bakamono - both full lengths

the los angeles/southern california area produced some wacky/arty/noisy shit back in the mid 90s, lost among the vast clutter of unremarkable bands involved in that scene, bakamono progressed from being a kind of loud snotty hardcore band with an arty slant into a band that played long long wandering spaced-out noisefests in the later period of their existence........their first full length 1994's "the cry of the turkish fig peddler..." is loud noisy rock/hardcore, bearing a strong resembleance to karp and other bands of their ilk......their second (and final?) full length, 1996's "long time cain" shows the band's progression into almost psycadelic jam sessions that almost remind me of the spacier parts of gasp or volume 11 at times.......they released a bunch of "7s too, you can find them posted on a couple other blogs.. (built on a weak spot and onesidedwar)

bakamono - both full lengths

the judas iscariot "semi-discography"

the judas iscariot where one of those bands back in the day that i never really made a concenrated effort to check out at first, and when i did get around to getting their stuff, they never played here.........they were a simple noisy, jazzy hardcore  trio from brooklyn that could go from noisy brutal stuff on the powerviolence tip to emotive stuff similar to chino horde or even the minutmen with a suprising amount of depth for  a band utilizing only two instruments....just wished theyd been able to  play some shows out here but as with alot of bands i never saw from that era, sur la vie.........anyways this compiles their entire recorded history, including the "harrison bergeron bound" "7, the "skeptics, mystics & blind idolaters" "7, split lp w/seein red and songs from various comps (blleaaurrgggh, save you, israfel, all's quiet on the eastern front) if im missing anything feel free to let me know!

anyways here we are:

discography

trans megetti "steal the jet keys"

these guys where a kind of aberration in the DC  scene of the 90s, playing frantic  jehu/tanner inspired  rock/hardcore with those peculiar high pitched vocals of mark tesi.......someone said "this sounds like jehu if they had robert smith from the cure singing for them" and i cant completely dismiss that comparison.......there was a time that i hated this band and alot of the other DC bands (my moshcore phase in 96 when i refused to listen to anything that wasnt sXe or swedish) but then i ended up seeing them and the warmers in a basement in kalamazoo in 1997 and shit was intense! i completely changed my mind about this band and was pissed when i missed two more of their shows in kalamazoo between 1998 - 2000. ahh well, tons of shows i wished i could have been at, but no use crying over spilled milk 12 years after the fact...............anyways this was their first (and best) lp from 1997, check it out!

steal the jet keys

rocket fuel is the key "consider it contempt"

a kansas city band from the mid 90s whose records are almost impossible to find, this particular album was their first, released in 1996. RFITK were a part of the burgeoning KC scene back in the 90s, yet they werent nearly as well known as fellow compatriots shiner and season to risk, which is too bad really because they play some thick nasty noise rock, more intense than the aforementioned bands and i dare say, probably alot more crazy live.......victory records tried to sign these guys but the band told them to fuck off (which does nothing but  increase my respect for them) and that was back in the mid-late 90s when victory was still putting out records that where relevant.....apparently the band never broke up and a second record, "stroke of genius" was released in 2006...still trying to hunt that one down......anyways heres the payoff

consider it contempt

spaceboy "the force that holds together a heart torn to pieces"

from the ashes of bl'ast, spaceboy arose. in 1993 specifically, to spread their own unique brand of prog-sludge-death-doom accross the globe..........this was one of their later releases, it came out in 2000 or thereabouts on the japanese label, howling bull.............this record suffers a bit from a rather flat tinny recording...nowhere near as full sounding as "getting warm on the trail of heat" or "searching the stone library..." but it will still manage to brutalize your ears nonetheless........unfortunatly spaceboy broke up sometime in the early 2000's (2003-2004) and members can now be found playing in gargantula, a band that is basically a continuation of the spaceboy sound...........anyways check it out!

spaceboy

nfl draft tommorow

ill be keeping close eye on that shit........hopefully mayhew has some tricks up his sleeve come tommorow night...actually i just hope he picks suh.......also hope gene smith can put together another pefrect draft

i love this guy!

welcome to detroit, house of spears......

