tempo zero (semi discogaphy) 1999

the last release from a long running italian band that seemed to be one of the wellsprings for the later italian "emo" renaissance ala la quiete, raein, ect......these guys played driving, multifaceted rockin emotional hardcore that itself was rooted in the DC sound, but with their own uniquely italian spin on things.......sorta reminds me of forstella ford in places........songs from the splits with eversor and alcatraz are contained on here, as well as the "in gabbia" "7.....the split with nuvolabalu and the lp (which was one of my first posts) are missing. from what i can gather, these guys were important to the italian scene and were pretty well known there. i can count on one hand all the people i know in the states who have even heard of this band. i especially like the song "cammelli" ......you get hints of what would come later with la quiete on that track............anyways amazing underrated stuf you need to check out.

tempo zero

times up "discernment" (1996)

this is the record thats been hogging my time lately......having rediscovered these dudes from new jersey recently, i dont think ive had this much of a hard-on for a band since i first heard doppler 8 years ago. im pretty sure they cracked the perfect formula for 90s hardcore with this "7 in 1996.....i mean if i were to form a band today, we would sound like this. its for me, the perfect sound a metallic hardcore band should have. its complex but its nowhere near the "hey, look how talented i am!" million time-changes a minute bullshit dudes started playing after they got their dillinger escape plan/creation is crucifixion albums...there is always a groove each song adheres to, they can change it up several times a song but the thick, fucked up groove always remains.....for some reason every band from new jersey, or any band playing loud heavy complicated stuff from anywhere really, gets compared to DEP.......i hate that not only because some of these bands (like times up) existed before DEP and in fact, didnt sound like them at all, but also because DEP blows and has blown since under the running board (IMO) and shouldnt be used as the standard to judge all others from. anyways if your american, your ears will probably be reminded of stickfigurecarousel, deadguy, ice nine (vocally) and even coalesce at points, euro listeners, especially germans, might be reminded of loxiran, chispa or engrave.......members went on to form burnt by the sun, who play loud featureless new school metal/grind in the relapse vein like a billion other bands are doing nowadays........i can count on five fingers how many bands  sound like times up...........it would take me half a century to compile all the bands that sound like burnt by the sun (at least the sound they had on the "heart of darkness" lp)...anyways i consider this "7 one of the pinnacles of 90s hardcore musically and wish the band had stuck around a bit longer, if only to have recorded a full length of this noisy heavy goodness.......essential.

discernment

once again "as the fire went out" "7 (1994)

detroit hardcore from the early-mid 90s. two songs of  rough, ragged, ugly stuff, very much in line with the chuggy 90s sound, but alot more messy....the first song "fossil" is the more chaotic/crazy of the two and reminds me of the old german band abyss. the second song "flames of desire" is much more traditional and could pass as a track from any number of the more pissed off outfits of the time, (chokehold, left for dead, ect) good stuff.


as the fire went out

deliver me discography (demo + split w/edge-u-cate) (1997-99?)

deliver me were from columbus and played some good thrashy hardcore rooted in the 80s, but with some more dischordant, metally/grindy bits here and there too...their discography consists of a split with edge ucate, who were a charles bronson sideproject, and their demo. harsh, fast stuff thats inline with alot of the stuff comming out on gloom records at the time. i missed seeing them with human error and a couple other bands when they came to detroit sometime in the late 90s, i forgot the year......anyways check it out!

deliver me!

my birthday.

the big 3 3...........not all that fond of getting older but im gonna take it in stride.


maybe actually get some excercise, eat better and travel this year more.

gnu "srdce v kusech zvuku" (1999)

the czech republic is known (at least to me) for its epic, intricate, thoughtful bands....bands that take the hardcore/punk template and inject it with their own unique czech flavor..gnu is no exception to the rule. this is one of their earlier albums and i believe the title translates as "heart sound in pieces" (at least according to my google translator).....they manage to make music thats noisy, artful (as opposed to arty) and powerful all at the same time.......a little amrep here, a dab of emo there, and lyrics all sung in czech, which are therefore indecipherable to me (google translator would again come in handy if i had a lyricsheet). you dont have to understand the lyrics to be swept along in their musical journey though. just really excellent music from a band that im sure only a handful of people on this side of the atlantic have heard.

