PITCHFORK SHOULD BE DESTROYED (...oh, and there's a new VOID LP)

Out now: VOID - Sessions 1981-83 LP
Available now from Dischord Records.

 

Killer demos, out takes and live tracks compiled for one of the best hardcore punk bands of all time. If you have never heard VOID, you should probably check out the split LP with FAITH first, but if you are a VOID fan, I would say this is essential. I just got my copy in the mail yesterday and immediately blasted it. Some more liner notes and a more classic looking cover would have been cool, but you will hear no more complaints from me, this is a great testament to these young lads lashing out in frustration in the early 80s. Hey, it was a time of Moral Majority scrutiny, fear of Nuclear Holocaust and Jams®; so there was a lot to be pissed about. It's really cool getting a nice sounding copy of early versions of these classic songs and some other shit that I haven't heard before. I still remember the first time I heard VOID, I was not ready for the unhinged, savage, clusterfuck that was about to smash my face with no impunity.

Oh, and some of you might get lucky and get a copy on red vinyl that seem to be randomly popping up.

Here is the Dischord description:
Sessions 1981-83 features 34 tracks including: 20 tracks recorded in November 1981 by Steve Carr at Hit and Run Studios (never before released); 10 tracks Recorded and Mixed in December 1981 at Inner Ear Studios (including the Flex Your Head cuts and the songs that ended up on the Condensed Flesh 7”); 2 tracks recorded in June 1982 at Inner Ear Studios by Don Zientara (out-takes from the Faith/Void LP); 2 live tracks from 1983. The LP edition features a free MP3 download.

 

Fans of the band, do yourself a favor, and avoid reading this article at all costs. Unless you want to read some boring trype (the exact opposite of VOID) written by some MASTADON FAN talking about WAVVES, PRURIENT and JOHN COLTRANE for some reason. Seriously PITCHFORK, stick to hyping shitty indie records and leave the real shit alone:
PITCHFORK ARTICLE

The best part of the insert:

Christian Mistress Demo 12" out now

Remixed and remastered demo put to 12" vinyl by Unseen Forces. Limited to 350, so act fast.

As if I haven't gushed enough about this band. The Agony & Opium 12" was one of my favorite releases of the year, you can bet that I have already ordered this.

Unseen Forces ordering info here.

WINTER - INTO DARKNESS gatefold LP REISSUE!

This is seriously some of the most grim music ever made. When I first heard this, my 20 year old mind was not prepared for the sledge hammer bludgeon that was to follow. Imagine lying in a Siberian torture tank filled with ice cold water while baluga whales continuously dive onto your decaying body.

Thick ass Stoughton gatefold jacket on black or white vinyl. T-shirt also available as a package deal.

**Note: After getting the record in the mail, I realized that it is not a 2xLP, sorry if that mislead anyone!

Order at Southern Lord



Here is the description from the site:

Sometimes a band is so far ahead of the times or just so original that people aren't ready for them and only years later do they get the praise they deserve. This is truly the case of Winter. Winter formed in 1988 out of the ashes of local punk bands Doomsday and Meltdown. The thriving underground music scene in NY at the time was split between NYHC, death/thrash metal and punk. Each one was separate from the other in musical style, politics (or lack thereof) and fashion. Somewhere in the middle of all that Winter arrived. At this time every band from the area were playing as fast as possible. Winter however was the complete opposite playing as slow and heavy as possible. They tuned lower than any band and their tempos crawled at a snails pace. Inspired by bands as diverse as Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, Amebix, Rudimentiry Peni, King Crimson, Hawkwind, Carnivore and Discharge their combination of dark lyrics, low vocals and crushing slow tempos slowly built a following of punks metalheads and even some NYHC/crossover fans. In Long Island they would open up for the big death metal bands of the time like Sepultura and Death while also playing punk/d.i.y. /squat shows in NYC with bands like Nausea and A.P.P.L.E The band signed with Future Shock Records for the release of their debut LP Into Darkness. The album became an instant cult classic. As the years went on Winter's legacy slowly evolved from total obscurity to becoming a cult favorite who were respected around the world. Winter disbanded in 1991.

