Over a thousand gathered on January 17 to protest the enforced closure of The Tote hotel, a victim of changes to Victoria’s liquor licencing laws that have seen the popular inner-city music venue upgraded to a “high risk” venue.
The change in licencing from January 1 meant that the owner, Bruce Milne, felt he could no longer afford to keep the venue open. "The high-risk conditions they have placed on the Tote’s licence make it impossible to trade profitably," he said in a statement. The new state laws, supported by the ALP and Greens, are ostensibly to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence on the city’s streets.
Local councillor Stephen Jolly of The Socialist Party ridiculed the new laws, speaking to the rally. “The Tote is a safe place and has iconic status in this area,” he said. “If you wanna get beaten up, you go to King Street or Crown Casino and not The Tote.” The venue does not have a history of violence.
The Age reported on January 20 that local ALP MP Richard Wynne had met with the venue’s landlord, and was lobbying for changes to the licencing laws, in a bid to save the venue. There is a possibility that a new consortium of local bar owners may step in to save the venue, but nothing certain at this stage.
The Tote was one of the few remaining venues where up and coming rock and alternative bands could secure public gigs. Another venue, the Arthouse in north Melbourne, has also announced it will not renew its licence and will close in May.
The closure of The Tote echoes the 2002 closure of the Punters’ Club, in nearby Fitzroy, which was due to rising rent. Gentrification and licencing laws are not the only villains of course. Veteran Melbourne musician Dave Graney reminds us that “The hoteliers kicked the bands out of the big rooms as soon as they could see that poker machines were more lucrative.”
Even if The Tote receives a last minute stay of execution, Milne still has a message for live music fans. “It’s too late to save the Tote but not too late to try and save other inner city venues that are feeling the same pressures” he said.
Read the whole article
Jan 22, 2010
Feb 7, 2001
Magic Dirt: What Are Rock Stars Doing Today
"Some critics have welcomed Magic Dirt's change from ``endless feedback, dirges and `arty' soundscapes'' (Rave magazine, Brisbane). After listening to my copy of the band's 1996 Friends in Danger album, I have to disagree... The latest album clearly builds on the earlier material."
What Are Rock Stars Doing Today
Magic Dirt
Warner Music
Some critics have welcomed Magic Dirt's change from ``endless feedback, dirges and `arty' soundscapes'' (Rave magazine, Brisbane). After listening to my copy of the band's 1996 Friends in Danger album, I have to disagree. The songs back then were quite beautiful — longer, with more instrumental parts, and a more anxious or angry mood. The latest album clearly builds on the earlier material.
Plenty of bands are playing pop grunge music but few with the beauty and character of Magic Dirt. The band has developed a distinct and original sound.
The songs are catchy and very listenable. The depth of feeling in the sweet-sad melodies of singer Adalita remains. The band weaves in all the elements of their earlier sound.
I've been impressed by Magic Dirt's musical contribution to the community over the years. Although reasonably popular, they haven't stopped playing local gigs at pubs and surf clubs, and the occasional benefit (I last saw them at a Jabiluka Action Group benefit). They don't play political music, but the commitment is there: just look at the list of environmental and animal welfare organisations' web sites in the CD cover.
The verdict is: if you like rock 'n' roll, listen to this!
Originally published in
What Are Rock Stars Doing Today
Magic Dirt
Warner Music
Magic rock'n'roll
GEELONG — Local band Magic Dirt have produced a brilliant album of dreamy but catchy pop-leaning songs. It's the best new rock'n'roll I've heard in years.Some critics have welcomed Magic Dirt's change from ``endless feedback, dirges and `arty' soundscapes'' (Rave magazine, Brisbane). After listening to my copy of the band's 1996 Friends in Danger album, I have to disagree. The songs back then were quite beautiful — longer, with more instrumental parts, and a more anxious or angry mood. The latest album clearly builds on the earlier material.
Plenty of bands are playing pop grunge music but few with the beauty and character of Magic Dirt. The band has developed a distinct and original sound.
The songs are catchy and very listenable. The depth of feeling in the sweet-sad melodies of singer Adalita remains. The band weaves in all the elements of their earlier sound.
I've been impressed by Magic Dirt's musical contribution to the community over the years. Although reasonably popular, they haven't stopped playing local gigs at pubs and surf clubs, and the occasional benefit (I last saw them at a Jabiluka Action Group benefit). They don't play political music, but the commitment is there: just look at the list of environmental and animal welfare organisations' web sites in the CD cover.
The verdict is: if you like rock 'n' roll, listen to this!
Originally published in
Feb 2, 2000
Tet Offensive: Armed Insurrection Music
“Any band can put out a CD, but only a good band can sell a seven-inch. There's only so many kids with turntables these days.”
Armed Insurrection Music
Tet Offensive
Let's be frank, if you're looking for a polished metal or punk sound like the Offspring or Metallica, this self-produced four-song demo' tape by United States band Tet Offensive is not it. Think more of the messy vocals of Sepultura, or the thrashing guitars of Napalm Death.
Like many underground punk bands, the lyrics offer a very political view of the world. ``227'' looks at the plight of immigrants in the United States, its title refers to the anti-immigrant referendum, Proposition 227, passed in California. Other songs look at racist eugenics (``Illness Personified'') and religion (``Rosary Bleeds'').
The band members are all involved in politics. Some just attend demonstrations, while guitarist Romel Espinel works for the communist newspaper Challenge, published by the Maoist Progressive Labor Party.
Drummer Salvatore Engel-DiMauro is “minimally involved as a wobbly” and contributes to “different anarchist organisations through editing, writing and translating articles”. Bassist Merilee Kuchon produces a 'zine called Social Cleansing which publishes underground political and cultural material.
The low-cost production of this CD means that you have to fiddle with your graphic equaliser to get a balanced sound. I thought some of the music tended to drag a bit, lacking dynamism and development in the riffs. Then again, the last song is apparently meant to be a slow grind, which is fair enough but not really my cup of tea.
