Monday, November 30, 2009

Leprocy - Brutal Occupation / Phase II Demos

Ton histoire est une épopée des plus brillants exploits.

Montreal is a quirky city and the metal it has shat is no different. Leprocy is a prime example of the city's late 80s thrash scene. The riffs are sharp, and are quick to induce rapid headbanging. This is not dull generic thrash for one very important reason...the French-Canadian element. Something about their sense of structure and awkward melody is consistently intriguing. The band only released three demos, two of which I have for you here.

So mourn the loss of the Expos and blast some Leprocy...

Brutal Occupation Demo from 1988 - HERE

Phase II Demo from 1990 - HERE

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Dubious Dublin - Killer Watt EP / Trojan LP

Sons of the Gael, men of the pale!

Killer Watt were a midpaced kinda-thrash band that released one demo in 1986. This is it. They wrote a song about Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2. So yeah...you need this. Also, tell me that the intro to "All Hell Breaks Loose" doesn't sound exactly like Megadeth's "Devil's Island".

Now this next Irish band, Trojan, are fucking awesome. Listen to this shit! The music is catchy 80s hard rock/metal, but it's the vocals that really hook you. An Irishman with two first names, Eddy Kenny, is the guilty party. He's one of those strange singers that make you laugh at first, but then it clicks. Unfortunately this isn't my rip, and the high end is a little distorted. Hopefully I'll have some time to rip my copy, but until then...

Throw back a couple of pints and enjoy.

Killer Watt's Death EP - HERE

Trojan's The March Is On - HERE

Monday, November 23, 2009

Juggernaut (TX) - Demos I & II / Baptism Under Fire LP

Admit it, people from Texas are just weird. I had this roommate one time, who was from Texas. We used to drink whiskey out of coffee mugs, ride stolen street signs down flights of stairs, and set abandoned furniture on fire. Can you imagine what our theme song was? Nope, it was "Burn Tonight" by a band from San Antonio, aptly named Juggernaut. Yes, dorkface, they're linked to SA Slayer.

I'll take Lone Star Metal for $400, Trebek. Juggernaut is one of drummer extraordinaire Bobby Jarzombek's early bands. Also, vocalist Harlan Glenn, is somewhat of a historical military guru. I happen to have a copy of this book he penned about old WW2 British airborne uniforms. He also worked extensively with the legendary R. Lee Ermy (insert one-liner from Full Metal Jacket here) on several television shows.

See...Texans are weird, man.

1984 Demo I - HERE

1984 Demo II - HERE

Baptized Under Fire - HERE

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Neat Singles! - Saracen / Tysondog

I've been reading this Kobo Abe book called Secret Rendezvous. It's about this dude in search of his wife, who was kidnapped by a mysterious ambulance in the middle of the night. So I got to thinking, what if some outlaw vinyl thieves ganked my records under the guise of some "trusted" agency. What a nightmare.

I hope they wouldn't take my Neat Records singles. Maybe I should hide them?

The two 7"s of NWOBHM bludgeony I have here are from my favorite period of Neat, the 30s. Saracen's We Have Arrived 7" is Neat #30 and Tysondog's Eat the Rich 7" is #33.

Saracen were more of a 70s prog rock band than a true NWOBHM band. They had keyboards for fucks sake. Though that shouldn't deter you from cranking this single with all knobs to the right.

I'd be really pissed if some lunatic EMT took my Tysondog 7". Eat the Rich is a badass little 2-track rager. Throw this on at a party and your fist immediately makes contact with the person next to you.

Neat-o.

Saracen's We Have Arrived 7" - HERE

Tysondog's Eat the Rich 7" - HERE

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Doomwatch - Demos / Rehearsal / Live / LP

What? You're from western Pennsylvania? Pittsburgh you say? I'm sorry.

Unless you were in Doomwatch. Not only did they have a cool name and a classy logo, they forged some of the most pure punk thrash steel ever to hit the head of my tape deck. This is the kind of stuff that makes you want to dropkick an owl. Gimme that tootsie pop, bitch!

A Symphony of Decadence is an underground classic. No home should be without it. You have a disaster kit right?

Bottled water...check.
Flashlight...check.
Matches...check.
Emergency thrashing...CHECK!