check it out:

srdce v kusech zvuku

hutchinson suicide demo (2003?)

another french band today.........i used to talk to one of these guys over AIM back in 2002-2003....hailing from marseilles (at least partially) hutchinson suicide played some decently harsh and intense hardcore in the vein of botch and "fanning the flames" era refused and topped off with union of uranus-ish screaming vocals. pretty well recorded/produced for a demo. i like.

hutchinson suicide

damp hay "middlewestern" (2010)

from des plaines illinois and featuring members of 90s chicago staples, sidekick kato, damp hay hit the scene with some beautiful early 90s style rough edged melodic indie rock EXACTLY in the style of archers of loaf and to a lesser extent, superchunk. everything about the sounds in each of these 6 songs is perfect. recalling an era of getting mixtapes from freinds with the archers, shudder to think and superchunk on one side and jihad, groundwork and rorschach on the other side and it didnt sound weird to me. they were all just "underground" regardless of style or intent......today thats all a relic of the past. the musical landscape is unrecognizable from what it was 10 years ago or more.....anyways to come back from my wandering rant, this record is a blast from a fondly remembered past, tousel-haired rock that you can put on for a long drive to anywhere. dischordant, melodic, and full of heart. one of the best damn bands around right now. id expect to hear bigger things from these dudes, provided there are enough people out there who actually remember this kind of sound.

middlewestern

doppler/marvin split "7 (2005)

two bands from france, one which i know well and have posted multiple releases from on this blog, the other unknown to me totally. ill start with the known: doppler presents us with another amazing intricate emotionally charged epic...but then again, "epic" is this band's default mode....never less than the superbness expected of them........marvin on the other hand...............well upon my first listen, they have some retooling to do before id consider listening to them on a regular basis......they as a band seem to be driven by a moog.....its the centerpeice of the band and IMO, thats never a good thing.....it drowns out the guitar/drums, both of which were doing interesting things when i could hear them in the empty spaces where the moog wasnt suffocating them...their two songs are starting to grow on my a little, but they still have a ways to go......soundwise, think trans am, but heavier. anyways check it out, at least for the doppler song, you might end up liking marvin as well!

marvin/doppler

engrave / to die for split cd (2000)

and now for a euro record that i spun literally nonstop for days when i got it back in 2000. two of the better, yet underrated, european bands of the time, share a peice of digitized plastic here. todiefor from italy and engrave from koln/cologne, germany. engrave has the first four songs, todiefor, the last 3. engrave played hectic, compact, noisy "northcore" in the vein of their bretheren, linsay and loxiran. tidiefor were more in an emotive, post-unbroken vein that leaned towards a slicker, more modern sound that would become common a few years later, yet their song structures were still traditional and rough enough to seperate then from  the nu-emo shitstorm that was to come and drown metallic mosh oriented hardcore almost entirely in the early-mid 2000s. all in all, an excellent record from two bands that play styles of hardcore that have, for the most part, been forgotten nowadays.

engrave/todiefor

jarl "akatisi/somnolens" (2004)

jarl is erik jarl, one half of  the moody power electronics outfit, IRM. this is apparently his 5th release. whereas IRM hit you with huge, expansive, suffocating waves of sound and paint peeling vocals. jarl travels a divergent path (at least on this record), creating some rather soothing, hypnotic soundscapes. music you can fall asleep to, at least somewhat, as there are still harsh edges of noise and feedback scattered about on this record..

akatisi/somnolens

stella "7 (1995)

so this came out in the mid 90s on grafton records, a label i know jack shit about, for that matter i know jack shit about this band either, (i think they were from california, maybe berkely?) but holy hell is this shit catchy and addictive. female fronted, musically its that mid 90s "emo" schwing, but with the jagged edges and chaos mostly ironed out of it, but with just enough roughness to keep them from falling into the syrupy pop bullshit territory of a band like pohgoh. maybe similar to a band like endive or the waltz......anyways its obscure, its good and you need to hear it.



stella

Thoughts of Ionesco : Nervous Breakdown (Black Flag)

more ionesco.

by the throat "7 (2000)

fast thrashy hardcore from albany ny. they lasted only a few years if that. im pretty sure this is their only record........ex members of devoid of faith/monster x and pre-limpwrist. excellent stuff.

