FUCKED BY NOISE'S BEST OF 2015 - Brayden's Picks (LPs)

It's that time of year where I feel comfortable organising the music I enjoyed in the previous twelve months into some kind of list and share my opinions on them with the general public. What follows are ten LPs I found to be rather enjoyable, and while it was pretty gosh darn difficult sorting through the multitude of excellent releases from 2015, I think I've got a pretty solid selection.
Stay tuned for a second post of my favourite demos and EPs of the year, and make sure to check out the links I've included for each release.


'As A Four Piece Band' Cured Pink
Cured Pink are a wickedly inventive and odd hybrid of post-punk, industrial, no wave and noise channeled into a jarring and unique collage of sound. Tracks like 'I'm Swimming' will see you bopping around like an idiot with it's infectiously catchy groove; whereas tracks like 'Live in Sydney' or 'Rosetta' will have you scratching your head and going back to understand what exactly it was you just listened to. I'm always hesitant to have an actual AOTY, but 'As A For Piece Band' is more than deserving of this title. Please, oh please, check it out if you haven't already.

Choice track: 'I'm Swimming'


'I Am A Problem: Mind In Pieces' Wolf Eyes
October saw everyone's favourite 'trip metal' band, Wolf Eyes, unleash this particularly desolate and hallucinogenic collection of sounds onto the general populace. Drones, clicks, squelching synths, sputters, guitar freakouts and saxophone all make a very welcome appearance on these 6 tracks culminating in what sounds like the soundtrack to a dying man crawling across a desert in search of peyote. Hopelessly bleak but with Wolf Eye's trademark catchiness running beneath the doom and gloom.

Choice track: 'Catching The Rich Train'



'Force The Zone' Cuntz
Once the tinny, distorted guitar kicks in on opening track 'Cooked', 'Force The Zone' bludgeons its way through a wonderfully sardonic assortment of punk jammers. Existing as both an ode to middle class Australiana and an outright piss take, Cuntz take the pummeling repetition and grunt from the likes of Cosmic Psychos, and turn it into a much more apathetic and uglier monster with the addition of noisier and slower instrumentation and gruff, yelped vocals.

Choice Track: 'Tanning'

'Excluded' Total Abuse
One of my most anticipated releases of this year was Total Abuse's 'Excluded', and boy oh boy the wait was worth it. A veritable ode to all things transgressive, this album packs its scummy subject matter into dirty, frenzied bursts of hardcore and leaves you to mop up the suspicious stains it left on the floor. As always Total Abuse aren't afraid to show off their more noisy, free-form tendencies (see 'Watching The Paint Dry' for your delirious, noise rock fix) and when combined with the pure grunt of their faster tracks it makes for a excellent time indeed.

Choice Track: 'DNA Evidence'

'The Body & Thou' You Whom I've Always Hated
I'm not gonna lie, I slept on this for aaaaaaaaages and was only roused into listening it upon finding out about the Nine Inch Nails cover on it.
I learned that, a) Terrible Lie works excellently as a sludge metal song, and b) this was in fact an amazing collaboration between two of heavy music's best bands right now.Absolutely earth shaking and soul destroying music with a very healthy amount of experimentation, noise and distortion cranked into the mix. I will not complain at all if these two bands collab again.

Choice Track: 'Terrible Lie'

'Circular Time'Ramleh
A fairly late entry into this year's list, but after thrashing the preview track released earlier this year (album closer 'Never Returner') and hyping myself up for this release and had to include it. 'Circular Time' is Ramleh in extremely heavy psychedelic rock mode, with plenty of noise rock, drone, prog and krautrock influences. Running at roughly two hours this a gargantuan collection of crushingly nihilistic, yet soaring music. If you can set aside a sizeable block of your time to devour this in its entirety, you will not be let down.

Choice Track: 'Never Returner'

'Self Titled' No Form
Good news! If you ever wanted a hardcore band that sounded like an actual descent into madness and/or oblivion, No Form exist to fulfill this niche desire. Sounding like a collision between Siege and a noisy free jazz ensemble (some marvelously skronky trumpet playing makes a very welcome appearance on 'Side B'), No Form are a band that can pull off frenzied hyper-speed hardcore as well as sludgy, atonal goop. Catch me waiting feverishly for more music from these guys.

Choice Track: 'Side B'

'Negative Feedback Resistor' Destruction Unit
The musical equivalent of the sunglasses emoji, aka Destruction Unit, are frighteningly adept at molding walls of fuzzed out guitar and psychedelic noise into ridiculously catchy music, and 'Negative Feedback Resistor' is affirmation of this.  If you like your riffs smothered in at least three layers of delay pedals and your amp stacks blown to smithereens I'd wager that you'd probably enjoy this album. Hey, I know I did.

Choice Track: 'Chemical Reaction/Chemical Delight'

'High' Royal Headache
'High' is something of an anomaly on this list, in that I could use words like 'bright' and 'happy' to describe the music contained within. Uncharacteristically positive connotations aside, this album is absolutely brimming with energy and has excellently written garage rock tunes to boot. Tracks such as 'My Own Fantasy' and 'Another World' show of Royal Headache's punchy punk side perfectly, while 'Carolina' and 'Wouldn't You Know' slow things right down and provide some much welcome, soulful relief. Oh, and the organ. So good.

Choice Track: 'Another World'

'Behold. Total. Rejection' Revenge
I'll close this list on a much more nihilistic and brutal note with Revenge's latest LP. The Canadian band have never really been ones for subtlety or finesse, choosing the much more noble path of beating your ears senseless with their concoction of death metal, grindcore and black metal. 'Behold. Total. Rejection.' begins immediately with pummeling blast beats, inhuman grunts and growls and plenty of Kerry King-esque divebomb solos and does not let up. At all. I worry sometimes about the toll this kind of music must have on the musicians playing it - but at the same time I'm so glad there are people out their plumbing the depths of the musical abyss and producing this kind of filth.

Choice Track: 'Silent Enemy'


Honorable Mentions:
The Body & Krieg - Self Titled
Koufar - Lebanon For Lebanese
Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
Ghastly Spats - Spinozism Excorcism
Helta Skelta - Beyond The Black Stump
Soma Coma - Dust
Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh
Follakzoid - III
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
Broken Prayer - Misanthropocentric AKA Droid's Blood
L.O.T.I.O.N -  Digital Control And Man's Obsolescence
Kitchen's Floor - Battle Of Brisbane
Prurient - Frozen Niagra Falls
Sunn - Kannon
Health - Death Magic
Battles - La Di Da Di
Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last
White Walls - Afterthoughts In Limbo
Pissgrave - Suicide Euphoria
Special mention also goes to No Zodiac's 'Eternal Misery' for being the guiltiest pleasure of 2015.