I've included The Final Demo, which is really just a comp of all the bands demos. Easy eh? I've also thrown in a rehearsal from 1986, which is a pretty worthwhile document...BUT...the real gem here is the live show from '86 recorded at the City Limits, a bingo hall located in Penn Hills outside of Pittsburgh. Probably the best recording the band ever did...

Relax, have a Jolt cola.

The Final Demo - HERE

Rehearsal 5/27/86 - HERE

Live at City Limits 6/09/86 - HERE

A Symphony of Decadence - HERE

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Caustic - EP / Malicious


The usual insipid banter has been removed due to budget cuts.

Caustic EP - HERE

Malicious - HERE

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Poison (Germany) - Demos (All of 'em!)


What's more metal than doing the dishes while your ancient cassette stereo blasts rotting demo tapes from decades past? Fuck you!

Germany is pretty synonymous with thrash...even going so far as to having their own house blend. You KNOW that shit is a dark roast too. Of all the kvlt teutonic thrash bands, Poison is probably the dirtiest. I mean it. These blackened deutsches were the filthiest kids in kindergarten. What was that kid that was friends with Charlie Brown? The one with the dirt cloud following him everywhere? Yeah.

So here is a whole panzer full of old thrash demo goodness. Yep...all their demos. Well, that's a lie. There is another live demo from '87 that has alluded me, but hey...dig in.

Sons of Evil Demo 1984 - HERE

Live Terror Demo 1985 - HERE

Bestial Death Demo 1985 - HERE

Awakening of the Dead 1986 - HERE

Rehearsal Demos March & December 1986 - HERE

Into the Abyss Demo 1987 - HERE

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Ruthless - Recordings from Ruthie's Inn

Unfortunately, I can't claim to have memories of Ruthie's Inn...arguably one of the most important punk/metal venues of a generation. Upon my relocation to Oakland a year ago, I wasted no time visiting the breeding grounds of all the bands I grew up listening to. Ruthie's was top priority. Though it hadn't been "Ruthie's Inn" in some time, the building gave me chills just standing next to it.

I read today that the building was being completely renovated...even the famous stage being removed, piece by piece. So as a little tribute, I decided to throw up a bunch of recordings that took place at Ruthie's during the mid-80s. All of this stuff is live except for the second disc of The Eastern Front 3 comp. That side is a collection of demos from various bands that were involved in the scene at the time (Sacrilege, Legacy. Heathen, etc.) Some real gems in there. During the Cro-Mag's show, they actually poke fun at the Eastern Front comps.

Eastern Front 3 Comp (Disc 1) - HERE

Eastern Front 3 Comp (Disc 2) - HERE

Hirax 3/22/1985 - HERE

Cro-Mags in 1986 - HERE

Verbal Abuse - 4/04/1986 - HERE

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

H Bomb - Coup de Metal / Sortilege - s/t EP

If you're into underground metal from the 80s, you're familiar with these french fries. So here's an old review from December 1983's Headbanger zine...

Being a connoisseur of French HM, I found both of these EPs to show a great degree of excellence. Although the French display the most unique and original style of HM, they all tend to sound somewhat similar. But as far as musicianship goes, the French offer some of the most talented bands (Voie de Fait, Ocean, Warning, Trust, Satan Jokers...) with the finest vocalists in HM (excluding Vulcain and Century). Both of these records are released on the Dutch HM label Rave-On (the label that brought you the first Mercyful Fate EP) and both are sung in French.

H-Bomb's debut 6-song EP, Coup de Metal, displays a pure and speedy brand of HM. H-Bomb's drummer, Gerard Michel, is awesome. His double bass playing in tracks such as "H-Bomb" and "Chasseur de Frime" is unreal! The self-titled Sortilege EP tends to be a bit more melodic in comparison yet it is still very powerful. Songs such as "Amazone", "Progenture", and "Sortilege" proves that Sortilege are a very professional band who show great song-writing ability.


A gushing review no doubt, but I must say these records do stand up pretty well...even twenty-six years later. Get your French metal groove on.

Thanks to Bob Nalbandian for the Headbanger review. Cheers Bob!

Coup de Metal - HERE

Sortilege EP - HERE

Monday, November 9, 2009

MX - Demos / Simoniacal

Did you know that McDonald's in Brazil has a burger called the McCheddar? It's basically a cheeseburger with runny cheese sauce all over it.

If that doesn't make you want to blow bile out your nose, this will! Brazilian thrash vomit!

