A pillar of the sludge world, both as a band in Eyehategod and as an album. This record is a pure classic. There is few things that can touch it for pure sleaze and alcohol / narcotic fuelled depression. Opening track “Blank” sets the pace and really, if you are only ever gonna listen to one Eyehategod song, make it this one. The remaining tracks are filled out with such ditties as “30$ Bag”, and the charmingly-named “Sisterfucker” (parts 1 and 2). Let’s not forget “White Nigger”, which despite its offensive name, feeds and loops back heavily into the overarching themes of poverty, desperation and drug use that permeat this whole thing. Truly, this album is a disturbing listen but one that comes with a rusty pickup truck full of intense groovy riffs to drive that message home.
I got this 12″ free with a Discogs order probably about a decade ago, and I finally listened to it. Featuring a few cuts and extras from his 7 Deadly Sins album sessions, Valuable Game is actually a pretty fun listen. My favourite song has to be “Always Wanted To Be A Ho”, which is tongue in cheek but actually heavily calls out those who prey on vulnerable women, which is nice considering how misogynistic hip hop can be. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t exactly flattering towards “hos” but it was a refreshing take all the same, especially considering how old this is.
Pulse Demon takes the crown – or should I say the spotlight – when it comes to Merzbow’s most famous release. As the man transitions from the worlds of analogue into digital noise, we saw a bit of a shift in the sounds in general. This mid-90s period was specifically harsh. Venereology, which quickly followed that very famous Pulse Demon album, seems to step up the harshness, if you’ll forgive me for my lack of inventive language. Everything seems so goddamn loud and unforgiving and I realise that may read as ridiculous considering who we are talking about here, but damn! “Ananga-Ranga” – that first track alone is 29 minutes of absolute aural hell, rendering what comes afterward almost pointless. Definitely a record for those who feel like they would like to clean out the inside of their skull with a brillo pad.
The Yacopsae stuff opening up this is clearly pushed to the front due to the underground weight that this act brings. However, it sounds like complete shit, if I can be so bold as to declare that in such an environment. LOL. But yeah, the Gdorks stuff that follows (RIP Katz) I’m pretty sure is the stuff from our failed split, which was also released on its own through Grindcore Karaoke. Here it is again, in typical Agathocles-baiting fashion. SMG sound like a horrid mush, before NxVx present their usual tone and I instantly recognise their input from Maria’s intense bass. Honestly, a lot of the other bands kinda just blur into one at this point, as much as I like bands like Fascist Insect. My man Paul in RxTx rounds this out with a few blasts of ridiculous noisecore for good measure. What more could you possibly want, eh?
I got into a bit of a shit-slinging incident with a bunch of randos on the internet when Mortiis of all people, posted a picture of himself on his Instagram with who I could only assume from comments was the dude from Blood Axis. The guy had a shaved head, a t-shirt sporting the crutch cross, boots and a belt sporting the reichsadler eagle. Now, wearing boots doesn’t make you a Neo Nazi, but they certainly complimented all that other shit. I got slammed into oblivion for calling out this guy’s dodgy state of dress, so I decided, let’s see what Blood Axis are all about then, seeing as I have clearly got it all wrong. To say that Blood Axis is not a fascist or white supremacist project would be a fucking lie. This proves, if anything, you can’t trust people in internet comments sections, even if they get more likes on their replies than you (lol). Not only are Blood Axis’ themes clumsily on the nose, but these guys are Americans, with no real weight or knowledge at the horrors of fascism and what it did to Europe. Therefore, The Gospel Of Humanity smacks of silly fucking idiots playing about with ancient symbolism and ideals that they know absolutely nothing about. Not that I’m an expert, but come on. To top that off, and to really sink the boot in, The Gospel Of Inhumanity has to be one of the goofiest, tone-deaf attempts at noise / industrial / martial / neo-folk / whatever that I have ever heard. Mixing classical music with Charlie Manson and bad black metal guitars does not make a song, I’m afraid. At least, not a listenable one. Leave that to Dragged Into Sunlight. Anyways, I’ve wasted enough time on this bullshit. Avoid.