Administrator - Admn2

'Admn2'
Administrator
2015

(Band Submission)

Genre/s: Synth Punk, Digital Hardcore, Experimental, Electro Pop
For Fans Of: Broken Prayer, Atari Teenage Riot, Adbaloons, Godflesh

Oneohtrix Point Never released an EP earlier this year, and the first track on it was essentially a Slayer track rendered entirely in MIDI instruments. I was hooked, needless to say - hearing one of my favourite electronic music producers channeling the Doom theme song scratched an itch I never knew I had. I mention this because this here release is most definitely in the same vein, and more - and I'm beyond stoked it exists.
Admn2 sounds like the your favourite electro pop band merging with thrash metal, industrial metal and synth-punk. The end result is vaguely dystopian and robotic, yet upbeat and infectiously catchy. Distorted electronic guitar riffs are played off against soaring synth lines and pop hooks, and by jove it works damn you! Special mention in particular goes to closing track Last-Screamed Thing, ending the album brilliantly with a bona-fide pop banger which recalls both HEALTH's more recent output AND Yellow Magic Orchestra - while remaining totally original in its own right.
MIDI-thrash-synth-pop may not sound like your cup of tea, but if you're interested in experiencing this somewhat niche (i.e non-existent) genre, this here is more than definitely the best place to start. What's more it's free on bandcamp, which is fucking excellent AND it also means you have absolutely no reason to not click that link below and get down to some A-Grade hacker music.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Never Wanna (Go There)
2. Blood Painting
3. New Floating Body
4. Bad People
5. I'll Fix it Later
6. I Have a Scream
7. New Ways of Killing
8. New Way of Dying
9. Last-Screamed Thing

Bandcamp

Current 93 with Thomas Ligotti - In A Foreign Town, In A Foreign Land

'In A Foreign Town, In A Foreign Land'
Current 93 with Thomas Ligotti
1997

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Dark Ambient, Industrial, Spoken Word
For Fans Of: Lustmord, Boyd Rice, David Lynch, Edgar Allen Poe, seething bouts of paranoia

Hey there folks, day going well so far? Currently free of any niggling doubts, lurking worries or creeping anxieties? Yeah? Then please, by all means, read on...
What we have here is a collab between Industrial/Neo-Folk artist Current 93 (you should know them by now gosh) and horror writer Thomas Ligotti (famous recently for allegedly being plagiarized by True Detective writer Nic Pizzolatto). On In A Foreign Town... Current 93 provides haunting soundscapes and intermittent narration of Ligotti's short story of the same name in easily one of the most sinister recordings I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.
Dense drones, eerie chimes and other miscellaneous samples and sound effects pulse and seether underneath David Tibet's ethereal narration, delivered of course in Tibet's singsong English accent.
The track's progress in a dreamlike fashion, albeit a slow burning, nightmarish dream that's goes from quietly terrifying to soul crushing abandon throughout its duration. This release belongs firmly in the Stalaggh/Penderecki/Mariah Carey category of sonically/emotionally disturbing.
I've probably talked up this release enough - so it goes without saying that I think you should click that there download button below and see what I'm gabbing about. This is seriously top tier dark ambient, and I'm just itching to ruin your good mood with it.

TRACKLISTING:
1. His Shadow Will Rise To A Higher Place
2. The Bells Shall Sound Forever
3. A Soft Voice Whispers Nothing
4. When You Hear The Singing, You Will Know it is Time

Download

and hey you know what, have a PDF of the short story too - be sure to read it while listening to the album in a dreary, candlelit hotel room.

Spooky times ahead friendo

The Drip

'Demo'
The Drip
2015

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Hardcore Punk
For Fans Of: D.R.I., City Hunter, Deadline, YDI

I've been meaning to post my rip of this tape for months (it was in my mid-year round-up!) and for some reason I always get sidetracked or start on something else. No more, now is the time to give you some dirty punk that feels like the musical equivalent of a low budget 80s action flick in which everyone wears sunglasses and leather jackets; and it probably stars Kurt Russell.

At its surface, this demo could be mistaken for nothing more than badass punk with choppy, gnarly riffs, and which makes sure to bring both ragers and jammers to the table. However, there's actually much  more going; weirdly timed drum fills, progressions which seem to change mid riff, a Beach Boys song leading into the first track, and many other oddities all make for a tape that has a lot more to offer than your typical, gritty hardcore punk demo. The Drip's ability to sound strange in a way which doesn't feel forced is something a lot of bands should pay attention to. If something on this tape feels off, it was meant to be that way.

You want it, don't you?

Tracklisting:
1. The Drip
2. Blue Lights
3. Count Out Your Teeth
4. Copper Night
5. The Hit

DOWNLOAD

Smegma - Smell the Remains

'Smell the Remains'
Smegma
1988

Review by Xander Johnson

Genra/s: Experimental Rock, Free Rock, Noise
For Fans Of: The Mothers of Invention, Swans, Ween, Sonic Youth.

Smegma is an unpleasant human dairy product created by the churning of unwashed genitals. It's also the name of a fabulous 'Los Angles Free Music Society' group founded in 1973. Since then There have been over twenty members of Smegma most with names like 'Cheesebro' and 'White Mohammad' who's actually present on this recording. The First song on Smell the Remains, 'Potatoe war', sound like Sun Ra making meme music but it gets much better after that. For every faux apathetic band of carefully manicured tumblr kids like 'Teen Suicide' There's a member of Smegma with actual disinterest. Nothing on this album is musical. Smegma's main sound resembles Naked City 'Do Re Mi Fa'ing their instruments before a show but there's also some early 'noise' on the track Beauty School (quite possibly just a metal trashcan being abused) along with tribal drumming, Plunderphonics, some disembodied Ho-down style thumping which seems lost (it was probably meant to be ironic), and then there's the lyrics. Pigface Chant is the best example of the songwriting on this album. It's about a pig-humanoid creature whose kept in a zoo and refused toilet paper. At the end of the song he runs away from the zoo to get his pig dick sucked by cows. If that appeals to you at all then check this album out!

Tracklisting:
1. Potatoe War
2. Forest Fire In Your Left Elbow
3. One Moment
4. Credo Quia Absurdum Est
5. Pigface Chant
6. Roll Down Your Window
7. Beauty School
8. Can't Look Straight
9. Flashcard
10. Outro Is Intro
11. Grass Glob Ball War

Download

  

Sutcliffe Jugend - We Spit On Their Graves (remastered)

We Spit On Their Graves (remastered)
Sutcliffe Jugend
1982

Review by Xander Johnson

Genre/s: Power Electronics, Harsh Noise
For Fans Of: Whitehouse, SPK, City Of Worms, NON

Hi everyone I'm Xander and I'm going to write a few reviews for my favorite blog. Sutcliffe Jugend basically borrowed whitehouse's idea of dedicating songs and whole albums to serial killers and took it to a new extreme. Peter Sutcliffe "The Yorkshire Ripper" killed thirteen women and tortured seven. This tape's first twenty songs are 'dedicated' to the ripper's victims, with Kevin Tomkins (sometimes a member of whitehouse) giving Frankie Teardrop worthy screams over oppressive noise oscillations accompanied with sharpened piano keys, screeches and something like a barbed hissing kazoo.You get the impression that each track on this thing could have easily extended into an hour long piece of wall noise by someone less ambitious like 'music for apathetic people' or maybe 'NON'. I recommend you listen to it while looking at the cover art or just not listening to it at all.     

Tracklisting:
1. Ripper Victims I
2. Ripper Victims II
3. Ripper Victims III
4. Ripper Victims IV
5. Ripper Victims V
6. Ripper Victims VI
7. Ripper Victims VII
8. Ripper Victims VIII
9. Ripper Victims IX
10. Ripper Victims X
11. Ripper Victims XI
12. Ripper Victims XII
13. Ripper Victims XIII
14. Tortures I
15. Tortures II
16. Tortures III
17. Tortures IV
18. Tortures V
19. Tortures VI
20. Tortures VII
21. Necro-Sadism
22. Whores' Endlosung
23.  Menta
24. Human Disregard
25. Sex beast
26. Hammer Death [Ripper Attack]

Download

The Homopolice - Discography

DISCOGRAPHY (aka I can't wait for the spambots to find this post)
The Homopolice
2008 - 2010

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Hardcore
For Fans Of: Rusted Shut, Puffy Areolas, Brainbombs, (old)The Men


I vaguely recall someone requesting a Homopolice post in the comments somewhere, so in typical delayed fashion - here it is!
(If you've made it this far without becoming entranced by the artwork, good job)
Homopolice were a four piece band from Houston, Texas who played  pummeling Stooges-esque noise rock. Combined with what some may say is ''''''offensive''''' lyrical content and highly rhythmic, repetitive nature of their songs, The Homopolice are almost like a slightly less morally questionable Brainbombs, but with more harsh noise and hardcore influences seeping in (note the GISM cover). This is dirgey, nihilistic filth at it's best folks - leather clad walls of distortion and riffs lurching around and collapsing in on itself every couple of minutes or so.
Contained below are the three Homopolice releases I could track down - a demo (which contains the excellent 15 minute long 'I Hate Everybody'), a 7" and their split with fellow sweaty man enthusiasts Black Leather Jesus.  Smash that fucking download button and go huff some amyl.

