Kamaflage Records 1982
TANK are, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the greatest band of the NWOBHM era. I hesitate to lump them in with the masses of NWOBHM bands, as they undoubtly transcended the limitations of the genre and the scene... that is until the Brabbs bros. left and everything went to Hell in a hand-basket, but during their early days (read: first 2 records) they were untouchable! "Crazy Horses" is an alternate version of the Osmonds' classic (?) found on TANK's sophomore outing Power Of The Hunter, and the phenomenally titled "Filth Bitch Boogie" is a non-LP b-side. These have probably been tacked onto the end of CD re-issues, but in case they haven't, here they are in their infinite glory. Hold on to your toupees!
DOWNLOAD: Tank-CrazyHorses.rar (13.31 MB)
TANK • Crazy Horses 7"
KAZJUROL • Concealed Hallucinations 7"
Burning Heart Records 1991
I cringe at the first hint of a slapped bass string, and become nauseated when in earshot of someone popping on the bass... maybe it was OK for Bootsy Collins or whoever, but that's about it. I was shocked and dismayed to find that the slap bass pandemic that swept North America in the early 90's also affected our Scandinavian friends. Even the ones who recorded at Sunlight Studios for christsake! With the exception of the brief bass misstep at the beginning of "Dance Tarantella" Concealed Hallucinations is a pretty awesome record. Sounding very similar to Beneath The Remains era SEPULTURA, KAJZUROL ably straddle the fence between Thrash and Death Metal, and are tight as all hell. Not as crushing as ENTOMBED or GRAVE, but more technical with a touch of hardcore... but that might just be because of the CRUDE S.S. cover. Good shit!
DOWNLOAD: Kazjurol-ConcealedHallucinations.rar (18.39 MB)
RAW POWER • Wop Hour 7"
Westworld 2008
Got suckered into buying this reissue (originally released in '85) simply because they tacked "Fuck Authority" on to the end of it. What's that? You've never heard "Fuck Authority"? Then stop reading and just download, cuz it's THE most ripping, vicious slice of hardcore Punk Rock to ever be loosed upon mankind. That fucking bass guitar in the middle! It was literally years before I even realized that that was even an instrument and not just obnoxious noise... and the cowbell, and the throat wrenching vocals... damn! The 4 songs that originally made up Wop Hour ain't not slouches either. "You are The Victim" and "Destroy" are the best of the bunch, cuz they sound like they coulda been on RAW POWER's 1984 masterpiece Screams From The Gutter LP, while "I Do What I Like" and "Factory" sound more like their underachieving After Your Brain record. Essential Italian Hardcore!
DOWNLOAD: RawPower-WopHour.rar (15.09 MB)
PS: Maybe it's just me, but every time I heard that damned PRODIGY song where he says: "Inhale, inhale, you are the victim", I thought to myself "Those limey bastards are ripping off RAW POWER"... they probably weren't, but they coulda been.
TENSION • Pericolo Di Morte 7"
Tantrum Records 1985
This is the third installment in my 4 part series of Buffalo reviews, and after all the macho NYHC posturing of ZERO TOLERANCE and SNAPCASE (demo coming next), this is a refreshing change. TENSION were a mystery to me when I was a kid cuz they were 3 parts from Buffalo, NY and 1 part from St. Catharines, ON (the crappy little Canadian town I grew up in). "What? A real live hardcore band from St. Catharines?" No one could believe it, and no one (I knew) knew the guy in the band... but whatever, he was from St. Catharines so we all bought the 7". Can't say that I loved this 7" either, but it was still cool cuz of the connection. TENSION play what I'd describe as European style 80's hardcore: ultra fast thrash with buzzsaw guitars, rife with poltical lyrics, and social commentary. The songs aren't mindblowing by any means, but the band is tight and furiously passionate. It's taken 23 years, but this one is starting to grow on me.
DOWNLOAD: Tension-PericoloDiMorte.rar (20.16 MB)
MERCY • Session 1981 7"
Nuclear War Now! Productions 2007
Let this record stand as a reminder of all the things that are great about Metal! It bristles with an innocence and energy that is sorely lacking these days, and it's more memorable than the first time you got laid. Unlike MERCY's later output (I'm really only familiar with the "Witchburner" record), these recordings are steeped in the Metal/Rock tradition of "Hell Bent For Leather" era JUDAS PRIEST, and though "Witchburner" is phenomenal, these songs are better. Yeah the sound is kinda rough, but that only adds to the old-school charm. Along with the palpable PRIEST influence, THE BRATS' mix of Punk and NWOBHM, and MERCYFUL FATE's more rockin' early demo recordings, also come to mind. Impossible to pick a favourite, but "Shadow Woman" is spectacular, and for some reason when the glass starts breaking in "Dreams" I find it difficult to contain my excitement. It's quite surprising that MERCY aren't heralded as the great Metal pioneers they obviously were.
