Awesome Bands You Should Know...PRIMITIVE MAN

PRIMITIVE MAN is a intense, devastatingly heavy band from Denver, Colorado. The group is comprised of current and former members of CLINGING TO THE TREES OF A FOREST FIRE, DEATH OF SELF, WITHERED, & REPROACHER. The group formed in Denver back in  February 2012 with Ethan Lee McCarthy on Vocals and Guitar, Jonathon Campos on Bass, and Bennett Kennedy on Drums. The trio soon set about crafting savage material drawing elements of Doom, Death Metal, Black Metal, Noise, Drone, Sludge, Crust, and more. Their efforts would soon begin to take form and in October 2012, they entered Flatline Audio, in Denver, with egineer/producer Dave Otero. These sessions would yield their debut LP, "Scorn". This nihilistic, oppressively heavy record would initially be released in January/February 2013 by the band themselves, in conjunction with Mordgrimm and Throatruiner Records. The album was released only on Vinyl in a limited pressing, and featured 7 tracks of audio violence, utter devastation, and ominous atmosphere.

The record opens with the title track, "Scorn", which clocks in at a monsterous 11:44, and demonstrates right out the gate that this band is not to be fucked with. Collossal riffs and ear shredding feedback collide with McCarthy's scorched vocals and misanthropic lyrics, and within this massive first tracks the weak shall be weeded out. This is not for the faint of heart. The meek shall inherit nothing. PRIMITIVE MAN are here to trample the weak, hurdle dead, and get fucked up in the process. During this opening onslaught, the band demonstrate they can not only play slow, pulverizing Doom and Blackened Sludge, but that they can also briefly bust out faster tempos that hearken to the Grind of McCarthy's other main group, CLINGING TO THE TREES OF A FOREST FIRE. Its interesting because in some ways, PM is almost like the reverse version of CTTTOAFF, as PM play a Blackened Sludge/Doom with brief elements of Grind and Death Metal, while CTTTOAFF play Grindcore with occasional elements of Sludge and Doom. "Rags" follows and opens with a hellish groove that would make EYEHATEGOD proud, before slowing the pace to a Death/Doom crawl. Next is "I Can't Forget", the first of a couple disturbing, atmospheric, interlude type tracks. Its quite haunting and truly adds to the overall disturbing aura of the record as a whole. The second longest track of the album follows this, in the form of "Antietam" a 9 minute war of attrition that is all hate and power. After the first 2 minutes of slow motion devastation, things pick up and we get some Crust Punk infused bursts. After a bit we return to a crawling pace for several minutes, before hitting a nice groove inflected stomp for a bit, and then ultimately returning to a slow trudge by songs end. "Black Smoke" is another horrifing interlude piece that is difficult to describe but adds to yet another layer of menace to the proceedings. "Stretched Thin" is the shortest track on the record at just under 3 minutes and is easily the fastest and most Grind and Crust/Punk infused of all the tracks. Its not super fast in the grand scheme of things but in the context of the album, it seems like they're fucking flying off the rails. Finally, we come to the closer, "Astral Sleep", which features huge chunks of Blackened Sludge and Death Doom for most of the track but also rallies the troops for one last blast of faster paced action before closing things out in feedback. Shortly after the release of "Scorn", PRIMITIVE MAN would part ways with Bennett Kennedy, and pick up Isidro "Spy" Soto as his replacement on Drums. About a month after the release of "Scorn", the band would offer up an EP for free via digital download, by the title of "P//M".

This EP would feature 3 tracks of more atmospheric, Ambient and electronic material, including a PORTISHEAD cover. Fastforward to June 2013 and PRIMITIVE MAN would get signed to the prestigious extreme music label, Relapse Records, who would re-release "Scorn" on CD, Digital Download, and limited edition Vinyl LP. The re-release Vinyl LP would be see a pressing of 1000 copies, 700 being standard Black with the other 300 being a "Beer" colored LP that is a beautiful golden brown. This Vinyl reissue would have the same tracklisting as the initial release, however the CD and Digital versions of the Relapse version would include 3 extra tracks, "Lifetime", "Innard$" and "I Am Above You". In a very short amount of time, PRIMITiVE MAN have asserted themselves as one of the foremost bands in Extreme Metal. "Scorn" is one of the best albums of 2013, without a doubt, and for fans of extreme Doom this is your new favorite band. 2014 also looks to big a big year for PRIMITIVE MAN as they are starting the year off with a bang by dropping not 1, but 2 new releases.

First, they have a new split 7" with XAPHAN coming out in January, through Init Records that will feature one new song. This 7" is being pressed in a limited edition of 1000 copies. The 2nd release is due out in February through Tartarus Records. This release is a new cassette tape that focuses more on the Noise and Drone side of the band. It will include the materian from the digital P//M release plus a number of new tracks including a CROWBAR cover, for a total of almost 90 mins of brutality. This cassette is being pressed in a limited number of 100.

There are countless Extreme Metal bands these days and an ever growing number of Extreme Doom bands that take Doom more extreme directions like Death/Doom, Blackened Doom, Sludge, Funeral Doom, etc, etc but tuning low, and playing slow doesnt necessarily result in great music, in and of its self. PRIMITIVE MAN have shown they have what it takes to create interesting, and truly powerful music that while rooted in the slow and crushing end of the spectrum, is also quite capable of utilizing other elements such as Noise and Ambient, to create a more lethal end result.

Check out all PM news, go here... http://primitivemandoom.com/
For merch, go here... http://primitivemandoom.bigcartel.com/
To here these jams, go here... http://primitivemandoom.bandcamp.com/

Andy Sweitzer

Vinyl Album of the Day is REMEMBERING NEVER - "God Save Us"

Vinyl Album of the Day is REMEMBERING NEVER - "God Save Us". In February 2006, Florida's Hardcore/Metal bruisers, REMEMBERING NEVER unleashed their 3rd full length album "God Save Us" on CD via Ferret Records. The album saw the band refining direction the took with their previous album, 2004's "Women and Children Die First". That album was where RN really went for a heavier more violent sound, as well as forgoing much of the aesthetics of their 2002 debut full length "She Looks So Good In Red", in favor of more socially conscious and confrontational subject matter and lyrics. Featuring strong, intelligent, well written lyrics packed with meaning and a message, RN began to set themselves apart from much of the Hardcore Scene's trends of the time that seemed to be stuck on songs of heartache, teen angst whining, and an infatuation with fashion and appearance. With "Women and Children Die First" and "God Save Us", REMEMBERING NEVER set out to give meaning and a message back to Hardcore, a genre that once was filled with both. On these albums RN touched on Gay Rights, Animal Rights, Straight Edge, Politics, Women's Rights, opposition to Religion, and even the Hardcore scene its self. "God Save Us" would see the band streamline things to a degree as its a bit less technical and chaotic, while certainly no less heavy, and it features bigger, more memorable Choruses that border on being hook like while still being utterly savage.