by the throat

sah 06/06 (2007)

another band hailing (hailed? the might have broken up, i have no idea) from my neck of the woods, the upper peninsula of michigan. sah was the first "yooper" band i became aware of  a few years back.....this place isnt generally where i expect to find mindblowing music, i always thought the U.P. was rather sterile when it came to the subcultural stuff like indie rock/hardcore, but the more i dig, the more im proven wrong. anyways sah play huge complex wandering tapestries of sound lasting 10-13 minutes each (at least on this record) very angular aggressive stuff with only sparse vocals. its hard to pin down an exact comparison for their sound and the best i can do is a more complex land of the wee beasties (i know, too obscure a reference point for most people, but hey, what can you do?) all in all these 5 songs put the band's superb musicianship on full display. top notch, top shelf, top whatever, these guys are at or at least very near the pinnacle of flowing semi-instrumental indie rock/hardcore. for any fan of music comming out of michigan as of late this is essential. one of the hidden gems this blog was created to disseminate.

06/06

saddest day cd (1999)

belo horizonte brazil, not exactly a place where you expect loud chaotic DIY hardcore to come from, its a place more associated with metal like sepultura and others, yet they did exist....i ordered this cd from ebullution back in 1999 and fell in love with it...didnt leave my cd player for a few months.....im not sure but i think .these guys might be the first "emotional hardcore" band to have come from brazil as i had never heard anything like these guys from that country before this. the songs were recorded in 1998...they had the moody loud/soft dynamics downpat even if they were a little sloppy.......their sound brings to mind threadbare, frail, still life and reversal of man, sometimes all in the same song.......lyrics of the personal/political variety with very indepth discussions of their meanings in the booklet that came with the cd if i remember right (i lost the cd and the packaging several years ago) one of the band members was from massachusetts and ran the label doublethink which this cd came out on if my memory serves me correct....anyways if your into the political, lyrically complex musically chaotic stuff thats bursting with sincerity, check this out!

(on a final note, what i consider their best track, "synesthesia", is unfortunatly not on here, it was on the comp lp "and they had tears in their eyes" on the norwegian label, lilacsky.....try and hunt it down if you can, lots of good stuf on that album)

saddest day

atlas shrugged "the last season" lp (1994)

there are(were) two types of NYHC. the kind that brings all the basketball jersey-and-camo-shorts-wearing meatheads to the yard with its tough guy posturing (warzone, madball, skarhead, ect) and the kind that gave a shit about the world beyond their crew/neighborhood (citizens arrest, born against, halfman, ect) atlas shrugged never fit either category. instead they opted for a progressive (but still chuggy) sound and lyrics that sould like they could have been lifted from a doctor who episode. IMO, they were kind of NYHC's answer to spaceboy....playing unique hardcore with matching lyrics.....this lp is a bit more conventional sounding than the band's "7s which are more "out there" soundwise........i guess here they are more comparable to a band like dive, chugging, aggressive but not overly so and very emotional....anyways there are other blogs who've posted some of this band's "7 inches and id highly urge you to check them out........very overlooked and underappriceated band.

the last season

existi "vein & wire" (2003)

hailing from the deserts of arizona, existi  terrorized basements and VFW halls accross the west coast and southwest between 1999 and 2004. im not intimately familiar with the band but i think this is their last release. if you took  fellow arizonans unruh, locked them in a studio with canephora, moss icon, and any random black metal and free jazz bands, youd come up with an overall sound that roughly approximates what can be heard on this record. they were one of those bands that did a million things in one song, ragged crusty metallic riffs and harsh mike edwards-esque vocals one second, twinkly emoish stuff and sung vocals the next, and jazzy interludes a few seconds after that. there seem to be a shitload of bands that have jumped on this trend but are doing it all wrong.....they all sound like a band of chris burkes trying to play this style when compared to existi, who did this stuff quite early in the game and pretty much perfected it. of course they never really got the credit they deserved and seem to have been overshadowed by other arizona bands that had larger followings (unruh, suicide nation, wellington, ect) anyways this is well worth your time.so check it out already!

members went on to in absentia (who were fucking awesome too) and ghost snares.

