Benediction-Flexi 8" (bootleg,199..?)

This little red gem comes from the late '80's and its a forgotten flexi from the old school deathsters Benediction. Metal orientated crusties know these vets who along with Bolt Thrower kept the flag of UK's old school death metal high since late '80's. Back in the day and when i was deep into to grindcore and death metal shit, they were one of my favorite bands along with Carcass, Napalm Death, Prophecy of Doom, Terrorizer, Disharmonic Orchestra etc. And since there is a post from these monsters why not something from Benediction? so here we go: "death metal reigns!!!"
The flexi comes in the unusual size of eight inches (which is too large for the usual plastic sleeves made for 7 inch ep's) and brings two songs that last about eight minutes: Subconscious Terror is of course the title track of their first lp and Bonesaw which appeared only in The Dreams You Dread demo tape from1989, (if the song or riffs of it appeared in a song in official release is a question that can be replied by Benediction die hard followers) the recording is live and was probably recorded in the years '89-'91 when Barney was still in the band before join Napalm Death (i love his grunting "punk is dead, rock is dead, hardcore is dead,death metal reigns!") and before Dave Ingram's arrival on vokill duties. Quality wise, this is far from the level of Antisect bootleg and even the cover artwork is far from Benediction's image and lyrical topics. I don't know the year this came out (probably in early '90's) or how many copies were made, if you know any information please share it with us, all i know is this little piece of red flexible vinyl and poor photocopied paper used to reach some high and insane prices on eBay's insanity.
And just a few more lines of meaningless ranting: Some great news about Benediction came up back in 2008 when they announced the release of a split with Wolfbrigade on FETO Rec.s after a seven year hiatus. My enthusiasm turned slowly into disappointment because the record never saw the light of day and the project died in oblivion. Killing Music their latest release is an amazing piece of old school death metal with plenty of crust influences and covers of Amebix and Broken Bones, don't give a shit about the low rates of reviewers in Metal Archives, they just are not into crust.

Antisect-Out from the void 7" (bootleg)

First post of the year and here's a bootleg which stands equal to the original release: Antisect followed the wave of reunion of old crust bands and you may call it middle age crisis or awakening from their long time hiatus or return to the first love or whatever, the fact is that they are here: Amebix, Doom, and Deviated Instinct are some of the old masters who were back in action when i had this discussion with a friend many moons ago and sometime i said "how about Antisect and Axegrinder? they didn't come back yet". Well, some months later Antisect were back to join the club of reunited legends and Axegrinder are left for their come back if ever happens.
Out from the void is one of the milestone releases of crust punk genre and everything that could be said has already been said. I posted the original record some year ago in the first days of existence of this blog, here. The copy here is a bootleg which came out sometime in '00's, i don't know exactly the year (any help is appreciated) and quality wise looks like the original: It comes in a nice and well made cover in the standards of original release (it's not just a xeroxed photocopied piece of paper that many times bootlegs come with), the vinyl labels are exactly the same with the original and the surprise come from the vinyl which is clear white with some black shades. I don't know how many copies were made, if you know that or any other information about the record just drop some lines and enlighten us.
No more ranting, let's end it here, enjoy the record and have some crust fun.

Doom-Live in Japan (1992,Ecocentric Records)

This little piece of vinyl comes from the old days of Doom and brings some tracks live recorded at Antiknock, Tokyo, Japan in 1992. This was released by Ecocentric Records the same year and was the first Doom live record (the second was Pissed, Robbed and Twatted), there were two pressings, the first one came in black n blue cover and label while the second in black and white.A sheet with special thanks was included. Ecocentric site says about 1500-2000 copies were made and long long out of print. Music wise it delivers eight songs including the Black Sabbath cover they used to play and some of their all time classics (Lifelock, Exploitation, etc), the sound is bearable but without reaching the level of quality of Pissed, Robbed and Twatted but definitely much better than the live Multinationals.. bootleg. Not as famous as Police Bastard but a nice document of Doom on stage in early '90's and a rare collector's item and also the chance for some vultures to fill their pockets with money. And just to complete the 7IC Doom post linking, let me tell you that Ecocentric is also behind Doomed to Extinction split with Extinction of Mankind and the cd version of split w Selfish.(and yeah there are some more Doom post in back pages,shameless promotion,hahaha)
That's the short ranting. Yeah once again it took some time since the last post but finally here you have it again, until the next post whenever it come, don't stop listening to crust and keep spitting the face of neo-liberalism.

