INTERNT OPPGJØR

I dunno what it was specifically, but this one kicked my ass right out of the gate. Riffs straight out of '80s DC with a methed out freak show presentation, these Norwegian monkeys tweak things just fukkn right. For starters, their nine song tape is titled 6 Trækk Attækk...but maybe they just had a fukkd up eight track recorder they borrowed from a friend...I don't need to know.

6 TRÆKK ATTÆKK

INTERNT OPPGJØR

LASH OUT

Rumbling, chugging Norwegian hardcore, LASH OUT are way rawer on this demo than on any of their vinyl releases - kinda makes them seem like a posi band just about to plunge into metalcore abyss (for the record, they didn't go that route, their recordings just got beefier). "Note From The Death Planet" is the absolute banger, from the "kick it" after the intro to the mid-'80s SUICIDAL bass noodling (just saying that the dude's fills could have put in work on Join The Army, that's all), to the obligatory breakdown, this jam is pure gold even amongst top notch hc sounds with all the clichés. I like the records I've heard (certainly not all of them), so I was psyched when Daniel bequeathed the demo to me...just like you are going to be psyched a few moments after to decide to download it.

LASH OUT

HELVETESPINE

My introduction to black metal was gradual...read a few interviews and got intrigued in the the early '90s (take my brief but ridiculous fascination with BLACK FUNERAL, for example), and I recently saw a picture taken during my first trip to Japan of me wearing a BURZUM shirt...I guess that was weird because I never really listened to them (I think I traded it with someone for a FUCKFACE shirt based solely on the fact that the dude was a weirdo? Didn't learn about the aryan shit until later...live and learn, I suppose). I made a few random purchases, shots in the dark, and most were forgettable (though I have a KVIST disc that has lasted several purges). Then WEAKLING were just the new metal band in town and Aesop lived down the hall and played all kinds of shit and some of it was good and some of it was stupid but all of it was different than the German metalcore I was probably immersing myself in at the time. The point is: I don't know that much, but THIS sounds like all of the good stuff that made me think that this subgenre was worth delving deeper into. And sometimes when you delve deeper, you find bands like Norway's HELVETESPINE. Harsh, bleak, plodding raw black metal in the tradition of the first wave of Nordic heavyweights. Maybe someone else will tell me that these sounds are unworthy for one reason or another, but I think you will find that this 2007 release is more than capable of making your skin crawl. Guitar solo at the 4:22 mark of "Helvetespine del I" is a particularly grim moment....let yourself sink in.

FRYKTEN OG MENNESKET

PARLAMENTARISK SODOMI

There was a time a few years back when Mondays were reserved for regurgitations of derivative bursts of distorted noise punk...and a few people were really stoked about it. I'm a little more lax these days, but I feel like today's post should appeal to those looking to have their boundaries pushed a little more than they are really comfortable with. I give you Norway's PARLAMENTARISK SODOMI. Manic and insane one man HC/grind, I honestly do not think I have ever heard a band like this one, and this 2009(?) release is just the beginning - let them help you challenge everything you think you know about what you like. I feel like this band is going to kick people in the ass sometime in the future, it's primal and sinister hardcore grind metal mania delivered with terrifying precision, but I just don't think the world is ready for it (this was released in '09, and I still don't think the world is ready)...but once this shit sinks in? Fukkn look out. Next level space grind in your fucking face.

 DE ANARKISTEISKE AN(N)ALER

These songs come from a bunch of vinyl releases. Have you heard of 625? Did you think they were done because you are a lazy punk follower? That's your fault. Also, theres a thing called bandcamp.

I know it's early, but I promise you that you need these sounds NOW.