As mentioned "God Save Us" was initially released only on CD via Ferret Records, then later in '06, Remembering Never's vocalist "Mean" Pete Kowalksy would release the Vinyl version of "God Save Us" as the first release on his new label Dead Truth Recordings. There were 1000 copies pressed total and of that 1000 there were 100 Green, 100 Red, 100 White, 300 Purple, and 400 Trash (which is a mixture of all of the other colors). The Vinyl version of "God Save Us" would feature a number of differences from the original CD version of the album. It has completely different artwork, the songs are in a completely different order, and there is an exclusive song, "Celebrity Holocaust", which is only available on the Vinyl version of "God Save Us". However, due to time constraints 2 of the songs that appeared on the original CD version of the album were left off of the Vinyl version, these are "Little Hitlers" and "T.H.U.G.LI.F.E.". Both are great songs, but with the completely different order of the tracks on the LP, their absence is not as obvious as it would be if the songs were in the same order as the CD and they were left off.

Side A opens with "Runner Up in a Shit Eating Contest", kicks things off in violent fashion. The track begins quick and from there kind of alternates between faster techy/grindy parts and total moshtastic breakdown sections which works as the chorus basically. The track closes out with a more melodic section that is alot different from the rest of the track, but works and shows that Pete can still bust out the clean vocals. "The Goddamn Busy Signal" is up next and keeps things barreling along, with quick paced savagery during the verses and a heavy, chugging chorus with some spectacular lyrics that promote Gay Rights and call out our "leaders" for trying to legislate a person's love life. Now we get to "Please Dont Let My Mother Read This", which is short blast of metallic hardcore with grind overtones, some quick double bass work, and furious riffing, all capped off with Pete's vitriolic hate. Following this is "Celebrity Holocaust" the Vinyl Only bonus track. Its a killer track that is heavy as fuck throughout although there is a semi melodic section in the middle. The lyrics are directed at the bullshit we call "Reality TV". "Suicide Hotline on Speed Dial" is a call for change, and features some interesting guitar work while still maintaining RN's overt heaviness. Side A closes things out with "White Devil", which is one of my favorite RN tracks of all time. Its absolutely perfect. Its ungodly heavy, and drops bombs on poverty, religion, government and more with some of Mean Pete's most awesome and direct lyrics. For example: "My prayers were never answered. Nothing filled my empty hands. That's when I realized god either hated me or was a fucking lie. All the work and prayers burn. A waste of sweat and breath. God turns his deaf ear to me like I'm the one that doesn't exist." and  "Everything I have I've stolen.Why should I compromise my freedom. Faith built on lies; you've turnedon me. Fuck god. Fuck government".

Side B kicks things off with "Selma" which is fast and brutal. The song is inspired by Pete's mother and the time and effort she put forth to raise him and his siblings., but in the bigger picture its also for all the single mothers, fatherless children, and women in general. "Slaughterhouse Blues" is a monster track that has one of the biggest hooks on the record with "Murder is a family value in almost every home, Murder is family value three times a day". Its a powerful and crushingly heavy song that drives home the reality of the torture and death that countless animals face everyday so that humans can eat meat. This is another of my favorite tracks on this album. "Con Artist" is next, and is actually the opening song on the CD version. Its a killer, driving track that puts the hammer down on religion, and is chock full of killer riffing. "Pocket Full of Dirt" is up next and is a kind of ode to living on the rode, playing this kind of music, and the amazing family and friends that take care of one another within this scene. Its fast and maybe the most "Punk Rock" or traditional Hardcore song on the album, even thought it still has other elements. Its also the shortest song on the entire album at 1:20. The intense and violent political jam, "Judas Will Swing"  follows and is another favorite of mine. Its punishing, fast, and has some awesome lyrics such as :"Tied to the chair. Piss running down your legs. Two black eyes and a bucket of gasoline. Shoving a pistol in the face of the enemy to show him fear he's never known. This is justice for every soul that's been condemned, the beginning and the end, at 1600." When the album was written and released our sitting president was the king of shitheads, George W. Bush, in case you needed some context. Next up is "Gangsta Rap & Peppermint Schnapps" which is one of the heaviest songs on the record, which is really saying something. In the liner notes, this song is described as a sort of follow up to "Suicide Hotline on Speed Dial" and is also described as a sort of "end of the world scenario" kind of tune. Finally, the record closes with "Off Key & Outta Line", which also closes the regular CD version. It is the only part of the tracklist that is the same on both the CD and LP. Musically, its again heavy as shit, combining elements of Extreme Metal, Hardcore, and more. Pete busts out some clean vocals at the start of the track but soon returns to his usual harsh vocals, although he brings the clean vox back toward the end of the track.

Since this album and the touring that followed things have been fairly quiet in the RN camp until fairly recently. The next album has long been talked about, with a title of "This Hell Is Home" but there wasn't much concrete info until recent times. The album is finished as there are actually a couple new songs online as of this writing so it will be awesome to hear Remembering Never again and to see what they've come up with in the last 7 years. They have been one of my favorite "Hardcore" bands since the release of "Women and Children Die First" and as much as I love that record, they were somehow able to match it with this one, "God Save Us", and so even though its been a long time coming, I have no doubt that "This Hell Is Home" will remind everyone why RN is needed and why they're go down as one of the best Hardcore bands of their time.