DOWNLOAD: Mercy-Session1981.rar (23.12 MB)
DOOMED • Collectors Club 7"
Peaceville Records 1993
After torturing myself with that 13 7", what do I do? Dig out this steaming pile of a DOOMED record of course. When I picked this up I thought it was gonna be amazing cuz: 1) there's a couple of guys from AUTOPSY in the band, and 2) they're called DOOMED... and since AUTOPSY had some pretty rad, doomy stuff, I thought this would be even radder and doomier. I was wrong... it's neither. Death Metal (especially American Death Metal) is not my thing, and this is pretty standard fare... combine awful, boring growled vocals and typically unimaginative riffs, and you've got a record that I listened to once and shelved for 15 years. When they slow it down, as they do in the first half of "Witches", DOOMED are pretty decent, but as the song progresses, and gradually builds speed, I find myself losing interest at an exponential rate. I had no idea that there were Horror movie samples at the start of each side of this record... kinda funny after the dudes at Metal Inquisition just posted about how tired they are, and how bands should start looking to other movie genres for their boring intros. Anyways, if sub-par Death Metal is your thing, by all means, download this.
DOWNLOAD: Doomed-CollectorsClub.rar (26.24 MB)
13 • Hollow 7"
Kichigai Records 1993
Remember in that SHEAVY post when I said there was a time when I'd buy anything that was even remotely Doom... well look no further than this 7" by New York all-girl Doom/Sludge band 13 for proof. I can't believe that there was a time when I actually liked this kinda crap... Jesus this shit is depressing. Yeah I know that's the idea, but c'mon... I'd never wanna listen to this stuff today. The B-Side track "Bound" reminds me of the first CATHEDRAL record, so I like it a bit more than the tuneless EYEHATEGOD sludge of "Hollow". 13 were a totally solid band, and heavy-as-all-Hell, but these days I need more Rock action... fuck that makes me feel old!
DOWNLOAD: 13-Hollow.rar (15.11 MB)
SHEAVY • Dalas Tar 7"
Mag Wheel Records 1995
There was a time when I'd buy any record that was even remotely Doom... quality was not a issue. I was a sucker for anything slow and Sabbathy, regardless of the band's musical ability or song writing skill. Needless to say, I bought a lot of shitty records (most of the Hellhound Records catalogue) until one day I woke up and decided to stop wasting my money. I'm not sure exactly when this happened, but it's possible that SHEAVY's 1998 album "The Electric Sleep" was the impetus. By that time I'd bought both of their albums, and their first 7", and I could no longer justify buying their stuff... hoping that one day they'd get it right and not release boring-ass, sloppy, unimaginitive shite. So it was with this in mind that I dug out the aforementioned 7"... "Dalas Tar". Much to my surprise, I didn't totally hate it. Yeah the drummer is crap, the songs are simplistic and unoriginal, the SABBATH cover is shameful, and the whole thing sounds terribly amateurish, but it's not without it's merits. For instance: the singer does the best Ozzy imitation I've ever heard... well that's it really... the Ozzy imitiation. An entire SHEAVY record would be unconscionably monotonous, but these 2 songs (I'm choosing to ignore the SABS cover) are just enough that you don't lose interest by the time they're done. This is fucked... even when I'm trying to say a record doesn't completely suck, it still comes across that way. This is an enjoyable listen, and I'm pleasantly surprised by it... but I still don't wanna ever hear those crappy SHEAVY CDs I bought.
DOWNLOAD: Sheavy-DalasTar.rar (20.62 MB)
SPEED N' SPIKES VOL.1 7"
Relapse Records 2008
After I bought this record, I had to ask myself: why'd I buy a record by 2 bands that I don't really like? I was caught up in a record buying frenzy, so I guess I have an excuse. TOXIC HOLOCAUST is a band that I like everything about... except the music. The concept is great (combining crusty Punk and Thrash Metal), the aesthetic is great, artwork: great, one-man-band: great, everything: great. Right? Things start to fall apart when you have to listen to their recordings... they're always too clean, no grit, no balls... no thanks. The music is actually really good, but the production let's 'em down every time. The sound on "City Of A Million Graves" is a bit better than Joel Grind's usual output, but it's still too clean, and he's used a fucking drum machine... lame! The song itself is great though, tonnes of excellent riffs, and the vocals sound like they were lifted directly from the ENGLISH DOGS' "Forward Into Battle" record. I take issue with BLÜDWÜLF for one simple reason... they're douchebags. Here's the story: through myspace, one of the guys in this band requested doing a trade: a couple of shirts that I'd printed for some BLÜDWÜLF material. OK cool, I sent him 2 t-shirts and received nothing in return. I sent him many messages asking where his pakage was, and I got no reply. 7 or 8 months later he messaged me and said that he'd found the package that was supposed to be sent to me, and that he would send it straight away. Again, nothing. So this is how I came to the douchebag conclusion... fair right? Musically they're less douchebaggy... like TOXIC HOLOCAUST they combine crusty Punk and Thrash Metal, but their execution is sloppy and loose. The songs are really cool though, and they don't suffer from the lame production that plagues TOXIC HOLOCAUST.
