Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Month: November 2013

Pressterror – Drrrrrrrressurection Of Suizidcore EP! (2013)
electronic

Pressterror – Drrrrrrrressurection Of Suizidcore EP! (2013)

Holy shit what the fuck is going on here!? Ha ha! This is some out-there shit! I’ve experienced gabba and speedcore before but this is a bit more on the edge of insanity; sometimes it goes so fast that there are just blurs of drum hits in a row that sound like a goddamn machine malfunctioning or something. When it slows down enough for some semblance of a beat to kick in, shit is fucking amazing. The sampling is crazy and haywire, coming in where the “songs” seemingly stop, chop and change at various times for any apparent reason. This 12″ comes off looking like a single release but it’s actually pretty lengthy, giving you more head-melting gabba noise for your buck! What more could you want, other than maybe a bunch of hard drugs to bash into your skull whilst listening to this? By the time track 3 “Fuck You Haters” is on (towards the end of side A) I feel like my brain is trying to leak out of my nose, which I’m not sure is a good thing or a bad thing. I guess it depends on what you want from your music! Legs Akimbo pressed this abomination of musical integrity onto a 12″ so we could all sit back and close our eyes and pretend we are running through California naked whilst higher than a motherfucker on bath salts, chewing off people’s faces. That’s certainly what I feel like doing after 25 minutes or so of “Suizidcore”. I would say this was definitely a niche release but fuck it, everybody should hear this absolute fucking monster at least once.

Scott Hull – Audiofilm 2 (2010)
electronic noise & power electronics

Scott Hull – Audiofilm 2 (2010)

It took me a while but I finally got around to buying the second installment in the Audiofilm series. I don’t really know what has taken so long, considering it’s not particularly rare, difficult to obtain or even worth a lot. I got this off Discogs for £1.50, which for even a 3″ CD is criminal. The packaging and artwork is more of the same type of stuff that was introduced on the first Audiofilm disc so I’ll just get on with a quick overview of the music on offer here, as I’ve gone off waffling too much in recent posts! Audiofilm II is much harsher that it’s predecessor. It opens with some heavy atmospherics, which doesn’t stay in the same state for long; it is only a matter of minutes before things have shifted into drone territory, and a blink of an eye until all outputs build and build until the pummeling atmosphere becomes dangerously close to harsh noise. The track continues in this vein, coming to and fro, but for the most part remaining particularly full-on for something that is meant to be an atmospheric piece. I know noise conjures it’s own atmosphere, but it is not what I was expecting here. Scott Hull is the master of heavy, we all know this, but with Requiem and Audiofilm I, he did not set us up for a harsh noise attack. Here’s hoping to one day seeing the guy return to Japanese Torture Comedy Hour with Jay Randall. This little 3″ CD was released by the distro/label Crucial Blast, and is limited to 1000 copies. Check out the entire thing in the link below. Make sure you’re speakers are turned up loud and you’re streaming in the highest possible quality.

Dimmu Borgir – Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (1997)
black metal

Dimmu Borgir – Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (1997)

I’m not the biggest black metal fan in the world, but to me, this album is an absolute classic of the genre, and one of the best (if not the best) from the symphonic side of the spectrum. Dimmu Borgir might not sound like this anymore, which is a shame, but that makes this extra special – for me it definitely stands out in the Dimmu back catalogue; not as twinkly as the other stuff from the same era, not as rough as the earlier stuff, and not as over-compressed and death metal-like as later stuff. Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is the sound of a symphonic black metal band in their prime! Opener “Mourning Palace” is still a live staple of the band today, and it’s not hard to see why, with it’s simple-yet-effective keyboard-led tune and enormously ferocious vocal attack. It’s a mid-paced start, but a brilliant start all the same. “Spellbound” is just as good, speeding up a bit and bringing in even more super sick vocals; Shagrath’s performance on this album is one of the best “metal” vocal performances I’ve ever heard. I won’t go into every track here, but just point out my favourites; “The Night Masquerade” has some serious fast shit going on, with some dank pitchshifting and sultry female vocals more akin to the blasting, erotic tales woven by Cradle Of Filth. “Tormentor Of Christian Souls” has it’s lyrics cut out of the book, which is a bit soft, but it is one of the best songs here nonetheless. Finally, the whole thing is rounded off with the untitled secret track (edit: the track is actually called “Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde” but the info isn’t on the album anywhere), which is a bit lengthy but still one of the better tracks. If you’re into black metal there can’t really be any doubt that you’ve already heard this; it’s a stone-cold classic. They just don’t make them like this anymore. It was with great pleasure that a few years ago I got to witness “An Evening With Dimmu Borgir”, where the band – due to popular demand – played this entire record live, from start to finish. The modern Borgir line up obviously do not sound as amazing as the fresh young band on this recording, but it was an experience that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