I've heard far worse first demo's from bands that went on to become excellent performers, and overall I enjoyed this tape. The sound fits somewhere into the spectrum between metal and punk, in the “crossover” splinter style known as grindcore or crusty punk. The guitars push out some fine metal riffs, at times reminiscent of 1980s speed metal bands, while the vocals definitely project a punk attitude and ambience.
Like many punk bands, Tet Offensive intends to continue to publish its own material. Questioned about this DIY trend, singer George Norton points out that “DIY is the only option for Tet Offensive. I doubt major labels will be knocking on our doors any time soon.”
Espinel points out that DIY gives the band political freedom to do what it wants -- but then, it does that for neo-Nazi bands as well.
The band is looking forward to playing more gigs and putting together its first “seven-inch” record. Kuchon says, “Any band can put out a CD, but only a good band can sell a seven-inch. There's only so many kids with turntables these days.”
Whatever format Tet Offensive releases its music in, watch this space for news!
Originally published in Green Left Weekly issue 391 2 February 2000
Read the whole article
Armed Insurrection Music
Tet Offensive
DIY musical insurgents!
Let's be frank, if you're looking for a polished metal or punk sound like the Offspring or Metallica, this self-produced four-song demo' tape by United States band Tet Offensive is not it. Think more of the messy vocals of Sepultura, or the thrashing guitars of Napalm Death.
Like many underground punk bands, the lyrics offer a very political view of the world. ``227'' looks at the plight of immigrants in the United States, its title refers to the anti-immigrant referendum, Proposition 227, passed in California. Other songs look at racist eugenics (``Illness Personified'') and religion (``Rosary Bleeds'').
The band members are all involved in politics. Some just attend demonstrations, while guitarist Romel Espinel works for the communist newspaper Challenge, published by the Maoist Progressive Labor Party.
Drummer Salvatore Engel-DiMauro is “minimally involved as a wobbly” and contributes to “different anarchist organisations through editing, writing and translating articles”. Bassist Merilee Kuchon produces a 'zine called Social Cleansing which publishes underground political and cultural material.
The low-cost production of this CD means that you have to fiddle with your graphic equaliser to get a balanced sound. I thought some of the music tended to drag a bit, lacking dynamism and development in the riffs. Then again, the last song is apparently meant to be a slow grind, which is fair enough but not really my cup of tea.
I've heard far worse first demo's from bands that went on to become excellent performers, and overall I enjoyed this tape. The sound fits somewhere into the spectrum between metal and punk, in the “crossover” splinter style known as grindcore or crusty punk. The guitars push out some fine metal riffs, at times reminiscent of 1980s speed metal bands, while the vocals definitely project a punk attitude and ambience.
Like many punk bands, Tet Offensive intends to continue to publish its own material. Questioned about this DIY trend, singer George Norton points out that “DIY is the only option for Tet Offensive. I doubt major labels will be knocking on our doors any time soon.”
Espinel points out that DIY gives the band political freedom to do what it wants -- but then, it does that for neo-Nazi bands as well.
The band is looking forward to playing more gigs and putting together its first “seven-inch” record. Kuchon says, “Any band can put out a CD, but only a good band can sell a seven-inch. There's only so many kids with turntables these days.”
Whatever format Tet Offensive releases its music in, watch this space for news!
Originally published in Green Left Weekly issue 391 2 February 2000
Read the whole article
Jun 23, 1999
Primordial, Samain: Celtic heavy metal?
"A lot of contemporary black metal bands -- Cradle of Filth the best known -- rely on synthesisers to create the dark romantic atmosphere they want. Primordial and Samain create an atmosphere equal to the best of such bands using guitars and with less pretension than one has come to expect from normal black metal bands."
Indomitus
Samain
Bloodless Creations through Modern Invasion Music
A Journey's End
Primordial
Misanthropy Records
I was attracted to the CD by Perth band Samain by a reviewer who praised it for its tasteful melding of traditional Celtic acoustic music and heavy metal and by the quote from the Communist Manifesto in the liner notes. After listening, what attracted me was simply the band's heavy metal, not its “Celtic” flavour nor its political bent.
Samain's rich and earthy, dominated by the guitars. It is bass-laden without hiding the tunes. The rhythms are not overly fast, the quick drum beats being secondary to the slower pulse of the riffs. There are pleasant lapses into acoustic guitar, with melancholy (but melodic) singing. There isn't anything especially Celtic in it, but it is well-crafted music.
Lyrically, there isn't a shred of politics, despite the quote from Karl Marx: “All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and options are swept away ... All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned ... and man is at last compelled to face ... his real conditions of life, and relations with his kind.”
The songs are about ancient Celtic warriors heading into battle, the burials of kings and other themes from Celtic mythology. Heavy metal has always had a strong inclination towards the romantic. Sword-and-sorcery fantasy is a common theme for many bands. Samain's focus on Celtic mythology for inspiration is perhaps a little more interesting.
Quoting Marx seems a little strange at first, but it fits if you understand the sub-genre known as “black metal” (and realise that the quote is used way out of context!). A common theme of heavy metal is the rejection of Christianity. While the sillier manifestations -- “satanic” bands like Deicide and Venom -- are amusing at best, there are more interesting examples.
Black metal has taken a turn towards pagan themes and religion. Despite the mysticism, self-reliance is emphasised, rather than reliance on hierarchical authorities. The less positive side is that many (mainly Norwegian) black metal bands have added Nazi politics to their “Nordic Aryan master race” paganism.
It is the rejection of the Christian religion (especially in its most patronising, repressive forms) that leads Samian to quote Marx. Paganism is seen as a way to reclaim dignity, rejecting the guilt and hypocrisy associated with Christianity.
Irish band Primordial's music is similar to Samain's, but they go further by incorporating traditional instruments like whistles, bodhran and mandolin. Rather than using the standard metal power chords, they strum acoustic chords in all their songs. The overall sound is bleaker, but not without a good dose of melancholy charm.
A lot of contemporary black metal bands -- Cradle of Filth the best known -- rely on synthesisers to create the dark romantic atmosphere they want. Primordial and Samain create an atmosphere equal to the best of such bands using guitars and with less pretension than one has come to expect from normal black metal bands.