20+ years later the immense impact /influence of Winter continues on! From Cathedral to Grief to Unearthly Trance to Coffins. All these bands readily admit the influence of the mighty Winter. After a few dodgy reissues and shitty bootlegs from other labels comes the OFFICIAL re-release of "Into Darkness".

Your choice of 180 gram white vinyl or black vinyl with heavy-duty gatefold jacket and huge 18 page "zine"-style booklet with flyers, posters etc.. Original lp pressing was released in the early nineties and has long been out of print as well as highly sought after . ALL HAIL WINTER. RISE!!! $14 each

WRETCHED

Wretched started playing around 1980 in Milan, Italy. To this day, this band's intensity and rawness is matched by few. "Chaos non musica" was never more appropriate- the vocals are maniacal and the drums just sound like they are falling apart. Their passion is also shown on their releases, the records come with multiple inserts filled with writings about music and politics. Italy's history is smacked with political upheaval, so the Anarchist writings should come as no surprise. I am not sure what caused these fellows to want to play the demented music akin to a building crumbling from the top down...maybe a reaction to Italy's progressive rock scene of 70s and the dire circumstances of the realities of their daily lives?

Most people that I know found out about this band through the great P.E.A.C.E. 2x12" compilation. I don't remember specifically, but I would imagine that Pushead wrote his fair share about them.

Unfortunately, this great band's records are difficult to find, so snatch up whatever you can get your hands on! I am not a fan of bootlegs, but I think there are probably some legitimate compilations or reissue CDs floating around (I have a comp tape in my distro with them on it right now...The Ripping Thrash tape, reissued by Social Napalm). Of course, there are mp3s around, I'm sure, for the 21st century p0nx. There isn't much that I can really say that hasn't been documented elsewhere, so enjoy these pieces of eye and ear candy!

Not sure if they have any demo recordings floating around out there, I would love to hear them, if so. Get in touch!!

Releases:

Wretched / Indigesti split 7" (Autoproduzione, 1982)
Their material on this is probably their most insane sounding...I am still looking for a copy of this if anyone wants to unload! :)

In Nome Del Loro Potere Tutto È Stato Fatto 7" (Autoproduzione, 1983)
Recently bootlegged, heard it was relatively well done, don't know if the band received anything from it. However, this EP is included on 'The Furious Years Of Italian Hardcore Punk' CD, issued in 1995, I think this was a legitimate release.

Finira Mai 7" (Autoproduzione, 1983)
Fantastic release, with classic artwork. The title translates roughly to 'Never Ending.'

Libero Di Vivere Libero Di Morire 12" LP (Chaos Produzioni, 1984)
Here, you hear them start to tighten up a bit, starting to lose their ramshackle feel, still great though. This is the last record before they start going for a more metal sound. The last two records, I don't own and haven't heard them in a long time, so I can't really comment on them. The insane rawness is gone, but I would think that it is unavoidable to an extent, after playing together for 6 years, you're natually going to get tighter as a band and be forced to evolve. I don't have these next ones, but would like to!

La Tua Morte Non Aspetta 12" (Chaos Produzioni, 1986)

In Controluce 7" (Chaos Produzioni, 1988)

Finally, enjoy this great video of Wretched playing in 1984. Catch the Motorhead riff in there, in between songs.

DREADFUL SOUNDS RECORD SHOP - mark your address book

Dreadful Sounds (google)
Dreadful Sounds on Fartbook
3339 1/2 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43202

Columbus finally has a real metal/punk/DIY record store in town! Be sure to support it, check it out, stop by when passing through town. You won't regret it...lots of great used stuff! Thanks to Kate and Laser for making this dream a reality.

It has a d-beat section....just that in and of itself has won me over.

They have been getting a steady stream of great used records so far.

Check it.

THRASH TIL DEATH worship

CLASSIC FUKKIN RAGER. I finally got this record on ebay. I have bid and failed multiple times. It is now in constant rotation. Released by Pusmort in the USA and Selfish in Japan circa 1987. It features GAUZE, OUTO, SYSTEMATIC DEATH and LIPCREAM!!! Every track is killing and the cover is a classic. Thrash Til Death definitely kick started my interest in Japanese HC. I first heard it in Rapid City in 1996 or 1997. Jason Wade had it and we drunkenly jammed it at the "house of shit" all the time along with his copy of the S.O.B./Napalm Death flexi and the SIEGE 7". Sorry kids, records just aren't this good anymore. Thanks Jason. Thanks Pushead.