WHAT LIES WITHIN:
Fuck Entertainment Demo (2008)
1. Sex Drugs Death
2. I Hate Everybody
3. Assfucker
4. Gism Lover

Ass Fucker 7" (2009)
1. Ass Fucker

Split w. Black Leather Jesus (2010)
1. Fisting
2. Endless Blockades (GISM cover)
3. Assfucker II

Download

Prurient - DOUBLE POST

'Unmasking The Insect/Cocaine Daughter'
Prurient
2015

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Harsh Noise, Industrial, Power Electronics
For Fans Of: Prurient doing minimal power electronics/Prurient doing straight up harsh noise

Prurient has given us three releases this year, and this post contains the two that aren't Frozen Niagra Falls. Both releases here show considerable departures from his current style, so if you've come here via FNF you may be in for a bit of a surprise.
Let's start with Unmasking The Insect. Probably the personal favourite of the two for me, these five tracks see Prurient dabbling in minimal, washed out power electronics and droning industrial soundscapes. It recalls some of the disturbing, clinical qualities of Atrax Morgue's output with the lo-fi textures and atmospheres that Posh Iso/Chondritic Sound have been peddling. Really great stuff, and always a pleasure to hear Prurient's more minimal and structured output.
Cocaine Daughter on the other hand is just one big ole slab of dense, metallic noise. Harsh walls of synth, feedback manipulations and swathes of white noise are the name of the game here. Cocaine Daughter isn't too far off from Exploring Jezebel levels of texture and grit, and is utterly uncompromising throughout its run time - which happens to be 80 minutes. Oooft.
Both releases, in nice separate download folders no less, are waiting for you to get yer grubby mitts all over them. I doth implore you to listen to both.

Unmasking The Insect
1. Prosecution Scepter
2. Medicine Crawl
3. Raped By The Dragon (Granite Columns)
4. Private Tombs (Estate Liquidation)
5. Like Reeds In The Wind (Corpus)
Download

Cocaine Daughter
1. BTK Machine Sugar
2. Dayglow Bandage
3. Nylon Fluorescent Insect Bound
5. World Nail
6. Quartz Blood Lens
7. Appearing Townsman
8. Transparent Child
9. White Phosphorus Baths
Download

Savage Blind God

'Demo'
Savage Blind God
2015

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Deathrock, Hardcore Punk, Goth
For Fans Of: Rudimentary Peni, Dry Insides, Raspberry Bulbs, Perspex Flesh

Okay, so this demo floored me. It's so evil and filthy, so twisted and disturbed. I went into it being told it was blackened punk, but honestly this is way more deathrock than blackened punk. The main influence is very obvious: Rudimentary Peni. However, what sets them apart from the endless seas of Peni wannabes is the fact that, not only do they have a hyper-aggressive edge, but that rather than trying to copy Farce and Death Church, Savage Blind God draws specifically from Rudimentary Peni's material released from 1997-2008, which I find is overlooked by a lot of people (obviously not trying to claim it's obscure by any means, rather that people usually talk about 1982 Peni rather than 2004 Peni).

All I really know about Savage Blind God is that they are from Providence, RI, a city which many people assume lives in Boston's shadow, but is actually home to some incredibly important bands (Dropdead, Lightning Bolt, Daughters, etc). Well, that and they really know how to make some macabre sounding tunes which simultaneously feel like death and being punched in the gut repeatedly. I wouldn't really consider this worship, since it has the ability to stand on its own, but there are some serious homages to Peni they throw in like the weird layered, spoken/echoed vocals. Plus, the lyrics feel as if they could have been taken from the pages of Lovecraft, and when bands can pull that off, they got me hooked.

I'm hoping this band can put out more material, because their demo really hit the spot for me. I'll hopefully be seeing them at Not Just A Boys Club, so I'm looking forward to that. But anyway, if you're fixing for some gnarly, lovecraftian riffage, give this a listen. You won't be disappointed (or maybe you will, I don't know you).

Tracklisting:
1. Omnipresent Wyrm
2. Hy(i)ste(o)rical Society
3. Bloodied Scripture
4. Sickening Sanity
5. Sedate And Infect
6. Where Spirits Get Eaten

DOWNLOAD (bandcamp)

Latishia's Skull Drawing (Finally!)

'Demo'
Latishia's Skull Drawing
2015

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Hardcore Punk
For Fans Of: Society Nurse, Thug, Salvation, Gay Kiss

A few months back, a friend asked me if I'd heard the new band featuring members of Cult Ritual and Salvation. I had not, however I can definitely say my attention was grabbed. So, he sent me Latishia's Skull Drawing; I was fucking floored. This demo is better (and certainly more visceral) than everything else these guys have put out since the demises of their previously mentioned bands. I'm actually really surprised nobody else has uploaded this yet, considering the people involved, I would've expected this to be on the internet as soon as somebody got a copy. Sadly, that's not what happened.

Latishia's Skull Drawing has a lot going on. I don't want to compare it to the members' previous bands, but some of the sounds they played around with in those bands are here. The darkness and bleakness of Salvation is mixed with the chaotic, no-fucks-given, dirty feel of Cult Ritual, but that's not all. There is something much more sinister at work here. The riffs are dirty and dirging even when played at a fast tempo, and the tempos shift unpredictably  which make this thing feel like a total mess in the best way possible. Oh, and there's still plenty of the atonal Black Flag and Void style shredding that we all love. This demo is one of my favorite things I've heard this year, and I'm so happy I can not only finally listen to it in its entirety (thanks to my friend who ripped this and sent it to me, seriously you're a life saver), but I can also share it with you nerds.

Latishia's Skull Drawing should be releasing an LP on Iron Lung Records in the near future, and I can't wait for that thing to drop. Just another release to chalk up there with the incredible shit ILR has put out -- and has scheduled to put out. But I'm done rambling. Have at it.

Tracklisting:
1. Release
2. Bloody Trauma
3. Threshold Of Atrocity
4. The Nightmare Man
5. Vagrant's Prayer
6. The Last Laugh

DOWNLOAD

B R A I N B O M B S (updated, new links!)

(Almost Complete) Studio Discography
Brainbombs
1986-2013*

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Garage Rock, Psych, Industrial, Noise
For Fans Of: The Stooges, Drunks With Guns, Rusted Shut, Strangulated Beatoffs

So, Brayden already did a review for the previous Brainbombs discography post, but I'm going to do another one. Where do I even start with this band? They've been around since 1985 and have released a slow, but steady stream of music since then, along with continuing to play live. In that time, they've managed to be consistent, churning out incredible yet stupid riff after incredible yet stupid riff (but only one per song), and memorable, yet highly problematic lyrics -- the problematic element is definitely what makes them so memorable.

I'm not going to even try to justify their lyrics depicting all sorts of horrific acts, most of which deal with torture, rape, murder, and other terrible things. I could say that Brainbombs' music is intended to express desensitization and work as a commentary and expression of detachment through the use of monotonous, hypnotic repetition and lyrical obscenity; but at the end of the day, regardless of their intentions, you're listening to a band with sick riffs and a guy casually talking in a heavy Swedish accent about murdering someone after they've given him a blowjob. It absolutely contributes to a culture of violence against women by seemingly making light of it, so it's understandable that many people wouldn't want to listen to this.

