. : Lo-Res Viscera : .

COALESCE.

2009-07-16T19:28:00.001-07:00

OX is my pick for Record of the Year.

DON'T call it a comeback!!!

Anyways, because I care so deeply about all three of you who frequent my blog /share some of my taste(s), I went ahead and ripped/EQ'd/made cover art for these recently-aired BBC sessions.
Excellent sound, tight musicianship, fierce attack - it's COALESCE.

Enjoy these; maybe the band will release them at some point?
Who knows...

In the meantime, here's a (as the late John Peel would say) "shit-hot" fuckin' gem from them (via me) to you.

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Coalesce - Maida Vale Studios / BBC One Recordings 2009

HENRIETTA COLLINS and THE WIFEBEATING CHILDHATERS / HENRY ROLLINS.

2009-07-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

The early documentation of life "after The Flag" for our boy Hank.

Here's the beginning of the team-up with guitar-beast Chris Haskett - an alliance that would last for many records, and if you dig around in the L-R V archive deep enough you can find an interesting solo record by Mr. Haskett himself.

Plenty of hot-shit cover songs performed here, as well as some of the usual Rollinsism/double-speak backed by a solid and raw lineup behind him.
Shades of things to come, a rarity for sure, and a nice blast from the past if you ask me...

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Henrietta Collins and The Wifebeating Childhaters - Drive By Shooting

and

Henry Rollins - Hot Animal Machine

CRUMBSUCKERS.

2009-07-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

If ever there was a NYC band that fit the crossover bill, it would be these guys.
Many would label them as a "joke band" - (that would come later) - but honestly? The riffage on here is no fucking joke, son.

A perfect mix of NYHC-meets-Bay Area Thrash, and for me that's a winning combo on most days...

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Crumbsuckers - Life of Dreams

UNBROKEN.

2009-06-29T16:58:00.001-07:00

You know how San Diego has a benchmark "sceamo" sound?
Well... THIS AIN'T IT.

Before all that, there was Unbroken, and what they did for "modern" hardcore will never be truly acknowledged.
(Too) many have tried to replicate the sound, and while some have come close, they've all lacked that passion. Heartfelt shredding vocals, dissonant chaos / chuga-chug guitars, rumbling/rolling bass lines and excellent breakdowns is what made Unbroken THE STANDARD by which few can be ranked.
You can't go wrong with any of their material; I'm not actually sure why I'm saying this as 90% of you loyal readers probably already have them in your collection. If not, here's a collection NO ONE should be without.

This stuff STILL blows away 95.7% of what is deemed "hardcore" today - I guess you could call this "your father's metalcore"?
If so, maybe you should go thank Dad...

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Unbroken - Death of True Spirit

I just enjoyed a bangin' birthday weekend - June 25th. by the way - which started last week with beers & cake at work (drunken fork lifting antics / cake fight), new iPod Nano, new iPhone 3GS (later today), KILLER steak dinner ( courtesy of the in-laws), a fresh window-tint job on my Scion xB "Battle Toaster", yesterday's trip to Sonoma to go swimming, AND I took today off from work. Score!

Life is pretty fuckin' rad right now, that's all I'm saying...

ETERNAL SUFFERING.

2009-06-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

Loyal L-RV comrade (and recent Bay Area transplant?) Moose suggested these guys after checking out my post featuring gurgle-shredders Pyrexia. Thanks to the wonders of the webernet, I was able to this down for you all...

If you enjoy Pyrexia, vintage Suffocation and early Obituary, then you should have no problem downing this either.

A classic in it's own right, really.

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Eternal Suffering - Drowning n Tragedy

YDI.

2009-06-17T20:46:00.001-07:00

While DC had Void,
Detroit had Negative Approach.

NYC had (by this time) Bad Brains,
and Raleigh, NC had Corrosion of Conformity.

(Insert your fave town here) had (insert fave burly hardcore band here),
and
PHILLY HAD YDI...

Definitely one of the most unsung, underrated, and under-appreciated - especially on a national scope - bands of the first era of American Hardcore.

For your listening pleasure today I offer you this most-amazing collection culling material spanning the years 1982-1988.

ENJOY.

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YDI - Out for Blood

RE-UP: FLIPPER.