THE UPTIGHTS

There are good tapes. There are tapes that stick with you and maintain your attention long after they have been filed away in some box or upon a shelf. There are some tapes that sit in the "new arrivals" pile for ages, simply because every time you listen to them you hear something new. And then there are tapes like this one. Norway's THE UPTIGHTS have done masterful things to the potentially stale world of shoegazing sounds, and made stark cold winters At The Worthersee Hotel sound like a comforting and terrifying experience. The vocal wails on "Geraldine" might be just a touch over the top, but total honesty is well worth an occasional cringe (a theory that applies to things far beyond the world of cassettes). Garage punk gone the way of dark synths and noise scapes born out of disconcerting distortion...perhaps this cassette is a perfect accident, or perhaps THE UPTIGHTS are your favorite band. 

AT THE WORTHERSEE HOTEL

I suspect this band has long since been not a secret in circle far removed from my own, but nonetheless I encourage you to visit Keep Secret, responsible for this release.

WORLD CLASS PUNK

Jakke handed this gem off to me when I was in New York a few weeks back, a brilliant picture of international early '80s hardcore and punk. Compiled by Mykel Board and released by ROIR in 1984, World Class Punk gave a peek into scenes in corners of the world often overlooked, especially in the pre-interweb infancy of punk. COPULATION (Switzerland) dish out a dark post punk dirge that might steal the whole tape for me,  POP GUNS (South Africa) sound like JOE JACKSON - just brilliant pop, WARRIORS OF THE LAST DAYS (Columbia) slog through a wholly inept number with a determination that cannot be faked - though France's NÉVROSE make a case for being even more brilliantly chaotic while CCM (Italy), BASTARDS (Finland), BGK (Holland), RATOS DE PORÃO (Brasil), PURRKUR PILLNIKK (Iceland), DEZERTER (Poland) dish out the kind of quality they are famous for. Sweden's DANSA SKIRKER blew me away and Spain's SLIPS Y SPERMA are raw hardcore brilliance. File this one in the mandatory column, and read Mykel's liner notes here or buy yourself a copy here.

WORLD CLASS PUNK

BLACKEST WOODS

This whole crew of Norwegian weirdos sure does make some killer music. BLACKEST WOODS flirt with black metal presentation while playing aggressively dark trudging hardcore interspersed with oppressively dark doom laden sludge. The vocals are almost over the top enough to sound ridiculous, but they land squarely in the evil camp, giving off a seriously twisted vibe throughout all four songs. Twisted plodding madness from a family that has delivered nothing but weird and awesome. This one is both. 

ALL MY CHILDREN

RAW WAR

This was the third cassette comp release from Xcentric Noise Records. I could try to spend some time describing it, but I figure that Pushead did a pretty good job in the review section of MRR in 1983 when this gem was unleashed: "The best international sampler cassette available, with bands from Brazil, Canada, Finland, Holland, Italy, Norway and U.K. Features TERVEET KÄDET, NEOS, OHLO SECO, INDIGESTI, RATTUS and more! A lot of jarring explosive doses of chaos from the world of punk" (Maximum Rocknroll #5, March/April 1983). Lots of live tracks, some tunes from records you might have if you are a collector scum, SIB, 5º BRACCIO and NY RAVERS are probably my favorites on this tape, although the RATTUS and TERVEET KADET tracks are pretty unfukkwithable. And remember ADMASS, those inept UK punk miscreants who made a pair of of yawn inducing appearances on The Escape? Yeah, they made it onto this tape filled with '80s international heavyweights, and Gary Bushell is still a cunt.

RAW WAR

My copy came to me sans cover, and thus sans track listing. Thankfully, Kill From The Heart came to the rescue in both departments.

PSUDOKU

Simply put, this is one of the most insane things I've ever heard. If I tell you that Norway's PSUDOKU is a one man grind band then you will probably turn tail and miss out out on 28 incredibly bizarre minutes, so I will not mention that until later. Space Grind is absolutely faster and weirder than any other music you have listened to today, but it is played with manic precision and is loaded with hooks and stops and catchy riffs and bizarre time signatures and guitar breaks that are as good as anything this side of TOTAL FURY (or EYESORE). After my initial listen is was left more in a state of confusion than the blissed out euphoria I feel after being crushed by a killer tape. It was more of a "what just happened, and why does this exist?" feeling, followed quickly by a flip of the tape a further (and louder) research. What if GOBLIN started a grindcore band? These dudes:

Yeah, what if those dudes wanted to play technical grindcore? It would sound like PSUDOKU. I'm telling you, the shit is from space.