Hear some jams, including brand new ones:
http://www.reverbnation.com/rememberingnever
Purchase the LP here:
http://deadtruthrecordings.bigcartel.com/product/remembering-never-god-save-us-12
Official Page here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Remembering-Never/127850457253229

Andy Sweitzer

Vinyl Album Of The Day is MIDNIGHT - "Satanic Royalty"

Vinyl Album of the Day is MIDNIGHT - "Satanic Royalty". Released November 8th, 2011 on CD, LP, and Cassette by Hells Headbangers Records, "Satanic Royalty" is the first and, so far, only full length album from Cleveland, Ohio's MIDNIGHT. Despite "Satanic Royalty" being their debut full length, MIDNIGHT have been around for a bit and have quite a few releases under their bullet belts. The group formed in 2003 and that same year released their first Demo, from there on they have put out a number of EPs, Splits, Live recordings, and Compilations, but never a full length until 8 years later, in the form of this beastly record. MIDNIGHT play sleazy metal that combines elements of NWOBHM, Speed Metal, early Black Metal, Hard Rock, a bit of Punk, Thrash, and a bit of early Hardcore, but if you want to go with an easy reference MIDNIGHT basically sounds like the bastard child of VENOM and MOTORHEAD. It's metal as fuck, sleazy as hell, drenched in Booze, Sluts, Leather, Spikes, and Satan, but most all its a fun, balls out metal.

As for Vinyl version, the first pressing included 777 copies on Blue vinyl (like mine), 400 Black, 222 Picture Discs, 100 on Red vinyl, which were only available at Record Boy in Tokyo, Japan, and 5 Test Pressings. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Bad Back Studios in Cleveland, Ohio by Dave Johnson. The cover art was done by William Lacey, Goat artwork on the inner sleeve was done by Josh McAlear.

For the album, everything was written and performed by Athenar aka Jameson Walters aka Jamie Boulder, who has played in a number of other bands, the most notable being DESTRUCTOR, although he has also filled in as a touring bassist for TOXIC HOLOCAUST and played drums on the first Demo from THE GATES OF SLUMBER.

The vinyl release of "Satanic Royalty" also includes an 18" x 24" poster, with the artwork done by Gary Davis. Another item of note is that the LP includes an exclusive bonus track, "TAP", that is not on the CD or Tape versions of "Satanic Royalty". The CD includes a bonus DVD and the Cassette comes with a sticker.

Side A begins with the title track, "Satanic Royalty" which is a mid paced jam that is chock full of awesome. Its got ball rockin' riffs, the swagger of cock rock, some tasty leads and a chorus hook that is just fucking killer. You just cant get that shit out of your head. It's followed by a faster number, "You Can't Stop Steel" which has more of Speed Metal and NWOBHM vibe, complete with a ripping solo. "Rip This Hell" comes next and is another killer jam with a monster chorus and total booze soaked, Biker from Hell vibe. "Necromania" follows and is the longest song on the album. Its got some mean, ass kicking mid paced riff action that just doesn't let up. It's the longest and maybe the "heaviest" song on the album, and is totally destined to cause "Metal Face" in many a listener. Side A is closed out with "Black Damnation", which is maybe the slowest song on here, with its Occult Doom vibes. Its a very powerful, and "epic" song that kind of alternates between melodic classic metal guitar work and the kind of proto-Doom type riffs.

"Lust Filth and Sleeze" kicks off Side B in a big way. Its total classic Speed Metal ass kicking with lyrics that fit the part. Its got lines like "Tonight oh Ive been waitin' that's right just wait and see, The sound of seed as it seeps from your slit, The only gash I'll ever need, You give me lust, filth and sleeze...". Next is another total Thrashy, Speed Metal rampage in the form of "Violence on Violence". Its fast, relentless and again catchy as herpes. From there we go into a more midpaced jam with "Savage Dominance". Its got big power chords and a simple steady rhythm. The intensity gets ratcheted back up thought quickly with "Holocaustic Deafening" with its Punk fueled fury and awesome, thick opening bass action. Its the shortest song on the record at just over a minute and a half but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in violence. The final regular album track is next with "Shock til Blood" and is very MOTORHEAD-ish, not that there isn't some Lemmy in all these songs, but this closer for whatever reason just has classic MOTORHEAD written all over it, and goddamn it, it is all the more awesome for it. Side B ends with the "vinyl only" bonus track "TAP", which stands for "Tits, Ass, Pussy". Its probably the most sexually graphic song on here for sure, and arguably misogynistic, but this is MIDNIGHT, what the fuck do you expect. The whole jam is about have sex with a less than pure female. Its got a definite early Hardcore/Punk vibe to it, much more so than anything else on this album.

"Satanic Royalty" came out a couple years ago now and gained MIDNIGHT a bit more attention among Metal fans. As mentioned it was the group's first full length, despite them being a band since 2003. Since then they still haven't dropped another full length but they have put out 4 more releases. Two in 2012, which included a Cassette tape, "Satanic Royalty Demos" and "Complete and Total Hell" which is a compilation that features pretty much their entire catalog prior to "Satanic Royalty".  Basically, It compiles all the EPs and Splits from their career up to that point. This year, 2013, they have dropped 2 more releases, a live album and another EP. I haven't got the newest couple things yet, but I'm sure I will soon. MIDNIGHT is a great band, and a fun listen. Yes, you can accuse them of VENOM and MOTORHEAD worship, but they dont give a shit. MIDNIGHT only care about getting fucked up, fucking sluts, being evil, and kicking out some awesome, balls out, rawkin' METAL!

Listen to the album here and find other Midnight related merch and links:
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/midnight/
Buy It Here:
http://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/midnight-satanic-royalty-LP.asp

Andy Sweitzer

Vinyl Album of the Day is OTESANEK - Final 12"

Vinyl Album of the Day is OTESANEK's final release. I guess its technically maybe self titled, but so is their first album, the one with the rams heads on the cover so this one has a sort of unofficial title of Final 12" as its a 12" record and it was their last release. It was released only on vinyl, in 2009, jointly, by Nancy Jo Records, Otesanek  and Reification of Misery Productions. OTESANEK was a band from Philadelphia that existed in the 00's, but called it quits before the end of the decade. They played a powerful combination of Doom, Death Metal, Drone, Sludge, etc and are one of my favorite "slow", heavy bands.