I remember hearing this when it came out and struggling to really get my head around what they were trying to do. Personally, I’ve had a go at this several times over the year but have always failed to make it through to completion. Why am I still trying? Well, the concept of it is right up my street. Longform, intense songs covering a gamut of extreme metal genres, including other stuff like noise and atmospherics. What’s not to love? In the case of Aporia:Kāla:Ananta, which is 1 solid 40 minute track, it comes across like a much more serious and grown-up version of Abruptum. Less chaos, more menance.
I think I prefer the songs on the earlier classic releases but this thing sounds absolutely enormous. Mortician’s intense fuzz hits you in the face like 10,000 dirty hypodermic needles. The production is huge, allowing those buzzsaw riffs to fully be appreciated. What more can I say? It’s Mortician. I bought a Darkest Day Of Horror shirt back in 2006/2007 and I still have and wear it to this day. LOL.
I got given this tape by someone at Leeds Deathfest in either 2009 or 2010. I can’t remember who it was, which is really annoying – it may have been someone from Lazarus Blackstar. But anyway, it was one of the dudes who played in this band too. I never really played it all that much, always losing interest after a few songs. I decided this week to finally play through the whole thing and I just can’t get into it. The music isn’t an issue. It’s a tidy go at the British template of doom metal that was so prevalent in the 90s, but I just can’t get into the vocals at it. It’s not that the fella can’t sing or anything, he reminds me of Goatsnake’s Peter Stahl in many ways, I just don’t think it really works with this kind of music. I had a similar issue with Kroh’s debut record, before they switched to the female vocals / occult rock vibe. I don’t know why, but it just doesn’t work for me. It was nice to look back at a time and a place whilst listening to this, though.
This is massively outside of my wheelhouse in pretty much every aspect (and then some), from the style of punk through to the very questionable subject matter. Celtic Warrior are a white power band from around my local area. I’ve been doing a lot of research into these kinds of things recently, in regards to what goes on locally, from these kind of bands, to suspect motorcycle clubs, even to the Free Wales Army and the more radical groups further north. Celtic Warriors, like Blackout (not The Blackout lol), are both notorious local bands to me that I’ve never really checked out until now. Musically, the production is no better or worse than any other punk music and the only musician that has any virtuosity to his playing is the guitar player. Otherwise, this is just bad metal, bad rock and bad punk all rolled into one disinteresting ball. If it wasn’t for the tedious right wing subject matter, there would literally be nothing to this at all. I would probably not even know that it existed. But yeah. I listened to it, so it’s here on Linesinwax. I don’t condone listening to it, nor would I ever recommend listening to it. I’ll leave it to Napalm Death and Dead Kennedies to adequately explain where I stand with this kind of shit.
Following on from my recent foray back into Oxygen (a classic), I followed up with Chronology, which is perfect music for keeping your mind sharp whilst reading or engaging in some other task of concentration. To say Chronology is not “spacey” would be a lie, there is just a different vibe here.
The 2021 remaster of this cold classic is admittedly my first brush with Borknagar. I’ve known the name for seemingly aeons, but as is the way with this game (as with many others), time is my greatest enemy. The production was a little too crisp for me, if I could be so bold in announcing such; I had to turn down the treble a bit on my stereo to stop the harshness of the cymbals and guitar fuzz grating my head. However, with that out of the way, I fully enjoyed listening to this record for the first time. The production, despite the above complaint, holds a welcoming density that gives the compositions weight, without drowning out the complimentary keyboard and synth work. Suprisingly, after a brush with a lengthy piece earlier in the tracklist, hammy instrumental interludes were kept to a minimum, and the punishing black metal flowed fully. Vocally, its worth noting the particularly hellish screeches of the front man, as well as the occasional use of more traditional sung vocals, which have a heavy Norse feel. Great stuff all round!
