This will be a short one, simply because it falls into the category of "more funny than actually good". The light this time shines upon a group of swedes playing easy listening pop covers of classic metal and rocks biggest hits.
The band is called Hellsongs, and on this record, you will find the following songs:
Seek and destroy (Metallica) Paranoid (Black Sabbath) Breaking the law (Judas Priest) Run to the hills (Iron Maiden) Jump (Van Halen) Orgasmatron (Motörhead)
Hardcore metalfans will propably call this blasphemy, and it propably is, but I ask you this; are you really a metalhead if you fear a little blasphemy?!
Be prepared to strain your ears to hear the resemblance (apart from the lyrics) with the original songs. As I said, this falls into the "more funny than actually good" category. It may not even be funny, but at least it is obscure, thus fitting the criteria of this series.
Its time to answer the question that we have all asked ourselves at some point in our lives; if animals could play music, what would the play? Fear not, the answer has been bestowed upon us by group of germans, collectively known as Attack Of The Mad Axeman.
The narrative of this band is as follows; the mad axeman has destroyed the forest, leaving the animals with no other option in way of retaliation but to play frantic, agressive grindcore (obviously!!). Thus, the band consists of the following members:
Those proficient in latin and biological terms will know that this means that the drums are being played by a snail...
Seriously, there is not much more to say than what can be seen in the following live video:
I leave you with their record Grind the enimal (yes, its spelled with an "e" for some reason...). A final funfact is the respective thank you and fuck you lists.
The thank you list includes the following: Animal Collective, Cat Stevens, Dinosaur Jr, Gorilla Angreb, Iron Monkey, Jesus Lizard, The Beatles, Snoop Dog, Red Sparowes, Schreaching Weasel, The Eagles, Whitesnake, and Wolfbrigade among others.
The fuck you list thus includes: Anna drinks dogpiss, Birdflesh, Captain Beefheart, Dog eat dog, Minus the bear, Pet Shop Boys, and Pig Destroyer.
You get the idea, now grab it and grind the fuck out (and be nice to animals, lest they destroy you with grindcore!)
...and now for something completely different. I have long had the idea of creating a series of posts, celebrating those very special records, that you just know, from the first listen, are something other than just another "good record". Those records, where not one song seems out of place, or lacks quality, and that you continually return to, no matter how much other music you stumble upon and fall in love with. Those records that you just flip over and start over again, as soon as it has run out.
Having thus established the criteria for the selection, its time to present my first entry, and an artist that I can not praise enough, neither musically, nor as a person, namely Jason Anderson and his masterpiece of a record called "The hopeful and the unafraid".
Having seen Jason play live two times, I can say without faltering, that his performances is the most punk thing I ever saw, in that he manages to do what so many punk and hardcorebands strive for. He breaks the barrier between the spectacle and the audience, uniting the two parts into a singing, dancing, flailing crowd of people, singing along to songs they are just hearing for the first time in their lives.
He is one hell of a storyteller, wich is shown clearly on many of the songs on the record, especially the magnificent opening track "El Paso". Musically we are dealing with folk with a distinct diy quality to the songwriting and the performance.
I could use multiple pages praising Jason and this record in particular, but let me leave you with this:
- The first time I heard "El Paso", my eyes teared up, spontaniously. - Jason's performances mirrors his incredible personality. I can honestly say, that I never met anyone as sympathetic, genuine and thoroughly nice as him. - If you EVER get the chance to see Jason play live, TAKE IT! And say hi from me, if im not there with you.
In conclusion, I'd like to share a live performance of one of his best songs ever "So long". To some, the message in this song will propably come across as cheesy, but think about it, and tell me that he's wrong. And watch as he gets the whole crowd to sing along. I fucking love this guy!!!
Its time once again to get downright obscure. This time, the light shines upon a japanese band called Birushanah and their record 赤い闇. Theres not really a lot to say about this, but here's the deal.
We are dealing in sludge/doom with a former members of noted japanese bands such as YOB and Corrupted. The twist (and you all know by now that theres always a twist in these posts), is that they incorporate traditional japanese music into the mix. This makes for a very strange, and unquestionably unique sound.
