Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Month: July 2013

Deche-Charge / Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium – Split Tape (2007)
grindcore

Deche-Charge / Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium – Split Tape (2007)

This split opens with a disappointing Deche-Charge recording of a live set. It takes forever to get started and when it does, it really doesn’t amount to much at all. Recorded grind/noisecore/whatever can go one of two ways (both of which sound awful) – the recording can really capture the energy and/or dirty sound in a nutshell, or just fall flat on it’s fucking face. Unfortunately for the legendary Deche-Charge, their contribution to this split falls (no pun intended) into the latter category. NxVx on the other hand are much more with it, which is not something I ever imagined saying. Their material here is a lo fi bass-driven polka soundtrack for fisting your (preferably German) partner to. It is that filthy. Coupled with the mid-placed groovy goregrind is a whole farmyard’s worth of vocal varieties, to keep things extra weird. I won’t lie, every song does sound the same (until they break into something slowly and funky like jazz, with stick claps and everything), but there has to be some give and take with this particularly niche genre. This tape was put out (and is still available) on the dank as fuck Belgian Bringer of Gore Records and is limited to 200 hideously orange copies. No links for this on Youtube, sorry guys! “Could it be any more orange?” – Comic Book Guy

Desecration – Pathway to Deviance (2002)
death metal

Desecration – Pathway to Deviance (2002)

Death metal has a limited appeal for me, but when it’s done right I just fucking love it. Maybe it’s coincidence that I love my “local” death metal band Desecration more than most other death acts, or maybe it’s not. I donno, I’m not a psychologist. All I know is that Desecration is fucking awesome. The sound (on any record) is spot on; the drums are dry and precise, the guitars clinical yet fuzzy and warm, and the bass clanks underneath at just the right volume. A whole world of growly growly vo-kills over the top of it all and wehey, instant death metal boner. Regardless of the endless controversy that surrounded this band in its earlier days, I’ve always found their blood splattered themes to be rather tongue in cheek. Perhaps it’s because the music is so groovy. I don’t get an evil vibe from Desecration. “Bloody Human Carvery”, whilst looking rather grim written there like that, is an absolute groove-fest. “Frosted Breath” sounds like a black metal song, but it really isn’t. “King of the Missing” is a rather perplexing title, and “Offer the Flesh” opens with some really impressive drumming. That’s what I’m talking about! I got this picture disc from Ollie at Damnation 2012 when he was selling shit on the Extreme Noise Terror merch table. I can’t remember what I paid for it but it was dirt cheap and I was chuffed to a thousand pieces to finally pick up a Desecration record on vinyl. Their discography is rather inconsistent with regards to format, but I do try to buy wax whenever possible, as I’m sure you’re all aware by now. Out on Copro Records.

Shitfun – Promo 2013 (2013)
grindcore

Shitfun – Promo 2013 (2013)

If Shitfun isn’t one of the greatest names for a band ever, then I don’t know what is. And if that cover picture isn’t one of the creepiest, nastiest sleeves for a band ever, then I don’t know what is! Shitfun are here to ruin everybody’s day with some “serial killer grindcore” from the deepest, darkest parts of Brazil. They have a growly death metal approach to the vocal side of things (this might explain why they are named after an Autopsy album?) but the grind is a low-tuned start-stop blasting nightmare.  I got this through a trade with the Japanese label Fuck The Industry, who, as I have probably mentioned elsewhere, are off to a flying start with a whole bunch of awesome releases in 2013. They are all DIY as fuck but are of the highest quality. I cannot recommend this label and their releases enough, definitely one to watch, I would think. This is out on a super limited tape release of 20 but is also available on CDr for those not so analogue-inclined. 