But most of you don't care about that. What you do care about is stupid riffs played over and over for 6 minutes and going nowhere, sloppy songs that fall apart, apathetic and nihilistic vocals, and of course the fucking trumpet. Basically, if you ever wanted to hear a Swedish version of The Stooges who wanted to emulate Whitehouse, Brainbombs is the perfect band for you. Despite the fact that they've been a band for 30 years at this point, they have lost none of their edge (in both senses) and are still as filthy, disguising, and heavy as ever -- something which unfortunately can't be said for The Stooges.

Okay, so what do I mean by (almost complete) studio discography? It means that I'm not including live recordings, bootlegs, compilations they've been featured on, or collections; all of the EPs are here as they were originally released, except for the 1992 Burning Hell 7" which has an alternate mix of Burning Hell not featured on any other releases (not the live version that I've seen passed off as it). If anyone has that, please let me know, I'm dying to hear it and I'd love to add it to this post.

You probably just skipped all of that to get here, so here's what you get:

• Jack the Ripper Lover (1989)
• Anne Frank (1990)
• Burning Hell (1992)
• Genius And Brutality – Taste And Power (1994)
• Brainbombs / Anal Babes split (1995)
• Obey (1995)
• Macht (1998)
• Urge To Kill (1999)
• Cheap (2001)
• Stigma Of The Ripper (2003)
• The Grinder (2004)
• I Need Speed (2006)
• Stinking Memory (2007)
• Fucking Mess (2008)
• Disposal Of A Dead Body (2013)

It's all in two rar files, so download and have fun accidentally singing along in public.

FOR FIFTY BUCKS...

...YOUR RAR IS MINE

Acid Eater - Virulent Fuzz Punk A.C.I.D.

'Virulent Fuzz Punk A.C.I.D.'
Acid Eater
2007

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Garage Rock, Noise Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Punk, Noise
For Fans Of: Boris, The Sonics, The Mummies, Soupcans

You may recognize that spectacled figure on left as one Yamazaki Maso, aka Masonna, and yes indeed this is his psychedelic garage punk band, Acid Eater.
Acid Eater is the sound of delay pedals reaching event horizon, dangerous voltages surging through amplifiers and spitting forth walls of feedback and a deranged organ player hammering away at their keys in an orgiastic display of auditory vandalism. All the instruments on Virulent Fuzz Punk A.C.I.D.  have a gloriously warped and distorted quality to them, and the recording is just so ridiculously loud it conjures up images of smoldering amp stacks and speakers billowing smoke. It's as if every sound on this album has been pushed to its absolute limit.
Not unlike Masonna, Acid Eater is a sensory assault - albeit channeled into a much more linear and danceable format. An odd intersection of Japnoise, 60s garage rock/psych and frantic punk thrown into a go-go vortex that teeters on the brink of collapse but never fully succumbs.
I suggest you download this album, find yourself a cool pair of sunglasses and prepare to spend the entire duration of this album thrashing around like a loon. You're in for a treat.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Eye
2. Nothing Can Bring Me Down
3. A.C.I.D.
4. Question Of Temperature
5. Drive To C.P.
6. No Friend Of Mine
7. No! No! No!
8. LSD
9. Confessions Of A Psycho Cat
10. Never Alone
11. Top Of Spot
12. Free

Download

E.G.KAIDAN

'E.G.Kaidan'
Esplendor Geométrico + Hijokaidan
2015

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Industrial, Power Electronics, Noise
For Fans Of: SPK, Grim, Le Syndicat, The Haters

Okay, so this blog hasn't been living up to its name lately, and it's time to change that. What better way than with a collaboration between two of the most important noise bands of all time? You definitely read correctly, this recording features both Hijokaidan and Esplendor Geométrico; they're both doing what they do best, but at the same time complimenting each other's styles. This thing is going to wreck you.

For those of you who don't know, Hijokaidan (非常階段) is essential first wave noise from Japan. You've probably seen the pictures of them performing/destroying. Musically, Hijokaidan is incredibly abstract, unpredictable, and above all, harsh. They utilize a variety of ways to make their noise, ranging from traditional rock instruments to pedal based power electronics to bloodcurdling screams to random objects to breaking everything. And then we have Esplendor Geométrico. While lesser known than Hijokaidan, Esplendor Geométrico are probably just as important to industrial/noise music. They hail from Spain and create rhythmic, pulsing soundscapes, many times accompanied by samples, distorted vocals, and power electronics. Think SPK but more hypnotic. Honestly, Esplendor Geométrico are everything I love about first wave industrial/noise perfectly packaged together in one band.

With those things in mind, imagine mashing the two together. Structured rhythms collide with pure chaos, resulting in some truly horrifying and perfectly executed industrial.  Despite the fact that these bands have both been around for over 30 years, this material doesn't feel stale or dated; they've managed to keep things on the edge. You can clearly hear them playing with old sounds, but it doesn't feel as though they're just rehashing. Plus, this is a live recording, so both bands are at their most volatile, delivering totally caustic, hostile blasts of noise annihilation. Brace yourself.

Tracklisting:
1. E.G.Kaidan 01
2. E.G.Kaidan 02
3. E.G.Kaidan 03
4. E.G.Kaidan 04
5. E.G.Kaidan 05
6. E.G.Kaidan 06
7. E.G.Kaidan 07
8. E.G.Kaidan 08

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Lie Still

'Demo'
Lie Still
2011

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Powerviolence
For Fans Of: Crossed Out, Mindless, Despise You, Suffer

This band was one of the best modern powerviolence bands, and sadly -- in part due to their short lifespan -- they were also one of the most overlooked and underrated. I mentioned them in my review of the Triac / Sacridose split as being "west coast powerviolence saviors," and they really were. In the sea of cheap imitators and wannabes (or should I say the Sea Of Shit...), Lie Still managed to keep things fresh and dangerous. And I guess it certainly didn't hurt that members had previously played in the legendary bands Benümb and Lack Of Interest.

Lie Still's music wasn't a huge break from the classic powerviolence formula, but they still stood out among their primarily mediocre peers. Their success (musically) stems from their ability to channel uncontrollable intensity into a focused blast. Most contemporary powerviolence bands fall flat because they can't reproduce the pure aggression of the old WCPV bands (plus they steal Crossed Out riffs and have ill fitting production and do the goofy football coach vocals and can't seem to write compelling music). Lie Still had no problem with this (or any of those other things I mentioned in the previous parenthetical). Their riffs were in that sweet spot between powerviolence and grind, where it's got a heavy edge but is undeniably punk as fuck, the vocals unreasonably angry, the drumming tight and driving. Unfortunately, they burned out too soon and left us with only 11 songs in 7 minutes. I was lucky enough to catch them on what I believe was their only east coast tour; it was with Triac -- what a fucking combo.

If you want some of the most badass, truly fucked up powerviolence that's come out in recent years, this is a must. Listen and destroy.

Tracklisting:
1. Persuaded By Comfort
2. Aborted Resources
3. Manipulation Of Waring Factions
4. Path Of Conviction
5. Retention Of Molecular Balance
6. Interupting Simple Functions
7. Enslaved And Left To Die
8. Corrosive
9. Value Of Limitations
10. Desperation Of Approval
11. Compelled

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Niégalo Todo - Absurdo Escepticismo Superficial

'Absurdo Escepticismo Superficial'
Niégalo Todo
2015

Review by Joey

(Band Submission)

Genre/s: Hardcore Punk
For Fans Of: Dropdead (LP2 especially), Inservibles, Olho Seco, Wretched

This tape knocked me on my ass. The email intrigued me because, according to the band, their hometown of Chiapas, Mexico (yes, the same place as the Zapatista uprising) doesn't really have an established punk scene, so they're fairly isolated. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when I pressed play, but it blew me away. It starts out slow, but the intensity builds and finally explodes into a perfectly executed, raging raw punk attack.