There were 500 copies pressed, with the first 111 copies including an extra linocut insert stenciled in human blood. It features 2 songs, both of which were recorded by Mick Mullen at Super 8 Studios in April 2007, the same session that their track "Seven Are They" comes from, which was released as part of "Fo(u)r Burials", the 4-way split with LOSS, MOURNFUL CONGREGATION, & ORTHODOX. The tracks were mastered by Prairie Cat Mastering. This 12" album features 2 songs in total, as I mentioned, with one track on each side of the record. Side A is "Resonance of War" and Side B is "Sanguinary".
The amazing cover artwork was done by Pippi Zornoza, who has continued to make killer art and music, so check her stuff out as well if you get the chance. The beautiful artwork is truly stellar and these pictures dont do it the full justice of actually holding the album in your hands and looking at the detail, but this will give you an idea.

"Resonance of War" begins with slow, massive, downtuned slabs of Droning Doom riffs, feedback, and low growls in the background. Its the patented sound of the mighty OTESANEK, slow, menacing, tortured and ominous. About 2 and a half minutes in the drums finally come in, and the corrosive destruction gets even uglier. Things continue on in uber slow and ugly fashion until about the 6 minute mark, when this Philly based crew of destroyers, kick into a speed burst that has been basically unseen from the band since their Demo days. The band had always played extremely slow, brutally heavy music that combined Death Metal, Doom, Sludge, and Drone with a sort of Experimental streak, but on their Demo, they also included a few faster parts even incorporating Blast Beats. So this fast section is something different from what OTESANEK had been doing, and the dynamic it creates is killer. Due to the slowness of the first 6 minutes, the fast part seems even more extreme and blazing, and when the slow, bone crushing heaviness returns about a minute later, it seems even slower by contrast. The vocals following the fast section are some of the most disgusting, gutwrenching vox Ive ever heard too, so thats another high point. They trudge slow and low again til about the 8 minute mark then kick off another fast section to take us out to the end at about 8:28.

"Sanguinary" opens with a bit of feedback and then a short fast section which is again kind of different for these guys. They alternate between their usual slow and devastating sound and these short blasts of faster stuff for a bit, then about a minute and a half in, everything pretty much comes to stop, and it just crawls for a bit, then we kind of return to the back and forth between the quick bits of chaos and the Death/Doom. Between 3:30 and 4 minutes we pretty much slow all the way down to nothing again, and we have just this tense minimalistic section where there is just a chug here and there from the guitar and very little else save a percussion hit here or there. About the 6 minute mark, shit gets super heavy again, and the vocals come back a bit different than usual, in that some of it isnt super low and guttural but more strained and wretched. Its just slow and crushing here for a couple minutes, then by about 8:30 we've slowed almost down to a stop again. From there it gets noisier and nosier until the finish at just over 9 minutes.

And that's it, the record is over and so was the band. The band had actually called it quits prior to the release of this record and so this release was basically their swan song. Some of the liner notes are also imbued with the finality as there is Thank You's for those you "understood". OTESANEK was a killer band that existed in the deep Extreme Metal Underground and during their existence, never got the recognition they deserved, and still are largely unknown.

They only put out a handful of songs spread across 5 releases, but I suppose on the upside, all those songs are pretty long, so you get more material in a few songs than you would alot more tracks by a Grind band with 30 second songs. Its interesting that this record, their final release, has 2 of their "shorter" songs, compared to previous material. These tracks, and the one from the same session that was used on the "Fo(u)r Burials) split are all shorter than anything else they released except for a song or 2 on their Demo. OTESANEK released a total of 9 songs in their existence, The Demo tape from 2002 features 4 songs (clocking 32:35), the 2004 self titled CD features 2 songs (clocking 30 mins), the 2007 split with COFFINS features 1 song (clocking 22 mins), the 2008 4-way split "Fo(u)r Burials" features 1 song (clocking 8:33), and finally this 2009 final record features 2 songs (clocking 17:29). So when you break it down, they released only 9 songs, but its just over 100 minutes of music, so they average over 11 minutes in length. This group did something truly powerful and unique and if you're a fan of extremely heavy, visceral, ugly music then I encourage you to check these guys out. Particularly if you're a fan or Extreme Doom, Funeral Doom, Death/Doom, Drone, etc. If you are interested in OTESANEK and would like to read a more in depth piece about their entire existence, check out this "Awesome Bands You Should Know...OTESANEK" piece I wrote, here.... http://dodobirdzine.blogspot.com/2013/03/awesome-bands-you-should-knowotesanek.html .

If you would like to here one of these jams here is "Sanguinary"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xi-PFAEMz0

If you would like to purchase this record, here is a Discogs link...
http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=147852&ev=mb

Andy Sweitzer

7" of the Day is FUCKING INVINCIBLE - "Downtown is Dead"

FUCKING INVINCIBLE is a band from Rhode Island, featuring current and former members of DROP DEAD, SOUL CONTROL, DAUGHTERS, SWEET JESUS, etc. The group released a debut EP through Atomic Action Records on 7" vinyl, "Very Negative" on December 31, 2012, as well as 2 tracks on a comp called "You Cant Kill Me I'm Already Dead" featuring other RI bands. "Downtown is Dead" is the groups most recent release. The 7" EP was released by Atomic Action Records May 24, 2013. The effort features 8 new jams, as did the debut EP. "Downtown is Dead" is definitely inline stylistically with what FUCKING INVINCIBLE did on their debut in that they play violent Hardcore with elements of Powerviolence and Grind, but they do bust out enough new bits to add something different on this release.

