Isterismo - "In Giu Sotto" Cassette-EP 2010

I don't think I've ever encountered a band as polarizing-per-release as Isterismo. This one's better recorded and even heavier than most of their other material (you can hear the riffs). Old Xysma-style bass crushes the expected braindrill guitar out of the mix, though that guitar does have a pleasingly shattering shape where noticeable. Musically, they're continuing their delusion that they're the noisecore rebirth of Wretched. I do hear those inclinations (predominant in style of vocals, drums, and how those two are specifically mixed), but let's face it, all the Japanese scene-tribute bands mostly just sound like some variant of Swedish hXc with edgy arrangement aberrations and a few other nerd-homage things tacked on. Hey, I'm not saying it isn't badass, just...stop lying to yourselves how deep it all is. The tape will make you feel like you're covered in napalm, that's my least condescending answer.

Nausea - Wav pre-masters for "Condemned To The System" & Interview KNAC 2014

I've been seeing Nausea play since I was 17. I'll be 43 come May, so...well it's trippy following ANY band for that long. Nausea's never changed, never deviated from a very strict formula of discore-grind. They've had some fascinating heavy phaser/flange psych moments, but overall they're slightly groove-oriented, heavily discore inspired literal first-wave grind with zero tech or overt metal (unless that metal is Bathory). The only thing I have to say about this album is that they finally got the incredible anti-trigger sound they always deserved (from a studio, their basement demos always sounded great, but previous studio work always misrepresented their live power). That and I did the art/layout, which is how I got...

...The wavs here are the true pre-masters before final press (I'm assuming for the CD version only). There's a vaguely noticeable difference in dynamics, but it's so damn close to the final press that I'm essentially just uploading this for fun/completism. I also chopped up an interview they did for KNAC a few months before the album's release, where Oscar clarifies with much passion why Nausea is such a separate entity to Terrorizer. Currently, a 3rd LP is slowly being rehearsed, seeing the return of O.G. bassist Cosmo, and some dramatically improved art capabilities from moi.

Karlheinz Stockhausen - 1967 Interview

 
Karlheinz Stockhausen (August 22, 1928 – December 5, 2007)
...was a German composer widely acknowledged as one of the most important, but also one of the most controversial, of the mid 20th and early 21st centuries. He was known for groundbreaking work in electronic music, introducing aleatory technique to serial composition, and advanced experiments in sound localization ("Musical Spatialization"). His "Studie 1 & 2" scores powerfully influenced the development of electronic music in the 1950s and 60s. Along with John Cage, Stockhausen was one of the very few avant-garde composers to have succeeded in penetrating public consciousness.

Interview conducted in Stockhausen's apartment by members of
the Society for the Performance of Contemporary Music...

G-Gas - Demos '84 (pre-masters for LP)

Gawd. There was so much unnecessary drama unearthing this band that it spanned literal continents. These are the first-generation rips used for the discography LP that came out in late 2015. As far as the contents, experimentally punkish simple hardcore from members of L.S.D. and Tranquilizer. In many ways this bears comforting semblance to early U.S. hardcore more than Disorder, right down to the jangly cleanliness of the guitar and their haphazard little fills. Production on the main demo ("Generation Gas") is quite good, with another demo being totally god-awful with bizarre tight separation of certain high-end signals. Live trax are of bearable quality and are predominantly clear (enough). I have no idea how the LP sequenced the songs nor if anything was cut, so I'm providing everything I think the band did in it's entirety. Covers included for the self-titled demo.


Propergol - "Renegade" CD 2001

L-O-U-U-U-U-U-U-D French death-industrial that emphasizes "story" as much as precision soundscapes. Themes are bloodily worn on their sleeves, of espionage, outright terrorism, political violence and mass paranoia. Hypnotically looped samples of rhythmic noise and minimalist distorted synth overlay other samples of secret conversations, walkie talkies breaking up, spy planes over Morocco, the asthmatic respiration inside police gasmasks, and anything else that makes one think of Cold War guerilla warfare. The intriguing thing about Propergol is that when he is "sedate" in pacing a track, the components of the track will still be grainy and disturbingly over-amplified...yet always mixed complimentary to each other right down to rhythmic harmony and noise-tonality. Solidly produced stuff, even Genocide Organ trusted him to remaster some of their releases. If you want to be left with the feeling that you just barely survived a dirty-bomb assault, then hit that link like the masochist you are. SERIOUS SPEAKER DAMAGE WARNING!!!

Napalm - "1984-1986" CD 2008

Death Side rapes Confuse. Old So What murders new So What. Yeah, it's THAT fun! More "traditional" than "total fuckin' noisecore holocaust", I still think Napalm may have played an improperly heralded role in the evolution of Crasher Crust (rousing noisy discore). That's just my wizard hat opinion, but the band seems to exude similar speed and anthemic sonic violence to what's been heard in that sub-genre over the past several years. Guitars are "buzzy" and not a jet engine (getting raped or murdered), and there's a few more change ups and riff choices than the noisecore scene is known for, but I feel a lot of the elements are there. Even without the historicity, Napalm was a badass band. Oh yeah, great transfer and expected original production (semi-studios and tolerable tape hiss). Just as when I first upped this on D.N., you get three bonus tracks of (still) unidentified mystery noisecore bands, all from the isle and era.

