The Wild Bunch on Flickr.
First Halloween in the US, first batch of photos with my old Canon film camera.
Can't wait for the new EP.
Source: Spotify
potoman reblogged
More doom metal!
Bongripper is a doom/sludge metal band from Chicago, and this is their sixth album release called “Satan Worshipping Doom”. As I mentioned in my previous review of Lento’s “Icon”, I said that I needed some time to really enjoy that album. With “Satan Worshipping Doom” I...
Excellent review of an album I've been listening to a lot lately for no particular reason except it's very good. Very recommended if you like Electric Wizard, Sleep, Ufomammut & even Pelican when they didn't suck. The double LP, self-released & limited to 500 is sold-out but you can still order the digital release on their bandcamp. And now time to listen to their last EP, Sex Tape / Snuff Film (if you thought the precedent cover & title were not gonna scare your parents enough).
<a href="http://bongripper.bandcamp.com/album/satan-worshipping-doom" _mce_href="http://bongripper.bandcamp.com/album/satan-worshipping-doom">Satan Worshipping Doom by Bongripper</a>
Jucifer - Contempt from the Throned in Blood album
The last album of the scary guitar/drums duo (playing sludge/grind & more), which is one of my favorite from 2010, is about the atrocities of war. Unlike the two previous albums, this time they put aside their softer, melodic side - last track excepted, the clear singing is lovely & I might even be hearing banjo but I'm not really sober. The result is a shorter, hence denser & heavier, gloomy, raw album.
“Throned In Blood” has a low-fi grittiness that lacks the upbeat tempos of previous albums. This is a dark, brooding affair, void of complex, intricate compositions. While “L'autrichienne” utilized everything from pianos to horn sections, the duo uses just their primary instruments on “Throned In Blood.” Valentine’s riffs are simple and as jagged as chainsaw blades, while Livengood continuously pounds away on his kit like he is on the run from the Grim Reaper himself. [...] "'Throned In Blood' is tightly composed, focused as hell, and carries everything that makes Jucifer one of the best bands you've never heard of." from the metal underground review by heavytothebone2
I loved their previous albums but I think I like this one even more, tracks like Contempt or Hiroshima being as scary as orgasmic for my ears. It's also closer to their live sound, minus the amps wall of course so I recommend playing it very loud to make up for it.
They currently touring the East Coast and if you're in Richmond, they will be playing tonight, Sunday at Strange Matter. I've seen them in Paris before & believe me it's quite an experience, something you should not miss if you like intense metal shows (the ones where musicians don't wear corpse paint).
(picture found on last.fm, (c) Mike White deadlydesigns.com)
potoman reblogged
Free Download of You Will Not Survive
Panic Records press of YWNS comes out this week! To celebrate and thank everyone for their support this year, here’s a FREE DOWNLOAD of the whole album. It’ll be up all week. If you’re a fan of it, please respost, reblog, pass the link around. Thanks!
Well thank YOU. As I said before you have to listen to this album if you like screamo. And don't forget to buy the record, I received mine recently and it's gorgeous (on top of sounding a lot better than any MP3 could do, of course).
Glasses - Untitled [Scentless Apprentice cover]
Glasses, a German rocking hardcore "all-star" band with members of Trainwreck, Perth express, 244 GL, The F.A.... featuring a female singer covers Nirvana's Scentless Apprentice.
Glasses present us with a monster of an lp of dark and brutal rocking hardcore punk, razorsharp breaks, hyperprecise drumming and an angry female singer. 7 tracks of devastating hardcore/punk. Great follow-up to their self titled 12" released in 2009 and their split 2x 7" with Comadre released earlier this year. The ills of Life is slated for release later this month. Highly recommended!!! from Elementary Revolt post
New Frodus 7"
Well I'm at least a week late but HOLY SHIT a new Frodus record. I know some people are pissed off by all the band reunions happening lately & the whole 90's nostalgia but I won't deny myself the pleasure of hearing new Frodus tracks. If you've never heard of them well, it's not too late & I would say it's probably the band (with Fugazi) representing the most what post-hardcore is. Also their full name is Frodus Conglomerate International.
If you dont know who Frodus is, I must say, now is the time to get into them. I just previewed the songs and while one is stronger than the other, they both seethe with an intensity that leaves you wondering if they ever took a hiatus in the first place. This release gives me hope for good things from Frodus Conglomerate International. For those of you new to the Frodus Conglomerate, do yrself a favor and check out 'And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea', as well as their previous album, 'Comglomerate International'. Amazing stuff! from the original post on Zen and the Art of Face Punching
Indeed the new songs feel like they've never been on hiatus and that it's still 1999, even if they have a new bass player. This new record is a 7" published by Lovitt Records (yes the same excellent label responsible for the Maximillian Colby discography). The limited release is sold out since day 1 but who cares, record collectors are pretentious assholes anyway.
So you can get the black vinyl & the three songs - two new ones + a remake of the Frodus classic "Feelgood Song Of Year" - as a digital download for 4$ + postage. Just click on buy in the bandcamp player underneath (and no I won't get any money out of it, everything goes to the label & the band, I bought one myself) or head straight to the bandcamp page of the release.
Source: zen-face-punch.blogspot.com
Zann is a another excellent german chaotic hardcore band who's been active for more than 10 years now. Their last release is X, a 7" record with three songs & a discography CD.
Shot during their US Fall 2010 tour @ Strange Matter, Richmond VA with a Pentax K1000 - 50mm & Fuji Neopan 1600 NPR pushed to 3200 ISO. More pictures on FlickR.
Alpinist
Shot with my Canon 450D & 10mm wide-angle @ Espace Icare, near Paris (more pictures there).
Alpinist from Münster, Germany is one of the finest neo-crust band in activity on top of being extremely nice & charming people.
