Monday, July 27, 2009

some Bay Area bands that should be on your radar...

I decided to put together a list of all the good Bay Area bands I've seen in the past month that are either totally local or just a little below the radar... almost every show I go to I see a local/regional band I've never heard and love it, I needed to share the love!

Jesus Fucking Christ - I'm sure some of you know them, scathing Poison Idea/Accused/old Neurosis style punk from Oakland that includes Dave Ed, bassplayer of Neurosis... lit their drumkit on fire this past Friday night and sonically owned live. check out their new LP "Life's Hateful Seed"!

Fix My Head - played with JFC the other night, totally fast oldschool Japan-style punk in the style of Gauze, SOB, Outo, etc... extremely catchy and nasty. if they come to your town, you should probably wear a helmet if you don't want a mic thrown at your face. just released a new EP called "Empty Slogans"

Stormcrow - you probably know about these dudes, but you might not know they're confirmed for MDF this year and have a split coming with Coffins!! real powerful live, check out their splits with Laudanum, Massgrave and Stormcrow, it's all good stuff. new material is way more death/doomy and epic.

Laudanum - schizophrenic sludge/drone for fans of Burning Witch/Khanate, Thorr's Hammer and other angry slow painful music. just put out a split with Stormcrow, haven't heard it yet but I can only expect it'll be A class..

Abrupt - also fast nasty punk kinda like the aforementioned Fix Your Head. with a bit more metal, has a rad female singer and the guitarist from Born/Dead. Sadly I think they played their last US show last week, atleast for awhile. they have a new s/t LP out and I wanna get my hands on it.

Population Reduction - Just put out a split with Abscess, brutal stoner thrashing deathgrind... for fans of Groinchurn, Terrorizer, Morbid Angel, Insect Warfare and assorted death and destruction! check out their LP "Each New Birth A New Disaster", you'll be happy you did.

Acephalix - rocking crust/metal from Oakland, for fans of Parasytic, Syphilitic Vaginas, Inepsy, Nux Vomica, etc., has a bit of everything. you can find their demo pretty easily on blogs, pretty pro sounding and worth checking out... good music to wake you up in the morning and kick you in the balls.

Saros - sounds a lot like Lesbian, Ludicra and Rwake; ie. sludge and black metal in a slightly post-metal flavored soup of heaviness. opened for YOB, definitely cool live.

Acts Of Sedition - These guys play locally constantly but are always quality, just released a split with Maladie, if you're into Harm's Way and Left For Dead and The Swarm and other heavy & fast hardcore you'll probably dig it.

Born/Dead - you might know them already, they've been laying down fist pumping d-beat hardcore not unlike State Of Fear, World Burns To Death, The Holy Mountain, etc. for I think about a decade. just played their last US show last week.

Thousandswilldie - fuckin insano fast grind from San Fran. tons of 10 second songs, lightning fast blasts, great if you're into PLF and Assuck. threw tons of blood all over Gilman and was yet another band to light their drumkit on fire in my presence. bad ass.

Instant Asshole - the only one of these bands that I haven't actually seen... totally forgot to see them at a FREE midday benefit show yesterday in Oakland and I'm kicking myself. really fast snotty punk/hc that sounds like Youth Of Today, Deep Wound and Born Against in a blender. vocals kinda sound like Jello Biafra. check out their split w/Mouth Sewn Shut!


I strongly recommend myspacing as many of these that sound interesting to you as possible, download and/or buy some albums and look out if they tour your way. I'll try and get some links up for listening for you lazy types, and maybe buying/downloading for some.

Oi!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

HATE

I know. I'm a horrible person. I was so amped when I made this fucking blog and honestly, I just am not checking out more thrash and early heavy metal right now. I haven't stopped listening to it, I've just reached a momentary zenith where I've checked out the records that I want to, I know what I like and the few releases I'm still checking out are just not cutting it for me. It's kind of disappointing.

Likewise, I never made the upload for these last few albums. Please do leave a comment if you want to check them out, and I will make the time.

I have been getting most of my music through other blogs these days - and this is the primary reason why I haven't been posting new things. Not just because I'm listening to a lot more powerviolence, grindcore, hip hop and 70's ambient than thrash these days, but because there's no creativity in posting straight from another blog!! So I'm gonna namedrop a few particular blogs that have brought me some incredible stuff. There's been a lot, but these have been the best of the best.


TRUE PUNK AND METAL
Run by Nate Wilson, owner of Gloom Records and member of various Bay Area and upstate NY bands, this is one of the best blogs in existence for the music of it's namesake. Every kind of metal and punk is there, complete with histories and how it related to his life as he checked out all of these records growing up. So much music knowledge and perspective can be gained just be reading it, let along checking out the albums on it. HIGHLY, expressly recommended. Only issue with it is that he has dark grey text on a black background... no point whatsoever in that, I always have to highlight to read things.

COSMIC HEARSE
Run by Aesop of Bay Area black metal band Ludicra (awesome band), this blog has just about everything, but most prominently black metal, 80's hardcore and 70's rock. Like True Punk And Metal, a lot of these have personal stories, and either way all of them have great histories and/or great reviews of the records that let you know why you should hear them. So much good and challenging music, most of which you've never ever heard.

MAD BLASTS OF CHAOS
Run by a guy from New Zealand who plays in Gawj, Coffee Rage and some other NZ punk bands, it focuses, but is not limited to, Japanese and European punk/hardcore and powerviolence/grind. So many awesome releases, especially if you're into Japanese thrash hardcore like Gauze and Deathside. I can't express enough how many good albums I've checked out thanks to this blog, the guy's taste is unmistakeable. Also great histories and bios on this one.

BUDDHA KHAN
This blogger duder runs Buddha Khan records, from what I understand he pretty much puts out his friends wierd or basement punk/powerviolence/experimental projects/bands. My own band Kaiser Wave is supposed to be on their upcoming Buddha Khamp but who knows when that will ever happen!! BACK TO THE POINT, this blog has a multitude of great pxvx, pop punk, all sorts of genres of music both extremely underground and extremely popular. I've found some excellent gems here.

SICK MUSIC FOR SICK MINDS
Like the other blogs I've just blogged to you about, this one has more powerviolence/80's hardcore than anything but somehow has every genre of music known to man shared throughout it. The guy has great taste and great insights and some really wierd gems in there. Appreciated and should be czeched.