Archive for December 2019

Well, I snoozed on the release of this, only discovering it recently. My first main thought, in retrospect, is that it contains lesser experimental passages than The Epic, although the records are similar in terms of scope and length. Heaven And Earth invokes more repetition, to the point where I found that some tracks went on perhaps just a little too long, but this is of course just my opinion. The freeform freakout elements that…

Joy Division are of course absolutely legendary at this point, but I for one had never really given them that much though (which is weird, because I love New Order), Unknown Pleasures then, really lives up to its name for me. Glorious stuff. Very sad in hindsight, knowing the frame of mind in which Ian Curtis and co wrote the songs, but heavily enjoyable. My only regret is waiting so long to give it a…

A bizarre offering from the “Korn of grindcore”. I see where they are coming from, what with the ultra downtuned guitars, but the weird melodic passages and longer-running tracks are a long way from resembling anything grind-related. Not bad, but not grind.

Well then… a decent film, with a stunning lead (how beautiful was Marilyn Chambers? Cool to see her here, I didn’t realise it was the same lass that was in that Green Door porno) but suffering with horrendous pacing issues. I enjoyed the story but was honestly bored for the majority of the film. A shame, considering the effects are pretty cool, and also considering the director’s reputation. I feel like the concept was all…

Enjoyable if you’ve got brutality on the brain, but my main criticisms which I feel need airing is that this production is very dry and awkward, and it can feel like the songs are lurching along at a snail pace even when the tracks are blasting away. That, and the vocals are mixed incredibly low. Sorry to level my criticisms in such a short review, but they are pretty big drawbacks.

I’ll start by saying the only downside I could find with this record is that MF Doom barely rises up to spit, compared to Czarface. Otherwise, the beats are on point, the idea was on point, and the whole record is on point. A seriously solid hip hop record, which I heavily enjoyed.

Of all the bands in the world to release a Christmas album, what with songs about ol’ Mr. Christ a’plenty, I would not have thought it would be Bad Religion. I’m not sure if this is some sort of joke or if the band legitimately wanted to do a Christmas record before their drummer fucked off to join Avenged Sevenfold (why in the fuck, right?), but here it is, in all its mind-bending reality. Honestly,…

As hollow as the production on this record is, it kinda works with the simple vibe that Ramones music gives off. I’m no mega fan, just slowly working my way through some of the most well known records in history. Glad I hit this one along the way. 

So this was my first experience with the films of Luis Bunuel. I love the imagery so excuse the flurry of different covers that I’ve provided alongside this post. I remember a few years ago a local cinema showing this for one night only, and I didn’t go because I didn’t want to be seen as the perv who went on his own to see this kinda thing. Boy, do I regret that decision. Belle…

Dark brooding 80s electronica with a refreshing and unique melodic edge. A little out of my usual comfort zone, definitely, but I enjoyed the vibes here. I think I’ll give it a few more play throughs. 

I was inspired to look up the swinging sounds of Duke Ellington due to his (fictional) appearances in the Big Mouth TV series. Anatomy Of A Murder is kinda an OST to a movie of the same name, where bluesy swing and big band jazz is the order of the day. For me, this is an example of jazz in its purest sense; incredibly moods and musicianship all round. I really want to check out…

Mr. Patton, how we love you; constantly tight-roping the minute cerebral space that is occupied between the lands of genius and madness. Solitude… offers yet another window into the mind of the creator, with lush orchestral flourishes and gorgeous instrumental tracks. I am not familiar as such by the book or film associated with this music, but I love it all of the same.

There’s prog… and then there’s Return To Forever. Boy, is Romantic Warrior a trip. Insane keyboard work, and bass lines that will melt your head. The drums are weirdly distorted, but its easy to live with and does not detract from this instrumental work of genius. Jazzy as fuck. I will be looking for more of this band!

Witching hour slowed down dance tunes time! VVvvVvVvvvVibrate if you’re up! From The Blackhole brings a stunning few moments of deep house, followed by mesmerising ambient keyboard synthscapes. Epic. Please accept my apologies for the quality on the image for this post, I cannot find this record sleeve anywhere! 

This terrible Troma-distributed title gets off to a promising start. However, it devolves rapidly from there and ends up being a total mess, and not in a good way. The practical effects are entertaining despite the budget, but I can’t say that this comes particularly highly recommended from me. I can only apologise as well for the horrendous cover scan on this one.

Just take the title of this album for a start: how can you deny yourself a listen to this record with a title like that? Thankfully, Super Fun Happy Slide are gloriously brilliant and Drop Your Pants & Grind is a perfect example of their hilarious yet gooey and disgusting grindcore sound. Fire up the grind barby, eh? Strewth.

The Bryan Ferry Orchestra is 10 to 12 people that revolve around the central piece of the puzzle that is of course, the man himself. On The Jazz Age, Brizza Fezza and Roxy Music classics are reimagined as if they were tunes played often by a jazz group in a smoky, underground speakeasy. Some of these translate over really well, others not so much.