Niégalo Todo combines some of the fiercest elements of some of the most aggressive punk and channels it all into a unified, unstoppable assault. There's hints of 80s Brazilian punk like Ratos de Porão and Olho Seco, 90s political powerviolence like Dropdead and Capitalist Casualties (mostly their more hardcore leaning material, but don't worry, the tempo shifts and blasts are all there), and 80s Italian hardcore like Wretched and Negazione. All of these, each of which are absurd in their own right, are mixed together and then put through the lens of contemporary Mexican punk; the delayed, manic vocals, the perfect level of fuzz, the evil atmosphere, and the powerful urgency.

What does it all boil down to? If you like your hardcore punk with no frills, no bullshit, nothing but net, whatever; you are going to fucking love this. This thing is like a freight train, it hits you hard, and it's gone. Don't bother getting off the tracks.

Tracklisting:
1.Niégalo Todo
2.Todo Esto Es Nuestra Culpa
3.Vida Rota 
4. ¿De Qué Lado Estás? 
5. Fuera De Mi Alcance 
6. ¡Vámonos a la Verga!
7. Hace Falta Tinta Roja 
8. Naces y Mueres 
9. Cállate
10. Suicidio Colectivo 

DOWNLOAD (Bandcamp)

Flushing Queens - The Drink

'The Drink'
Flushing Queens
2014

(Band Submission)

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Hardcore Punk
For Fans Of: Qualm, РОВ, Sewer Drainer, Golden Path

Going through the submissions inbox is tough because there's a shitload of stuff in there. But, I finally sucked it up and opened a couple of the emails, one of which contained this nasty little number. This tape is caustic, it feels as if its dripping with what I would only assume is toxic waste and scum. If you want real mutant punk (and I don't mean boring 80s punk wannabes with leather gloves), you're going to want to check this out.

The first track opens with disgusting low end feedback and explodes into blown out, stomping filth accompanied by dissonant guitar work, buzzsaw riffs, and vocals that sound like what you'd expect from the sewer dwelling Morlocks. This thing does not let up either. Each second of this less-than-six-minutes tape is overflowing with vile energy and intensity. The way this whole thing comes together really makes it stand out from the overwhelming amount of bands trying to pass themselves off as "freaks" and "mutants" because it actually feels as if it was made by freaks and mutants (unlike most of these bands who heard Gag and Glue and decided to play caveman drums). Oh, and I should mention this is from the UK, and based on the UK stuff I've posted here recently, that should have you clicking download already. 

In the submission, they said they have an LP dropping in the next few months, so I'm really looking forward to hearing that. Expect to see it on here when it comes out and listen to this on repeat until it does. 

Tracklisting:

1. Put It In The Drink

2. Fur Queue

3. Cruisin' For An Oozin'

DOWNLOAD (Bandcamp)

Speaking of freaky deaky punk, another submission was an email from Vacant Life (formerly Wet Brain, reviewed by Brayden earlier this year) asking if we'd heard about their new 7" on Iron Lung Records. Being the nerd I am who checks ILR's bandcamp at least once a week for updates, I did know about it. Unfortunately I can't do a formal post about it on here because it's not a free download, but I highly recommend you guys check it out anyway. Now I just need to hop forward in time a month so I can hear the Condition LP, and that Cadaver Em Transe EP. Also excited for the new Dreamdecay LP and that Behavior LP. I'm gonna stop before I start drooling. 

Cyborg And Droids

'Cyborg And Droids'
Cyborg And Droids
2015

Review by Joey
Genre/s: Synthpunk, Deathrock*, Hardcore Punk
For Fans Of: Nervous Gender, Mannequin Neurose, Castration Squad, Count Vertigo

Where do I even start with this one? I was turned onto this by someone on facebook (who as it turns out was one of the members of Drainland) because this is the project of one of the other members of Disguise (another member of Drainland) and countless other Irish bands. This sounds nothing like either of those bands. Rather than the raw aggression those bands deliver, this is wacked out synthpunk and probably some of the best synthpunk to come out since the 80s.

Yea, I know. There's tons of mediocre Screamers, Devo, and Count Vertigo wannabes around right now. Forget about them (no really, please can we forget about them). Cyborg And Droids is nothing like those bands, in fact, they succeed where all of the wannabes fall flat. Instead of being contrived copycatting, this material actually has that genuine feeling of weirdness and willingness to fuck around; and because of it, this comes off feeling fresh. The vocals are totally fucked as well, coming in the form of snarls and howls, rather than the typical robotic voice you'd expect from synthpunk. On top of that, there are dark punk influences aplenty, which really drive the whole thing home. Some of the riffing and atmospheres are reminiscent of "Death Church" and "Only Theatre Of Pain," but overall it sounds like what I would imagine would happen if you combined Nervous Gender and Mannequin Neurose (*evil sounding, but more weird than gloomy)

This came out of nowhere and totally floored me. Plus, there's a song called "The Ghost In The Shell," so how can you go wrong?

Tracklisting:
1. The Cybernetic Arm
2. The Robogrip
3. The Droids
4. The Cybernetic Brain
5. The Communication
6. The Ghost In The Shell
7. The Cyborg
8. The Signal
9. The Holocaust
10. The Extinction

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No Form - No Form

'No Form'
No Form
2015

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Hardcore Punk, Noise Rock, Post-Punk
For Fans Of: Pigeon Religion, ガセネタ (Gaseneta), United Mutation, Francis Harold And The Holograms

This 12" is a total mess in the best way possible. It's as if somebody took the most revolting, drugged out noise rock, and then put it in a knife fight with the dirtiest, evilest hardcore punk. I had seen some pretty solid live footage of this band, but even that didn't prepare me for how totally grotesque and fantastic this release would be.

No Form are a band from Leeds, UK, an area which is also home to the goth-fueled, hyper-aggro hardcore punk band Perspex Flesh (more for geographical reference than musical comparison). Like many of the other incredible punk bands coming out of the UK right now, No Form are bringing something interesting to the table; however, unlike their peers (except maybe Frau), they are drawing from much more avant-garde influences. The best way I can describe their music is blown out, disgusting hardcore punk, played through a psyched out, noise rock filter. It's absolutely vile and caustic, made even more devastating by the sinister, monstrous vocals. Oh, and there's some Brainbombs-style trumpet work thrown in, just in case everything else here isn't enough for you.

From the first pounding drum hits and screeching guitar work all the way to the final droning wall of feedback, this release should keep you on the edge of your seat. When it's over, if you're like me, you'll be upset that there isn't more. This is an impressive debut and I am really looking forward to hearing more from this band.

Tracklisting:
1. Goddess Of Fire
2. Untitled
3. Barrier
4. Meander
5. Side B

DOWNLOAD (bandcamp)

Disguise - Signs Of The Future

'Signs Of The Future'
Disguise
2015

Review by Joey

Genre/s: D-Beat, Hardcore Punk
For Fans Of: Against, Disclose, Hellkontroll, No Fucker

I'm not sure if, in the last couple of years, there's more great raw punk coming out than usual, or if I'm just paying more attention lately; but the one thing I am certain of is that whether or not this is unusual, there is a lot of amazing fucking raw punk coming out. Ireland's Disguise does have the raw, the blownout guitar, and the d-beats, but they still manage to come off as fresh.