They exist since winter 2006 and live from the experiences their members made playing in bands from death metal to punkrock. alpinist is meant to be understood by those who are sick of people following musical trends those who wanna live out music with dedication and those who believe in expressing their own ideals with their own art.
from LastFM biography
While they definitely fall in the crust/d-beat categories - thanks to a sound that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let you rest in peace before the end of the record & an incredible drummer (seriously, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how young and slim he looked before blasting my ears when they started to play) - they also manage to demonstrate a real originality drawing influences from screamo/emo & the awesome Bremen scene. I loved their first album so much, it took me some time to fully appreciate the evolution of their sound heard in the second one. I don't know which one is better, nor do I care. The last track lasting 5mn34 is a masterpiece displaying intriguing guitar sounds, something I might call post-crust if I were a music journalist.
"Alpinist: Seem to have the formula right. The music is pummeling and dark while falling in the crust genre. Screamed vocals power forward through the speakers as the charging guitars cut through. Amazing drumming that is far from generic. They're definitely an apocalyptic journey of sound."
The band itself provided a link to download this album so make yourself a favor and get it now. I don't know if you can find it in the US but if you're European, at only 10 euros (+postage) it's a steal so BUY IT here or there.
Gods and Queens @ Strange Matter, Richmond on 6th September 2010 Shot with a Pentax K1000 - 50mm & Fuji Neopan 3200 ISO
A very good noise/post-hardcore US band. Download their last EP, Untitled II for free (and check the official website).
The Washingtonians
Despite their name, The Washingtonians are a French band playing fast & raw crusty hardcore, "from the gutter" as they say. After a very good demo (free DL here), they're about to release their first LP, Severed Heads on October 25th. I'm not sure it's gonna hit the shores of America but you can and should listen to three songs from it on their bandcamp (download and/or stream) anyway. RIYL Weekend Nachos, His Hero is Gone, a punk version of Napalm Death...
Some news about Kaddish
In my post about the excellent Kaddish LP (seriously if you're a screamo/emotive hardcore fan, listen to it right now) I was bemoaning the fact that the record is not for sale in the US. Well "good news everyone!", Internationale Records, one of the labels involved with its release sent me these informations:
Some good news, none of the labels had traded with US labels up until the other day but the dudes from POS are in the process of sending some to IFB - http://www.ifbrecords.com - so contact Nevin in a couple of weeks and he should have some. If there are any problems let me know. A bit of other news - the main vocalist has left Kaddish so they are now a three piece - the guitarist is now doing vocals by himself I think. But apparently it is still awesome. They've finished plenty of new songs, can't remember if they've recorded them, but anyway, keep a look out!
Brainworms' last show @ Best Friends Day 09, Richmond www.myspace.com/brainwormsrva
Shot with a Pentax K1000 - 50mm & Kodak Tmax 100
I PILOT DÆMON
I PILOT DÆMON is a very good French gloomy hardcore/post-hardcore band from Toulouse. Their second album, 'Come what may' will be out soon: 21 October 2010 on CD, January 2011 for the 2xLP. Meanwhile you can download it from free or stream it on http://ipilotdaemon.antiheroes.org/ If you like it, spread the news.
potoman reblogged
The Measure [SA] www.myspace.com/themeasuresa Shot with a Pentax K1000 - 50 mm w/ Kodak Tmax 100
Kaddish
Kaddish might be the third best thing to come out of Scotland after Single Malt Scotch & Sean Connery (sorry for my lack of Scottish culture, dear Scots). [Edit: As pointed out by Fuck Yeah Real Screamo "Scotland actually has a surprisingly strong screamo scene - along with Kaddish there’s also Mesa Verde and there used to be The Fall of Boss Koala and Archives as well who all ruled."] After a split with Battle of Wolf 359, they were finally able to release their first LP with the support of four UK based labels: Parade of Spectres, Autumn Jams, Internationale, and This One’s for the Crew.
So far it's the best screamo album I've heard this year (I can only think of the forthcoming The Saddest Landscape to compete with it). They have two singers and their sound range from furious violence to very melodic beauty while always being very personal & intense. Here's a better description :
"I think what really lifts this record up is how inventive it is. It’s not just two sides of frantic harsh emoting, the tempo keeps swinging, one minute it’s full tilt abrasion, then suddenly the pace drops softly humming away something like Catena Collapse. There are points where the vocals are almost chanted, the way they round out the record is night flawless. You know when you see a really awesome set from a band live, and right afterwards this weird temporary silence descends where people look slightly wide eyed at each other thinking ‘shitohwowthatwasprettyphenominalyouthink?yeahmetoo!’ This record ends just like that. Serious" Collective-zine review (read it).
Because everybody likes a little RIYL, they remind me of some of my favorites US screamo bands like Portraits of Past, Funeral Diner, Comadre or Storm the Bastille. Maybe more in terms of spirit and feeling than sound but I think you know what I mean.
The sad news is I haven't been able to find this fantastic record on any US distro/websites. I've contacted the labels to find out more & they're gonna notify me if they find anything. They're ready to trade so if you own a distro get in touch with them (and let me know). Meanwhile you can still order it from the UK.
The last word will be from the band itself (taken from their biography on LastFM)
"Infrequently, Kaddish can be found manipulating the third person in an attempt to subvert the rules of websites that alienate them from the means of direct expression. It is reputed that they understand the necessity for such rules, but that they view them as part of a wider insidious tendency to convert human relations into impersonal data transfers.
Kaddish do not, however, have any problem with people freely downloading their music. Rather, they would simply like to suggest that the tendency towards impersonal data transfer be viewed as means, and not as an end. That way, direct contact is made through impersonal means, and the subversion becomes all the purer for it. "