Crass Dismissed: March 1998
Archived
Cavity
Somewhere Between the Train Station…
CD
Oh the pain! My ears are tender after an hour of this bone splintering sludge core. Cavity is the essence of agony laced hard-core rage. Their heavy duty sound steam rolls through a seemingly never ending barrage of Sabbath-inspired riffs and Flipper-inspired dissonance. This brand of southern fried noise is becoming more and more interesting and Cavity are, without a doubt, one of the bands at the forefront of the movement. I’ve been a fan ever since Dan Cavity sent me their “Goin’ Ann Arbor I Sometimes Sweet Susan” single. Several months later they blew me away at Fiesta Grande #5. Another year and now I get this full length CD. What a masterpiece. Adding to the impressiveness of the release is the hidden track. If you run track one backwards it will rewind through an entire live set that finds the band obliterating a bunch of folks in Madison, Wisconsin. Also be sure to check out their track on the Fiesta Comes Alive LP.
Various Artists
Fiesta Comes Alive
CD/LP (blue or ebony vinyl)
What can I say? The annual Slap-a-Ham Fiesta Grandes are without a doubt the greatest hard-core mini-festivals of the year. Each January, Slap-a-Ham gathers the finest grind, power violence, thrash, sludge, and hard-core bands on the planet and lets them tear down 924 Gilman Street. This disc features some of the more memorable performances and bands from the first five Fiestas. 29 of the most outrageous and powerful groups on the planet ripping through 40 cuts of musical excess. Legends and nobodies stand proudly side by side on this record as total aural devastation is achieved. Picking favorites on this album would be impossible but some great performances are delivered by Gob, Phobia, Man Is The Bastard, M.D.C., No Comment, Crossed Out and the only band to play all five Fiestas, Capitalist Casualties. If you missed the Fiestas, this is your chance to experience. If you go to any of them this is your chance to relive the glory. Who could forget Agents of Satan throwing a temper tantrum on stage of Phobia rolling around in glass or M.D.C. having a sing-a-long with their children or even the fun and games of Fiesta #4 where the Gilman folks played a game where they blindfolded people in the audience and had them try to slap a canned ham out of their hands. Things were going well until the ham got smacked into the crowd and beaned someone in the head… Ah punk rock… you gotta love it!
No Less/Potato Justice
Split 7”
This record was originally supposed to be released in 1985 but due to a falling out with the intended label was canned until now when Max at 625 Prodz got involved. No less has changed a bit over the ensuing years but their unique take on power violence and their burning intensity are evident, even in this early work. Is that a harmonica I hear buried in the grinding noise? Yes, I do believe it is. No less is one of the more underappreciated treasures of the Redwood City power violence posse but this record and their upcoming Slap-a-Ham slab should correct that! Potato Justice is far better than their lame name! Thick, pulsing and crunching grind violence with harsh vocals and biting lyrics that take aim at controversy and fire away. Hailing from Texas adds to their biting commentary on tracks like “The South Shall Rise Again Cause Shit Floats.”
Merzbow
Merzbow Mixed Total
Cassette
Merzbow is without a doubt one of the most enigmatic artists on the planet. Masami Akita has used his project as a vehicle for several hundred rare and obscure releases. This is one of them. Limited to 250 hand numbered cassette copies, this tape has Akita tearing down and rebuilding source material from Skullflower guitarist Matthew Bower. The wall of noise is actually less abrasive and harsh than a lot of Merzbow material. Instead of mutating the source material beyond recognition, he leaves the guitar mostly intact and fuses his aural flavorings onto it for a thick, impregnable noise fest of aural indigestion. This is one of my favorite Merzbow tapes yet simply because it is great to have a guitar tone displayed so prominently. There is a 50-disc (yes, 50) Merzbow box-set out any day now, so noise fans should start saving their yen.
Godstomper
7”
Can this much noise really be created by only two people? This duo (Paul on bass and Danny on drums) creates a psycho array on noisy power violence styled thrash. The amazing thing is that they are so hyper and over the top that they don’t suffer from the lack of extra instrumentation. It took a couple of listens to get into their unique vibe but once I did, I was hooked. Totally underdeveloped four track recording only adds to the raw edge of the band. — Jeb Branin
Read more Crass Dismissed by Jeb Branin:
Crass Dismissed: February 1998
Crass Dismissed: January 1998
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