to be sold in rest stops and discount stores.

Metal Monday Vol.11today, and I have another selection for the Thrash Metal Sleeper category, and maybe something to gnaw on for the hardcore purist too. Observe Whiplash - “Power and Pain”. Their first and most remembered lp, and also, one of the best NY/NJ thrash records to ever exist. First thing you might notice is that our old pal, Sean Taggert is responsible for that cover art, which looks like a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robot crushing a skinhead’s head. The music on here sounds kind of like Exodus - Bonded By Blood at double speed, maybe with a little Slayer tossed in. In fact drummer Tony Scaglion is one of only 2 drummers to have ever subbed for Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, and on the Reign in Blood US tour no less. He’s also laid it down in Sheer Terror, Cause For Alarm, and Ludichrist. While I’m at it bassist Tony Bono (R.I.P.) did some time in Into Another in the 90’s. This brings me to another important point: the guitarist/vocalist on this record is also named Tony (Portaro), in other words, the entire band is named Tony. This is a very fine distinction, later to be stolen by pop group Tony, Toni Tone. By my calculation, this is one of the greatest American thrash lps by a band that didn’t strike it big.

Also in the “kind of hardcore related thrash metal sleepers” post: Necrophagia - “Season of The Dead”. This is a record I actually have a promotional copy of including a press sheet where the bands influences are listed which are: “Celtic Frost, Bathory, Sodom, Slaughter, and all hard-core“. Yes the entire genre folks. Nonetheless this record doesn’t have a trace of any hardcore on it, opting for kind of just a mix of the metal bands they listed, and definitely leaning towards the earlier portions of those band’s catalogs. In other words this is shockingly primitive for an lp issued in the USA in 1987. This is on one of my favorite cult labels, New Renaissance Records who issued dozens of no-name metal bands through the 80’s. If following cult-level thrash metal releases is comparable to being a horror movie fanatic, then this is definitely one of those infamous, z-grade, plotless gore flicks. Enjoy.

It’s Metal Monday again… Vol. 10! Today it’s back to black (metal) I guess. I’ve emailed the seller on this one to get the matrix etching for this record, and they are:

vile 28 a1 black fukkin metallllllllllllllllll

vile 28 b1 the return…

Leading me to believe this is a legit test pressing of Darkthrone’s beloved (or reviled) “A Blaze In The Northern Sky”. I remember when Lords of Chaos originally hit bookstores. I had no interest in metal music whatsoever but I picked up this book like so many other people, and was first introduced to the ridiculous world of Norwegian black metal. Obviously I’m a Pozer as I was not handed a Bathory lp somewhere in a foggy Fjord in 1984, but regardless there it was. I’d now heard of all these crazy freaks running around burning down sacred buildings and making this esoteric hell-noize, more or less for a living, and while I wasn’t interested at the time, it was still interesting, and I didn’t forget it. When I first heard “A Blaze…” (much later on) it was just a mess of treble and screeching, and echo, but there was something compelling about it, maybe the utter despair the music could convey even if it was pretty much all fantasy.

In the last couple years it seems like everyone has been bitten by the Black Metal bug again. You can’t walk ten feet without tripping over some skinny blond American Apparel looking female in a Burzum t-shirt reading a Xasthur review at pitchforkmedia.com on their sidekick. The amount of myspace pages that exist for one-man, Garageband-created BM projects by ex-hardcore kids and general interest indie rockers, is on its own, enough proof of this, and the gradual acknowledgement of at least the bigger genre names, by “reputable” (used loosely) music publications seems to say that people are willing to take Black Metal seriously, at least sonically, if nothing else. It makes it sort of weirder to look back on an album like this, all the more so when you see what a cartoon and self parody Darkthrone has consciously become. In the end it’s probably best to just view it in as much of a vacuum as possible. A heavy, harsh, Black Metal album, still with some Death Metal in the sound. Like a good Death Metal record it piles on riff after riff like a boxer who pounds his opponent ten different ways before achieving victory. But it’s the atmosphere and dank analog buzz that sets it apart as a trend setter for, what was then, a new genre (well sort of new). It’s always tough to choose your words about these milestone type records so I’m going to leave it at that. But before I go…

