POWERVIOLENCE and Hardcore Christmas Drop

All Winners Here:

Noose - 2009 Demo (Winnipeg, Canada)
Eddie Brock - 2009 Demo ((superpowersviolence) from Baltimore)
Sylvester Staline - Gonna Spread Hard Drugs To Your Kids With the Royalties Gained From This... (France)
Kent Brockman - Crustcoreviolence EP (Germany)
I Decide - Spiking Drinks with Holy Water (DC Hardcore)

Old Familiars:
Magrudergrind / Sylvester Staline Split
Infest - Mankind 7"
Spazz / Floor Split
Hatred Surge - Isolated Human EP New EP!!

--fred (More later today)

Thorr's Hammer - Dommedagsnatt

Another 'Southern Lord' treasure -- Those dudes from SUNN O))) team up with a norwegian exchange student to make some crushing doom jams. Heavy Monolithic Lumbering Sludgy stuff with a kind of subtle Black Sabbath vibe to it, backed with some deep-n-low growls mixed with chanting. 'Troll' is the fucking shit.

I just wish their name didn't sound like a slay-the-dragon-siege-the-castle type band. Like Hammerfall or something. I fucking hate that band.

Thorr's Hammer - Dommedagsnatt

--fred

Churches Burn - Adversary

Churches Burn are from Colombus, Ohio and don't have nearly as many fans as they should. They've got this killer bass-deep kinda tone that's covered in layers of filth and grime with some psych fringes here and there...they're pretty comparable to JAIL, but I like 'em a lot more.

Churches Burn - Adversary

Behold! The Monolith - Self Titled

This marks the lumbering, calculated, and none too soon return of LA's battle-geared 'Monolith'.This release follows their crushing, tersely unnamed EP, and shows no hint of the Battlestag slowing down anytime soon.

Little has changed since we've last heard from 'Behold! The Monolith'; they're still the ravenous metallic sludge-trompers we encountered earlier this year...and then some. With this new outing, they've displayed, moreso than before, a dynamic adaption between calm, war, and utter turmoil that proves the band is geared for growth in the future...for the better. They blend the buzz and rumble of High on Fire and RWAKE, with the artful progressive roots of bands like Mastodon; ultimately displaying the capability and courage to put aside the sludgehammer and ponder upon the smoother guitar licks. But when they do get heavy...they're relentless.

Behold! The Monolith - Self Titled (320 kbps)

--fred

Ramesses - Misanthropic Alchemy

Ramesses is Blackened-Doom-Sludge from Dorset, England. The band holds two ex-members from 'Electric Wizard', another Dorset-based Doom Metal band. They left the band in 2003 a few years after recording 'Dopethrone', leaving Jus Osborn as the only founding member still in the band.

Ramesses - Misanthropic Alchemy

Black Skies - Aqua Dogs/Family Man 7"

Here's a glimpse at the band when they first started--before Cameron joined as their drummer. Aqua Dogs is an abrasive stoned-out sludge swim you'd expect from the band nowadays, while Family Man is a 3 and a half minute rollicking instrumental jam. You can buy the record straight from the source through paypal off of their myspace.

myspace

This one's a personal vinyl rip:
Black Skies - Aqua Dogs / Family Man 7"

--fred

Black Skies - Hexagon EP

Black Skies is a Sludge Rock band hailing from Chapel Hill, NC. I'm pretty sure they've only released two 7"s and one EP, of which has proved itself pretty popular on the stoner/sludge blogosphere thus far. Black Skies plays straight-ahead sludged-out rock, not unlike 'High on Fire', with the grittier (and LOUD) sensibilities of 'Jucifer'.