last match "discography 1997-1999"

yet another good band from that musical powerhouse that is sweden............last match was a band who were active in the late 90s and progressed from playing fast basic thrash to a darker more dischordant sound towards the end of their existence......short noisy frantic songs that are over before you know what happened.......another of those bands that toiled in obscurity and never really got any recognition............

last match

ravelin 7 / thema eleven split cd

two bands from the czech republic sharing this piece of digitized plastic.......the was an early release fo both bands and in my opinion, both band's best work.....it came out in 2000 on strilek records.....both bands playing noisy intense long songs with alot of expirimentation, both bands remind me alot of  fellow czechs lvmen.  these bands would go on to play divergent styles, ravelin 7 evolved into a synthy math rock band with weird vocals while thema eleven continued in the lvmen vein for "choose your own beast" and then more recently morphed into a metallic crust monster on "the great misanthrope" anyways this is a snapshot of the early period in the growth of both bands, and i hope you'll enjoy it as much as i have.

thema eleven / ravelin 7

R7

T11

ding "its 97% genuine: your feeling of being watched"

another chmpire band from somewhere in pennsylvania from the mid 90s. like most chumpire bands these guys got a pisspoor recordng job, however these songs are so hyper and full of catchy energy that  it overcomes the recording itself  and makes for a hell of a listen.......the comparison here would be assfactor 4 and fat day in a head on collision....13 songs that fly by almost without a break......




its 97% genuine: your feeling of being watched

bovachevo "godzilla" ep

this band is from massachusetts and plays some vintage bl'ast/black flag/born against style chaos without vocals..........really goddamn good......one of those current bands that might be known in their own neck of the woods but is totally foreign to everyone else.....the seem to have played with calumet hecla (the band that kinda (and strangely enough) turned me on to these guys)  a pretty decent number of times ...i expect to hear more from them in the near future..........hope y'all like it!

bovachevo!

longstocking "once upon a time called now"

another changeup here............longstocking were from southern california, played in the late 90s and were considered a part of the whole "riot grrl/queerpunk" scene that thrived on the west coast during that time.......its basically pretty fun hooky poprock with fun lyrics.........generally i hate this kind of stuff but this somehow got my attention and has managed to keep it without letup for years.......just so damn catchy........listen to it more than once and youll probably be caught up in this bands infectiousness too......ex oiler/fleabag members.......

longstocking

costas cake house / secretos del corazon " its a split tape you know'"

this is basically both band's first full lengths combined on one tape.......costas cake house where from karlsruhe germany and played pretty typical bremen style chaos........not as good as systral or forced to decay but still very good most of the time...occasionally they get a bit repetitive and moshy but those moments are fewand far between thankfully..........secretos del corazon was a band that had both french and german members, including a member of costas cake house...............they played rough, driving passionate emotive hardcore with a shitload of heart.......SDC is by far the better band here as all of their tracks burst forth with beauty and noise.....something i could listen to for a good long time......

anyways check it out

split tape

makara discography

heres blast from mid 90s southern california......nowadays kids call bands like this "screamo" but at the time these songs wher recorded people would have just said "noisy as fuck hardcore with some amazing drumming" no one went around going "this shit is fucking screamo!" in 1997.....fucking tools...........anyways this band bears a strong resemblence to honeywell....same kind of manic over the top noisy approach with lungbursting vocals (the vocalist being female but sounding every bit as maniaclly brutal as the dude from honeywell, that is when her voice isnt buried in the sound) the difference between the two would be makara's more technical drumming.....james is/was a superb drummer in both this band and mohinder..........anyways this compiles the "broken arrow" "7, the split "10 with shaharazad (who also rocked) the tracks from the "from stars come hearts" comp "7 on witching hour and i think a few other tracks as well.........if your in the know, tell me if ive missed something............members went on to yaphet kotto, welcome to the plauge year and ruehaeda, and where also in coexisting bands such as mohinder and jenny piccollo.......... this came out on the blood ofthe young label (now infamous for their legendary ripoffs)  in 2002

makara discography

djud demo (1999)

france's answer to clikitat ikatowi...at least that was my first impression upon my first listen to this demo...after subsequent listens i can hear a little amrep influence creeping in here and there but my first impression stands......heavy gravity influence here.....noisy, quirky and tense..........the only other release these guys are on (that im aware of) is a split with gorge trio..........currently hunting other releases cause this is damn good......