The record opens with "Await Further Instruction" which starts off with some Doomy riffs and a sample from "Rosemary's Baby" then kicks into a short fast bit, before going into a midpaced, groove oriented section. "Too Much Black" follows and is a fast, ripping jam that tears through its run time in just under a minute. Next, "Ingested and Infested" is another blazing jam that incorporates a bit of Punk rock into its Powerviolence and Hardcore romp. "Coffin Chaser" opens with shrill feedback before exploding into a blasting fast section then resolving in a nice groove, all in less than 30 seconds. "On Paper" follows and opens with some slow, Doom riffs and Lex screaming "What the fuck!", from there we go into a fast blitzkrieg attack, before returning to slow Doom style bit for the close. "The Both of Us are Dying" is next and is the shortest track at only 13 seconds. Its a killer little Punk jam that is one of the most memorable songs Ive ever heard that was less than 15 seconds long. Now we have "A Coma" that alternates between fast Grind/Powerviolence parts and more midpaced grooving parts. The album closes with "Stand Perfectly Still", which opens with another sample, this time from the excellent film "Under The Volcano". The sample is the awesome line, "Hell's my preference. I choose Hell. Hell is my natural habitat. The song is the longest track on the record at about 2 and a half minutes and it brings the album to a fittingly violent end.

If you like fast, noisey, violent Hardcore with elements of Powerviolence, Punk, and occasionally a slower more Doomy bit for a few seconds, then you should get this right now. I would definitely also recommend this record to fans of the members previous bands. I first checked out FUCKING INVINCIBLE because I'm a huge fan of DAUGHTERS and I heard F/I was their vocalist, Alexis Marshall's new band. Now, that said F/I doesnt really sounds a whole lot like DAUGHTERS as its not nearly as weird and spazzy as that, but both groups are excellent. Another big difference is that Lex is not using the "drunken Elvis meets drunken Southern preacher" vocals he used on the last 2 DAUGHTERS albums, "Daughters" and "Hell Songs". Here he employs a much harsher, shrill scream that fits quite well with the jams at hand, and so in that context, its cool to hear Lex screaming his guts out for the first time since DAUGHTERS' first album "Canada Songs". 700 copies were pressed of "Downtown is Dead", with 100 White, 100 Clear, 200 Blue, and 300 Black. The Clear 7"s were only sold on tour and are now sold out, as are the White records. My copy is Blue and I believe there are still Blue and Black available. The 7" is only $5 and comes with a free Digital Download as well. You can also choose to just do the Digital Download for only $3.50. You can listen to the jams and see what you think or complete a purchase here.... http://atomicactionrecords.bandcamp.com/album/downtown-is-dead , and there are also links for the "Very Negative" EP, the Compilation I mentioned, and their Demo.

Andy Sweitzer

7" of the Day -- KATA SARKA & BODDICKER - "The David Lee Gorgoroth EP"

 7" of the Day is the KATA SARKA // BODDICKER split, "The David Lee Gorgoroth EP". This 7" vinyl version was released just this year by Reality is a Cult, a killer little label based out of Bloomington, IN. It was previously available on Cassette, through 18 is 9,  in a limited run of 100 tapes, which are long sold out. This vinyl 7" edition is still available I believe but is also a limited run of only 500 copies, all on Black vinyl. So lets get to the actual jams at hand.

Side A is sees Indianapolis's lords of Crusty Black Metal, KATA SARKA, deliver 2 killer jams. The first track is "Mired In Spleen", as savage romp through Black Metal, Crust, Hardcore Punk, & a bit of D-Beat. Its raw, visceral, and violent. It clocks in at a little under 5 minutes and is pure devastation throughout. This track is also the opening jam on their most recent release the amazing, "Crucible of Misanthropy". "Poaching The Boar" continues the onslaught, and is no less intense. Its about a minute shorter, clocking in around 3:38, and again proves why KATA SARKA are one of the Underground's most promising bands.

These 2 tracks were recorded by Carl Byers in April 2012. Byers continues to get excellent recordings from bands under his Clandestine Arts Recordings banner, when he's not killing it in another of Indy's most devastating bands, COFFINWORM. If you check this out and dig what you hear, definitely check out KS's other releases as they have a few of them now. I would especially recommend the "Existential Oblivion" cassette or the "Crucible of Misanthropy" cd.

Side B of this little monster record comes to us from Indy's  BODDICKER. These guys deliver 4 jams on their half of this split, with the opener being "Every Crime A Trophy". Its fast, raw, and just fucks you up with Crust covered Powerviolence and Grind. For a little over 2 minutes, they absolutely assault you with this aural beatdown. If you dig NAILS, you have to check out this fucking band. "Choice" is up next and is the shortest track on here. Its a 26 second blitzkrieg that melts faces. "Rise of the Downtrodden" follows and is a killer battle between bad ass groove ridden sections, and faster paced blasts. Its the longest track on the BODDICKER side, but still is only about 2 and a half minutes. They close things out with the filth ridden Grind of "They Fix Everything". Aggravated Battery never sounded so goddamn good.

BODDICKER's tracks on here were also recorded by Carl Byers, but in Detroit, with The Clandestine Arts Mobile Studio, in May 2012. If you dig Extreme Metal, particularly Black Metal with a helping dose of Crust, and Crust infused Grind/Powerviolence, then you must check out this split EP. From there you can check out KATA SARKA and BODDICKER's individual efforts.

Andrew Glen Sweitzer

Sex Magician - "Spread Brown Eye Kind Of Night" (Live @ Ole Simrell's sometime in 2008)

Vinyl Album of the Day...ED GEIN - "3 Song Demo + It's A Shame..."