I love me some southern hemispheric speed freaks, and MX might very well be my favorite. The riffs are quick to sacrifice all the virgins within a three mile radius, but the real highlight are the vocals. Dude sounds like he gargles every morning with a freshly cultured dose of the bubonic plague.

I present to you the band's first two demos...1986's The Carrion of Religion and 1987's Fighting for the Bastards. As well as a dirty copy of the first official LP, Simoniacal from 1988.

All three of these releases sound like they were recorded in one of Sao Paulo's shantytown shacks, so get ready have your eardrums mutilated.

The Carrion of Religion - HERE

Fighting for the Bastards - HERE

Simoniacal - HERE

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Gutted - Demo and LP

Is plain old death metal back in style yet?

I grew up in the southeastern portion of the United States. In turn, I was nursed on death metal. Uncle Glenn Benton used to take me squirrel hunting.

I'll always have a soft spot for lumbering midpaced redneck death metal. The brothers Ditch had this shit down with their band Gutted. The Bleed for Us to Live record was always a staple at metal BBQs back in the day. I think it was rereleased not too long ago, but it's still hard to find...so here ya go.

I've also included their 1992 demo, Into the Gates of Insanity. This tape has some killer clipped out distorted death metal.

So get yourself a glass of grandma's sweet tea and kick a corpse.

Into the Gates of Insanity Demo - HERE

Bleed for Us to Live - HERE

Thy Catafalque - Cor Cordium Demo

The experimental black metal tag can be a giant red flag that screams "I make shitty music in my mom's basement!" So it is always good to take these things with a grain of salt...or sometimes a whole ocean of salt.

Thy Catafalque have been around for over 10 years now, so I suppose they have a bit of underground cred. They're a couple of moody Hungarians that go in and out of cold black metal and weird soundscapes. Unfortunately what I have for you here is not their strongest effort. Truth be told, this might be my least favorite Thy Catafalque release. I'm posting Cor Cordium because it's their demo from 1998 and it is a little harder to find than the other stuff.

Not as black as the coffee that sits in front of me, but...

HERE

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Vain - Demos / Old Tapes

I've always had this fascination with sleaze rock, and Vain were one of the best bands from the genre. They didn't hit like the LA bands from the time, partly due to their refusal to relocate from San Francisco. This gave them a bit of integrity in a scene that would castrate itself to get ahead.

This is just a collection of various demos from completely different sessions. The tapes didn't contain any information as to when they were recorded or where. So your guess is as good as mine. There is bootleg floating around just called Vain - Demos. This is NOT that and doesn't contain any of the same songs.

Fuck you.

1. Worship You
2. Family
3. Get Up
4. Cindy
5. Walk Away
6. 1000 Degrees
7. Beat the Bullet
8. Here Comes Lonely
9. Secrets
10. Ticket Outta Here
11. Deliver the Passion

HERE

Deathwish - Sword of Justice Demo

Updating blogs whilst hungover is lame. Ya know what else is lame? Deathwish's lyrics. At least their music is cool.

I like this demo. The guitars are pretty damn heavy for 1986 and the vocals reek of british dental work. The singer, Jon Van Doom (yes), goes from drunken Paul DiAnno to falsetto shrieks without being annoying.

Cool band.

HERE

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Antaeus - Supremacist Dawn Demo

Cut your flesh and worship satan. This tape is muffled, raw, and French. Don't get me wrong, I like Antaeus a lot, but I always imagine them in corpse paint with little black berets. Black metal mimes! Only these guys make quite a bit of noise.

This is their first demo, Supremacist Dawn. The drums are buried so deep they need a tombstone in order to be located. The vocals sound like this dream I have, where I choke the life out of the raccoon that digs into my trash cans at night. Ghhhhrraaahrreeeeraaaaghrrrraarffgh...

I've also thrown in their 1995 rehearsal tape entitled Y.A.T.B.O.T.M.. Listen to that atrocious drumming! Trve.

HERE

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Nuclear Death Terror

When Buddy Revell challenges you to a fight after school, you better show up...otherwise this is what he's going to do to your family. Nuclear Death Terror.

These guys kill in so many ways. These are the riffs Entombed wishes they were still writing...super heavy and ultra metal, but still maintaining that punk edge that keeps everything interesting. There is even a Celtic Frost cover thrown in at the end. Oh yeah, and they're Danish...like King Diamond.

Download the Ceaseless Desolation 7" HERE

Nuclear Fucking Death Terror