djud demo

forced to decay s/t (2001)

thios was the final hurrah from this german powerhouse.......fucking raw and intense bremen style stuff....a couple songs from the "perkussive perlokution" album turn up on this one, rerecorded and longer (and more brutal) these guys brought the hammer down so goddamn hard........you want an album that will earfuck you into submission, well here it is!

forced to decay

tantrum "into thin air" (2000)

this was the third go-round from this montpeillier france band....noise-groove hardcore that combines the powerful noisy riffage of botch with the ugly bass driven trudge of unsane.....noise rock with a pronounced math/hardcore element.......and very very pissed.....outside of their corner of france, where im told theyve attained legendary status, they seem to be almost completely unknown..........never have seen this band interviewed or records reviewed in any american or even british zines........not sure if its just the unpopularity of the stuff they play or that their from france or what....anyways if you like your amrep and your hydrahead stuff in equal measure you should happily blow your load over this one...

into thin air

autumn rising "the kraken"

this band was from cincinnati/louisville and existed fro the mid 90s up to 2001 or so.........mathy noisy stuff similar to unwound or maybe even party of helicopters.........really really good stuff.

the kraken

lash out / burst split "7 (1998)

burst

L.O.

i came in expecting great things from lash out, everything id heard up to this record had been fantastic, however their song "worlds collide" was pretty pedestrian mosh of almost hatebreed-ish genericness....a dissapointment, knowing what this band is capable of.........burst on the other hand, brought the energy and the fucking passion to this slab of wax......manic fucking energy...thats what this band was about (at least on this record) over the course of their two songs i was reminded of mohinder (just the first song) carol, diavolo rosso and fellow swedes breach ....just really really superb fucking hardcore the way it should be done.....burst was always one of those bands id known about forever but whos albums i hadnt really ever bothered to check out, i hear they turned into some crusty "prog-metal" band in the 2000s and released records on relapse or whatever............i first heard this band on that old swedish hardcore website/database, sauna.se (i think thats what it was called.......that website is bascally how i doveloped my love affair with numerous swedish bands in the 90s such as separation, sheild, saidiwas, purusam, arsedestroyer, ect if anyone else remembers that site, hit me up! we can discuss the good old days!) and i remember them sounding somewhat like entombed.....they had a cd but i never got around to buying it, looks like im gonna have to hunt down this band's back  catalouge........

anyways heres the split:

forsaken, not forgotten........

LOLZ

i dunno about you but i found this LOLworthy!

casket & flower s/t CD

hailing from the border between the midwest and the south, louisville kentucky, casket and flower played a unique brand of hardcore that straddled both a straighforward sound reminiscent of swiz or even bl'ast and a more emotive sound in the vein of  bands like inkwell/serotonin........i have somewhat of a personal connection to this band i as i know their drummer (ella)  who is one of the nicest people youll ever wanna meet......anyways this band existed around 2004-2008 (im sure ella will correct me if im wrong) played a bunch of shows and then as alot of bands do, broke up. im sure members are in new bands now, however i couldent tell you what those bands are as i dont live there and i dont keep very good tabs on the lousiville scene........

heres the sound!

casket and flower

lemko hall s/t lp

their first lp from 1999.......i like this one better than "left right..." much more flowing beautiful songs.........extrememly good lp................check it out.

lemko hall

john brown battery "....is jinxed"

a chicago band from the late 90s-early 2000s, john brown battery played some loud, anthemic awesome punk/hardcore in the same vein as small brown bike/jawbreaker........rockin melodic stuff.....really really slept on band.....toured alot and busted their asses......saw them 3-4 times in grand rapids and killed it each time....one of those bands that gets imprinted on your memory for a long time after youve seen them.........

highly recommended.

jinxed.......