Cuntpump – A Pleasing Clitorectomy (2012)
grindcore noise & power electronics

Cuntpump – A Pleasing Clitorectomy (2012)

Jesus fuck, how my head hurts! Now this little bastard is a hard listen! Haha! File under un-easy listening, mos-def. Bobby Maggard is back (again) with more blurring of the lines between goregrind and gorenoise. The drum machine sounds like nothing more than a relentless series of distorted sound blips. The guitars (well, assuming they are guitars) are nothing more than sheer, ear-destroying sheets of white noise hell. The vocals…well I don’t think I have enough adjectives to get through those. Even by Gorelord Maggard standards, A Pleasing Clitorectomy is a challenging listen. Luckily for the few of us who are actually strangely into this type of thing, you can get this CDr from Ecclesia Inferi Records, but act fast as it’s limited to 40 copies. I have number 10. I assure you that it is worth the tinnitus that follows. Alternatively, just hit up the Gorelord himself on Facebook and he’ll mail you the longest list of goregrind releases you’ll ever see in your life!

Burial – Burial (2007)
electronic

Burial – Burial (2007)

Some of you might remember my enlightening conversion to the ways of Burial when I picked up the Traunt / Rough Sleeper 12″ not so long ago; what an uplifting yet sorrowful journey that 12″ was, and how it made me long for more Burial records! But, due to the overwhelming amount of shit that I’m into it’s taken me quite a while to get around to buying another Burial record, but I finally picked up the self-titled double LP in Spillers earlier this week (24th November edit: “earlier this week” was fecking months ago haha). The first thing I notice (other than the lush tunes) is how fast this thing goes for a double LP spinning at 33rpm per side…the needle literally slides across the wax like a graceful ice-skater…this shit lasts nowhere near long enough! Again I am already longing for more material from the excellent Burial. Ambient passages mash awkwardly, yet peacefully, with minimal synth work and jarring, broken beats, resulting in a soundscape that is reminiscent of both urban decay and human futility rolled into one bittersweet ball. Yet, at the same time you get that odd uplifting feeling of knowing joyfulness; that those two negative things have contributed to help mold something so beautiful. Poetic description aside, this really is a great record. I have read it described on one Amazon review as the perfect soundtrack to taking the night-bus around London (and I’m pretty sure they weren’t talking about Trafalgar Square and all that shit). I think that sums it up nicely. I can’t really pick a favourite song here because this thing flows so well and I tend to see the record as a whole rather than a collection of songs. Well worth a listen! Out on Hyperdub. 

Last Days Of Humanity – The Sound Of Rancid Juices Sloshing Around Your Coffin (1998)
grindcore

Last Days Of Humanity – The Sound Of Rancid Juices Sloshing Around Your Coffin (1998)