When I heard this band earlier this year, it reminded me of a perfect fusion of 90s-00s Japanese d-beat/raw punk (Disclose, Frigöra) and 80s US d-beat (Against, Crucifix). Honestly, I think that's the best description possible for this, musically. However, the guitar tone isn't just the usual screech and fuzz you'd be expecting; The fuzz is definitely there, but underneath it is a tone somewhat reminiscent of late 80s/early 90s Swedish death metal (Nihilist, Carbonized) which adds an interesting dimension to the raw punk formula. The riffs are sandwiched between crunch and fuzz, resulting in total punk destruction.

There's not a whole lot more I should have to say. If you like d-beat/raw punk you're going to love this (maybe), so check it out.

Tracklisting:
1. Constant Victim / Signs Of The Future
2. Depleted Uranium
3. 800 Skulls
4. Power Conspiracy
5. Electric Pollution
6. Bloodsoaked
7. B.B.F.W.

DOWNLOAD (bandcamp)

Nurse - Nurse

'Nurse'
Nurse
2015

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Hardcore Punk
For Fans Of: Bedboys, Crucifix, Perspex Flesh, Rudimentary Peni

I stumbled across this band's demo on one of my journeys through bandcamp  (or as I like to call them "experiments in pain tolerance") and was totally blown away. I wasn't sure how I hadn't found it last year, although to be fair it did drop in mid December and as an internet only release; it wasn't until this year that it was put out as a tape. And even then, not many people seemed to be in on the raging tunes these dark punks were unleashing on the world.

Not to be confused with the ever-important Japanese hardcore punk band The Nurse, this particular Nurse hails from Atlanta, GA, a place I had not really considered to be a thriving hub of punk activity. Turns out my ignorance could not be confused with bliss, as I am far better off knowing about some of what's coming out of that area at the moment (that band Uniform's demo is ridiculous). Anyway, Nurse plays a combination of raw punk and deathrock which they have labeled "funeral hardcore" [EDIT: turns out this is meant as a joke label, probably in the same spirit as In/Humanity's "emo violence"]. The rhythm section sounds like something you'd hear on Crucifix's "Dehumanization" which is something I'm always happy to hear, but the guitar work and general aesthetic are straight out of something that would be found on The Smartpils' LP or Part 1's "Funeral Parade" EP. Conceptually this can be likened to stuff like Perspex Flesh, Blank Spell, and Bedboys (the latter of the three is definitely a good reference point), although I wouldn't see it fair to compare these bands as they all expand on the same ideas in different ways.

If I haven't convinced you to check this out yet, then you're probably a total geek. I caught these guys live last week and they were fucking amazing; while I'll admit this 7" doesn't fully capture just how intense they are live, you'll be able to get a pretty solid idea. It's 2015 and dark punk is finally getting some new life.

Tracklisting:
1. The Anchor
2. I Can See You
3. Pressure
4. Blood Breath

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!FUCKED BY NOISE MID-YEAR ROUND-UP! - Brayden's Picks

So I've been without a dedicated computer for a fair portion of this year, hence I'm a little behind on this year's releases - but I'm gonna pretend like I haven't just been exclusively listening to cloud rap and shitty beatdown and give this a shot. Here goes nothing:

'Afterthoughts In Limbo'
White Walls

Shoegaze is such a woefully underdone and over saturated genre you'd be forgiven for overlooking this band - but also, don't - you dummy. White Walls are a suuuuuuuuuper heavy 'gaze band from Melbourne who pair their walls of fuzz and feedback with ethereal vocals and lush melodies. For three guys they make and ungodly amount of noise. This double LP's been on my watchlist for a while and it did not disappoint. Do check it out.




'Antipodean Sickness' - Tanned Christ

I kinda sorta maybe wrote this band off as a shameless 'Farewell All Joy' era Idylls clone initially, but this new LP has totally swayed my opinion. While's there's some definite similarities to the aforementioned band, tanned Christ warp their tinny, mathy grind into their own gnarly, fucked up creation. Angular, noisy and pretty scary to boot.

'Preservation Measures' - Gay Kiss

Arizona once again pulls another fucking rager out of the hat, thanks to Gay Kiss. It may have taken its sweet time to get here, but Preservation Measures delivers the goods in the form of manic, unrelenting hardcore. If you're on the prowl for some obtuse, angular guitar work and raspy vocals look no more - hell even if you're not, give it a listen anyway.

'Slurping At The Cosmos Spine' - Dawn Of Humans

Up until this LP dropped, I was certain that Dawn Of Humans could never really translate their trademark weirdness to record without sounding too forced or contrived. There's no sign of this on Slurping... however - just an array of bizarre vocal performances, caveman-like rhythms and stompy punk riffs. A winning combination of catchy and disorienting slime.

'Fantasy Empire' - Lightning Bolt

Rhode Island's loudest two piece churn out even more fuzz drenched goodness on album number seven. The grooves are monstrous, the drumming is utterly insane and the bass guitar manages to sound like just about everything other than a bass guitar. I've been on a huge Lightning Bolt fix this year, and a new album has made it just that much better.

'Wingwalker/Prayer To God' - Great Falls/Thou

90's style angular post hardcore meets a sludge cover of actual 90's post hardcore on this gargantuan sounding split. Great Falls bring the dissonance with metallic crunch and yelping vocals while Thou cover a beloved Shellac song and FUCKING KILL IT. In a good way, I mean.

'終焉' - Gentlemen

Gentlemen are easily one of my favourite punk bands in Australia at the moment, so naturally I was stoked when I head they were dropping TWO 7"s earlier this year. 終焉 sees the Melbourne band trying their hand at both dirgey post punk and hyperactive, Siege-esque hardcore across three tracks. If you dug the filthy, raw self titled EP from last year, you'll definitely dig this one.








'Autism Vision/Auto Warfare' - Brando's Island

When you're dealing with a band that has members of Pathetic Human, Velvet Whip and serial pests The Zingers, you know you're in full a wild ride. Brando's Island are a four piece art punk/new wave band that play jarring tunes by way of vibraphone and synthesizer. No guitars, no bass - just a very stripped down version of a school big band. The deadpan vocal delivery and unusual instrumentation are a winning combo.

'Cult Of The Technocrat' - Coffin Birth

Coffin Birth get better every time I see them live, and not surprisingly this translates to their releases too. Absolutely manic, riff laden grindcore a la Insect with a healthy dose of noise and death metal grunt. This stuff will make you want to neck domestos and run through brick walls. Also holy shit I hope these guys record their cover of 'Fluids' by Neanderthal at some point.





'War.Fire.Death' - Ripped Off

Brisbane band Ripped Off finally got around to releasing some music this year, and boy am I glad I did. Imagine Scandinavian, Japanese and noisy US hardcore thrown into a blender and played through really nice amps and you'll have a pretty good idea of what this is like. It's like the apocalypse, but with more d-beats.






HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Prurient - Frozen Niagra Falls
Thou/The Body - You Whom I've Always Hated
Sumac - The Deal
Rectal Hygienics - Ultimate Purity
Foot Hair - Self Titled
Soma Coma - Dust
Rule Of Thirds - Self Titled LP
John Carpenter - Lost Themes

Gentlemen - Pro Famine
No - Treating People Like They Don't Exist 12"
Sadist - The Shadow Of The Swastika EP
Ho99o9 - The Horror Of 1999 EP
The Coneheads - Selected Ringtones Tape 3
Triac/Sacridose - Split
Disciples of Christ - 2015 Demo
Faceless Burial - Demo
Nervous Habit - Demo
Avian Terror - Demo

ANTICIPATED RELEASES:
Destruction Unit - Negative Feedback Resistor (!!!HYPED!!!)
Burlap - LP
Last Chaos - LP
Head Wound City - LP
New Daughters LP?? (I hope??)
NASA Space Universe - LP (RIP you beautiful band)
CØNDITIØN - Actual Hell 12"

Iron Lung Mystery Product (New Rip, Fixed Tracks!)