Discharge-Realities of War (1980,Clay Records)

This is where the story begins and the legend is born: Realities of war was recorded in February 1980 at Redball Studios in 3 hours and and was ment to be the first page of Discharge's book of D-beat and nothing about punk would ever be the same: As all we know they started a few years before as a '77-punk band but they rejected this style after line up changes and finally they created a destructive combination which unleashed this glorious fart and started a music rebellion
It has no meaning to focus on music in terms of musicianship,complexity, sound quality and such shit: Four tracks that last just a few seconds over a minute each, each song has two riffs one for the chorus and one for the verse, each riff brings two or three chords, simple bass lines, a new strange way of drumming and after 4:50" the whole thing is done. Singing delivers one line for each verse and one line for the chorus and instead of the typical melodic singing there was a shouted/yelled kind of "singing" that repeated a polemic against war and capitalist society so someone can ask "where is the meaning in this simple as hell shit?" and the answer is "this is the meaning of this shit". The question was replied thousand times from the hordes of D-Beat bands that named Discharge as their influence in the next decades: Copying, distorting, repeating and altering, down tuning and adding speed in these guitar riffs and drum beat and reproducing the lyrical anti war and anti system verses and cover artwork aesthetic or even the dis-name and the spiked leather jacket.
Realities.. was released by Mike Stone's Clay Records (Clay 01) back in 1980, this first classic line up recorded a couple of diamonds: Decontrol, Fight Back and Why? the rest are history well known. Check Kill From The Heart and Wikipedia for more details

Doom-Hail to Sweden (1994,Pandora's Box)

Good news for all Doom worshipers: As we all know Doom are back in action and played several gigs during the last year, now they announce the release of a new 7", actually a tour ep "on coloured vinyl especially for the u.s tour. 3 brand new songs & 1 re-recorded one. The e.p sleeve artwork was done by the Scandinavian doorbreaker himself Magnus Jansson. It is limited to 1000 numbered copies."
This was taken from their fuckbook page (btw they abandoned their myshit page),thank gods of crust this comes in 1000 copies and not only 300 or 500 so in case it appears on eBay the price will be low (i hope so but i do not bet my ass because of some people's greed and their lousy will to make money out of punk this way, time will show). No pre-orders, this will be available in their gigs, 1000 copies is a "big" number for a tour 7" but the name Doom is enough to sell the last copy soon.
Hail to Sweden was released in 1994 by the German label Pandora's Box and as the title says its a Doom tribute on some of their influences and favorite bands of Swedish scene: Discard, Mob47, Crudity, Agoni, Röjers, and Anti Cimex songs are covered the way Doom play their crustcore, all songs are great, i prefer side a and the devastating cover of Warmachine of Anti Cimex on side b. Hail... comes second after Police Bastard to some Doom fans but to me it stands equal cos both records rule
This was the little ranting,now get it. And something about the old posts: I started bringing back the links and in the next days more and more will be back.

Prophecy of Doom-Until the again 7" (After World Records,1990)

Until the Again is a live 7" recorded and released back in 1990 by After World Records. There is no much to say about Prophecy of Doom since Calculate Mind Rape was posted twice and a lot of bullshit was typed. The truth is they were overlooked and never gained the attention of people the way and the level Napalm Death or Carcass did. Anyway, Until the Again came in gatefold cover and delivers three tracks: Earth Reality Victim, Acknowledge The Confusion Master and Insanity Reigns Supreme(which is the first PoD song i ever listened back in late 80's in a tape trade), the sound quality is as good as can be for a live recording of a grinding metal punk band and the paranoia lasts for almost twelve minutes. Some samples are used in the beginning of songs and fit with the sociopolitical/philosophical lyrics, i love the way Shrew's over-distorted vocals destroy the last hints of music each time he opens his mouth, he sounds like a fart of a mutant monster coming from hell.
If anyone knows anything or has in digital format Domination Factor 's Dominated till death demo tape (a pre-Prophecy of Doom band) just drop a few lines here, After World Records was a small label with a few releases of some goregrind/deathgrind acts under their belt (Bathomet's Boiled in Blood 7", Exhumed's Excreting innards, Putrifact's Visceral Devourment and others).
This is not my ripping, thanks to Pete for one more contribution, he sent some wav's that i ripped to mp'3 and i had to find covers on the web, well i did what i can (yeah too bored and busy to rip a vinyl myself.)

(Not a) Happy Birthday,just Distortion to Deafness

Yeah its B-day today! The story begun as a joke in March 22 of 2007 and the Hello Crusties!!! first post with the pompous writing (what a bullshit! i have to delete it) and soon became one way path with no return with this inner worry "lets update it again" leading you into it deeper and deeper. Many many hours have been spent on blogging, typing, re-typing, uploading, drinking and puking and bullshiting. Now we enter in fifth year...shit, four years older....mmmm i need a beer right now to get over it (and i say "we" cause we shouldn't forget Whispy, i wish he was here). And as the years go passing by things getting worse: Financial crisis, revolt in many countries of North Africa and Middle East, earthquake, tsunami and nuclear thread in Japan, war in Libya, what a peaceful world...whats next to come?
And after this little wankery is time for Disorder: It is shameful, four years and not any Disorder record posted yet, just like Discharge until last January. Anyway, Distortion to Deafness comes from 1981 selfreleased by the band (Disorder Records) and its the second piece of feces that came out of Disorder anus and made John Peel describe it as a shit (check wiki). There is no need to blurb anything since everyone knows them (yeah, a lousy excuse to get rid off typing much shit), spend some time and take a look at Kill from The Heart and Wikipedia for more ranting. I said enough, go get it and cheers !