Primordial's lyrics focus on personal issues through a prism of mythological references. Nevertheless, lyrically Primordial shows more promise than many other black metal bands. “There is some pagan and heathen roots in the band but a Celt does not exist in 1998, that is purely a Romantic myth. There is nothing regressional about this band”, singer Alan Nemtheanga Averill told In Your Face magazine in October last year.
Read the whole article
Indomitus
Samain
Bloodless Creations through Modern Invasion Music
A Journey's End
Primordial
Misanthropy Records
Celtic heavy metal?
I was attracted to the CD by Perth band Samain by a reviewer who praised it for its tasteful melding of traditional Celtic acoustic music and heavy metal and by the quote from the Communist Manifesto in the liner notes. After listening, what attracted me was simply the band's heavy metal, not its “Celtic” flavour nor its political bent.
Samain's rich and earthy, dominated by the guitars. It is bass-laden without hiding the tunes. The rhythms are not overly fast, the quick drum beats being secondary to the slower pulse of the riffs. There are pleasant lapses into acoustic guitar, with melancholy (but melodic) singing. There isn't anything especially Celtic in it, but it is well-crafted music.
Lyrically, there isn't a shred of politics, despite the quote from Karl Marx: “All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and options are swept away ... All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned ... and man is at last compelled to face ... his real conditions of life, and relations with his kind.”
The songs are about ancient Celtic warriors heading into battle, the burials of kings and other themes from Celtic mythology. Heavy metal has always had a strong inclination towards the romantic. Sword-and-sorcery fantasy is a common theme for many bands. Samain's focus on Celtic mythology for inspiration is perhaps a little more interesting.
Quoting Marx seems a little strange at first, but it fits if you understand the sub-genre known as “black metal” (and realise that the quote is used way out of context!). A common theme of heavy metal is the rejection of Christianity. While the sillier manifestations -- “satanic” bands like Deicide and Venom -- are amusing at best, there are more interesting examples.
Black metal has taken a turn towards pagan themes and religion. Despite the mysticism, self-reliance is emphasised, rather than reliance on hierarchical authorities. The less positive side is that many (mainly Norwegian) black metal bands have added Nazi politics to their “Nordic Aryan master race” paganism.
It is the rejection of the Christian religion (especially in its most patronising, repressive forms) that leads Samian to quote Marx. Paganism is seen as a way to reclaim dignity, rejecting the guilt and hypocrisy associated with Christianity.
Irish band Primordial's music is similar to Samain's, but they go further by incorporating traditional instruments like whistles, bodhran and mandolin. Rather than using the standard metal power chords, they strum acoustic chords in all their songs. The overall sound is bleaker, but not without a good dose of melancholy charm.
A lot of contemporary black metal bands -- Cradle of Filth the best known -- rely on synthesisers to create the dark romantic atmosphere they want. Primordial and Samain create an atmosphere equal to the best of such bands using guitars and with less pretension than one has come to expect from normal black metal bands.
Primordial's lyrics focus on personal issues through a prism of mythological references. Nevertheless, lyrically Primordial shows more promise than many other black metal bands. “There is some pagan and heathen roots in the band but a Celt does not exist in 1998, that is purely a Romantic myth. There is nothing regressional about this band”, singer Alan Nemtheanga Averill told In Your Face magazine in October last year.
Read the whole article
Jul 17, 1996
Sepultura: Roots
"Tours are taken and singles released with the purpose of marketing an album. Little is played live that has not been released in some purchasable form... it imposes a real straitjacket on bands -- an extremely linear development..."
Roots
Sepultura
Roadrunner Records
I suppose quite a few reviewers must have had a bit of a scratch of the scalp whilst trying to describe Sepultura's latest album. No longer do they play the straight "speed" or "death" metal that they began with in the 1980s.
I would say that they have improved from their earlier days of thrashed speed riffs and fantasy/horror theme lyrics, fun though the earlier albums were. Arise marked a definite pinnacle of that 1980s-vintage style: high speed guitar licks and riffs pouring out, overlaid with vicious, lashing vocals and pitter-patter drums.
Come the '90s, they have changed sounds somewhat. Now that "alternative" music is all the rage, straight-out technical speed isn't so interesting. Texture, diversity and the unusual are more "in". Perhaps a bigger gain is the apparent increase in social awareness among these "alternative" musicians.
Sepultura have (wittingly or not) kept up with developments. The new album has changed markedly from even their previous Chaos AD (1993). Chaos AD featured less speed and more power-riffing; this album has almost given up riffs altogether in some parts, featuring far less melody, but more texture. There are some really wicked grind sounds in the guitars and voice (especially in the title track!), but most noticeable is the percussion section: traditional Indian drums from Sepultura's native Brazil are drafted in for a slightly weird (but pleasing) rhythmic thrash sludge sound.
The album has not lost any of the brutality and aggression of earlier albums. If anything, this (major) aspect of the music is more intense, even if the slower pace at first belies it. Roots is not generally as catchy, except for the more experimental tracks: "Ratamahatta" (sung in Portuguese; I don't know what it's about) and "Itsari". "Itsari" is an interesting groove, recorded in Brazil's Mato Grosso with the Xavante tribe performing a traditional healing chant and Sepultura playing percussion and acoustic guitar. It's very soothing, more so by contrast with the other songs.
If you get the limited edition first release of the CD, you also get some more interesting goodies -- a techno remix of "Chaos AD (Chaos BC)"; a cover of Black Sabbath's 1975 classic, "Symptom of the Universe"; and a live version of their earlier acoustic song, "Kaiowas".
The lyrics on Roots are not as hard-hitting as those on Chaos AD. They are less structured, with less obvious messages and more emotive statements. But still they are against injustice and exploitation ("Screaming for more justice/ Amazonia burns/ Can you hear them?").
The question will be asked, of course: have they "sold out"? Going by the music, I can't see many people replying in the affirmative, not even the most hardened "alternative" metal fans. On the other hand, a journalist from Q magazine seemed rather disappointed that they weren't the blood-drinking death metal stereotypes he wanted (in order to ridicule them more easily, no doubt), that vocalist Max Cavalera is "cuddly", that they have family lives and so on.