In The Depths Of R’lyeh is an oddly melodic trip through the desperate mire of glacial-paced death doom. Channelling the morbid energy of such greats as Coffins, Evoken, Disma (sue me) or Disembowelment, Catacombs flatten you into a distortion-filled malaise of depressive, gloomy metal.  The sheer weight of the guitars is almost so crushing it is just delicious. It might be slower than your gran popping to the shop for a tin of cat food,…

Well, this is a blast from the past, to say the least. I never owned this album, but I vividly recall the era, and seeing this on shelves. I can’t say that it has aged particularly well, but it was a decent Saturday afternoon listen.

I am not entirely sure how it has taken me all my life until this point in time to finally watch Blade Runner. I treated myself to the final cut, and within minutes I was completely enthralled in this dystopian world. Unfortunately, I watched this on my phone at 1am, so will be purchasing a Blu Ray copy of it in the future, I should think (2020 edit: I have now seen this in all…

If you like your hip hop drenched in metal references there’s rarely any need to look past Necro or his brother Ill Bill. I’m not sure if a rap over Slayer’s “Raining Blood” really works all that well, but otherwise Black Metal is full of some pretty solid tunes, if not as gross or OTT as his brother’s albums.

Thankfully I gave in to my work colleague’s endless insistences that I check out Black Midi. This bizarre piece of work conjures up terrifying visions from the past, such behemoths as Swans or Big Black, and mashes them into a modern freakout sensibility. Did I just write that? I don’t really know what is going on here, or why it is so popular, but its fucking genius.

What is this artwork!? Who cares, Avulsed from Spain play razor sharp death metal, with a hint of thrash if I could be so spicy. There is a fun, tongue in cheek undercurrent which permeates through the tracklist, which is evenly paced and highly enjoyable.

If a misanthropic clusterfuck is your cup of tea, I would suggest to you this Warfuck record. The band name may sound a little uninspired, but this is chaotic, nihilistic grindcore at its finest. Highly recommended, cathartic listening.

Yo dawg, I heard you liked samples that were too long even for Mortician records, so we put some long-ass samples on your goregrind, because ya’ll love that long-ass fuckin’ gap between tracks right? I mean, whatever you think of what became of Torsofuck (actually, what became of Torsofuck?), and of those fucking retarded samples, Torsofuck’s full length is some serious brutality. It really scrapes the bottom of the septic tank, reaching into the very…

I guess the best way to describe this would be to say that it is Troma’s take on the Rambo era of War films. Beginning uncannily in the same fashion as the pilot (lol) episode of Lost, Troma’s War quickly descends into a jungle-fever drenched bullet fest, with a dashing of casual racism and exposed breasts for completions sake. Did I really care what the fuck was going on? No. Did I enjoy watching it?…

This was one of many cassettes I had from trading with Mike at Sludgesicle Records, back in the ol’ day, as they say. Unfortunately, I have no audio to share with you, but I’m trying to get into the habit of getting through Lines In Wax posts that have been queued up for literally six or seven years now. Honestly, I’m not even sure if I ever listened to this, but I’ve got this idea…

Well-produced and seemingly (for once) well thought out brutal death metal. These kinda bands are a dime a dozen so it truly is difficult to make a difference in the realms of brutality, but Abuse offer a glorious battering in the metallic style. Think Lividity and later Waco Jesus and you should have a good idea of how Like A Virgin is going to sound. The band are tighter than a [insert filthy pun], and…

I love how this project has continued evolving over the years. Like, what is this freakery? Its like some kind of primal body music. Deep down, it captures your mind and your body, and you just want to move, like some sort of lucid nightmare that is also rather purifying. Fucking banging, mate.

It is easy to ignore later Pig Destroyer as the earlier records are such classics of the grindcore genre. However, let’s not overlook that Book Burner is a solid, lightening fast metal record. The drumming from Adam Jarvis (of Misery Index fame) is on point, and melds well with Scott’s riffs and JR’s haunting, savage roars. Sprinkle in a few guesties from ANb vocalists Rich and Kat, and what more could you possibly want?

Ah, what a forgotten classic. I sure am glad that I dug this out for the sake of this stench-filled review. So, what sounds like it was recorded onto a dusty VHS whilst underwater in the bath? You guessed it – this record! Mad props to the selection on the drum sounds however, that shit is totes brutes, fam. In all seriousness though, this takes me back to the glory days, before this fucking genre…

The Agathocles line up of 1996 decide to jam through a bunch of the band’s tracks from back in 1987, and of course this shit gets recorded and put onto a vinyl EP. But hey, I’m a cynical fuck, this shit is actually very excellent indeed. Solid studio quality tracks (insofar as much as you can expect in regards to that description matching up with Agathocles – you can hear the songs clearly, so I…