DOWNLOAD: SpeedNSpikesVol1.rar (22.11 MB)
STILLBORN • Yesterdays Blood 7"
I Hate Records 2003
I first heard STILLBORN on the Rise Above Records compilation DARK PASSAGES, where their blend of Rock, Metal, and Doom made them stand out head-and-shoulders above the rest. Soon after, I picked up what I thought was their first record, 1991's "The Permanent Solution", and absolutely loved it too. I had no idea that they had been around for so long prior to their DARK PASSAGES appearance: in '85 they released a demo called "Tounge The Thong" and in '89, the "Necrospirituals" full length. In recent years I had all but forgotten about STILLBORN 'til I saw "Necrospirituals" posted on Good Bad Music... it's an awesome album that I highly recommend you download! So, while scouring eBay a few weeks ago, I came across this little gem: the "Yesterdays Blood" 7". It's made up of one song from from "Tounge The Thong", and another from a pre-"Necrospirituals" demo. These tracks are way more Goth than the band's later material, mixing monotonous rhythms with baritone vocals (like SISTERS OF MERCY maybe), and simple, BLACK SABBATHy guitar playing. The difference between the band that recorded these tracks and the "Necrospirituals" album is huge - both their playing and songwriting had improved immensely by the time the LP was released. This is a neat record, and it's it's very cool to hear some of their earliest material, but it's just a bit too monotonous for my taste.
DOWNLOAD: Stillborn - Yesterdays Blood.rar (23.52 MB)
LORD RYÜR • Pact With The Sinner 7"
Private/Indie 1986
For a few years, a good friend of mine lived off the spoils of eBay. He'd scour every record bin he could find within a 200 km radius of Toronto, and it paid off! Not only did he support himself, but he found this ultra-rare 7" by LORD RYÜR. Information on the band is impossibly hard to find, but apparently they were Canadian, and I'd guess from Quebec (based on the intro to "Pact With The Sinner" where the demonic voice says "burn in 'ell" instead of Hell). A current eBay listing for this record states that only 100 copies were pressed, as a demo, in an attempt to procure a record deal that ultimately never materialized. OK, so that's the background on this record... now to the good stuff. LORD RYÜR kinda remind me of MERCYFUL FATE, they don't necessarily sound like MF, but I get the same feeling from both bands... the air of foreboding, scary lyrics that you kinda take seriously, and a real sense of majesty... yeah I said it: majesty! The aura of mystery surrounding LORD RYÜR probably helps too. There's some great guitar playing on these tracks, the riffs and solos are killer, but it's the vocals that really stand out. He's got a very distinct voice, that ranges from gruff (without ever approaching barking) to pure and melodic. When he's actually singing, his voice sounds surprisingly similar to Christian Augustin of SORTILEGE (especially on "Heroes After Heroes"). The choruses for both songs are infectious, and I guarantee they'll get stuck in your head. I can't say enough about how good these tracks are... do yourself a favour and download it! It's really a shame that LORD RYÜR were never signed, and have since been lost to obscurity, cuz they had some true greatness to offer.
DOWNLOAD: Lord Ryür - Pact With The Sinner.rar (16.06 MB)
UPDATE: If you'd previously downloaded this record, you're well aware of how bad it sounded. The rip was good, but the record it's self was rife with scratches resulting in pops, surface noise, and other sundry distractions from the music. I'd been planning a restoration project of this 7" for quite some time, and finally got around to it today. It's not perfect, but it's a fuck of a lot better than the first time I posted it (which is still available above if you feel like comparing 'em). Get the cleaned-up and far superior version of LORD RYÜR's Pact With The Sinner 7" here:
DOWNLOAD: LordRyur-PactWithTheSinner-Redux.rar (16.14 MB)
ZADKIEL • Hell's Bomber 7"
Hold Up Records 1986
I downloaded this from a newsgroup a few years ago, and was so completely blown away that I immediately started searching for a copy of it. It was another few years before I found one on eBay, and so the bidding war began. There was no way I wasn't winning the auction... price was no object... and in the end it was mine. I forget what I ended up paying (for some reason $80 sticks in my mind), but whatever it was, it was money well spent. This is pure MOTORHEAD worship at it's finest, and each song gives a nod to 'HEAD in one way or another, with "No, It Isn't" being the most obvious (it's a total "Stay Clean" knock-off). "Head Raver" is the stand out on this record... so much so that it makes my Greatest Songs Of All Time list. The drums have a real Tommy Lee vibe to 'em, the main riff is fucking awesome, and the whole thing is just so goddamn pounding! Take a listen to "Head Raver" (but I suggest you just download the whole thing). The production is dirty, the playing manic, and the surface noise is almost as loud as the music... isn't that the way it's supposed to be?
DOWNLOAD: Zadkiel - Hell's Bomber.rar (21.19 MB)
P.S. Apparently this was released on CD in 2006 with at least 1 extra track and a few video clips!
P.P.S. Just got the ZADKIEL CD in the mail today from Record Boy in Japan. There's 6 tracks, 2 more than the record, and 4 video clips... one of which is a live version of "Head Raver" - it's fucking amazing! In total there's 5 songs that I'd never heard before, so it was well worth the $!