Max Cavalera says, "The mainstream is swallowing us little by little". Does he mean swallowing their music? It would be very easy for the corporate showbiz world to devour them, souls and all, I'm sure. Some would say that this has already begun.
The music business imposes some very solid restrictions on musicians, regardless of whether (or what) they "sell out". Albums are the standard unit of musical output for bands. Everything hangs around this or that album. "That album was OK, but on such-and-such an album the band sold out." Tours are taken and singles released with the purpose of marketing an album. Little is played live that has not been released in some purchasable form.
There is an upside to this. Each album is, generally, a very well-honed opus in and of itself, a milestone in the band's development (and at the prices the stores charge, you'd hope to get something good for your money!).
But it imposes a real straitjacket on bands -- an extremely linear development, which may evolve to become a different pigeonholed style, but only with much difficulty can go in different directions or encompass different styles. The pressure seems also to inhibit musicians' spontaneity, especially live. Sepultura do not seem to have breached these limits in any remarkable way.
All the same, Roots is Sepultura's well-honed opus, and it's worth a listen. Non-fans of punk and metal will probably appreciate it like a well-tuned electric drill in the earhole. Fair enough. But it makes my toes tap (all of them), my heart beat faster, and I feel like bellowing "Roots, bloody roots" along with the rest of the band.
Originally published in Green Left Weekly issue 238, 17 July 1996
Read the whole article
Roots
Sepultura
Roadrunner Records
Not selling out yet
I suppose quite a few reviewers must have had a bit of a scratch of the scalp whilst trying to describe Sepultura's latest album. No longer do they play the straight "speed" or "death" metal that they began with in the 1980s.
I would say that they have improved from their earlier days of thrashed speed riffs and fantasy/horror theme lyrics, fun though the earlier albums were. Arise marked a definite pinnacle of that 1980s-vintage style: high speed guitar licks and riffs pouring out, overlaid with vicious, lashing vocals and pitter-patter drums.
Come the '90s, they have changed sounds somewhat. Now that "alternative" music is all the rage, straight-out technical speed isn't so interesting. Texture, diversity and the unusual are more "in". Perhaps a bigger gain is the apparent increase in social awareness among these "alternative" musicians.
Sepultura have (wittingly or not) kept up with developments. The new album has changed markedly from even their previous Chaos AD (1993). Chaos AD featured less speed and more power-riffing; this album has almost given up riffs altogether in some parts, featuring far less melody, but more texture. There are some really wicked grind sounds in the guitars and voice (especially in the title track!), but most noticeable is the percussion section: traditional Indian drums from Sepultura's native Brazil are drafted in for a slightly weird (but pleasing) rhythmic thrash sludge sound.
The album has not lost any of the brutality and aggression of earlier albums. If anything, this (major) aspect of the music is more intense, even if the slower pace at first belies it. Roots is not generally as catchy, except for the more experimental tracks: "Ratamahatta" (sung in Portuguese; I don't know what it's about) and "Itsari". "Itsari" is an interesting groove, recorded in Brazil's Mato Grosso with the Xavante tribe performing a traditional healing chant and Sepultura playing percussion and acoustic guitar. It's very soothing, more so by contrast with the other songs.
If you get the limited edition first release of the CD, you also get some more interesting goodies -- a techno remix of "Chaos AD (Chaos BC)"; a cover of Black Sabbath's 1975 classic, "Symptom of the Universe"; and a live version of their earlier acoustic song, "Kaiowas".
The lyrics on Roots are not as hard-hitting as those on Chaos AD. They are less structured, with less obvious messages and more emotive statements. But still they are against injustice and exploitation ("Screaming for more justice/ Amazonia burns/ Can you hear them?").
The question will be asked, of course: have they "sold out"? Going by the music, I can't see many people replying in the affirmative, not even the most hardened "alternative" metal fans. On the other hand, a journalist from Q magazine seemed rather disappointed that they weren't the blood-drinking death metal stereotypes he wanted (in order to ridicule them more easily, no doubt), that vocalist Max Cavalera is "cuddly", that they have family lives and so on.
Max Cavalera says, "The mainstream is swallowing us little by little". Does he mean swallowing their music? It would be very easy for the corporate showbiz world to devour them, souls and all, I'm sure. Some would say that this has already begun.
The music business imposes some very solid restrictions on musicians, regardless of whether (or what) they "sell out". Albums are the standard unit of musical output for bands. Everything hangs around this or that album. "That album was OK, but on such-and-such an album the band sold out." Tours are taken and singles released with the purpose of marketing an album. Little is played live that has not been released in some purchasable form.
There is an upside to this. Each album is, generally, a very well-honed opus in and of itself, a milestone in the band's development (and at the prices the stores charge, you'd hope to get something good for your money!).
But it imposes a real straitjacket on bands -- an extremely linear development, which may evolve to become a different pigeonholed style, but only with much difficulty can go in different directions or encompass different styles. The pressure seems also to inhibit musicians' spontaneity, especially live. Sepultura do not seem to have breached these limits in any remarkable way.
All the same, Roots is Sepultura's well-honed opus, and it's worth a listen. Non-fans of punk and metal will probably appreciate it like a well-tuned electric drill in the earhole. Fair enough. But it makes my toes tap (all of them), my heart beat faster, and I feel like bellowing "Roots, bloody roots" along with the rest of the band.
Originally published in Green Left Weekly issue 238, 17 July 1996
Read the whole article
Oct 26, 1994
Social decay and musical violence
"Thrash music has always been overwhelmingly male dominated, to the extent that it is hard to imagine what it would sound like with a woman singing."
(This article I had lots of fun writing for a high school essay was published in Green Left Weekly issue #164, 26 October 1994)
Distorted, crunching, chainsaw-like guitars, drums like a jackhammer and vocals from hell. Someone once likened it to holding an electric drill against your forehead. Thrash music, hardcore, speed metal, call it what you like. It's a pretty distinctive sort of sound.
Generally, thrash can be described as aggressive, dark and powerful music, although it is by no means all the same; the label “thrash” covers several different musical and social sub-genres.
