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!

Crudia - Self-Titled CD & Demos 2006-2015

Hard siege of d-beat (and c-beat, and generic-beat because that's what 99% of d-beat is: just a generic beat) noise. While the global ubiquity of that style may induce yawns these years...I dunno where to go with that, I just like Crudia. The band tends towards the energetic side of discore, but doesn't move entirely into Crasher Crust speed. The guitars on the CD especially are outstanding, totally sandblasting with a mid-range depth that reminds me of proper power electronics. Production overall is dry yet sharp. The demos sound typical, neither good nor bad minus the annoying digital-crinkling of the guitar on the 2nd demo. Fun stuff. Period.

Excruciating Terror - "Vision of Terror" 1991 Demo & Live 1994 KXLU

I've spoken so much about the band each time I've uploaded this that I'm ready to puke. The shortest story is: O.G. 2nd-wave L.A. grind, bought from Wild Rags, ripped/upped decades later, upped again to compliment the much earlier post of the debut 7" / Interview with Vic. The band was always robotically consistent, so there's no profound difference in style nor delivery on this demo (other than some sick tracks that never made it to the LPs). Pointless trivia only I think is cool: this was recorded the year we all graduated (at different) high school(s). Bonus is the live appearance on KXLU in 1994. Blame the static grain on the fact I was recording that at midnight all the way from Whittier.

Svarta Tankar - "In Combat For Survival" Demo 2007

Socal's first authentic "Crasher Crust" band (a little punkier though). Solid stuff and well emulated (Sweden, Japan, Finland, pick all the "cool" countries), the band had enthusiasm and talent (to a degree). A few of the mid-paced trax have a classic street punk vibe, which may be an indicator of their probable roots (ur, street punk seems to be "the" gateway genre for today's crusties), though it's well composed and bar-anthemy enough. Mostly, this is speed and fuzz in all the right places (4-track recording too!). Surprisingly long demo, clocking in at 12 songs in 20 minutes. Wish they woulda stuck it out.

Disastrous Murmur - "Where The Blood Forever Rains" MCD 1992

Total death-swirl mosh action! The '89 demo / 7" re-released to CD with two additional tracks recorded in 1990 (which I wasn't hot on, they get kinda Roadrunner death metal). Otherwise...definitively neanderthalic, inhuman 1-2 beat Gore Metal taking heavy inspiration from Master/Deathstrike. It's slower and shittier than that, but capable of speeding up to Terrorizer's exacting mach-level (pretty fast too). It's also poorly studio-recorded (but not performed, some of the solos are surprisingly proficient), with noticeable speed-warbles and hiss to the master tapes. It's incredible! Why is the 7" cheaper than the CD? WHY? Who makes these rules? A-S-S-H-O-L-E-S?!

Bizzy Killer Gedbenz - "Spittoon" CDR 2007

Very much in the Dr. Gunni mould. Ultra-minimalist no-fi (but not shit-fi) one-girl Japanese drum machine weirdcore that sounds like it was recorded over several sessions. It has an airy rehearsal vibe with distinct track separation, though the vocals are glaringly plugged in. Stylistically, she's everywhere. Some songs are noisecore homage, other songs are...country-punk? I'd say stadium punk with a few other tracks if it wasn't so beyond simplistic. Still other songs seem to be her version of Japanese light pop ballads. Least surprising is how damn well composed, performed, and captured it all is (Japan yo. That simple.) with a grittiness to match her apparent audio-resourcefulness. I'm not sure of the genre for projects like this, or if one is even possible...they just "are": weird, mysterious, and pleasurable.


Massenslavement - "New World From Hell" CDR demo 2014

Sickeningly killer black grind from Japan. It's a blender of styles really, as I'm also hearing what Confuse and Framtid would sound like tuned to A (the entire BAND's tuned to A), or if Death Dust Extractor listened to Paradise Lost (I love my analogies, fuck you). Great live/semi-mixed production with Impetigo-sounding vocals slathered in dark reverb. I'm jealous as fuck that Phil owns this, but thankful as all hell that he shared it with us. 5 songs, 6 minutes, exquisite.

Lull - "Dreamt About Dreaming" CD 1992

Essential dark ambient from Mick Harris, masterfully produced with a semi-analog depth of production to rival the Marianas Trench. Not one to fuck with much metaphor (unless it was contemptuous as shit), Mick brazenly explores the theme of dreams in general, from the melancholy to complete night-terrors. While every song is fully realized with a complex life of it's own, all the usual feels of isolationism are still exhaustively toured: lost in black holes, stuck in the actual Marianas Trench, flying the clouds of Mordor and all that other goth stuff the kids are into these days. Several tracks adopt a primitive rhythmic quality and hypnotic use of samples that reminds me of the earliest industrial, like Ramleh (a project even Mick has stated admiring). Though the compositions may possibly borrow from that and are highly eclectic, this is really dark ambient in it's purest form. Peep some listens yo...


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