existi

snowshoe priests "racquetfoot" ep (2010)

maybe the best band that currently hails from the upper peninsula of michigan (houghton). (presumably) named after the original snowshoe priest, fredrick baraga, who preached to the indians in the upper peninsula in the 1860s,  the snowshoe priests operate on the slightly noisier spectrum of post rock. IMO, they are on a steady climb to the top shelf of that genre alongside the older greats such as paul newman, tristeza, ect......musically im hearing similarities to spanakorzo, lemko hall, aloha, and explosions in the sky.  spans the spectrum from tense, nervous galloping tracks to nice flowing instrumentals to help you relax. hopefully these guys stick around for a while and get this area and its bands some much needed recognition.

racquetfoot

goddard ep (2010)

well calumet hecla broke up............which is a HUGE bummer because that band was fucking amazing......however from their ashes goddard rose......the sound here is somewhat of a continuation of what CH was doing but alot more driving and aggressive...vocally their somewhat similar to trocar (old kalamazoo band) the opening repetitive dreamy riff that opens "feedback" sounds EXACTLY like something "intimacy" era opposition (early 80s british new wave band, not the boston band) would have played...anyways this is indie/math rock at its best.....easily on par with CH and thats saying something........one of the best new bands around today and probably the best (new) band to have originated in michigan's upper peninsula......cop this immeadiately!

goddard

ThoughtsOfIonescoMtClemons1.mpg

another ionesco video...this one from 1997.......always great to hear stuff from the triptych sessions

karageenan "7 (1998)

late 90s screaming frantic metal edged thrashy hardcore from columbus with high pitched screetchy vocals somewhat reminiscent of reachout or encyclopedia of american traitors........one of those records that people look for but can never seem to find...i got lucky myself......really really good stuff!



karageenan

ifwhen "we will gently destroy you" (2006)

ifwhen hail from NYC from the ashes of  gern blansden britpop staples all natural lemon & lime flavors. this is their first (and only?) full length....it has an almost power-electronics feel to it, almost like my bloody valentine if they were signed to cold meat industries...huge crushing wall of noise melodies that will suffocate you ears...in a good way of course......

we will gently destroy you

meatjack "trust" (2000)

so as far as i know, meatjack were a band from baltimore or its immediate environs who were active in the late 90s/early 2000s......i knowvirtually nothing else other than that they supposedly played an eclectic style of sludge noise rock..........well my impression from listening to this album is of a band obsessed with "temple of the morning star" era today is the day, the vocalist even sounds like steve austin........there are a few times when they lurch towards sludge territory ala grief or 16 but for the most part this is more in the heavy psychotic noise territory TITD mined so well (at least through their first 3 lps, IMO after temple of the morning star they got pretty shitty) in any case its loud, its heavy, its noisy, and you should give it a listen!



trust

phillipe "the essence continues" (1999)

here we have another release from the miles-deep well of late 90s german hardcore. phillipe were formed from the ashes of another hardcore band called guinea pig (who sounded alot like 400 years) in 1997 or so. during their breif existence the recorded a few 7's and an lp, (the essence in numbers, which came out on flowerviolence the same year as this cd) which is this recording..........they played a very DC style of emo vaguely similar to bands like trans megetti, gray matter or nation of ulysses but also resembling fellow countrymen, ENIAC and the craving.......sparse sounding angular stuff with screamy vocals that kinda get buried under the music. very decent and certainly something that has been overlooked and a band id reccommend without a second thought.


the essence continues.

37500 yens cd (2008)

france is and has been for the last 8 years or so, what germany was in the late 90s and sweden in the mid 90s, the new capital of european hardcore, churning out hugely varied and eclectic bands.........hailing from rheims, 37500 yens are no exception.......in fact id go so far as to say they are the best 2 man band that has ever existed...fucked up time signatures, choppy, repetitive parts flowing into huge crushing bouts of noise which inturn give way to to some sparsely beautiful notes...sometimes its like laddio bolocko on crystal meth. jazzcore would be a good term for this.....impeccable musicianship from both individuals....on par with doppler and thats saying a hell of alot considering the level of esteem i hold for that band. easily in my top 10 records of the last decade. it also easily makes the list of records i think you absolutely need to check out.



37500 yens