Nashville roadtrip 2/28/09 - 3/1/09

A tale of record shopping and a brush with fame.



I jumped at the chance when I found out that my good friend, Hisashi, would be in Nashville for a couple of days for work. I have only had the chance to see him once since he moved back to Japan in 2002. On February 28th, I hopped in the car alone (Amanda couldn't make it because she had a shit-load of school work dumped on her the week before finals) for a 7 hour trek to see my old friend. I should add, that I was driving a black PT Cruiser (imagine that, will you?), because I had to rent a car, since Amanda and I share only one vehicle. I wished that I brought some 80s ZZ Top CDs with me. Alas, a 7 hour barrage of crust-punk and speed metal MP3s would have to suffice.

Of course it was amazing to see him, things quickly felt like he never left. We didn't waste much time, after exchanging some records that we had brought for each other, he quickly pulled out his list of Nashville area record shops that he found on the internet and we headed out of his hotel.

Not knowing anyone that still lived in Nashville (most of them teleported to the punk retirement community known as Portland), it was pretty much going to be a crap-shoot on what kinds of record stores we would be able to find. As expected, most of them had a lot of rock and roll and indie rock. Of the 8 or so record stores that we went to, the first one was probably the best (I think it was called 'Great Escape?'). Sprinkled among the typical dollar-bin caliber rock LPs were remnants of the Nashville 80s and 90s hardcore punk scene. Sash (Hisashi) found a couple boxes of old zines from the mid to late 80s. They were $1 each, all different kinds of zines, from metal fanzines to straight edge to skate rock. It looked like most of them were unloaded by SST at one point because they all had letters in them addressing SST staff. Pretty cool...if I didn't already have a ton of shit in my house, I may have bought a bunch of them. I bought just one of the Ink Disease (#9) fanzines, mostly for the Metallica interview. It was kind of amusing browsing through one of the straight edge zines that had an interview with Field Day era Dag Nasty in which they were talking about how much cooler it was, now that they lived in Los Angeles...OOOOF. No wonder half of Field Day feels like you are sitting out on the back patio in white pants, in front of your in-ground pool (I do like a couple songs on this album). It was at this record store that I scored Warcollpse: Divine Intoxication and a Deuce LP.

Now, I have lived for a while thinking that Warcollapse were another one of those boring 90s style crust punk bands until someone opened my eyes to the 1997 Divine Intoxication 12". FUCKING RAGING Swedish käng album, the drummer is kicking serious ass on this. I guess I had heard the wrong records? I was pumped to find this for $7.99.

I picked up the Deuce LP, released by O.P.M. Records, on a whim because the liner notes list this as fretboard ripper, Marty Friedman's (of Megadeth/Cacophony fame) first band, as a 15 year old with punk and NWOBHM influences. His first recording, to boot. Plus the liner notes also state, "This album you hold in your hands captures a moment in time. A moment when the Michelob was flowing, bongs were bubbling and Barbital was brewing." How could I go wrong?! Apparently, there were 500 pressed of this LP in 1995. The songs were recorded somewhere around 1980. For some reason, the one I picked up is numbered 4/10. Not sure why, it's not a test pressing...although there is a Marty Friedman autograph on the front (haha). The cover is a blank, white pocket sleeve with the art glued on the front and back. I need to listen to the record more, but upon my first listen, this actually sounds pretty good. Sash tells me that Marty Friedman lives in Japan now, and enjoys celebrity status. Good for him. He no longer has to look at Dave Mustaine's hot dog lips and he gets to chill in Japan.

The only other record score that either of us had that weekend, was that I found a copy of the Infezione: Oppressione Quotidiana 12" at an indie rock record store. Not sure why it was there. Released by Agipunk, I missed this one when it came out, somehow and holy shit, it rules. Ultra raw Italian hardcore demo from '86 put to vinyl. The drums sound INSANE. There is a nice article on the demo here.

Before I had to leave on Sunday, we took a stroll in the tourist area of Nashville, saw Kelly Pickler walk by us on the street, and took some of these fine pictures:

It was great seeing you, Sash, I hope the next time doesn't take as long!