I’m gonna try a little Metal Monday sub-feature. Thrash Metal Sleepers. I feel like Thrash Metal has maybe come of age again with Earache and Relapse signing Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, and a dozen other bands that aren’t very interesting to me either that all kind of sound like Exodus and Kreator in a round about way. Thrash Metal was so big in the mid-80s though that there’s tons of cheap, but overlooked goodies that are worth at least a tip of the hat, and there’s hardly any demand for them in the ebay world, although I feel that time is going to pass sooner, rather than later. Thrash Metal on the whole is kind of comparable (as any micro genre in music could be) to Slasher Movies in the Horror movie scene. They all follow a formula, and the ones that are lesser known are never going to top the defining classics like Psycho and Halloween, but it doesn’t make say… Sleepaway Camp, any less enjoyable if you just want a few cheap scares and dead camp councilors. Catching my drift here?

So for volume one, take note of Holy Terror, a real treat of a band, that managed two full lengths, Terror and Submission (1987), and Mind Wars (1989) in the late 80’s before fading into obscurity. I also found a second copy of the first lp with a 12.99 buy-it-now; a nice deal for sure. What makes Holy Terror so enjoyable is that while they can speed-shred with the best of them, they are not afraid at all to bring in some more classic heavy metal flavor along the lines of Judas Priest and Merciful Fate. At the core they’re still a thrash band, but they’re a thrash band with real hooks, and some song craft to spare. The vocal delivery alternates between screamed and sung style depending on which part of their sound the band is working, but it all feels very natural and seamless.

Man look at that. Here we are at volume 999 of Metal Monday already. A President’s Day edition no less. No doubt somewhere Zombie Abe Lincoln, or at least someone with a Zombie Abe Lincoln tattoo is listening to Iron Maiden or something. Anyhow, I’m pressed for time today, so I don’t have anything crazy, but I found this dude from Korea (no idea how your shipping rates will be) selling a bunch of cool death metal stuff.

For one, he has seemingly original picture discs (probably limited to a few thousand) of the first 2 Dismember lps, and the Pieces E.P. Like An Ever Flowing Stream, their first lp, is one of the only instances of a Death Metal band incorporating melody into their sound that I find to be acceptable and listenable. Riffs twist and turn with sombre themes but manage to be humable and catchy beyond reason, while still being able to break into heavy crushing moments, and tuneless mosquito-buzz thrash. The vocal delivery is also surprisingly straight forward, more-so than the Dismember demos (which you should hear if you like death metal). If only their follow-up Indecent and Obscene could have followed up on the greatness and perfection of their first lp (which, honestly, I’ve not really adequately described). Instead it’s one of the more botched recording jobs I’ve ever heard, I’m unable to sit through it at all. I swear it sounds like they only got around to recording scratch guitar tracks, and it’s frustrating because Like An Ever Flowing Stream is actually a fairly brief debut. Sadly though on Indecent and Obscene, all of the melody and crushing power is lost, leaving the guitars sounding almost like a parody of the buzzing Metal Zone (guitar pedal) sound - just a toneless hum. At any rate there’s also a couple really cool looking original Dismember tour shirts (and one newer one). Have a look…