2009-06-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

I've had a few requests as of late for a re-up of that rippin' Flipper demo, so here it is.

More later, the couch is callin' me...

PYREXIA.

2009-06-11T22:21:00.001-07:00

Okay...

If you truly, truly, TRULY enjoy having your ears pummeled with low-end gurgle-throb brutalic death stylings, then this record is for YOU.

While the Suffocation comparisons will come in to play - Guy Marchais (guitars) is now in said band - Pyrexia seemed to play it deeper into the murk - all Nyquilled-out to the max and shit, bro.

(This has been my morning-drive CD for the last few weeks)...

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Pyrexia - Sermon of Mockery

NULLA OSTA.

2009-06-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some excellent blasting-crust from Croatia whose lineup features TWO bass players, and NO guitarist. There's a sick spastic drummer in there as well.
You'd never notice the lack of six-string motherfucking as the twin-bottom attack nullifies any lack of space in the music; it just works!

Full-on raging crust, and the Croatian tongue sounds excellent over top of it all.

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Nulla Osta - Poslije Zivota

VIOLATION.

2009-06-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

Chunka-chunka-chunka,
Growl-growl-growl...

I mean that in a GOOD way.

Excellent contemporary more-newschool-hardcore-than-metal, and defintiely NOT part of the "Thrash Revival".
These So-Cal thugs are more akin to falling sound-wise somewhere between World Burns to Death/Buried Alive/Slayer. Rad cover art, too.

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Violation - Devoured

BARK HARD.

2009-05-24T22:54:00.001-07:00

Straight-ahead / fast-as-fuck / chaotic / Zorlac--shreddin' skatecore from Houston, TX. fronted by none other than John "Tex" Gibson & Todd Prince - both major (pro) players in the Texas skate(rock) scene back in the eighties.
John can still rip it these days - I'm assuming Todd does as well, and while this isn't your usual "tough guy" hardcore, it is without a doubt a solid piece of hardcore / skate rock history.
"Skaterock" as a sub-genre hasn't held up real well over the years (if at all, really), and these guys were better than most of the pack - that goes for skating ability as well as rockin' ability, by the way.

Goes down down great with some snapback-gnarlers on fat coping (followed by a couple cold ones, bro)...

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Bark Hard - The National Band of Texas

MÖL TRIFFID.

2009-05-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting on this one for a while...

I must warn you right now - it's hard for me write about these guys as they were/ are family to me.
I was friends with them in Ann Arbor, MI in the late eighties, housemates for a while in the early nineties, then they migrated to San Francisco & I followed suit six months later in early 1992, and once again, we were housemates for a brief period.

Let me digress for a moment, and speak on Ann Arbor "back in the day"...
In the eighties, you could:
1). Get a ticket for skateboarding - it would cost you $50.
2). Get a ticket for weed possession - it would cost you $5.00.
3). You could rent a big room for the summer in a huge frat house for $100 a month.

Ostensibly, I spent a few winters working shitty kitchen jobs, saving up $$$ / weed / acid, renting one of those rooms, quitting said shitty kitchen job, and basically trippin' / smokin' / skatin' / rockin' and drinkin' lots of vodka & lemonade all summer long.

There was a small hotbed of bands going on in A2 back then; Club Heidelberg & The Blind Pig were solid venues, and while the scene spawned some under-appreciated gems, it also spawned some seriously ego-driven bullshit bands as well, and those who figured out that A2 was starting to no longer be a haven for true weirdos (high rents were well on the way), well... WE LEFT!

(Editor's Note):
While I am a blog purist who likes the flavor of a blog written by ONE PERSON (I hate "blog team" blogs too) - and when I say one person I mean that IT WAS WRITTEN BY ONE PERSON, NOT CUT-AND-PASTED FROM THE INTERNET - I am going to hand over the rest of this post to a true old friend by the name of Smelly.

He was the critical link in pushing this band to smear its beautifully-grotesque din upon an SF music scene that no longer exists in the terms of sincerity, originality, and most importantly flat-out / balls-out ROCK POWER.

Sit back, relax, and get a lesson in early nineties art-metal, A2-to-SF style. Or don't.

This one's for me anyways...