'Mystery Product'
Unknown Artist (Mystery Product)
2013

Review* by Joey

Genre/s: Hardcore Punk, Noise Rock, Noise Punk
For Fans Of: White Wards, Cult Ritual, Society Nurse, Walls

*I'm too lazy to write a totally new review, so here's the same one I used the last time I posted this, but with some edits and additions:

"It's a mystery you dummy."

That's all Iron Lung Records has to say about this anonymous, unmarked cassette.  It came out under the radar last year in an unknown quantity and with no information on the artist released.  It has been speculated that this is the unreleased LP of Mentally Challenged, a band featuring members of Mind Eraser and others, but the label has neither confirmed nor denied this claim.

What I can tell you, however, is that this tape is amazing.  From the very first ringing of feedback to the last drum hit, this release is a wild ride.  There's something in here for everyone: stompy punk, off kilter hardcore, deathrocky dirges, and even strange noise/ambient interludes.  The only artists I can really compare this material to are primarily other bands on the Iron Lung Records roster such as White Wards and Walls, both of which deliver weird, noise drenched hardcore punk. Also like the previously mentioned bands, there is a lot of subtlety to be found here, much of which is not apparent on the first listen (and certainly wasn't as easy to pick out on my previous rip) and which adds a great deal of depth to the release; not everything jumps right out at you, and some of the things you pick up with multiple listens really make you realize just how much shit is going on in these songs and, if you're like me, it'll make you love it more and more with each listen.

I doubt you'll ever see this tape surface unless somebody is selling it on discogs or ebay, so I highly recommend checking it out. Oh, and thanks to ILR for posting this on your bandcamp and indirectly tipping me off that my rip had an incorrect track list; and also that the rip was not quite as good as I had previously thought.

Tracklisting:
1. Mystery Product I
2. Mystery Product II
3. Mystery Product III
4. Mystery Product IV
5. Mystery Product V
6. Mystery Product VI
7. Mystery Product VII
8. Mystery Product VIII
9. Mystery Product IX
10. Mystery Product X
11. Mystery Product XI
12. Mystery Product XII
13. Mystery Product XIII

DOWNLOAD

Endon - Mama

'Mama'
Endon
2014

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Harsh Noise, Hardcore, Blackened Noise
For Fans Of: Pastafasta, Marousa, Boris, Gnaw Their Tongues, Me And Him Call It Us

So a bit of backstory on this one: I'd been searching low and high for this ever since a friend had put me onto the videoclip for Parricide Agent Service last year, and despite  my best efforts I couldn't for the life of me dig it up. I did come across plenty of interview and reviews however - all of which suggested that Endon were one of the most intense and chaotic bands to come out of Japan - and this is the country that gave us the likes of Hanatarash, World and The Gerogerigegege. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and I finally stumbled across a download on slsk, and....
This is fucked. Absolutely, unashamedly fucked. It's like twenty different bands were hired to soundtrack a day in the life of a paranoid schizophrenic, but they were all made to play at the same time.
Sure enough there's elements of conventional hardcore, grindcore and black metal but for the most part it's buried under layers and layers of chaotic noise - which is not surprising given that Endon have two dedicated noise makers in addition to a vocalist, drummer and guitarist. The furious mish-mash of electronics squeals, blastbeats, screams and guitar noise are broken up on occasion by ambient noise and drone passages, but for the most part this is pure, unsettling chaos. With no traditional song structures to speak of, and an even more unconventional band structure - Endon revel in unpredictable, terrifying audio terrorism.
All I can say is, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Etude For Lynching By family
2. Parricide Agent Service
3. Acme Apathy Amok
4. Pray For Me
5. WIWTWM
6. Just Like Everybody

Download

Happy Flowers - Discography

'Discography*'
Happy Flowers
1985-1990

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Industrial, Noise
For Fans Of: UFO Or Die, The Gerogerigegege, sounds of children in pain, Cosmonauts Hail Satan, Throbbing Gristle

Believe it or not, aside from Ramones, my first exposures to punk were a video of T.S.O.L. playing "Code Blue"and the subject of this post, Happy Flowers. The story behind my introduction to Happy Flowers will take you on a trip back to the early 2000s. The year is 2003, the Iraq war has been going for a few months, and everyone has just found out about the abuses in Abu Ghraib prison. One of the US soldiers' main methods of torture was playing loud music, and apparently Happy Flowers was used. So, I first heard the track "I Said I Wanna Watch Cartoons" at age 12 or 13. I fucking loved it, although more so for comedic reasons than for musical ones. I'd revisit it every once in a while and eventually started finding other tracks; and when I finally started downloading music, I remembered this band and sought them out. And here I am today.

But I'm sure you don't care about my story, so let me talk about what Happy Flowers sound like. The two members, Mr. Anus and Mr. Horribly Charred Infant, bring you childhood nightmares and traumas, accompanied by an assortment of instrumentations which include (but are not limited to) wailing feedback, caveman drums, atonal guitar noise, the occasional actual riff made of notes, rare melodies, the sounds of banging on a piano, and droning bass. The lyrics, as you may have guessed by the part about "childhood nightmares and traumas,"  are all from the point of view of children. They throw tantrums, they cry, they fight, they bully each other, they try to apologize for simple mistakes like accidentally killing a pet or burning the house down, they ask absurd questions, and sometimes practical ones too (why can't we eat the baby like the pet gerbils did?). This is truly horrifying shit, and it's amazing.

Honestly, I feel this band is one of the best and most underrated noise rock bands who ever existed. They should be up there with Flipper, Brainbombs, No Trend, Drunks With Guns, etc as a classic band and as pioneers of the genre. So download this, sit back, and enjoy. Or don't enjoy it. Either way, you're in for an experience of sorts.

Here's what you're getting:

• Songs For Children (1985)
• Now We Are Six (1986)
• My Skin Covers My Body (1987)
• They Cleaned My Cut Out With A Wire Brush (1988)
• I Crush Bozo (1988)
• Oof (1989)
• BB Gun (1989)
• Call Me Pudge (1990)
• Lasterday I Was Been Bad (1990)

DOWNLOAD

*Does not include comp tracks, compilations/combined releases, or the Peel session

Triac / Sacridose - Split

'Triac / Sacridose'
Triac / Sacridose
2015

Review by Joey

Genre/s: Grindcore
For Fans Of: Flesh Parade, Benümb, Gate, Nuclear Death

I have been waiting for this split for a few years now. It was originally intended to be a split between Triac and LA's powerviolence saviors Lie Still, but the latter broke up before things could come to fruition. Fortunately, FL's Sacridose were there to pick up the slack and fill out the other side of this hyper aggro, blasting rager of a split.

I'll start with Triac, because people seem to be more familiar with them. If you already know them, you know what to expect, so just sit back and get ready for the ride. For those of you who haven't heard Triac, the best way to describe their sound is a fusion of gritty 90s grind (Flesh Parade, Benümb) and noise rock (Cherubs, Big Black) which results in some of the most disgusting grind you've ever heard. This release is somewhat different from their last release -- the 2012 split 12" with Disciples Of Christ -- which veers more into noise rock territory; on this split, Triac has opted to dish out three tracks of relentless grind with more emphasis on the aggression and less on the weird. Don't worry though, there's still plenty of dirty, crushing destruction here to keep this material sounding like the Triac we all know and love.

Sacridose is relatively new, having put out their first release in 2013, but feature members of recent notable FL grind band Cellgraft. Their sound seems fairly straightforward on the surface, but there are some subtleties in the mix that really give them an edge. A lot of the riffing sits in a weird place between 00s Japanese grind like Gate and Realized; and early 90s deathgrind like Multiplex (who also happen to be from Japan) and Nuclear Death. Drawing from these two strains of absurdly aggressive grind, Sacridose rip through their six tracks with an unceasing intensity and sense of urgency. There's not a whole lot of new grind that can get me super excited, so this is a band I'm going to be keeping an eye on.

