Private/Indie 1997
The three years between THE OBSESSED's Church Within record and Wino's return with this here SHINE demo seemed interminably and painfully long. The resurrected and revived OBSESSED held so much promise, only to fall apart yet again, and I feared the worst after their premature demise. Crazy rumours about Wino abounded... he was a destitute drug addict, even that he was on the lam (!?!). Whether or not any of them were true was of no consequence when the ad for Powertime popped up in the back of Metal Maniacs. I hastily sent my money away to the address provided, but ended up waiting over a year for the demo to arrive. There was some sort of shady snafu with the guy who was handling their distribution, but all was forgiven when it finally arrived. OK, on to the music... Wino fans will recognize these 3 songs from the first SPIRIT CARAVAN record (SHINE were forced to change their name to SC due to another band with the same moniker), but I have yet to confirm whether or not these are the same versions on Jug Fulla Sun. They're very similar, and maybe were just remixed, or rerecorded... who knows. Powertime sees Wino at the top of his game, and everything we loved about the OBSESSED is present: Wino's powerful trademark vocals, his fantastically twisted leads, and riffs and vocal melodies that bore their way into your subconscious. Anyways, it seems that pretty much everyone loves Wino, so that description served no purpose as you likely already know what you're in store for... just download and enjoy.
DOWNLOAD: Shine Powertime.rar (27.44 MB)
SHINE • Powertime Demo
THE ROCKING DILDOS • On Speed LP
Osmose Productions/Kron-H 1997
In the late 90s Thrash Metal made it's first resurgence, it's first attempt to reanimate it's Death Metal ravaged carcass. Not surprisingly these gasps of renewed life sprang forth from Scandinavia mainly, and were fostered in large part by France's Osmose Productions. There was BEWITCHED (Sweden), INFERNÖ (Norway), GEHENNAH (Sweden), and the oft mentioned, but veiled in obscurity and seeming secrecy, THE ROCKING DILDOS from France (and Finland). I kinda assumed that this band never really existed, but lo and behold I stumbled upon the On Speed LP at Hits & Misses last week. Despite being lumped in with the aforementioned bands, THE ROCKING DILDOS, unlike their labelmates, were less of a Retro-Thrash (as it was called back then) rehash, instead churning out the ever popular D-Beat, mixed with some healthy doses of straight up Rock action, and a hint of Black Metal. Add lyrics that are both an homage to, and an attempt to outdo, the mighty El Duce, and you've got a pretty lethal combo. Nothing to be taken too seriously, just GTs all around.
DOWNLOAD: TheRockingDildos-OnSpeed.rar (64.41 MB)