***(A concise missive on the brief history of Möl Triffid)***

by Smelly (proofed by L-R V)

"Spawned via the boredom of mid-Michigan and their love for metal mania, a band that remains to this day misunderstood, underrated, & betrayed by hipsters and scenester from the 90's. Their arrival in SF in 1991 was fantastic on the backs of Jesus Lizard (Duane loved them), to their first solo show at the Chameleon Club (w/ Tribe 8), Möl Triffid were never, ever welcomed to SF or the Bay Area scene, yet they lived and experienced some of the best underground shows of the era.

Manic metal riddled with lyrical paralysis from an over-educated book worm spread thin by the nervous attention of stage fright, Kurt by far was a freak performance. Days and hours before the show he'd be sent to mental and physical convulsion(s) by the "back-stage butterflies".
More common than not, many actors/singers/musicians/poets do suffer from stage fright. You'd never had known it with Kurt because oh his strong physique, and appearance of outer manhood.
He has BIG BALLS.

Kimo Ball remains today as one of the 6-string shredders who have yet to be noticed and supported - maybe Duane from Jesus lizard saw this before others? With Kimo's pure intent, and delivery of imagination and power chords, Möl Triffid remained unspoken for and unacknowledged though the team of lyrical madness and powerful guitar attack that were superior to any hip bands of the 90's.

Möl Triffid survived a myriad of change moving from A2 to SF.
Morphing and dealing with the inevitable drummer changes, Austin was soon to take the throne of thud and thunder from Scott, and their sound changed and swung a bit more to the "art" of metal and not the "threat" of metal.

The underlying factor that kept Möl Triffid from succeeding on a level of acceptance in the scene was just one - it was not their ability to write rock, deliver it and slaughter it, it was in fact that they weren't social, nor did they have the suaveness of a social elitist among scensters, whether it was the grungy / post-punk scene of A2, or the art indie rock of SF.
They never had a spokesman with the ability to rub elbows with the likes of scenesters / hipsters, cool cats, or those media moguls of the weekly papers and zines. College radio ignored them and top-ranking band members from other bands feared the mighty Möl Triffid.

Möl Triffid did better on the road then where they lived, loved and worked - unexpected audiences could see and feel the vibe of passion at traveling / touring road shows.
Though Möl Triffid had very little travel and touring experience, they did spread across the Midwest to the mountains of Colorado, to the valleys and peeks of California, and up and down the West Coast.

Bass monster Dave S. had a brief stint with (the) Melvins (featured bassist in GRUNGE: The Movie) while Buzz was recovering from soda pop and licorice addiction. Dave now has a jazz band / teaches blues/jazz back in Ann Arbor once again, and plays in several A2 Gypsy swing, other different style bands.

Kimo went on to play in a pop band called Griddle, and now has teamed up with Ralph Spight and Jello Biafra - you KNOW who they are, right?
Scott is somewhere on an Indian reservation, Austin performs in an art rock band, and Kurt has become a film maker / novelist".

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Möl Triffid - Touch the Monkey

Thanks to Dave S. for getting in touch & sending the recordings - I missed them all these years and thanks to Smelly for the Lessons of the Road (amongst other things)...

ANGER.

2009-05-13T20:43:00.001-07:00

A long-lost-in-my-garage recent unearthing, The Magic City's Anger was a fertile amalgamation of the upstate NY sXe thug-core sound with the brutality of classic Floridian Death Metal - the final element coming from the hands & feet of Mr.Alex Marquez, formerly of Malevolent Creation & Demolition Hammer (among others).

I'm pretty sure not alot of people have listened to this; check it out as it may surprise you - a lost classic from my collection for sure...

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Anger - Miami, FL

(It is suspect at best to think that the band photo above is actually of THIS Anger, but if you think about it, HOW SICK DOES THAT LINEUP LOOK, HUH)?

Now playing: Helios Creed - "Nugg" the Transcript
via FoxyTunes

BRAINOIL.

2009-05-07T23:18:00.000-07:00

You ever been to Oakland, CA???

The East Bay ain't no joke, and Brainoil is the soundtrack to your apprehension....