Citizen - "Manifesto For The New Patriot" CD 2005

Flashback O.G. grind from...THE 21st CENTURY?!?! No tech, no metal (some chug), shared members with Cretin, and a song style and production-feel reminiscent to Brutal Truth's debut. It's not as epic, it's stripped down actually, but it's exhaustively relentless. Essentially it sounds like grind circa '91 and not '88...and that's still not bad! Vocals are hoarse shouts with a disturbed edge that reminds me of schizophrenic derelicts bullying each other in alleyways. The Oogle-mohawked drummer blasts triggerlessly and with impressive natural wrist power, preferring crustier beats over double-bass bullshit. The biggest kick to me is seeing a trio project this amount of awesome mosh power. There was real talk, published talk of a follow up release, but that very sadly never transpired. Even asshole fuckhead Earache "re released" this on some weird mp3 metal download deal they had. This just FEELS like it should be on vinyl.

Phil-anthropy 2: Japcore Boogaloo

More obscure speaker-wrath from the golden closet of Phil / Imminent Destruction Records. His words below, and not my art to the side this time (Olivier Ledroit, an exceptionally skilled comic artist).

"Bakushinchi - 'Stand Alone' 1st Demo (Year?)
3 tracks of raging hardcore from this Japanese band, I really dig this. There's not much to go on from the tape itself, other than weird lava lamp style artwork with the word 'Stink' written on it and a tiny insert that shows punks with skeleton faces.  I know nothing about this band other than these songs rock."

"Microfilm - 'Wrist Cut' Demo (2004)
4 track demo tape that comes with an insert and is hand numbered from 100 copies originally, then crossed out to read 300 so I guess they decided to press more copies in the end. Straight up thrash hardcore from Japan. Nothing mindblowing but better than average for this style. I think they also appeared on one of the Dan-Doh compilations too. The first 3 songs are all in one upload as they were too tricky to separate, the 4th and last song is a bit longer than the rest, and annoyingly is on the b-side of the tape."

"Mucus - Unreleased Tracks 1990-1996 (2002)
Little known Japanese Grindcore band who appeared on the MCR comp 'This Is The Life - Vol.2'
This is a CD collection of their work...unreleased apparently! Definitely on the punk side of grind rather than all out blast beats / growling. Another band lost to the mists of time."

"Crucified Junk - 'Maria' CDEP (1997)
4 track CD only release from this Japanese Hardcore band. The band put out a handful of other releases on Blood Sucker Records that are quite hard to track down now, including a split 7" with Bandit. Kind of an overlooked band I think, no doubt there's a discography in the works somewhere.
Metallic hardcore with mega crisp, thumping drums, they're at their best when they speed things up. Which thankfully they often do."

"V/A - East Style CD (1994)
4 band compilation released in 1994 on PMA Records, which I think was owned by a member of Rose Rose (seeing as loads of their releases are on this label). There's actually 17 songs on this cd, even though the download will show 14. This is because the 4 One Trap songs are all in one. Quite a rare compilation these days, with Rose Rose still playing a fairly hardcore sounds at this point. Still not a patch on their early stuff though, which reminds me, I should upload their 8" too, as that's the one everyone seems to say they don't have / are looking for. Best band on this for me is KGS, another underrated band I think, as i've not heard anything by them I didn't like. Although the Extinct Government songs are pretty cool here too."

Disharmonic Orchestra - "Requiem For The Forest" Demo '88 & Rehearsal '88

Ill name, ill logo, ill tunes. Disorienting and constantly up-tempo death metal with atypical arrangements and a stalker-like obsession for Unseen Terror, Terrorizer, and Napalm Death. Disharmonic Orchestra was one of a small cadre of preferentially death-oriented European grind bands that materialized between the release of Napalm Death's first two albums, with D.O. also gleefully indulging in a dark technicality that never wanks. Drums get the fuck dowwwwwwn, gruff vocals bark cold hate, and guitar/bass tones mimic Master. The band has my respect for the power and speed they could project with boombox recording methods ("Requiem For The Forest" is what got them signed). Just as original and refreshing as it was 28 years ago, if you want a goddamn j-o-u-r-n-e-y through time and your mind, this is the stuff (I think it's more engaging than the vinyl).

G.A.S.K.R.I.E.G. - Cassette Compilation 1994


I'd downloaded this on a whim on a Russian (lol) industrial blog back in D.N. days, because I'd spotted Megaptera and Grey Wolves' names in the bunch. Exceptional WW2-themed compilation of mid-fi dark ambient, death industrial, and rhythmic power electronics from Book Of Wisdom, Lugula-Thor, Megaptera, Diés, Ex.Order, Ve Europa, Wolverine, Le Joyaux De la Princesse, Dagda Mor, Turbund Sturmwerk, Grey Wolves, and Inade. I'm glad I sighted this white whale for the record bucket list (still un-harpooned 😕). ANYWAY...the comp's solid, not a throwaway or cheater track in sight, with a choice of artists AND daaark flow of tracks that compliments the comp's (even at the time, yawningly played-out) theme. In short, this release was done right. Fuckin' download it already poser!

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