Black Meddling

I gotta say it straight: I wasn't as impressed by Nachmystium's Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt 1 as most everyone else was. There are some cool moments, to be sure, but a bunch of the gang vocal choruses annoyingly remind me why I so quickly tired of Children of Bodom years ago. Also, the three-part "Seasick" dealy was an interesting concept, but a saxophone? That instrument can either make (see King Crimson's catalogue) or break (see Thin Lizzy's "Dancing in the Moonlight") a song, and while not as drastic as the latter example I think the instrument's inclusion was a lil' much.

But I digress. I'm especially picky about the black metal-influenced stuff I listen to; the "purer" bands of the genre aren't so much my thing because I can't get down with unprovoked hatred. But Nachtmystium's breakthrough 2006 record Instinct: Decay was totally awesome. Just raw enough in the production department, but not without charred melody, memorable riffing and totally trippy guitar sounds. I went right out and bought it as well as the Eulogy IV EP, which if I recall correctly is where the psychedelic sounds first began to seep in. I unfortunately never got to see them live on that tour, but through some searching I acquired a soundboard rip of their Seattle set while touring with Daughters and Pelican in 2006. FLAC converted to WAV converted to MP3. It was unlabeled so I did what I could-- only a few song remain that way. Enjoy, unless you're some kvlt dude who can't get past the fact that they're not bedroom BM anymore.

DOWNLOAD HERE

WHO ARE YOU AND WHY AM I HERE?

Void, easily my favorite 80s DC (well, okay, they were from Columbia, MD) hardcore band, were an absolute clusterfuck of sound. John Weiffenbach's screechy delivery flies over a total racket created by the rhythm section of Sean Finnegan and Chris Stover and especially Bubba Dupree's guitar style. Dupree took the noisy tonal standard Greg Ginn established on Damaged and added more angst, heavy metal, and outright sloppiness. Dudes sound like they never played tight even on their best day, and that's the fun of it all.



Highly recommended is their split with the Faith, recently reissued on LP by the one and only Dischord Records. Faith's side can't touch Void's, but is solid nonetheless and features Ian MacKaye's younger brother on bass. The band also had a track featured on Dischord's Flex Your Head comp and released the Condensed Flesh 7"; the latter featured Holocaust content years before Slayer did "Angel of Death."

Bubba Dupree supposedly resides in Seattle, while Sean Finnegan worked on the set of The Wire until his unfortunate death of a heart attack last year.

I've acquired two boots of Void's violent live sets. The first is a bootleg 7" rip of a set from the 9:30 Club in DC in February 1983, and the second is titled "Live?" and has no other information. Both are of solid quality and worth the time of anyone into hardcore punk and/or crossover.

Download HERE

Forced Entry re-up

Because of upload malfunction last time, I get the sense the handful who actually read this page never got to acquire Forced Entry's fantastic record As Above, So Below. FE were a killer technical thrash metal trio from Seattle, and I originally did a writeup about them (along with crucial video footage) here.

FORCED ENTRY- AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (1992)

Happy Birthday/RIP Chuck Schuldiner

I first started checking Death out towards the end of high school, when I heard they really advanced from the formula of traditional death metal-- a musical genre I shyed away from at the time-- and added melody, technicality and lyrical depth. So I started with The Sound of Perseverance and more or less worked my way back through the catalog. I can't say I'm as diehard a Death fan as I am Coroner or Opeth or other bands, but I have immense respect for Chuck's advancing the death metal template, his guitar styles and techniques, and the introspection he brought to his songwriting.

Had he not died of complications from a brain tumor, Chuck would have been 41 on December 13, 2008. In his honor, I will spread the awesome via this fantastic crowd bootleg from the Symbolic tour. The Engrish in the title is great...gotta love Japanese fans!

Download Death- Symphonic Technicalogy HERE

Happy Birthday to/from Me

Today I finally turn 21. Most folks my age are all "HELLZ YES, BOOZIN TIME LOL," which is just fine. Me, I'm just happy I can go home to the Seattle area and not worry about an awesome show being 21+.

But anyway, I want to give anyone who reads this damn thing some gifts.

First, some amazingly relaxing atmospheres courtesy of Emancipator. Dude is my age and created this impeccable trip-hop record all in the comfort of his studio apartment. Everything you hear-- save a few vocal guests-- is programmed, built, or played by him. Dude just got this record released in Japan, but not the US and told me last year to "share it with your friends." Sure thing. It's called Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, and you can download it here.

Next up, one of my favorite metal boots I have-- the first Celtic Frost show in the USA, circa 1986, on the Tragic Serenades tour for To Mega Therion. Nice and rawly recorded, and you get to hear "Inner Sanctum" before they ever laid it to tape for Into the Pandemonium. I was personally really bummed to hear the Frost had broken up again, but can't say I was surprised. Volatile personalities nonwithstanding, they'll always be in the annals of heaviness...and this live tape sure shows why. Check it out here, and be sure to "UNGH!" along with Tom.


I love you all. Be well.

Musical Versatility Reigns Supreme

I've been a sizeable fan of Agalloch for a few years now. Beyond the music, they seem like interesting individuals as well-- among other things, Don teaches English at the University of Washington, John brews obscure wines, and Jason plays in a new project called Indelible. Their new EP, Introduction, is up for free download and is described as being trip-hop influenced of bands as varied as Ulver and Portishead. I still need to give it another listen, but it's certainly an entirely different direction from Agalloch.

DOWNLOAD HERE!
Myspace HERE.

In Honor of This Month

I offer you one of the mightiest December songs ever written. Of course, that's not exactly heavy competition given the only other December song I can think of is "My December" by Linkin Park, but it's common knowledge that LP fellate and far less common knowledge that Only Living Witness are fucking incredible. Here's, um..."December," from their second reunion show this summer in Boston.

PS: You can buy their 2-album CD set for as little as five measly dollars. Do it. You can't lose, I guarantee it.

Season Finale- 11/2/08 Playlist

A huge round of thanks to whoever's listened/supported the show, or harassed me.

More details about the future of the show while I'm abroad next semester will be detailed in a future post.

Zombi- Challenger Deep
Etro Anime- Either Way
Swervedriver- Deep Seat
Doughboys- I Won't Write You a Letter (Live)
Doughboys- You Don't Know Me (Live)
Doughboys- I Remember (Live)
Vanilla Fudge- Ticket to Ride (originally recorded by the Beatles)
Puma Run- Sometimes Lincoln Connor...
Agalloch- The Wilderness

UPDATE

• Yeah, the damned Third Eye Blind song is more or less a dumb joke.
• Happy belated Turkey Day.
• Tomorrow night's show will be the last of this year/school year in live radio form. I'll be abroad next semester in Norwich, UK and will be doing the show as a podcast. Be ready, be stoked.
• My friend Hilary just printed up an awesome zine that contains fantastic, deeply personal writing. It's worth your attention and donation. Shoot her a message.
  
• I spent 50-odd USD on the Only Living Witness 2xLP set. It's got new artwork and design and is only available here. Shipping alone costs more than the records do initially...ridiculous. But I mean, it's limited to 500 copies, so.....
• If you want a download blog that caters to wide tastes like this blog tries to, you owe it to yourself to check out the knowledgable gents at icoulddietomorrow. Great commentary, great records.