But blah blah, get to the download, gotta go fast. I got you.

Tracklisting:
1. Triac - Cesspool
2. Triac - Wrecker
3. Triac - Year of the Corpse
4. Sacridose - Reality Versus Image
5. Sacridose - Fatal Extraction
6. Sacridose - Inversion
7. Sacridose - Raw Nerve
8. Sacridose - Fixed
9. Sacridose - Clouded Rituals

DOWNLOAD (Nerve Altar bandcamp)

!FUCKED BY NOISE MID-YEAR ROUND-UP! - Joe's Picks

Okay, so it's June now, and that means we're half way through 2015. And what a year it's been, holy shit. As far as punk goes, 2015 has been incredible, and there's still so much more to come. This is going to be tough, I'm going to keep it to 5 releases per category (LP, EP, demo), listed in no particular order; and at the end I'll list some more things I was into, plus some releases I'm really looking forward to. Let's get to it.

LP

NO - Treating People Like They Don’t Exist

I reviewed this when it dropped last month and I'm still just as excited about it as I was when I first heard it. I've heard that they're breaking up soon which is a shame, because the three 12"s they put out are flawless and are perfect representations of to make noisy and unpredictable, yet raging hardcore punk.

MUERTE - Muerte

I just posted a review of this a week ago when it came out and like everything on this list, I'm still hyped on it. I listened to it five times in a row the day it dropped and each time I found new things that grabbed me. Deathrock is finally getting its edge back.

FOOT HAIR - Foot Hair

Okay, this one I haven't reviewed here yet. A friend turned me onto this and it's probably the best noise rock I've heard this year (sorry, Rectal). Take the nihilistic stupidity of Drunks With Guns and mash it up with the obnoxious sounds of Upsidedown Cross; and since that's not enough, crank up the scum levels. That's Foot Hair. You should be sold on this already.

HALDOL - Haldol

Here's another release I recently reviewed, and as it turns out it's another new deathrock jammer. All you need to know is this is suffocatingly dark but with enough aggression to still kick your teeth in. I sure hope we don't get inundated with nerds hopping on this deathrock revival and ruining it.

BROKEN PRAYER - Misanthropocentric A.K.A. Droid's Blood

The champions of modern synthpunk are back! Broken Prayer have somehow managed to make their synth more synthy, their angst more angsty, and their pop more poppy, all while funneling it into a caustic and nasty punch to the gut. Here's to hoping they do a tour at some point. 

EP

PERSPEX FLESH - Ordered Image

UK goth punks Perspex Flesh have managed to top themselves with this new 12". They've taken their best qualities and made them better. I'm glad I saw them on their tour with Razorheads (which intersected with the Lotus Fucker / Sete Star Sept tour, resulting in a ridiculously stacked show) and they were just as intense as they are on record. If you're looking for a fucked up, dark punk powerhouse of a release, this is the one. 

BÖRN - Börn

Have I mentioned how much I love this new wave of bands putting the punk aggression back into goth? Börn really draw from the post-punk side of things, but instead of trying to carbon copy that airy 80s feel, they go straight for the throat. Noisy guitar work and winding bass lines are at odds, yet compliment each other in a dirging dance of death (I'll admit that was a little corny). Also they're from Iceland if you care about that sort of thing. 

SADIST - The Shadow Of The Swastika

I didn't find out about this band's demo until about a week after I'd posted my list of favorite 2014 demos, but had I known of them sooner they would have been on it. This 7" is three rerecorded tracks from their 'Blood Song' CS which, while still blown out, have clearer depth to them. I'm just waiting for them to play somewhere that isn't a fest / high profile show in NYC or Boston.

WETBRAIN - Vacant Life

Washington state has been turning out some incredible bands in the past few years and Wetbrain certainly holds their own among them. What starts out sounding like off kilter raw punk devolves into frantic noise rock madness, not losing an iota of intensity. This release is definitely a trip and I wouldn't be surprised to see this band on the Iron Lung Records roster in a year or two. 

BLANK SPELL - Blank Spell

Oh look, it's another Philadelphia dark punk band who put out a great demo last year and an even better record this year! This 7" is comprised of a few rerecorded songs from Blank Spell's 2014 demo tape along with some new tracks which are consistent to their style and quality of songwriting/performing. Get dark, get freaky. 

DEMO

URGE TO KILL - Take Control

I'm going to come out and say it, this is my favorite demo of 2015 so far. Imagine a more boneheaded 'Mankind' era Infest and that's all you need to know. You'll be breaking shit within the first 20 seconds. 

THE DRIP - Demo

The Drip's demo has way too many memorable hooks and riffs, along with plenty of twists, some of which are pretty subtle, all of which keep me coming back for more. Oh, and there are some odd things the band did with the recording which I'm not allowed to talk about, but if something feels weird to you, that's just the way they want it. 

NAAMAHK - Stagnant Pool

Earlier in the year a friend let me know there was a new Naamahk tape on the way, which, if you've heard their 2014 demo, you know is awesome news. I waited for months and heard nothing, and then finally it surfaced. It did not disappoint. These canadian black metal/noise rock weirdos have really worked on fine tuning their sound, this tape sounds bigger and fuller than its predecessor, but has lost none of the freaky vibes. I need more. 

THE BUG - What’s Buggin’ You?

I saw this posted somewhere with the tagline "members of Raw Nerve" and I thought, okay, you got me. Well, it sounds like Raw Nerve insofar as it's fast, ripping hardcore, but that's about the only comparison I can make. The Bug is something else entirely. This band is way noisier, way more chaotic, way more unpredictable, and just all around way better than Raw Nerve. Oh and there's power electronics parts. Forget that it has members of Raw Nerve. Just strap yourself in and go along for the ride. 

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST - 2015 Demo

I ripped / reviewed this a few months ago; it's still dynamite. The previously unreleased tracks on it should hopefully be on an LP in the next year or two. If you don't already know DoC, get ready for some of the best grind of 2015.

Other Notable Releases:

-Rectal Hygienics 'Ultimate Purity' LP

-Solutions 'Life Of Joy' EP

-Barcelona 'Extremo Nihilismo en Barcelona' EP

-Qualm 'Qualm' CS

-Blackmagnum 'Sick Of Living/Unwilling To Die' CS/EP (?)

Anticipated Releases:

-Sin Motivo 'El Desierto' LP (the two tracks they posted are incredible)

-No Form 'No Form' LP (they only posted one track, but it's totally fucked)

-City Hunter 'Open Season' LP (corny/racist antics aside, that tape was bomb as fuck)

-Condition LP (the 7"s were both great, can't wait for more)

-Dreamdecay LP (Iron Lung Records' spaced out noise lords return for round 2!)

-Cape Of Bats 'Violent Occultism' LP (I'm ready for the deathrock / black metal hatred)

-Flesh World LP (noisy aussie punk who apparently broke up, not mellow post-punk on ILR)

-Bone Awl LP (rumored on NWN! boards)

-Column Of Heaven / Suffering Luna split LP (finally?)

-Full Of Hell / The Body collaboration LP (or is that due out next year?)

-Triac / Sacridose split EP (do I have to say anything?)

-Gross EP (just saw them with Dilate and False Punk, the new stuff sounded sick)

-Internal Rot / Mellow Harsher split EP (Mellow Harsher's side is great, I need Internal Rot's)

-Gentlemen '終焉' and 'Pro Famine' EPs (why are there no good rips of these yet?)

-Sickoids (nothing announced, but I'm still waiting for the two records they promised in 2013)