PLANETARY SPACE UNIT DIRECTORATE OF KOSMIK UNIVERSES

I promised not to mention it until later, but this is the end so I'll mention that PSUDOKU is the work of one Norwegian savant, the same one behind PARLAMENTARISK SODOMI, for anyone keeping track. This tape is available from Revulsion, and the whole thing was put to wax by 625...a wise decision made by a wise man.

HAUST

This tape took a lot of mental gymnastics to try to describe. There's a feel to their riffs and song structure that reminds me of KYLESA - rather mathematic but not pretentious, but I get the feeling that they are a metal band. It might be the vocals (sinister and evil and distorted throughout), but it's really just a general vibe thing...I feel like HAUST are metalheads. Whatever they are, or wherever they come from (Norway), I love these downtuned headbanging anthems.

POWERS OF HORROR

I'M BUCK NAKED

More BCT jams to fill up a Friday. This time the hardcore jams come from Americaland (except AKUTT INNGGELSE, some random Scandinavians tacked onto the end of the tape who totally slay) - PSYCHO (Boston), LOVE CANAL (Los Angeles), THE DRILLS (Seattle), EAT THE RICH (San Jose), Terminal Escape alumni THE UNEXPECTED (New Jersey), SUBURBAN DECAY (more Jersey), legendary scorchers from DETENTION, and DISORDERLY CONDUCT from Florida. Lots of raw and likely live recordings, perfectly suited for blasting at top fukkn volume because you are a punk rocker. The DETENTION songs blew my mind when I first heard them courtesy of ILLEGITIMATE SONS guitarist Dan, and they are just as powerful today. And yes, I know that the EAT THE RICH cover of "Electric Funeral" totally blows.

I'M BUCK NAKED

Worth noting: I'm assuming that the band WHITE PRIDE is indeed a white pride band, and yeah I think that's somewhere between stupid and offensive, but 25 years later it seems silly to edit them out of the tape, especially since their songs are super catchy. No sense in starting a dialogue about the musical merits of '80s nazi shitheads, since they can all get fukkd and probably spend their adult days pulling swing shifts at Best Buy to support their cross eyed aryan offspring. You gotta sell a shitload of Lil Wayne CDs and Call Of Duty games and kiss a lot of your bosses ass to support a one bedroom apartment full of blond haired rugrats, so my heart goes out to them.

PUNK BELONGS TO THE PUNKS

Fans of 80s punk and hardcore have been left out to dry this week...I was on a bit of a noise kick and wanted to share.  But hopefully I'll redeem myself today with Punk Belongs To The Punks, a killer comp from Norway.  The mighty BANNLYST, ANGOR WAT, and female fronted punks SVARTE FAEN represent Norway here, and fellow Scandinavians RATTUS (Finland), NONCENS, SOTLIMPA and BRISTLES (Sweden) round out the Northern European submissions.  DECEASED and SUBHUMANS from England, WUNDERBACH from France, and lone Americans THE HATES (Houston, Texas, formed in 1978, total KBD heroes in my book) complete the list of killer bands on this comp.  Two songs each from 11 bands, and these are all fucking heavyweights, from the widely known SUBHUMANS (this 1983 live version of "So Much Money" is one of the meanest SUBHUMANS tracks I've heard ever!) to the exclusive cult popularity of THE HATES, BANNLYST or SOTLIMPA.  Get ready for blown out balls out hardcore punk blasts to rocket your ass through the day, this one is a total burner.

PUNK BELONGS TO THE PUNKS