Crass Dismissed: June 1998
Archived
Now that ole’ blue eyes is dead, you really have nothing better to listen to than this stuff.
Various Artists
Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! A Music War
7” (Purple Vinyl – through mail order)
It’s been six years but the infamous “Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh” series is back. Yep, 73 bands, 84 songs, and one small record. This third installment shows what huge strides hyper-fast hardcore has made this decade, thanks in no small part to Slap-A-Ham Records‘ own Chris Dodge. This record could actually be called “polished” in comparison to its two older siblings. Practically every band on this comp turns in a tight as hell performance. The production quality is generally high and most of the bands are recognized names with other product out. This isn’t just a joke record with a ton of bands trying to do early A.C.-ish blurrrr. These are classic hardcore “short songs” with enough punch to K.O. Tyson and all his pro-wrestling buddies. Just check out the lineup!!!!! Final Conflict, Lack Of Interest, 324, Avulsion, Noothgrush, Suppression, Slight Slappers, Melt Banana, Godstomper, Dead Bodies Everywhere, Gob, The Dread, Burned Up Bled Dry, Fuck On The Beach, MK Ultra, Slobber, Ruido, Benumb, Mexican Power Authority, Combat Wounded Veteran, Assspatula, Nice View, QuadilIiacha, Disassociate, Palatka, Flash Gordon, Japanese Comedy Torture Hour, The Judas Iscariot, Scalp-Lock, Enemy Soil, Charles Bronson, Real Reggae, Mange, Egotismo, Disney Violence, Tomsk 7, Excruciating Terror, Brother Inferior, Black Army Jacket, Swiss Army Blanket, Bad Acid Trip, Beast, Devoid OF Faith, Despise You, Harsh, The Misanthropists, Bastard Noise, Dismal Marsh Gas, In, Humanity, Rash Of Beatings, AS$TROLAND, Los Crudos, The Locust, Society Of Friends, Fanatics, Senseless Apocalypse, Vilently Ill, Agoraphobic, Nosebleed, Utter Bastard, Resin, Pretentious Assholes, Little Princess, Action Jackson, No Less, Pound, Hated Principles, Your Mother, Gasp, Seventh Victim, None Of Your Fucking Business, No Think, Gyga, Degrade.
Grief/16
Split 10″
Vinyl
Two of Pessimiser‘s premier bands go head-to-head on this engorged single. Grief, who are constantly battling rumors of break-up, check in with one of their patented dirges. Their artery-clogging, aneurysm-inducing slow-core is so thick that a top secret military bureau has been experimenting with melting down Grief records, setting the resulting sludge on fire, and dropping it on enemy installations in lieu of napalm. On the flip…16 get more and more metallic with each release. Their contribution to this record is a fillings-rattling, Sabbath-inspired chugger that wields the destructive power of a freight train hitting a bassinet.
Various Artists
Cry Now, Cry Later Volumes 1 & 2
CD
The “Cry Now, Cry Later” series of double 7” compilations are some of the most potent collections of noise ever assembled. Each of the four volumes showcase the very best in extreme hardcore with an emphasis on subgenres such as power violence, sludgecore, grindcore, hate core, blurrrr and whatever the other catch phrases are today. Suffice it to say this stuff is noisy, intense and not for the meek. This CD combines the first two volumes in the series and adds a few bonus tracks. I assume the other two will get combined on a disc at a later date… Some of my favorite bands on the disc are Spazz, Crom, Despise You, Eyehategod, Grief, Capitalist Casualties, Excruciating Terror, Stapled Shut, and Fear Factory (recording under the name Factoria De Miedo to hide out from their label). The only truly weak link on the disc is The Meatshits because Robert Deathrage is a sexist, violent idiot.
Chapel of Gristle
Apologies For Being Born With a Penis
Cassette
This band’s previous self-titled tape was an absolutely overpowering cacophony of sludge and hate. They had their work cut out for them to top it… but top it they did. This new tape re-captures all of the mutated depravity I so love about the band and adds to it a more focused approach making everything twice as deadly. The songs are more concrete and yet don’t detract from the overall sense that this is complete chaos captured on chrome. There is even another instrumental on this tape where the band recreates the “tortured soul” feel of their classic tune “In Hell With No Eyes”. This time the instrumental is called “Shame (I’ve Done Nothing Wrong Dave)” and again it is the musical accompaniment of insanity. If you destroy your aural cilia with the likes of Gob, 3D House Of Beef, or Thug, then this tape is your new best friend.
Nocturnal Mortum
Goat Horns
CD
The first thing that strikes me about this band is their mastery of emotion. There are a couple of instrumental moments on here that are some of the most beautiful moments I have ever heard on a black metal album. The finest being the opening track “Black Moon Overture” which is worth the price of the disc alone. When the band get down to more standard bursts of rapid fire black metal in subsequent tracks they are less distinctive, sticking to well-worn paths trod by the masters of northern darkness…. that is until track five. That track titled “Veles’ Scrolls” is a breathtaking, 11-minute epic of voluptuous splendor…. almost epicurean.
From that track on, the album takes on a new life. More complexity is heard and a stunningly sensitive balance is struck between orchestral magnificence, obscure ethnic sounds, and sulphur-belching blackness. —Jeb Branin
Eagles may soar…. but weasels aren’t sucked into jet engines.
Read more Crass Dismissed by Jeb Branin:
Crass Dismissed: May 1998
Crass Dismissed: June 1998
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