I could go on forever about how awesome the band is and what great people they are...but you probably don't want to read that. I will say however that they have recently released their EP on Vinyl in very limited quantities, so pick it up while you still can:

Buy their LP
myspace

Black Skies - Hexagon (320 kbps)

--fred

Black Cobra

Here's a sludge two-piece project based in San Francisco, CA formed by Jason Landrian (Cavity) and Rafael Martinez (ex-16, Acid King). They mix the low frequency buzz of Floor with the exuberance of KARP and wrap it all up in dissonance to give you the neat little package that is 'Black Cobra'. This is their first full length album, released back in 2006:

Black Cobra - Bestial

--fred

NOOTHGRUSH - Erode the Person (Original and Thrones Re-release)

NOOTHGRUSH has only released songs on a little more than a handful of splits and maybe a 7" here and there, so 'Erode the Person', meant to be a compilation, is good representation of their body of work. A bit of a problem arose though, for me at least, when I went to re-download this after my last hard drive died; 'Erode the Person' was released twice--two different albums with separate cover art and track listings. So, to counter-act that, I'm uploading both the original version of 'Erode' along with the "Thrones Release", which was put out 3 years ago. Of the two, I prefer the original for it's tracklisting, as it has 'Gage' and 'Sysyphus Narrow Way', however the "Thrones Release" has it's own edge in sound quality, as well as a few songs exclusive onto itself. Can't go wrong here:

Original 'Erode the Person'
Thrones Release: Part 1 Part 2

--fred

Behind 1's Back

Piggy Squealin' good Stoner/Thrash/Core Something from the land of the rising sun. Vocals remind me of Hellchild/From Hell/Force, I'm not sure if this band shares their vocalist or not.

Check it out:
Behind 1's Back - We Hate To Follow TheRules

I'm posting this so I can have the opportunity to plug our show tonight--it's an all Japan special; we'll be going over the bands I listed above and a few more. No Boris. Sorry.

--fred

Carusella - Self Titled

Carusella is from Israel and they fit somewhat outside of the music that we usually post here. They bridge the gap between garage-indie and noise rock, but bring something heavier that defies that troublesome "indie" tag. The record starts off establishing the band's pummeling presence, before Tamar Aphek (vox, gits) chimes in, bringing a lighter feel to the atmosphere. Her voice wavers a bit at parts, noticeably untrained, but in a charming way. Aphek's vocal tracks are the more melodic and catchier of the few peppered throughout the record, which was most likely a deciding factor in their decision to front "Star Quality" at the head of their promotional push. Guy Schechter's (vox, skins) vocal tracks are typically the heavier tracks on the album, with more off-kilter moments that slip into something akin to Unsane or Helmet. Carusella is, without a doubt, another band you should keep an eye on in the next few upcoming years.

This album rocks like no other:

Carusella - Self-Titled

--fred

DNA Test Fest II (2009) in DC

Another year has come which means another DNA Test Fest, organized by Sean Gray from WMUC's 'DNA in the DNA', the longest running and most belligerent, vile, and offensive punk show on college radio on the East Coast.



It's $15 dollars for two days of obscene noise-violence at the Velvet Lounge (down the street from DC Metro's U-Street Stop on the Green Line)

April 24th-25th
7pm 'til Death

COME ONNNNN!!!

--fred

Subrig Destroyer - Rode Asunder EP

Subrig is a drum-and-bass power-duo hailing from the great Athens, GA (home of a few other notable sludge bands). Included here is their only release thus far--their 5-track, 40 minute opus 'Rode Asunder'. This is some really minimalist low-frequency stuff, similar to that of 'Om', but more aggressive. I look forward to seeing what these two pump out in the future:

Subrig Destroyer - Rode Asunder
shitspace

--fred

Behold! The Monolith

'Behold! The Monolith' hails from Los Angeles, California. With clear influences from Motorhead, High on Fire, Mastodon, and the Melvins, 'Monolith' leads you from track to track on a slow doom tromp, intermittently breaking into an impulsive, gritty, sprinting display of power. Bass lurks through the first track, under layers of fluid guitar work, before the two convene to lay the sludgehammer, setting the mood for the rest of the EP. The vocals reflect influences from metal behemoths like NOOTHGRUSH and Grief, with a hearty helping of Lemmy.