Released in 2006, jointly, by Hex Records and Shock Value Records, this 12" LP combines ED GEIN's 3 song demo from 2002, which was originally put out on CD by Hex Records and Hope To Die Records,  and their debut full length, "It's a Shame a Family Can Be Torn Apart By Something as Simple as a Pack of Wild Dogs", which was originally released on CD in '03 by Hex Records. It was a limited edition release with only 700 pressed on red with brown smoke colored vinyl. Its housed in a beautiful gatefold LP sleeve featuring new artwork and full lyrics printed on the inner sleeves. Side A begins with the tracks from the demo, starting with "Bathed in Orange". The track opens with a sample from the first Friday the 13th film, with Nancy Voorhees saying "KILL HER, Mommy, KILL HER" before ripping into violent Hardcore Punk inflected Grindcore. The sonic attack from the demo continues for roughly the next nine minutes, encompassing the tracks "Score One For Team Bitch" and "Willy Loman". The next track, "You Suck At Life and I'm Not Talking About the Board Game", marks the beginning of the "It's A Shame..." material. It shows ED GEIN getting a bit more technical, expanding on their Grind/Punk sound, and lyrically is just kind of a classic Hardcore style "fuck you" to the naysayers and shit talkers. As I mentioned they used Friday the 13th samples on the demo material, and again used samples from a film on the full length material, but in greater amounts. Samples from "Donnie Darko" appear throughout the debut album, usually at the end of each track. After "You Suck At Life...", we get the furious blasts of "The Marlboro Man Is A Douche Bag" which is a slam on smoking/smokers, as the band are Straight Edge, and "A Way To Kill Old People" to close out Side A. Side B continues the savagery with opener, "Nice Shoes...Wanna Fuck?" with its noise and feedback drenched chaos, its a diatribe against promiscuity and whoring around.  The one, two punch of "I Wish You The Best..." and "....And By Best I Mean Worst" are the next 2 jams which are the 2 shortest songs on here with them clocking in at 1:47 and 0:57, respectively. They are another example of "fuck you, asshole" type jams.  Next we get "Beating A Dead Horse" which is maybe the longest original jam which is about  2:39. "What Is This Monstrosity?" is the final original jam, and on the original cd release its the final listed track before a long bout of silence and the "hidden" song. The silence is cut out for this vinyl release and we go straight into the actual last song which is a cover of NIRVANA's "Very Ape". Its a killer rendition and aside from the screaming vocals and a few other tidbits, they play it pretty straightforward. They don't turn it into a Blastbeat ridden Grind tune, but just give it a bit of a Hardcore kick in the dick.
As I said this record combines ED GEIN's first 2 releases, their 2002 Demo and their 1st full length album, "Its A Shame..." from '03. Their 2nd full length, the amazing "Judas Goats and Diesel Eaters" would be released in '05 through Black Market Activities. The following year, 2006, is when this vinyl compilation of their early stuff was released. After this LP, the band was quiet for 5 years, until finally in 2011 they unleashed their 3rd album, "Bad Luck", on Black Market Activities. If you get a chance, pick up any or all of this shit cause its all killer.

 

Andrew Glen Sweitzer

Sex Magician - "1 Zelda's Running Around In His Little Green Hat, 2 Thats Not Zelda, 3 Yes It Is." (Live @ DirtFest '09 in Birch Run, MI)

Sex Magician - Colt 45 Blues live in Mt. Pleasant, MI 08-22-09

This song gets cut off at the end as the camera died, sadly I dont have any footage of the show from here on as it just got more and more intense and wild, but I guess I have the memories...

Sex Magician - If You Overdose On Vitamin C, Your Doctor Will Be A Cactus live in Mt. Pleasant, MI 08-22-09

6th song from set in Mt. Pleasant

Sex Magician - 2 Antenaes Got Married.../Johnny and Susie.../I'm Not Alone In Thinking You Make Ghandi Look Like A Child Pornographer Live In Mt. Pleasant, MI 08-22-09

This is songs 3, 4, & 5 all pretty much rammed together, from out set at this house show

Sex Magician - Hey Kevin, What's My Sex Life Gonna Be Like? Live in Mt. Pleasant, MI 08-22-09

2nd song of our set at house show in Mt. Pleasant, MI

Sex Magician - Dote Dote Dote, Da, Dote Dote Dote, Otay Doe Ahead 08-22-09

Opening song we played at a house show in Mt. Pleasant, MI on 08-22-09. This was the 3rd show we had played in 24 hours and also the best. We played a show at Simerell's in Terre Haute the night before and after that show was over, we left Terre Haute and I drove through the night (nearly killing us all many many times), to make it to Saginaw, MI by the next morning so we could load in and play at SYS Fest at Ojibaway Park in Saginaw with Every Time I Die, Murder By Death and a ton of other bands spead across 6 stages. Us and Hey, Bastard played on a side stage and one of the other bands, Day In Day Out asked us to come up that night after the SYS Fest show another hour or so north into MI to play a house show in Mt. Pleasant. We didnt expect a whole lot but it turned into one of the single best, most fun shows we ever played, I only have footage of about half the set cause the camera died from filming the other shows unfortunately, but what we got was good/ Bethany got her toes broken filming the set, and Jacob puked the the instant we stopped planing. See this old shit makes me want to play right now. As I get the rest of the video converted off the old mini dvds I'll post them along with alot of other shows and footage of Sex Magician and maybe even some really old footage of me playing with Hey,Bastard and some other shit.

Awesome Bands You Should Know...OTESANEK

OTESANEK was a band from Philadelphia that made some of the heaviest, most extreme music I have ever heard in my life by combining elements from a variety of Extreme Metal subgenre along with their own artistic  sensibilities that border at times on the Avant Garde, while remaining visceral and raw. The band formed in 2001 and would feature Demian Fenton and Chad Pfeiffer on Guitars, Rudy Steinhauser on Drums, Ryan Riggs on Bass, & both Brad Dumville and Leslie Weitz on vocals. The 1st release from the band would be a Demo tape in 2002. This cassette tape would be self released by the band and feature 4 tracks. & a total length of about 32 1/2 minutes.

The initial release of this demo consisted of 100 hand numbered tapes, although the band would produce more of them, but after the 1st 100 they were no longer numbered. The recording was dubbed onto pre-existing Fundamentalist Christian tapes. The recordings were done in the Bassist Ryan Steinhauser's basement by Sean Dorn in November of 2002, and the tapes were released by the band shortly after. This Demo established OTESANEK and their basic sound as they fused together elements from some of the more extreme subgenres of Doom, including Drone, Death/Doom, Sludge, & Funeral Doom. However, not everything was super slow paced on these demo tracks, as there are a few moments of Blast Beats, and faster parts interspersed throughout all the slow, crushing jams.  All these elements combined with the individual artistic streak of the band members themselves proved to be an interesting, and very extreme sound. Over the next couple of years the band would be working on new material and playing live, and then in 2004, OTESANEK would release their next album. 