Metal Monday Vol. 8:  This is from the same seller as last week’s Whiplash test, a copy of Venom - Black Metal on Neat records on a weird grey and brown vinyl swirl. I know I’ve featured Venom on here a bunch of times but this is probably one of the more sought after pressings of the Black Metal lp on Neat, (not a later pressing). My brain still isn’t feeling “on” this morning and it’s hard to know what to say about an album with the level of impact that Black Metal has had, and the insane amount of baggage attached to it because of the title. It’s kind of funny though, for the amount that it’s sighted as a key influence by bands, there aren’t a whole hell of a lot that sound like it. There’s no question the biggest influence that hangs over the song writing is Motorhead, although with a much trashier delivery. A couple of tracks, most notable, Buried Alive play like a dumbed up, moron-Black Sabbath, but most of the rest are really a kind of punk-metal, that too few groups had time to develop with the advent of full on thrash taking over almost right after this album was released. Still the album is significantly more musically accomplished than the preceding one, Welcome to Hell, marking the first time the Venom drum kit sounded like something other than plastic buckets, and though the drumming is still likably terrible, it’s noticeably more accomplished than previous recordings too.  It’s sort of funny to think, I guess, how seriously so many people have attempted to take this album, when you see photos of the Helvete shop there’s even a trinity of Venom lps hanging above a door way. But the album that the most overwrought, unnecessarily serious genre was named after, has a song like Teachers Pet, which is essentially just a prediction of Hot For Teacher, and plenty of choruses that just sound like amateur Judas Priest. To me it will always be a bit of a party album, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, even as some dope in evil face makeup is probably right now trying to hear the shouts of “S-A-C-R-I-F-I-C-E — SACRIFICE!” and not smile and play air guitar. I don’t know, I got nothing here. Have fun, listen to Venom, I need to take a nap at lunch.

What a strange collection of items this seller has. Mint in package water pistols, creepy 3 for a dollar bendy monsters from the 70s, and some OG demo tape type items. ***THIS JUST IN***: seller is Blaine from The Accused, which explains a bit.

Of interest:

An original Brotherhood demo tape. I believe this is the second Brotherhood demo (the one featuring Ron Guardipee on vocals) and the one that was recycled into the band’s 7″, some of their comp tracks, and eventually the Words Run Thick As Blood anthology on Crucial Response. I heard tell of a little beef between the Brotherhood and Crucial Response camps over owed money, that supposedly ended in a shake-down during a Sunn tour sometime in the last few years. I kinda picture it going down like that part in The Princess Bride when Andre The Giant’s character is standing in front of the castle wearing that same hooded robe that Sunn wears, and shouting ominous things. If it wasn’t that way, I don’t even want to know how it was. Personally if I was one of those Sunn dudes, I’d be wearing that thing everywhere. Down to the convenience mart, to the dentist, wherever.
Yes, if you haven’t caught on, Brotherhood is technically pre-Sunn, pre-Burning Witch, pre-Goat Snake, and who could forget, pre-Engine Kid. Also (and much cooler), post-False Liberty. But truthfully the most interesting aspect of Brotherhood to me is the song The Deal. This is a perfect and, somewhat strange (for its day) hardcore song. It begins with a fairly speedy blasting section, like a revved up SS Decontrol, only to cut to a surprisingly slow moshy section about ten seconds later, before diving right back into the speed. In some ways it predicts the territory that would be increasingly mined by the likes of Infest, and their numerous followers, in subsequent years. I’m not suggesting Infest borrowed a formula here, but just that this is an interesting precursor to one of their trademarks. If anything Brotherhood were probably trying to borrow more than a little from DYS, as well as SS Decontrol on this song. Well at any rate I love it very much.

Also of interest: Northwest Hardcore and More. But what is the “more” you ask? it’s hard to say for sure because this seller’s listings are so sub-par, but The Melvins, Wermacht, the Accused, False Liberty, Spastic Blur, and of course MR. BUNGLE are all in there. Seriously if this guy gets $10 for such a crap listing I’ll be surprised. Seems cool for all you tape buyers out there.

Even though it’s not Monday I can’t not mention that he’s selling a Cannibal Corpse demo as well, although I have no way of verifying if it’s original. There’s a mediocre lot of Accused recordstoo. No Return Of Martha Splatterhead in there unfortunately.