The region has always bred (punk/HC/metal) bands that stand out above the rest, and while I tend to shy away from posting much sludge around here due to legions of overly-mediocre bands that have saturated the genre -(look around, bro)- Brainoil has always hulked above the rest.

No question about it.

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Brainoil - Brainoil

CRETIN.

2009-05-01T21:55:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that Cretin has been around since 1992 seeing as how they hadn't released a recording until 2004.
The band has been on hold more often not, but the material that has seen the light of day is top-notch.
It's hard for me to not think of such greats as Terrorizer & Repulsion when I listen to this - yes, it's that good!

The band has been threatening to release a new album for a few years now, but have been on hold while lead Cretin (Dan) makes the (full) transformation from frontman to frontwoman (Marissa).

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Cretin - Freakery

DOUGHNUTS.

2009-04-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

Sweden.
The home of high-tech cellphones, extremely safe automobiles, assemble-it-yourself modular furniture, beautiful hockey and tennis stars, designer vodka, tasty meatballs, rippin' death metal & Abba.

Did I forget anything?

Oh yes...

Back in the early-to-mid Nineties, Sweden was home to an all-female vegan/sXe hardcore band from Umea that released a few records on Victory that pretty much flew under the radar - quite possibly due to their political stance. That, as well as the fact that the meathead sXe HC scene (associated with that label at the time) found the all-girl lineup somewhat a novelty - too bad, as these ladies put their own honest and unique twist (especially vocal-wise) on their output.
They were quite dark & melodic in their appraoch with lots of chugga-chugga/pick-squeals/breakdowns, etc.

While this may be a bit of a stretch for some of you, I find their entire catalog compelling & highly enjoyable, even 10+ years later.
I am also still intrigued by the history of this band - especially for what they accomplished in such a misogynistic scene back in the day...

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Doughnuts - The Age of the Circle

RE-UP: FAXED HEAD.

2009-04-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Had a request (in Spanish no doubt - thank you, Babelfish) for a re-up on Coalinga, CA's Kings of Handicapped Metal, so have at it!

About to watch the Giants vs. Dodgers game, eat some ice cream, drink some beer, and hopefully crank out another post tonite.
If that don't happen well then, maybe tomorrow?

*Fuck Manny, by the way.*

DJ DRANK'S GREATEST MALT LIQUOR HITS.

2009-04-22T21:06:00.001-07:00

(Uploaded this for a friend the other day and figured I should share it with you as well)...

I doubt I have to clue you in as to who Ice Cube, Wu-Tang Clan, EPMD, or The Geto Boys are.
I am also quite sure that most of you know what St. Ides Malt Liquor is all about as well, so let's just cut to the quick here, shall we?

Check the dope raps all about your favorite brew from some of the greatest in "The Game", per se'...

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DJ Drank's Greatest Malt Liquor Hits

Now playing: No Comment - Dead Stare for Life (Live)
via FoxyTunes

INFERNO.

2009-04-19T20:42:00.001-07:00

Rockin' 80's thrashcore from Germany.

Inferno had some reknown in the States back in the day as they were a favorite of Pushead, and were part of the whole Pusmort thing he had going on back then.

(I forgot about how fucking good these guys were; it's easy to forget about music you own due to having 200GB+ loaded in your iTunes)...

Excellent stuff you should certainly check out if you haven't already.
It's MUCH better than say, Mastodon, (or anything with that shitty JD Baizley / Pushead ripoff cover art on it) - or whatever flavor-of-the-week "thrash revival" band you'll read about in next month's Decibel Magazine...

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Inferno - Hibakusha

Now playing: Envy - Invisible Understanding
via FoxyTunes

FLIPPER.

2009-04-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

If ever there was a band that could emulate the sound of a horrific car accident it would be these guys.
Somehow they controlled their collective inner-chaos at times; long enough to spew forth this caustic-yet-unreleased 1982 session that no true Flipper fan should be without.

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Flipper - 1982 Studio Tape

UPDATE 04.18.2009:
I forgot to mention that Track 05 gets all glitchy.
I have heard three different versions of this recording and they all have the same fuckup.
If YOU find a non-flawed copy PLEASE send it my way - THANKS.

*RE-UPPED 06.16.2009*

KREATOR.