This self titled album would be released on CD through the label, Electric Human Project. The album was recorded in the spring of 2004 by Steve Roche, in his basement, and would be released a few months later, in July, in a limited pressing of 1000 CDs. There are 2 tracks on this record, the first is entitled "Oceans" and clocks in at about 10 1/2 minutes, while the second song is called "Dead in the Park", and has a hefty run time of 19 minutes & 30 seconds, giving the record a total run time of right about 30 minutes. Both jams are incredibly slow, devastating examples of just how extreme Doom can be. Dueling vocalists, both screaming their guts out, ungodly heavy guitars with just killer tone, minimalist but quite fitting percussion, and deep lowend. Its the sound of being dragged down a gravel road, naked at 10 miles an hour. Its going to fuck you up, slowly. The faster parts, and blasting that were heard on the Demo are now gone, in favor of extremely slow, torturous Death/Doom, Drone and Sludge combined to make some of the ugliest, most misery filled jams that humans have ever created. Obviously, if you were to attempt to trace the origins of the band's sound to their influences, I'd say a few of the bands that come to mind would be some kind of a mix between Corrupted, Khanate, & Thergothon, with maybe also a bit of Eyehategod, but I think the EHG influence was a bit more prevalent on the Demo, than on these tracks. Regardless, OTESANEK still very much had their own, unique sound, while there were elements of the bands I mentioned, they didnt attempt to sound like anyone but themselves. The next release from the band would come a a few years later in 2007.

The Split album betwen OTESANEK and Japan's COFFINS, would be released in March 2007, on CD and Vinyl by Parasitic Records. Both the CD and LP versions were limited editions, with only 1000 CDs and 666 Vinyl LPs pressed. The first 111 LPs came with a handscreened poster, handstamped in black ink, numbered, and stenciled in human blood. The cover art, as seen above, was created by Steve Mullay, who killed himself shortly after he created it, and was used in tribute to him. This album contains 4 tracks total, with COFFINS contributing 3 tracks (2 originals, and 1 GOATLORD cover), and OTESANEK performing 1 song, "Narcotic Hues", which would be the longest song OTESANEK would ever record, clocking in at almost 22 minutes. "Narcotic Hues" was recorded in February 2005, again by Steve Roche, in his basement. The song features a very long, ominous build up for the first chunk of the song before finally delivering the feral bludgeoning we expect, as it comes in wave after crashing wave of sonic filth and malice. This LP would later be reissued by Kreation Records on limited edition clear/splatter vinyl. There were 500 total pressed and available in clear vinyl with red, blue, and gray splatter. After the split with COFFINS, there wouldnt be as long of a wait this time, before the arrival of the next release.

In 2008, Blake Judd's Battle Kommand Records would release this amazing 4 way split album,

"Four Burials". It features one track a piece from 4 of the best bands from the extreme end of the world wide Doom scene. Track 1 is OTESANEK's contribution, "Seven Are They", which runs at just over 8 1/2 minutes. It seems much shorter than its 8 plus minute run time, and its actually the shortest song on this 4 way split. It's not as drawn out as much of Otesanek's material, particularly compared to a piece like "Narcotic Hues", which builds up for quite some time before finally delivering the sludgy destruction. On "Seven Are They" we get OTESANEK at perhaps their most viscious and violent. Its 8 plus minutes of total nihilistic, misanthopy in audio form. Its taken from OTESANEK's final studio session in April of 2006 at Super 8 Studios, where they recorded with Mick Mullen. Track 2 on this split is the amazing Funeral Doom band LOSS, from Tennessee, with their song, "(To Pass Away) Death March Toward My Ruin", which is 14 plus minutes of suicidal despair. Next up is, Spanish, Drone band, ORTHODOX, who contribute the most sedate track on here and also the longest, in the form of "Heritage", which is 18 1/2 minutes long. Finally, the last track comes from Australian Funeral Doom monsters, MOURNFUL CONGREGATION, who deliver the 10 minute crusher, "Left Unspoken". The initial release of this album, came as I said, in 2008, through Battle Kommand, in the form of a limited edition pressing of 1000 CDs. It was re-released on on beautiful vinyl by The Flenser just a year or 2 ago, with new artwork, and I think possibly a different mastering job. One year later, following this 4 way split, we would get the final release from the now defunct OTESANEK.

In 2009, Nancy Jo and Reification of Misery Productions co-released this 12" Vinyl record, the final release from OTESANEK. It would features 2 songs, "Resonance of War" on Side A and "Sanguinary" on Side B. As with pretty much everything Otesanek every released, the release was a limited edition as only 500 LPs were pressed, and of those 500 records, 111 of them included an extra linocut insert that was stenciled in human blood. The album artwork was done by the amazing artist Pippi Zornoza, who has is an exceptional artist who's created killer art for many other bands and is also involved in a number of music projects herself, including THE ASSEMBLY OF LIGHT CHOIR, VVLTVRE, THRONE OF BLOOD, WOLD and more. The 2 tracks on here come from the same recording session as "Seven Are They", which was featured on the "Four Burials" 4 way split. The session took place April 2006 with Mick Mullen at Super 8 Studios. These final tracks are as good as anything the band every recorded and while they are definitely in line with OTESANEK's established sound, in some ways these songs take the band full circle, back to their demo days. After the Demo, the band pretty much only played extremely slow and never really played fast at all, ever, but on both these tracks there are some moments and parts where they pick up the pace and get a bit chaotic and fast again, which harkens back to the Demo tracks. Its interesting and definitely gives the songs some extra dynamics, These brief bursts of speed give the slow, crushing parts that much more impact. It would have been interesting to see where the band would have went next, whether they would have began incorporating more speed and chaos into the mix, or if they would have returned to Droning, drawn out pieces. Its hard to say, but regardless, its a mute point. What we are left with is a small, but amazing body of work that demonstrates just how far and how extreme music can be taken when a group of individuals come together who have the vision, the heart, and ability to take their collective influences and ideas and create something totally new. So if you like the more extreme ends of the Doom spectrum, like Funeral Doom, Death/Doom, Drone, Sludge, etc make sure you check out OTESANEK. 