Thats the words, now eat your mushrooms and go listen to it.
Have you ever seen a procession of Hare Krishna's in your neighbourhood? You know, those happy-happy-go-lucky dudes, dancing around in their orange robes, singing and smiling so hard it looks like their heads are about to split in half? Yeah?! Well, these guys couldnt be farther from that stereotype.
Sure, you might be vegetarian or vegan. You might be sxe. You might be really good to animals. You might even be good to your fellow humans and go out of your way to be an allround nice person.....youre still not good enough for these guys.
In the 1990's, hardcore (mainly in the US) experienced a huge influx of people with various spiritual ideas, who infused these into the music. This gave birth among others to bands and labels like the christian Strongarm and Solid State Records. Of course, the Krishnas also had to have a go.
108 was formed in 1991 by Vic DiCara, also known as Vraja Kishor Das, a devotee of Krishna. The band took its name after the number of prayerbeads on the Japa Mala. After the band split, Vraja Kishor Das moved to India to become a monk.
Musically, you ask? Pissed off (read: PISSED OFF!!!), simple hardcore very much in the vein of the early 90'ies sound.Oh yeah, and theres some Krishna-chanting somewhere in the mix sometimes. Next time you see your local Krishnas dancing down the street, imagine them breaking out instruments and playing their asses off with 108 covers!
Im posting this to celebrate what I think is a truly genious recording. A true masterpiece, in my humble opinion.
I bring you Floor - s/t. For those of you that is unfamiliar with this band, it is worth mentioning that it features key members that would go on to form the mighty Torche, wich would progress with, and evolve the sound put forth by Floor.
Musically we are dealing with heavy-as-fuck (were talking we're-tuning-our-instruments-so-low-that-the-strings-almost-fall-off-heavy-as-fuck) stoney rock, with a sound so unique that its not enough to charachterize it only as stoner, nor fitting enough to classify it as doom or sludge. Hence, many has dubbed Floor and Torche as thunder-pop, stoner-pop and such.
This record is overflowing with musical goodies and several thunderous riffs, that makes you feel like you're in the middle of an avalanche. A-ma-zing!
After too much time on pause, this should mark my return to this blog as active again. Marco has kept the engine running, but he is to be alone no more!
An epic line-up tonight at Dödsmaskinen/Dortheavej 61 (Love Potion, Night Fever, Moonless, and acccording to rumors, an ASBEST reunion show) made me want to post another great k-town hardcore group. DEATH TOKEN!
Death token play fast, no bullshit, japanese-inspired hardcore, with nods to thrashcore, and even sludge/black metal sometimes.
members: vocals/guitar - Tue (ex-Snipers, ex-Asbest) Bass - Kasper (ex-Hul, ex-No Hope for the Kids) Drums - Steffen (ex-Broken Hallux)
This incomplete discography include the 12" Funeral music for k-town hardcore, their Walking Dead Life 7", and their 7" split with Kyklooppien Sukupuutto. I haven't been able to find their 4-track-attack 7", and since my lp player with usb is broken, you'll have to wait for that one. Or, if you have it, please hook me up.
THIS IS YET ANOTHER BLOG POSTING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, LINKS TO MUSIC THAT IS EXTREMELY GOOD AND THAT WE ENJOY.
IF YOU LIKE SOMETHING, SUPPORT THE ARTIST BY GOING TO THEIR SHOWS, BUYING THEIR RECORDS AND HYPING THEM SO THAT OTHERS WILL ENJOY IT AS WELL!
IF YOU OWN THE RIGHTS TO SOMETHING ON THE BLOG AND CANT SEE THAT MUSIC SHARING IS WHAT TAPE COPYING USED TO BE FOR DIY MUSIC .... THINK AGAIN BEFORE STARTING A FIGHT . IF YOU HAVE A GOOD REASON WHY WE SHOULDN'T UPLOAD IT, WE ARE HOWEVER NICE PEOPLE (cough) AND WILL LISTEN TO YOU.
ENJOY, AND COMMENT REQUESTS, FEEDBACK, ANYTHING, EXCEPT IF YOU ARE RASCIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC, OR JUST A PLAIN MORON