The imagery used by bands is diverse and strange: occult symbols, S&M style leather, splattered gore, pictures of exploitation and oppression, even the occasional neo-Nazi rubbish. Musically, thrash is controversial. To some it is a way of life, while others think it's an awful racket.
To a certain extent, fast, energetic music has always existed, but modern thrash music is a new development. The beginnings can be seen in the late 1960s. Huge numbers of young people in Western countries became disillusioned with the society they were growing up in, with their future role as servants of the elite that was pursuing a terrible war against the people of Vietnam.
Rock music had already become popular, and the political upheavals generated a wild new wave, from trippy spaced-out acid rock to the harsh heavy metal intensity of groups like Black Sabbath. But the social movement slowed down in the 1970s, as did the music. Some vestiges remained, the corporate “supergroups” like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but most music took a turn to commercialised glam and pop.
In the late 1970s, the world economy was in a downturn. Standards of living declined, and the popular movements of the 1960s were largely gone. A new wave of bands expressed the bitterness and anger of another generation of youth in aggro, messy, noisy, punk rock.
Though not the first punk band, the Sex Pistols became the most successful. Their first album went to number one in the British charts, despite a virtual ban on radio and TV. While they sang “Anarchy in the UK” and the Clash even called an album Sandinista in tribute to the 1979 Nicaraguan revolution, punk music came from the frustrating lack of any real radical political directions for British (and other Western) youth, and took quite a nihilistic direction on the whole.
In the 1980s, hardcore punk music continued in the US and the UK, in the same way as the first wave of punk, but without any comparable commercial success. Most hardcore bands had developed more political awareness; for example the UK's Discharge had song titles like “State Violence/State Control”.
However, this was still in the absence of any real political movement, and hardcore continued to evolve in this way through the 1980s: militant against the ruling class, but without any real practical solutions or connection to mass social movements. Hardcore survived in the underground, independent of major record companies and commerciality, but also isolated.
A new musical trend emerged in the early to mid 1980s in the US. In some ways, it was an extension of the new wave of British heavy metal that followed punk. However, the US bands also took a lot of the punk energy into their style to make faster, more aggressive speed (or thrash, or death) metal.
This is where groups like Metallica and Slayer originate. These bands tended to write more about violence and horror (rather than about making out all night with hordes of voluptuous women and riding motorbikes down the highway, as a lot of earlier heavy metal bands had done!).
In doing this, many bands took up social issues in their lyrics, finding targets for their anger in government, religion and wealth; sometimes the targeting was more reactionary, for example women and homosexuals. Thrash music has always been overwhelmingly male dominated, to the extent that it is hard to imagine what it would sound like with a woman singing.
Most bands took up issues of the environment and peace as awareness rose in the 1980s, but there was no conscious trend of political awareness as in hardcore. The politics in speed metal were usually a reflection of general popular sentiments, rather than a deliberate attempt to understand or change the world.
At the end of the 1980s, the world experienced large-scale recession again. Once again the punk spirit reared its head, and once again in the UK. Hardcore punk had continued throughout the 1980s, borrowing a little from heavy metal, evolving into a heavier style and continuing with the radical political image that it had started with.
Coming out of this, extreme hardcore bands influenced by death metal started to become popular, groups like Napalm Death and Carcass, with the Earache record company. The new style was called grindcore. Initially, most grindcore had quite radical lyrics, dealing with police violence, racism, Third World poverty. The first words on Napalm Death's 1988 album Scum are, “Multinational corporations: genocide of the starving nations”.
Since then, there has been a gradual shift towards meaningless lyrics about gore and so on (and the old fascination with satanism continues, defying all notions of intelligence and originality!). But the difference between punk and grindcore is that punk became politicised, whereas most grindcore was political to begin with, being an extension of punk. This has had much more influence on other styles, and new political grindcore bands still continue to appear.
One apparent influence has been on Brazilian speed metal band Sepultura. While becoming more commercially successful, they have been influenced by grindcore and become much more political, attacking government repression and multinational exploitation in no uncertain terms. Their 1994 album Chaos AD focused explicitly on the misery of life in Brazil and mass anger and resistance to that.
Most youth subcultures are picked up by business and commercialised as highly marketable fashions. For example, the Stussy clothing label has picked up the Afro-American youth “hip-hop” style and now it is an expensive international brand. Plastic commercial versions of hip-hop and rap music are marketed in a similar way.
This sort of commercialisation affects youth subculture in general, thrash included. With the lack of any political outlet for the frustration and alienation of youth, music will take meaningless directions. Hence the bands that sing about rubbish like satanism and mindless carnage.
The difference from the 1980s is that most youth now have less money to buy into the fashion industry. The recession, we are told, is ending. Corporate profit rates are soaring, but the recovery is only a recovery for business, and the politicisation and disillusionment created by the recession remain. Political trends continue in youth culture. Thrash music is still one of the main media for youth rebellion (although grunge and rap are starting to play similar roles), and this manifests itself in various ways, some of them quite constructive.
A further politicisation of music can be expected as Third World liberation movements continue their struggles, and as poverty and anger continue to grow in the First World. Thrash music will continue to exist as an extreme, aggressive style as long as young people are alienated and angry.
Read the whole article
(This article I had lots of fun writing for a high school essay was published in Green Left Weekly issue #164, 26 October 1994)
Distorted, crunching, chainsaw-like guitars, drums like a jackhammer and vocals from hell. Someone once likened it to holding an electric drill against your forehead. Thrash music, hardcore, speed metal, call it what you like. It's a pretty distinctive sort of sound.
Generally, thrash can be described as aggressive, dark and powerful music, although it is by no means all the same; the label “thrash” covers several different musical and social sub-genres.
The imagery used by bands is diverse and strange: occult symbols, S&M style leather, splattered gore, pictures of exploitation and oppression, even the occasional neo-Nazi rubbish. Musically, thrash is controversial. To some it is a way of life, while others think it's an awful racket.
To a certain extent, fast, energetic music has always existed, but modern thrash music is a new development. The beginnings can be seen in the late 1960s. Huge numbers of young people in Western countries became disillusioned with the society they were growing up in, with their future role as servants of the elite that was pursuing a terrible war against the people of Vietnam.