Oh wow, on first impressions this album sounds absolutely huge on vinyl. There is definitley a depth of tone that CDs just cannot hit, no matter how crystal clear digital production can get. I don’t dislike the CD format like some die-hard vinyl fans; I think that certain music is better suited to certain formats. It all depends on the nuisances and over-all sound the band is trying to achieve, I think. This is one of the pitfalls of the modern-day vinyl renaissance; I think that a lot of stuff that is ending up on “deluxe” vinyl really shouldn’t be there. That’s my two cents, at least! Back to the record at hand; Last Days Of Humanity are an absolute testament to the development of the goregrind genre through the ninities and into the new millenium. Their dank and heavy sound is reminescent of a more classic underground death metal approach, but the song structures and those fucking acrid vocals make sure that things stay firmly lodged in the goregrind ballpark. I don’t think Rancid Juices…. has ever sounded so good; this is surely related to what I was saying about certain things belonging to certain formats? I suppose it helps that the album got the remaster and repress treatment thanks to Poland’s Fat Ass Records, but still, it sounds fantastic on wax. Speaking of Fat Ass, fucking get a copy of this shit right now! Out of a variety of colours, but it’s probably worth mentioning that the colour I have here is limited to one copy only…which I am totally proud and chuffed to pieces about owning. U jelly?

Quagga – Quagga (6″, Lathe Cut) (2013)
grindcore

Quagga – Quagga (6″, Lathe Cut) (2013)

Quagga is the solo-project of Goatgrind Records genius Nappy. This is his debut, and only, release under that name, playing lo-fi, gurgling goregrind. I think that this was a “test” release to sample the quality of the lathe cuts that Graham from 2208 Records produced, as it is only limited to 5 copies. I am lucky enough to be able to own one of these gems, by total chance! Remember kids, always tick shit you want on Discogs, you never know who is watching! This 6″ is listed as a 5″ on Discogs, but it’s definitely a 6″, I measured the bastard, as I have little to no life. And, to top that off, it’s only one-sided so it doesn’t last very long. I guess though it doesn’t really need to; it gets it’s point across in a few short, garbled bursts of goregrind hell. This one is a keeper (it even has my name on it, so I guess it’s mine forever!). P.S. Please excuse the smaller-than-usual cover art photo for this post, I fucked up the photography and it’s blurry as shit, but it looks OK at a smaller resolution. 

Gets Worse – Negative (2013)
grindcore punk & hardcore

Gets Worse – Negative (2013)

I fucking love Gets Worse, to be honest. What a cracking fucking band. This little 45rpm 7″ EP starts off sounding very metal indeed, but it does not take long for the powerviolence assault of the senses to fully begin raining down on your poor little ears. After the little intro “Too Much Talk” starts off with a mid-paced growly approach before heading into blasting territory and then into something resembling a hardcore breakdown…that’s pretty much everything Gets Worse are about in one little song! Side A is over in a fucking flash. I have a bit of difficulty with Side B; I have some crazy popping going on with the first track, which eventually resulting in a never-ending skip loop. I decide to give this track a skip and move it onto the next one, “Pessimist” and all is well with the world! All the powerviolence back up in this bitch! My favourite thing about Side B however is the final track, “Stubborn” which is a dirging, almost drone-y build up of wicked guitar and bass distortion, culminating in a massive sludge metal attack. Blimey! This little green fuck was put out as a collaboration between Hygiene Records in the USA and Evil Purple Bastard in the UK, and is limited to 500 copies, all of which are on transparent green wax. Sexy. Negative by Gets Worse

Dr. Dre – 2001 (1999)
hip hop

Dr. Dre – 2001 (1999)