Agoraphobic Nosebleed / Apartment 213 – Split 12″ (2007)
grindcore

Agoraphobic Nosebleed / Apartment 213 – Split 12″ (2007)

Apartment 213 are fantastic, muddy as hell powerviolence-fused grindcore. This is all well and good, but they are annihilated here by the material on the ANb side. We all know splits aren’t competitions, but sometimes one band will just totally outweigh the other. Sorry guys! It is with a small irony then that Apartment 213’s vocalist guests on all the songs on the ANb side. The Agoraphobic stuff here is unlike anything else in their catalogue. From what I can tell, the sound seems to be stripped down to just bass and drum machines? I’m not entirely sure if Hull’s guitars are tuned excessively low or it is just basses in use here, but shit, it sounds amazing! Enough fuzz and groove to give Om a wake up call, and enough heaviness to compare with Filth-era Swans; this is bass music at it’s finest! The only ANb long-timer to appear here is Randall, performing (as usual) with an enormous amount of venom. Coupled with Steve 213’s powerviolence grunts, the songs on offer here really are as angry as you can get. I love all the songs, but “Unwelcome Remarks” is probably my favourite out of the three, containing some of the greatest ANb lyrics ever; “I’ve never known a cokehead to forget a line”, “I’d rather piss on my own hand than shake yours” and “Simon says ‘watch your fucking mouth around the other fucking adults’” all of which sound a bit unusual when isolated but make up one of the angriest songs ever made. Holy shit! Out on Relapse Records.

Dr. Dre – The Next Episode (1999)
Uncategorized

Dr. Dre – The Next Episode (1999)

This song is part of my childhood! Quite a strange thing to say, considering I’m not from the streets of CPT, and that I never grew up to develop a taste for gin, khakis and mackin’ bitches. I’m partial to the chronic, however I doubt that has got anything to do with Nate Dogg’s g-funk serenading. This is a classic Dr. Dre track, and it’s a shame that he never made more solo albums; this is epic rap tunage right here. Snoop Dogg’s presence is almost always welcome and Nate Dogg’s silky baritone is the voice of a place in time that will always be special to me. This is a bona fide DJ single. Side A holds the original and the radio edit, whilst side B contains an instrumental and an acapella for all you scratch happy nerds out there. This was released in 1999 by Interscope and Dre’s very own Aftermath label. 

NUH – Remixes Hideous Miscreation (2013)
electronic

NUH – Remixes Hideous Miscreation (2013)

I’ve not heard the source material for this remix, but I’m not entirely sure if I need to, if I’m honest. The thing with remixes of this nature is that the songs are usually so mutated from their original form that they have become brand new entities in their own right. Mixing gabba techno with awkward synths and nifty, sneaky little drum’n’bass passages, NUH really makes a fucking meal out of whatever source material Hideous Miscreation left to be devoured. Shit, I dunno whether to get up and dance or fucking smash my house to pieces. What a dilemma! Side B continues the madness, opening straight up with more gabba brutality. Jeez! I’m proper loving this shit! Gonna be checking out more stuff by NUH in the very near future. Out thanks to Legs Akimbo Records, who seem to specialise in this unique brand of gabba-orientated punishment, and limited to 110 copies on evil black wax. Get in!

Burzum – Dauði Baldrs (1997)
dungeon synth

Burzum – Dauði Baldrs (1997)

I know this doesn’t exactly rank high amongst the playlists of many black metal enthusiasts, but I am a huge fan of the prison-Burzum era. I think we need to reflect on what the man was simply left to work with; any country that allows you make an album whilst serving prison time for murder is pretty unusual in my opinion, and to be fair, considering Varg was supposedly only allowed to use a synthesizer, he did a pretty good job. Sure, it sounds cheap, but so does any synth music made in that era – just check out early Mortiis, that sounds similar and that dude wasn’t chained up in the clink when he was writing his shit. I think that the cheap, tacky feel of the keyboard sounds really contribute to the full atmosphere of the record. Sure, these tracks would sound absolutely stunning performed by a full orchestra or even a small group, but the tacky electronic instrumentation really gives this record it’s charm. I was chuffed to bits then, when Back on Black re-issued not only the guaranteed-to-sell Burzum records, but the whole shebang, allowing me, the crappy keyboard music enthusiast, to get a lush new copy of this record on wax. I am not usually that keen on re-issues but Back on Black has made the whole Burzum catalog (not to mention a lot of “classic” black metal) much more affordable for vinyl fans. The fact that this label seems to get through so many releases can only be a good thing for the vinyl world, right?