Rock music had already become popular, and the political upheavals generated a wild new wave, from trippy spaced-out acid rock to the harsh heavy metal intensity of groups like Black Sabbath. But the social movement slowed down in the 1970s, as did the music. Some vestiges remained, the corporate “supergroups” like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but most music took a turn to commercialised glam and pop.
In the late 1970s, the world economy was in a downturn. Standards of living declined, and the popular movements of the 1960s were largely gone. A new wave of bands expressed the bitterness and anger of another generation of youth in aggro, messy, noisy, punk rock.
Though not the first punk band, the Sex Pistols became the most successful. Their first album went to number one in the British charts, despite a virtual ban on radio and TV. While they sang “Anarchy in the UK” and the Clash even called an album Sandinista in tribute to the 1979 Nicaraguan revolution, punk music came from the frustrating lack of any real radical political directions for British (and other Western) youth, and took quite a nihilistic direction on the whole.
In the 1980s, hardcore punk music continued in the US and the UK, in the same way as the first wave of punk, but without any comparable commercial success. Most hardcore bands had developed more political awareness; for example the UK's Discharge had song titles like “State Violence/State Control”.
However, this was still in the absence of any real political movement, and hardcore continued to evolve in this way through the 1980s: militant against the ruling class, but without any real practical solutions or connection to mass social movements. Hardcore survived in the underground, independent of major record companies and commerciality, but also isolated.
A new musical trend emerged in the early to mid 1980s in the US. In some ways, it was an extension of the new wave of British heavy metal that followed punk. However, the US bands also took a lot of the punk energy into their style to make faster, more aggressive speed (or thrash, or death) metal.
This is where groups like Metallica and Slayer originate. These bands tended to write more about violence and horror (rather than about making out all night with hordes of voluptuous women and riding motorbikes down the highway, as a lot of earlier heavy metal bands had done!).
In doing this, many bands took up social issues in their lyrics, finding targets for their anger in government, religion and wealth; sometimes the targeting was more reactionary, for example women and homosexuals. Thrash music has always been overwhelmingly male dominated, to the extent that it is hard to imagine what it would sound like with a woman singing.
Most bands took up issues of the environment and peace as awareness rose in the 1980s, but there was no conscious trend of political awareness as in hardcore. The politics in speed metal were usually a reflection of general popular sentiments, rather than a deliberate attempt to understand or change the world.
At the end of the 1980s, the world experienced large-scale recession again. Once again the punk spirit reared its head, and once again in the UK. Hardcore punk had continued throughout the 1980s, borrowing a little from heavy metal, evolving into a heavier style and continuing with the radical political image that it had started with.
Coming out of this, extreme hardcore bands influenced by death metal started to become popular, groups like Napalm Death and Carcass, with the Earache record company. The new style was called grindcore. Initially, most grindcore had quite radical lyrics, dealing with police violence, racism, Third World poverty. The first words on Napalm Death's 1988 album Scum are, “Multinational corporations: genocide of the starving nations”.
Since then, there has been a gradual shift towards meaningless lyrics about gore and so on (and the old fascination with satanism continues, defying all notions of intelligence and originality!). But the difference between punk and grindcore is that punk became politicised, whereas most grindcore was political to begin with, being an extension of punk. This has had much more influence on other styles, and new political grindcore bands still continue to appear.
One apparent influence has been on Brazilian speed metal band Sepultura. While becoming more commercially successful, they have been influenced by grindcore and become much more political, attacking government repression and multinational exploitation in no uncertain terms. Their 1994 album Chaos AD focused explicitly on the misery of life in Brazil and mass anger and resistance to that.
Most youth subcultures are picked up by business and commercialised as highly marketable fashions. For example, the Stussy clothing label has picked up the Afro-American youth “hip-hop” style and now it is an expensive international brand. Plastic commercial versions of hip-hop and rap music are marketed in a similar way.
This sort of commercialisation affects youth subculture in general, thrash included. With the lack of any political outlet for the frustration and alienation of youth, music will take meaningless directions. Hence the bands that sing about rubbish like satanism and mindless carnage.
The difference from the 1980s is that most youth now have less money to buy into the fashion industry. The recession, we are told, is ending. Corporate profit rates are soaring, but the recovery is only a recovery for business, and the politicisation and disillusionment created by the recession remain. Political trends continue in youth culture. Thrash music is still one of the main media for youth rebellion (although grunge and rap are starting to play similar roles), and this manifests itself in various ways, some of them quite constructive.
A further politicisation of music can be expected as Third World liberation movements continue their struggles, and as poverty and anger continue to grow in the First World. Thrash music will continue to exist as an extreme, aggressive style as long as young people are alienated and angry.
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Sep 7, 1994
Nailbomb: Point Blank
"extreme heavy music and slogans of rebellion against authority, repression, religion and consumerism. It's not pleasant..."
Point Blank
Nailbomb
Roadrunner Records
Well, doesn't the name say it all? Nearly an hour of intense industrial grindcore pandemonium, played by none other than Max Cavalera (Sepultura) and Alex Newport (Fudge Tunnel).
It also features other musicians from Fear Factory, Sepultura and Wicked Death. The music bears some resemblance to Sepultura's latest album, Chaos AD, but Nailbomb have incorporated the punk/grindcore attitude into their music much more than Sepultura. There are plenty of heavy guitar riffs, but this is balanced out with percussion, feedback and crunching guitar effects.
They have also got into noise samples in a similar way to Ministry. The singers sound like old style grindcore: not demonic (and comic!) growls but gravelly bellowing, which is to be expected given Cavalera and Newport's previous vocals record.
In general, it is among the best of 1990s grindcore/industrial/thrash metal: pissed off with the world, angry and loud. Max Cavalera, from the friendly (not!) metropolis of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, sings the first words, “Carve your rights into your arm so they won't get taken away”.
This uncompromising attitude is the essence of Nailbomb: extreme heavy music and slogans of rebellion against authority, repression, religion and consumerism. It's not pleasant, but it articulates powerfully the alienation and anger of a whole generation of exploited, abused youth in phrases such as “Misery is what we see ... what do you expect me to be?”.