lash out "what absence yields"

lash out from norway.....one of the more popular mosh/metallic hardcore bands in europe during the 90s....members went on to play in jr ewing and a ton of other bands......i can honestly say that this is some of the best european metallic hardcore that ive heard from that era.....nice and chunky with some almost melodic (no, not jangly emo) parts that seep in and just as quickly vanish.....it sorta reminds me of a harder, tougher, atlas shrugged in a way.......not really all that much like the other euromosh bands of the 90s (spawn, rykers, reveal, ect) i guess the way they played set them apart.......anyways if your not familiar check this album out..........im currently on the hunt for the "worn path" record and a couple other ones........

what absence yields......

cowpers "lost days"

japan's answer to archers of loaf..............really really good indie rock played with a shitload of power and sincerity.....kinda sucks these guys never tured the US...........id've flown anywhere to see them........their split with sweep the leg johnny is fucking great too.....

lost days.

half seas over

this band was from the UK and existed from 1997-1999.....it was made up of ex manrae members and they played good angular 90s emoish stuff in the vein of bob tilton, chino horde, boys life, ect.........one of those bands that was around and playing shows but who no one really knew about........pity really because these guys here at the top of their game........

half seas over

calumet hecla "brazil ep"

two new songs from new england's best kept secret......alot more focused and less dreamy than the "alloy" cd......much more on the math rock tip.......think sweep the leg johnny without the sax.......im guessing that these songs were recorded for their brazilian tour last year.......anyways here the are:

brazil

shiner "floodwater/cowboy" "7

i believe this was the much lauded KC band's first (or one of their first) record(s)....its kinda weird that this record sounds like it could have been recorded at any point of this band's existence, such a full and thick recording, just like all of the other shiner records, no trace of sloppiness or ameteurism that would betray a band's early years, just really solid jams from a band that deserved every bit of praise it got during its existence.......i'll admit im more of a fan of "lula divina" and the records that preceded it than i am of "the egg" era shiner of the early 2000's, but its all good.........

anyways here it is:

floodwater/cowboy

apologia

apologia where from sweden and were active in the early-mid 2000s........they played a perfect and unique balance of furious crust and intense whirlwind emotive hardcore..maybe a blend of from ashes rise, uranus, rorschach and keep of kalessin done perfectly......just fucking powerful and raging..........this is the "concrete locust" "7 and a couple other songs from another recording here.......ihave no idea of they are still active but id drive a few hundred miles to see em if they ever toured here......

apologia

inade "the incarnation of the solar architects"

thi is a bit of a departure from the musical fare ive been posting lately.  inade are from germany and create some of the most hypnotic dark and uncomfortable soundscapes ie ever heard.............theyve been going for over a decade and ar one of the leading lights in the power electronics/darkwave scene......this album was recorded last year and is to my knowledge, their most recent offering..........really dark weird, awesome stuff.......

the incarnation of the solar architects

hamilton discography

this is the complete (ignore the download tag) discography of this livonia michigan band that existed betweeen 1997 - 1999. the demos, the slit with paperback, the comp songs (from "world hardcore" comp "7 on moocow and  the forever comp "7 on kill you for a dollar records) and the final "7 (from this wicked fall) chaotic, semimetallic hardcore with a slight mosh feel.......basically like a thicker metallic version of wallside............some of the tracks might have a few skips in them, i couldnt help that as i re-ripped them from a 10 year old cd-r a couple years ago and it was my only source for those songs as i dident have the mp3s at the time.........members went on to the tech metal/screamo band enkephalin.




hamilton discography

small dog frenzy "davenport champions"

this was aaron hobbs/hans beunning's band before acrobat down.......really really good driving powerful stuff thats still on the catchy side......sounds like a more forceful evergreen or maybe a more hardcore-oriented treepeople........classic denver hardcore from the early 90s..........you NEED to check this out..........

davenport champions

black mass of absu "looting the tomb of aramathea"

this band hailed from buffalo ny and played some bathtub bottom-grimey-scumsludge/doom in the late 90s/early 2000s....they had a split with gonkulator which i have somewhere and this record.......3 songs of tortured venomous hatred  that are suprisingly short for the genere......members are/where also in parade of the lifeless and galvinwilhelmmiller quartet and maybe avulsion too...........

looting the tomb of aramathea