2009-04-09T19:28:00.001-07:00

These guys were directly responsible for changing my mind about metal back in 1985.
It took a bunch of West German heshers to show me that thrashy metallic blasting was just as good as snotty violent hardcore, and thus my lifelong addiction to all things loud with violence was set on its path.

Here's their third outing - is it my favorite? That is hard to say, as the first four records are all classics (which surpass much of the output from many of the more well-known acts of the genre.

I do have to say that this one brings back some great memories of all-niter s8 sessions, ice water bongs, Jim Beam handles, purple microdot, my old '68 Coup de Ville (with the camo paint-job) - that was a great car. Damn.

Enjoy, as I will be gone to Tahoe for the weekend.
I've got some dog ashes to spread around the Sierra Nevada...

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Kreator - Terrible Certainty

DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON.

2009-04-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

An excellent quality - and highly entertaining - live recording from back in the day from a man who will never be equaled in terms of writing and such.
The man left us with a wealth of peculiar, eceentric, and right-fucking-on insights on life, the status quo, counter-culture, politcs, America, drugs, war, the law, rock 'n roll, and literally left this weathered pebble of ours with a bang.

I doubt I have to explain any of this to you...

Not the typical L-R V post, but The Good Doctor was on to something far more real and over-the-top than most of what gets posted here, so he does in fact deserve high honors, per se' so let's welcome him into the fold, shall we?

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Dr. Hunter S. Thompson - University of Colorado Auditorium, Boulder, CO 11.01.1977 Pt. I

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Dr. Hunter S. Thompson - University of Colorado Auditorium, Boulder, CO 11.01.1977 Pt. II(Link will open in new window)

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO MY BEST FRIEND, RANDY HELLA WHO PASSED LAST NIGHT AFTER 15 KICK-ASS HUMAN YEARS AT MY SIDE.

DUDE WAS WITH ME WHEN NO ONE ELSE WAS.
DUDE WAS WITH ME WHEN I WASN'T WITH MYSELF.
DUDE WAS MY SON'S BEST FRIEND.
DUDE I MISS YOU ALREADY.

FUCKIN' A.

Entombed - Boats.

HEVN.

2009-03-28T21:25:00.001-07:00

Some solid d-beat-ish rockin' crusty hardcore from Oslo, Norway.

Somewhere along the way they gained a female singer from Seattle, WA who has a thick wail throughout - take that, guy who whined 'cuz I didn't post bands with women in them - here's yet another...

Really nice stuff; at times it gallops like Motörhead, and at others it breaks down into a "heavy-with-melody" kind of thing, reminding me a bit of old Germanic thrash-rippers like Inferno.

Yeah, it's good, and they packed it in before their time if you ask me.

Dig around on the 'webernet a little bit & you can track down all their goodies straight from their own site, I believe.

Check it out.

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Hevn - What Goes Around... Comes Around

Now playing: Shrum - Tears of a Marionette
via FoxyTunes

MANGE.

2009-03-23T21:37:00.001-07:00

A side project of various members of such heavyweight acts as Phobia & Dystopia, Mange somehow create dark& sludgy grindcore - is it possible to be heavy whilst also blasting-the-fuck-out?

Indeed it is, and these guys are proof!

While I'm at it, I have to mention the harmonic-ness that is this post alongside my good friend Batguano over at Fugitive Equilibrium.
The man always has stellar taste, and if you dig this Mange stuff make sure you visit FE to grab the also-bad-assness that is the Mange - "Junkie" Demo.

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Mange - Disillusioned

Now playing: Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown
via FoxyTunes

CHRIST ON A CRUTCH.

2009-03-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

Balls-out hardcore from the era before metal influence hit the scene, these guys started in D.C. in the early eighties before eventually ending up in Seattle.
What I find most interesting is that they don't "sound" like a Seattle or D.C. hardcore band to me - they have a unique sound all their own.

I always thought they were from Texas for some reason, like San Antonio or Corpus Christi - why? I'm not sure...
Anyways, enjoy this fine collection of quality rockin' hardcore that is power-fuckin-packed from beginning to end.

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Christ On A Crutch - Spread Your Filth: The Doughnut & Bourbon Years

Now playing: Nailed Down - Broken Glass
via FoxyTunes