Nailbomb don't focus their anger very explicitly, just referring to a rather vague “you” as the enemy to which many of their songs are addressed. However, they are pretty clear about the crimes of this enemy. “Violence is what you breed/ Racism is what you breed ...”. On the sleeve they give the addresses for “Rock Out Censorship” and “Musicians Against Racism and Sexism”, with the suggestion “Get off your ass and write!”
If you just want to check out where thrash music is at in the 1990s, or if you want to keep your collection up to date, Point Blank is definitely worth getting.
From Green Left Weekly issue #158, 7 September 1994.
Read the whole article
Point Blank
Nailbomb
Roadrunner Records
Well, doesn't the name say it all? Nearly an hour of intense industrial grindcore pandemonium, played by none other than Max Cavalera (Sepultura) and Alex Newport (Fudge Tunnel).
It also features other musicians from Fear Factory, Sepultura and Wicked Death. The music bears some resemblance to Sepultura's latest album, Chaos AD, but Nailbomb have incorporated the punk/grindcore attitude into their music much more than Sepultura. There are plenty of heavy guitar riffs, but this is balanced out with percussion, feedback and crunching guitar effects.
They have also got into noise samples in a similar way to Ministry. The singers sound like old style grindcore: not demonic (and comic!) growls but gravelly bellowing, which is to be expected given Cavalera and Newport's previous vocals record.
In general, it is among the best of 1990s grindcore/industrial/thrash metal: pissed off with the world, angry and loud. Max Cavalera, from the friendly (not!) metropolis of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, sings the first words, “Carve your rights into your arm so they won't get taken away”.
This uncompromising attitude is the essence of Nailbomb: extreme heavy music and slogans of rebellion against authority, repression, religion and consumerism. It's not pleasant, but it articulates powerfully the alienation and anger of a whole generation of exploited, abused youth in phrases such as “Misery is what we see ... what do you expect me to be?”.
Nailbomb don't focus their anger very explicitly, just referring to a rather vague “you” as the enemy to which many of their songs are addressed. However, they are pretty clear about the crimes of this enemy. “Violence is what you breed/ Racism is what you breed ...”. On the sleeve they give the addresses for “Rock Out Censorship” and “Musicians Against Racism and Sexism”, with the suggestion “Get off your ass and write!”
If you just want to check out where thrash music is at in the 1990s, or if you want to keep your collection up to date, Point Blank is definitely worth getting.
From Green Left Weekly issue #158, 7 September 1994.
Read the whole article
Jan 19, 1994
Sepultura: Chaos AD
"Megadeth mouth catchy but unconvincing slogans about peace and the environment. Metallica seem to have given up social/political comment with their latest album... Sepultura have kept their music and lyrics focused well on the brutality of Third World life."
Chaos A.D.
Sepultura
Roadrunner Records
It sounds like the herald proclaiming the end of the world. Perhaps even more than in their previous album Arise, Sepultura have made a record of utter desolation and anger.
They draw inspiration from their homeland, Brazil, and the same desolation and anger there. Musically the album sits somewhere near extreme thrash metal and hardcore punk. It has the heavy guitars and guttural vocals typical of these styles. Sepultura have slowed down. Their sound is more ominous and heavy, and their eerie melodies feature more prominently.
Stand-out tracks include the acoustic instrumental, ``Kaiowas''. This song, inspired by a Brazilian rainforest tribe who ``committed mass suicide in protest against the government which was trying to take away their land and beliefs'', demonstrates both thrash and Latin American folk influences. They cover a song by New Model Army, which fits in well. The CD has a bonus track, ``Policia'', which is quite different, sounding more like an old punk song than their usual material, but nevertheless it's an excellent song. As are all of them.
It's interesting to compare Sepultura to other successful thrash metal bands. Megadeth mouth catchy but unconvincing slogans about peace and the environment. Metallica seem to have given up social/political comment with their latest album. Both bands could hardly be classed as thrash, having apparently sacrificed the aggressive thrash they were famous for in favour of commercial success.
Slayer have not become less heavy, but prefer to deal with topics like the occult, serial killers and war from an apolitical standpoint.
Sepultura have kept their music and lyrics focused well on the brutality of Third World life. In fact, they have become more political, not less.
Lyrically, they seem to deal with two main themes. The first is oppression, with songs like ``Slave New World'', ``Propaganda'', ``Kaiwas'' and ``Manifest''. ``Manifest'' features a voice detailing the massacre of more than 100 inmates of Carandiru, the biggest penitentiary complex in South America, by Sao Paulo police. Many of the songs talk about the native Americans, for example, Nomad: ``The ancient teachings failed ... My beliefs have no more tales.'' The song ``Biotech is Godzilla'', with lyrics by punk legend Jello Biafra, talks more explicitly about things like the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, Third World poverty and the corporations that cause it.
The other theme running through the album is anger, massive world-shaking anger. ``Tanks on the streets/ Confronting police/ Bleeding the plebs/ Raging crowd/ Burning cars/ Bloodshed starts ...''. Maybe they could have included more informative bits in the album. The lyrics are often convoluted and cryptic, more atmospheric and emotive than informative, which is typical of most thrash bands. The balance between emotion and information is good enough overall.
Lyrically and musically, Chaos A.D. heralds the rise of the Third World against misery and devastation: a Third World posse (as Sepultura's last world tour was called). ``Don't tell me I don't know/ You don't live in my war/ Revolt and anger/ I won't take it any more.''
From Green Left Weekly issue #127, 19 January 1994.
Read the whole article
Chaos A.D.
Sepultura
Roadrunner Records
It sounds like the herald proclaiming the end of the world. Perhaps even more than in their previous album Arise, Sepultura have made a record of utter desolation and anger.
They draw inspiration from their homeland, Brazil, and the same desolation and anger there. Musically the album sits somewhere near extreme thrash metal and hardcore punk. It has the heavy guitars and guttural vocals typical of these styles. Sepultura have slowed down. Their sound is more ominous and heavy, and their eerie melodies feature more prominently.