Aaah my life! I simply cannot fathom how fucking amazing this record sounds! Having heard this possibly a hundred thousand times since I was 11 years old, I finally bought this album when I saw it on the “home listening” rack in Cardiff’s Catapult Records. I know I waffle on about how fucking great vinyl is (that’s the original point of this website, really) but Jesus fuck…it really, really makes the difference to make sure your music on the right format! The bass lines here reach a whole new low, and the music reaches a whole new level of stereophonic scope. Just hearing the cheeky Dolby-esque orchestral rush that Dre put at the beginning of this record is enough to know that this sound is phenomenal. I’m not gonna go off on one about expensive music systems or anything, but shit…if you LOVE music then you NEED to put down that fucking mp3 player and get some records. PLEASE for the loving of fucking God, do it! You will not regret it. I invite ANY of you to come over my place and listen to this record and smoke a couple of bowls…if it means converting you to the way of the wax! Anyways, onto the record itself! Ha ha! Every good bone in my body tells me that I shouldn’t like gangsta rap, with it’s hella macho-posturing, subliminal racial segregation, promotion of violence and extreme misogynistic overtones…but hey, I love fucking pornogrind bitches, so I guess all hope is lost! Ha! I can’t deny a good beat when I hear one, and I sure as hell can’t hate on an amazing flow, regardless of the lyrical content. I am partial to the occasional blunt, sure, but I don’t go around smacking bitches if they don’t “get all up on this dick” (perhaps I should try that?) and I more than definitely don’t carry a “piece”, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the lamentations of people who do (or used to, at least). I would go into every song here but there are so many fucking classics that this review will go on and on and on forever. I find it pretty crazy that I am so passionate about an album that really, reaaallly doesn’t fit into my selection of other favourite albums. 2001 was definitely written about a certain place and time (even though it came out in 1999, figure that one out) but what Dr. Dre and his endless roster of cohorts have created is something that is immortally timeless (in the world of rap, that is). Dr. Dre (and Eminem, and I suppose ICP) taught me that music doesn’t have to be heavy as fuck to be cool. Growing up, I definitely think that being into rap from a young age has stopped me from developing the insane narrow-mindedness that a lot of “open-minded” metalheads possess. How’s that new Devildriver record treating you, fuckwads!? I’m gonna round this off for now or we’ll end up like one of my Godflesh reviews and last for like 20,000 paragraphs. If you’re into this record, you CANNOT go wrong by getting this on wax. If you haven’t got a record player, then buy one. If you’ve never heard a track off of this record then….fuck, what are you waiting for?

JK Flesh – Posthuman (2012)
doom metal electronic

JK Flesh – Posthuman (2012)

Seeing Justin Broadrick performing live as JK Flesh in Roadburn 2012 really opened up my eyes; it was like a dream coming true, the dirgy rhythms, haunting vocals and nasty guitar sound of Godflesh mashed head on into dubstep-style heavy bass and programmed drums. I didn’t really know whether I should dance or punch somebody in the face. To be true, I did neither; I just stood there bobbing my head as the awesomeness washed over me, pummeling me into a pulp of useless flesh and deafening me past the point of ever comprehending music ever again. A slight overstatement, but a fantastic experience nonetheless. When I heard that his debut LP under this name would be coming out a short-while later, I almost jumped for joy. When the record dropped I was skint as fuck so I didn’t get it initially, but I picked it up a few months later on my birthday. The true depth of the vinyl format is needed for something that sounds as massive as this; the pressing is excellent and does a cracking job of portraying the full bottomless sound of JK Flesh’s aural assault. Things get off to a slow and creepy start with “Knuckledragger”, but then “Idle Hands” chugs things up in true JK style. It’s a fairly long record, considering the simplicity of the subject matter, but it doesn’t make for a tiring listen; every song is perfect. Honestly, it doesn’t get spun as much as my Godflesh records, but it’s still pretty damn awesome. Released in 2012 by 3BY3 Records, and seemingly still available at a decent price (about £20, which isn’t bad considering they are fairly limited (500 only)). Check it out and get one! Posthuman+ by JK FLESH

Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium / Nunslaughter – Split 5″ (2012)
grindcore

Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium / Nunslaughter – Split 5″ (2012)

This little 5″ is my first ever experience with the band Nunslaughter. Sure, I’ve seen the name around for years but it just ended up as one of those things that I never got around to checking out. So, when they split with one of my favourite noisy acts Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium, it was the perfect opportunity to check ’em out once and for all, and I gotta say, I like what I hear! The track doesn’t really last that long but it’s nice and heavy with a clear and pummeling production. One day soon I’ll have to do a little online rootling through some Nunslaughter stuff. Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium have come leaps and bounds since first appearing on the noisecore/porngrind scene a good few years back. The recording here is crystal clear compared to some of their earlier efforts and not only that the playing is tighter than a slaughtered nun’s crotch (pun obviously intended). The problem with 5″s is that they look so cool but they (rather obviously) don’t hold much music. This shit is over and done with before I can fucking blink. NxVx released this themselves on their prolific and rather excellent label Horns & Hoofs, whom I would definitely recommend checking out if you fancy getting a pile of NxVx stuff in one go.