http://www.last.fm/music/Otesanek

Andrew Glen Sweitzer

Awesome Bands You Should Know... EHNAHRE

                                                 
EHNAHRE is an avant garde, death/doom band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band was formed in 2006, although an earlier version of the band existed in the late 90's when 3 of the original members were in high school. This early version of the band was called Negative Reasoning, which was gleaned from the Eyehategod song "Non Conductive Negative Reasoning", & at that time the band was often refered to by it's initials NR. Negative Reasoning sounded nothing like how Ehnahre would come to sound, as this early incarnation evolved through a variety of styles including hardcore, grind, metalcore, & sludge before calling it quits around 2000. The core of Ehnahre is Ryan Mcguire and John Carchia. Aside from playing in Negative Reaction, they would both join Kayo Dot in '03 and then leave Kayo Dot in 2006 to form Ehnahre. When deciding upon this new band name, they decided to have it be a slight nod to their past together, choosing the initials of Negative Reasoning, "NR", but spelling it out phonetically. That is the origin of the band name and also indicates its proper pronunciation. The band quickly set about making interesting, progressive music that was both experimental but extremely heavy. In 2008, Ehnahre would release their debut full length, "The Man Closing Up", through Sound Devastation Records.
The album is just shy of 45 minutes in length and is divided into 5 tracks, simply titled Part I - V. The tracks basically bleed into one another so the record is really best looked at as one piece. The precedent of using/adapting existing lyrical content would begin here. So far all of Ehnahre's albums have used the written works of different poets or writers for their lyrics. "The Man Closing Up" takes its words from the work of Donald Justice. The music is a brutal assault combining elements of violent death metal with sludge and doom, as well as jazz, ambient, noise, and other genres. The album often seems improvised and comes off as though everything could fall apart at any moment. The artwork is stark, black & white photos of a shoreline and surrounding area. Its bleak, desolate & haunting. The audio captures these themes as well, while also adding violent bludgeonings. Ehnahre's music is often atonal and dissonant, with much of what they do being based on music theory. They are heavily influenced by the 12 tone serialism of composer Arnold Schoenberg . All of this adds up to make them a very unique sounding band. On this album the band was Ryan Mcguire (bass, double bass, voice, & percussion), John Carchia (guitar, voice), DJ Murray (guitar, voice, keyboard), Tom Malone (drums, guitar), & Andrew Hock (guitar). Mcguire, Carchia, Murray, & Malone were all formerly in Kayo Dot, while Hock had been in Castavet and Biolich. The album also features some other guest and session musicians many of which were also in other bands like Kayo Dot, Maudlin of the Well, Baliset, etc. The additional instruments included trumpet & violin among others. Following this album, Ehnahre released a cassette titled "Pipeline"  in 2009, which was a live recording of Parts II, III, & V from "The Man Closing Up". It was initially self released by the band on cassette, with only 50 copies being made. It was re-released shortly after this by Semata Productions, again on tape only, in the amount of 175 copies, but with different artwork. The band's next release would be the vinyl only EP, "Alpha/Omega" in 2010. It was released by Fun With Asbestos on 12" Vinyl and limited to 100 copies. It featured 2 new songs, "Leda & The Swan" and "The Second Coming", both of which featured lyrics culled from the work of William Yeats. That same year, 2010, saw the release of Ehnahre's 2nd full length album, "Taming The Cannibals", through Crucial Blast. The album clocks in at about 35 minutes and has 6 individual songs with distinct titles. Also, unlike their debut LP, the songs on here are self contained and do not run into one another, although they do share similar themes and moods. The album is cohesive but the tracks are work as stand alone pieces. While still extremely heavy at times with definite death metal and grind influences still present, the album seems more spacious in a way and even more experimental and progressive. Its horrific, ugly, violent music that twists and contorts. At times dragging along, crawling and scraping its way through primordial sludge, but then can shift in an instant to blast beaten, flesh flaying brutality.  Again the lyrics come from poetry, this time a variety of authors, including F.R. Higgins, Georg Trakl, Walt Whitman, & Robin Jeffers. The line up by this point was narrowed down to a 3 piece, McGuire (bass, voice, keys), Carchia (guitar, voice), & Ricardo Donoso (drums, electronics, voice). Again they used some guests in the studio, this time it was Greg Kelley on trumpet, Jonah Jenkins of Raw Radar War & formerly of Only Living Witness, on a guest vocal spot, & C. Spencer Yeh on violin. Ehnahre would shortly begin working on the follow up to this album as only 2 years later it would be delivered unto unsuspecting music fans. This 3rd album is titled "Old Earth" and it would be released in September of 2012, again through Crucial Blast, following a number of delays.
 
"Old Earth" is just over 37 minutes, split across 4 tracks. Similar to "The Man Closing Up", the album is essentially one piece of music as the tracks are not individually titled, they blend into each other and the insert inside the case has one set of lyrics simply titled "Old Earth". This time the lyrics are adapted from a piece by Samuel Beckett. The artwork is all earthly images, dirt, roots, stone, etc all natural and untouched by man. Musically this album is a continuation of the growth the band has shown across all of their work. Its simultaneously primal and progressive. There are moments of utter beauty juxtaposed with moments of brutish ugliness. The band is still heavier and more crushing than 90% of the bands around, but it seems as though they are continuing to push more and more into experimenta and avant garde areas through noise, ambient, jazz, etc, but they do so without every going to far and losing their rough edges. The line up for "Old Earth" remained the same as "Taming the Cannibals" other than the 2 guest spots, which were both Greg Kelley and Forbes Graham (also ex- Kayo Dot) on trumpets. This album is one of the highlights of extreme music in 2012, and will no doubt rank high on my best of 2012, year end list. Ive previously written about it as an Album of the Day on Facebook and its deserving of so much more praise. Ehnahre has become one of my favorite newer bands that Ive come across in some time. They truly sound unique in a time when so many bands are just regurgitating the same things over and over. I cant hype this band enough nor can I recommend them to enough people, but at the same time I understand that this music is not for everyone. Even within the realms of heavy music & extreme metal, Ehnahre are very much against the grain and inaccessible, so while I would love for everyone who reads this to run out and buy everything Ehnahre's released because I feel they deserve it and I feel this is important music as far as the evolution of music goes, you should probably listen to some songs online and get an idea of what they actually sound like before you buy the records, otherwise you may get more than you bargained for.
http://www.last.fm/music/Ehnahre
Andy Sweitzer