Easily one of my favorite releases of this year:

Behold! The Monolith - EP

--fred

Dystopia - Self Titled

This is Dystopia's final album, released mid last year in 2008. This album represents a different time in the band, as opposed to '98's "Aftermath" and '94's "Human = Garbage". Some might believe that something was lost in the the creation of this album, whether it be the angst, hatred, anger, energy, or even the level of creativity--but I am one to believe that all of these things just manifested a bit differently on this record.

The band has matured over the past 10 years since we've last seen them, with this album having a different but still overt relationship with their previous albums. Dino's (drums, vox) vocals are worn from years of screeching, and Parillo (guitars, vox) has slipped into an exasperated throaty death call that contrasts his more youthful growls from 'Human'. The songs are generally slower and burgeoning, excluding 'Illusion to Love', which harkens back to their blastbeat days of yore. All the hatred and misanthropy of years past still exists here, muddled in between deep guitar tones and a strong, yet lassitudinous, Dino preaching testaments of our world gone to shit, hopeless human beings wandering aimlessly, and the lies and broken promises we all realize in our later lifetimes. Nothing at all has been lost, just matured and fermented. This is not a record of 'loose ends' from the conclusion of their career, but rather a final grim reflection on our world, finally scribing the final chapter on Dystopia.

I can't envision a greater way of going out:

Dystopia - Self Titled

--fred

Depressor - Symbols

One Part Crust--another part Death Metal--sprinkle on some Doom, drum machines, and Sepultura...and you've got yourself some Depressor. There's not a whole lot I can say about the band...they definitely got themselves a niche with the drum machine...albeit it's a little grating at moments (with all that dinky "chinking" and "tinking"), but overall it's a good, thrashy, brutal opus. Check it:

Depressor - Symbols

(yell at me if you've got any of their other stuff)

--fred

diSEMBOWELMENT - Transcendence Into The Peripheral

"Disembowelment" is the act of removing vital organs from the abdomen, either by large incision or blunt force. In England, being "hanged, drawn, and quartered" involved the mounting of prisoners onto a large wooden block, after which would follow the slow disemboweling and emasculation thereof. In Japan, disembowelment was used as a method of self-execution by Samurai to free themselves from past dishonors (however they later turned to decapitation as a more humane alternative).

In Australia, Disembowelment (diSEMBOWELMENT) is a death/doom metal band based in Melbourne. At times, diSEMBOWELMENT is very comparable and similar to acts like "My Dying Bride", but they manage to break such a mold with trappings lifted from other genres, like incorporating Funeral Doom tromps, Melodic Black Metal interludes (albeit very rarely), and hearty, but not overbearing, death growls. This is their only full album release:

diSEMBOWELMENT - Transcendence Into The Peripheral

Grey - Stand Before Doom [Demo]

My god. This band presents a heaviness that cannot be outweighed -- all woman power-trio doom band from good ol' Olympia, War-shing-ton. These chicks have built up a large following from this demo ALONE:
Grey - Stand Before Doom [Demo]

I believe they have recently released their first record (mixed by Billy Anderson and produced by Jack Endino!)...pretty limited amounts on the vinyl front. Pick it up before it sells out:
CD
Black LP
Grey/Clear Blend LP
Splatter LP

Týr - How Far To Asgaard

The First album from Viking/Folk Metal Masters. Pretty fucking cool and epic.

Týr - How Far To Asgaard

Flower Travellin' Band

Flower Travellin' Band was a Japanese Psychedelic band from the late 60s/early 70s. They started off as a 60s rock cover band, until eventually covering Black Sabbath and shooting off into a sound of their own. There's not many places online where you can get most of their albums in one place--enjoy it while you can:


Satori
Anywhere
Made in Japan

Eccentric Doomy Japanese Psychedelia. If you're not familiar with the band yet, I would start off with Satori.

--fred