VA-Polka Slam/Crisis Point 7'' (Sisters of Percy Records,1988)

This is an old and forgotten four way split 7" coming from late '80's and was given for free with the fanzine with the same name. The bands included here are H.D.Q., Instingators, Culture Shock and Bolt Thrower (yes, the Bolt Thrower we all know appears among punk bands).
Sisters of Percy Records (Percy not Mercy) is the label behind this little gem, this was released in 1988 and came in fold out paper sleeve in 2000 copies, all tracks were exclusive recordings and the variety of bands (from death metal to punk rock and from hardcore to reggae) is strange and unusual to the standards of a compilation record (remember Pathological comp with bands coming from different genres, though not much brutality here except Bolt Thrower).
So there are four bands here and a bonus track, a ranting by Geoff Simmons. Culture Shock were a reggae band and incl.people from Subhumans (thanks to Mr filosofos for the info), Instingators started in 1980 in Dewsbury, England with Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (who later started Peaceville Records) being one of founding members and they had a shitload of recordings, check wikipedia for many details, loads of their releases are posted in blogs. H.D.Q. were from Sunderland, they were active about the same time (85-90), they run this site , also there is a band's history in Kill From The Heart. Bolt Thrower were the Bolt Thrower we know. Apart from this ep, Sisters of Percy are behind Surf Weasel's A Mind of Your own 7" (1991) and the recent release of Liberty...We Want The Real Thing lp comp. (incl. Citizen Fish, Surf Weasels etc)
This was Polka Slam/ Crisis Point, this is not my rip and i can't remember where or when i got it, actually the crisis point is in Japan right now with destruction, dead and missing people and the nightmare lurking inside reactors at nuclear plants.

Discharge-Never again 7"(Clay Records,1981)

The story begins back in 1978 when Buzzcocks released Another Music In A Different Kitchen lp on United Artists Rec.s and D-Beat drumming first appeared in a punk song: You Tear Me Up was the third song on side A, an excellent piece of hardcore and the first D-beat punk song ever. One year later Rude Kids from Stockholm, Sweden released Safe Society lp, the last song, Marquee, was the first D-beat song recorded by Swedish punk band but also the first D-beat punk song released by a "big" label: Safe Society was released by Polygam(despite the 5000-6000 sold copies, shame on!).
Apparently, Discharge did not discover the wheel in 1980 since Buzzcocks, Rude Kids, Varukers and even Motorhead played it before ("when told Discharge sounded like Motorhead, Rainy replied, "they sound like us",hahaha!) but Discharge became synonymous with D-Beat by developing it when they added aggressive riffs in simple composition, anti system and anti war grunting shouts and outlaw/sleazy attitude, all in a perfect mixing and the legend was born: A new sub-genre came out and myriads of bands started forming, reproducing and developing more or less more these lyrical topics, the hardcore riffs or even the name and band's logo and letter fond again and again.
Never again comes from the era of golden early years, it was released at the end of 1981 by Clay Records, it reached #3 in indie chart and #64 in UK national chart. Tez and Bambi had already left the band and Gary Maloney (ex-Varukers) had drumming duties. The amazing cover artwork has become classic. .Never Again, Death Dealers and the devastating Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles are the three D-beat diamonds it delivers. A classic.
I said enough, spend some time and check this official myspace Metal Archives , Kill From The Heart, Wikipedia and this old site active since '02 for more. Oh, and since this is the first post of the year, happy new year to everyone

Hellbastard-They brought death 7" (Temple of Love,1989)

This was posted in the second day of lifetime of this blog in March '07 and since is a classic for the genre here it is again in fresh new rip and scans
There is no much to say about those who first coined the Crust term, what's sad about them is the fact that they belong in this category of bands with glorious/great beginning and continued with not so good/less good/mediocre records in their later releases
They brought death was released in 1989 by the German label Temple of Love Records in 1000 copies of clear gold, yellow, red, black and blue vinyl. The package includes a sheet with some lyrics and special thanks and a second sheet with flyer drowing and infos about Temple of Love releases (Temple of Love was a Neuendeich (north Germany) based label and back in 1988 released the Fear of God 7").
Hellbastard's later records delivered predictable Bay Area thrash metal but their early stuff (Hate Militia & Ripper Crust demos & Heading for Internal Darkness lp from 1988) makes them one of the 80's UK crust legends, They brought death comes from this period:
Schwarzwasser is the emotional intro that leads to the mid tempo thrash attacks of Deadlock and eponymous track, imagine Venom meeting Amebix or to coin Maximum Rock n Roll "Crass meets Metallica", both tracks are too long (the whole ep lasts over fourteen minutes) and despite the metal riffs and the "too much metal" guitar sound, the record stands with one foot in the crust/punk territory and delivers the goods. Good enough to consider it as a classic.
Twenty years after the release of They brought death and it has become a collector's item and is the reason for bid farts on eBay each time it appears, not as big farts as Deviated Instinct's Welcome to the Orgy but still big smelly farts, and since its New Year's Eve Santa Crust brings you two colors and the songs ripped from each record, listen it and say what color sounds better! Cheers and Crusty New Year!