Some time back, the great blog, True Punk & Metal (http://truepunkmetal.blogspot.com/) posted the No Mercy album. The author writes of being at a show in L.A. and being throughly freaked out by the level of violence surrounding the Venice scene and the bands of that time. And he's right, these dudes were fucking scarier then a hundred pasty, priveliged, Scandinavian black metal teens in panda make-up. The strange marriage between punk music and Southern California Latino gang culture was thoroughly frightening. More so than skinheads, jocks or rednecks. It was almost like a cult, a cult that had no qualms about stabbing you in the pit. Fuuuuck!!! I'm sure by now everyone's heard of Suicidal Tendencies but what of the other cyco cholos who filled out the ranks? So here I present the "Welcome to Venice" compilation LP from 1985, a great glimpse into the unnerving world of Venice hardcore. You get one previously unreleased song by Suicidal Tendencies, some great Motorhead worship from Beowulf, and some ripping crossover thrash from Los Cycos, Excel, and No Mercy. The Venice bands seemed to have a reverence for metal as evidenced by the presence of speed picking on nearly every track. Say what you will about the violence and the sheer stupidity of these bands and their homies, this comp is killer, esse. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7ECZ82BT