Stand-out tracks include the acoustic instrumental, ``Kaiowas''. This song, inspired by a Brazilian rainforest tribe who ``committed mass suicide in protest against the government which was trying to take away their land and beliefs'', demonstrates both thrash and Latin American folk influences. They cover a song by New Model Army, which fits in well. The CD has a bonus track, ``Policia'', which is quite different, sounding more like an old punk song than their usual material, but nevertheless it's an excellent song. As are all of them.
It's interesting to compare Sepultura to other successful thrash metal bands. Megadeth mouth catchy but unconvincing slogans about peace and the environment. Metallica seem to have given up social/political comment with their latest album. Both bands could hardly be classed as thrash, having apparently sacrificed the aggressive thrash they were famous for in favour of commercial success.
Slayer have not become less heavy, but prefer to deal with topics like the occult, serial killers and war from an apolitical standpoint.
Sepultura have kept their music and lyrics focused well on the brutality of Third World life. In fact, they have become more political, not less.
Lyrically, they seem to deal with two main themes. The first is oppression, with songs like ``Slave New World'', ``Propaganda'', ``Kaiwas'' and ``Manifest''. ``Manifest'' features a voice detailing the massacre of more than 100 inmates of Carandiru, the biggest penitentiary complex in South America, by Sao Paulo police. Many of the songs talk about the native Americans, for example, Nomad: ``The ancient teachings failed ... My beliefs have no more tales.'' The song ``Biotech is Godzilla'', with lyrics by punk legend Jello Biafra, talks more explicitly about things like the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, Third World poverty and the corporations that cause it.
The other theme running through the album is anger, massive world-shaking anger. ``Tanks on the streets/ Confronting police/ Bleeding the plebs/ Raging crowd/ Burning cars/ Bloodshed starts ...''. Maybe they could have included more informative bits in the album. The lyrics are often convoluted and cryptic, more atmospheric and emotive than informative, which is typical of most thrash bands. The balance between emotion and information is good enough overall.
Lyrically and musically, Chaos A.D. heralds the rise of the Third World against misery and devastation: a Third World posse (as Sepultura's last world tour was called). ``Don't tell me I don't know/ You don't live in my war/ Revolt and anger/ I won't take it any more.''
From Green Left Weekly issue #127, 19 January 1994.
Read the whole article
May 5, 1993
Mouth
"Tim says there is a bit of an exclusive “grunge clique” in Melbourne -- among bands and fans -- but Mouth don't want to get involved..."
“Capitalism -- your want for personal gain ... In this world there is not enough for you to own so much”, screams Tim Evans, singer and guitarist for the band Mouth -- a classic line, echoed on T-shirts and stereos all around Hobart.
Mouth are probably the most popular of Hobart's punk/thrash/grunge bands. They describe their main musical influences as being such famous groups as Fugazi, Minutemen and (early) Black Flag. Their sound is different from any other band in Hobart, making them one of the most interesting groups around.
Mouth formed about six months ago, with Cameron Stops on bass and the brothers Tim and Paul Evans on guitar/vocals and drums respectively. In Tim's words, “We're one of those bands who, rather than practising a lot and getting our material together, we started playing gigs right away”.
Their following has grown with each gig, and now a reasonable crowd can be expected whenever they play. A couple of batches of their T-shirts and a tape all quickly sold out. Mouth should go a long way.
One of Mouth's notable features is the message in the lyrics. Strong social and political comments can be found in songs like the “Anti-Capitalism Song”, “Homophobia” (“Homosexuals, they question your whole lifestyle, a lifestyle based on sexism”), “Hate Cycle”, and others.
Tim says that the inspiration for his lyrics comes from his negative experiences, including from his school days. He tries to transform those experiences into a positive comment. And indeed, Mouth's social attitude seems to reflect this positive consciousness.
In May, Mouth will be in Melbourne. They plan to play around the town, and hope to get to Adelaide before they return to Hobart. Tim says there is a bit of an exclusive “grunge clique” in Melbourne -- among bands and fans -- but Mouth don't want to get involved with breaking into the trendy groups. They just want to play whatever gigs they can get, and perhaps win a different kind of following.
They are a band to look out for. Their energetic but focused music is not to be missed.
Originally published in Green Left Weekly issue 98, May 5 1993
Read the whole article
“Capitalism -- your want for personal gain ... In this world there is not enough for you to own so much”, screams Tim Evans, singer and guitarist for the band Mouth -- a classic line, echoed on T-shirts and stereos all around Hobart.
Mouth are probably the most popular of Hobart's punk/thrash/grunge bands. They describe their main musical influences as being such famous groups as Fugazi, Minutemen and (early) Black Flag. Their sound is different from any other band in Hobart, making them one of the most interesting groups around.
Mouth formed about six months ago, with Cameron Stops on bass and the brothers Tim and Paul Evans on guitar/vocals and drums respectively. In Tim's words, “We're one of those bands who, rather than practising a lot and getting our material together, we started playing gigs right away”.
Their following has grown with each gig, and now a reasonable crowd can be expected whenever they play. A couple of batches of their T-shirts and a tape all quickly sold out. Mouth should go a long way.
One of Mouth's notable features is the message in the lyrics. Strong social and political comments can be found in songs like the “Anti-Capitalism Song”, “Homophobia” (“Homosexuals, they question your whole lifestyle, a lifestyle based on sexism”), “Hate Cycle”, and others.
Tim says that the inspiration for his lyrics comes from his negative experiences, including from his school days. He tries to transform those experiences into a positive comment. And indeed, Mouth's social attitude seems to reflect this positive consciousness.
In May, Mouth will be in Melbourne. They plan to play around the town, and hope to get to Adelaide before they return to Hobart. Tim says there is a bit of an exclusive “grunge clique” in Melbourne -- among bands and fans -- but Mouth don't want to get involved with breaking into the trendy groups. They just want to play whatever gigs they can get, and perhaps win a different kind of following.
They are a band to look out for. Their energetic but focused music is not to be missed.
Originally published in Green Left Weekly issue 98, May 5 1993
Read the whole article
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