THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

FUCK EVERYTHING! it's been a while since my last post... well, during the last weeks I had to face so much bullshit on one hand and such a shitload of work in my job at the other that I neither had the time nor the mood for blogging like in writing new posts (that's why the "new" posts are more ore less just re-written old posts) or to just even take care of the blog (and a lot of other things I should have taken care of truth be told) by e.g. responding to comments or whatever cause in the little spare time I had I was too busy with listening to GEHENNA, HAMMERHEAD (the German ones of course), HARM'S WAY, and GRAVEHILL's PRACTITIONERS OF FELL SORCERY demo (I guess that's a hint for some) while getting fucked up. you could also say life got in the way or whatever! I actually wouldn't even mention it here but as one of the things I should have taken care of but didn't was replying to e-mails there's a ton of people out there that are waiting for a response from me for ages (I'm thinking especially about you: Mahlon, Sven, Keke & Tony but also some others) and so I thought that this post would be quicker to do than anything else. right now I'm in the process of catching up but I'm still mercilessly slow at replying/writing e-mails as I'm a) still drowning in work and b) also have some issues with my fucking internet access since 4 weeks cause my router takes fuck everything very seriously and is well aware of the fact that everything includes me and my nerves too! it will take me most likely another 2 weeks to get back to everybody on my list but the above mentioned will be first.

VULTURES

here's the totally awesome 2nd 7" called FULL WOLF MOON of the band that, as I told you already when they appeared here for the 1st time will "bite you in the face and crawl under your skin" a.k.a. HERDS. the last song is called HORSE-BREAKING but should be called neck-breaking instead! 5 tracks of ferocious and angry HARDCORE just as you'd expect a band with ex-members of CHARLES BRONSON, THREATENER, GET RAD, 14 OR FIGHT, KUNG FU RICK and SEVEN DAYS OF SAMSARA to sound. the artwork is also top notch as well as the packaging!

HIGH LIFE

DeKalb's SICK/TIRED have released their 1st full-length on TO LIVE A LIE RECORDS (it was supposed to be released on COALITION RECORDS but COALITION has gone belly up). as I was a little bit involved in putting out their debut split 7" my opinion could be seen as a bit prejudiced... anyway, believe it or not the 12", which is called HIGH LIFE is a fucking ripper! I knew that already before I got a physical copy of the record cause the tracks were all recorded in the same session than the 4 tracks on the split 7" and Kirk had sent the whole session my way quite some time ago and which lead to their appearance in the MAD BLASTS OF CHAOS series. the 12" is available in 3 different colors: black, red (ltd. to 100 copies) and gray (ltd. to 22 copies). as you can see on the pics below Kirk was kind enough to send me one of the 22 gray copies. as I haven't seen a physical copy on red I don't know if the red ones also come with a certificate like that you can see below which came with my gray one. the artwork of the cover and the inlay is also totally rad! seriously, in my opinion SICK/TIRED are one of the best bands around right now and if you like your HARDCORE fast and furious you should do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy of HIGH LIFE! you can check out one track here.

CANCER

as this is isn't the 1st time EXTORTION from Down Under appear on this blog you might be familiar with them by now already. if you aren't familiar with them what are you doing here anyway? the recording on TERMINAL CANCER is a little bit rawer than on most of their other releases which suits them well in my opinion! click the cover to download!

GET FUCKED UP!

finally the long awaited CALIFORNIA LOVE / GEHENNA split 7" surfaced here just in time to sweeten my "fuck-everything-mood"! very kind really! as you can see on the pics there are 2 versions of it around - the regular one on black wax and the one ltd. to 250 copies with the red cover on red wax that came with a GEHENNA live 12" and a copy of THE LOVE BELOW's REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS 7" on colored wax. I know that a lot of people aren't really into this split 7" or even think it's weak... not that I would care about other people's opinions but I don't really understand why someone would think this split is weak cause the only negative thing I could say is that it has just one track from each band and therefore is rather short. besides that it is more or less what I expected it to be if not even a little better! CALIFORNIA LOVE's vocalist Aaron had told me before that their recordings would be shit but still OK as they'd be shit in a kind of early DEATH METAL demo way. well, I agree that there is a touch of DEATH METAL in their track called FEUERSTURM but I wouldn't say that the recording is shit or that they sound unbelievably different to their 2 12"es and I'm really looking forward to their farewell 7" with the other 8 tracks from that recording session that their guitarist will release (the 1st test presses were all fucked up). lyric-wise CALIFORNIA LOVE stick to the "we despise the human race" theme which is also nothing new in their case. sad but true Aaron also told me that CALIFORNIA LOVE split up. the GEHENNA track on the flip-side is called GET FUCKED UP and as it already had been available for download from Mr. Apocalypse's blog for a short time a while ago you might know the song anyway. as a matter of fact GEHENNA can do no wrong in my ears and therefore you might have assumed that this track is no exception and that I'm as much into it as I'm into all their stuff if you are frequently reading this blog or just have read what I wrote about GEHENNA in the past. in case you've made that assumption... guess what - it's 100% correct! that shouldn't really make you wonder as GEHENNA sound spiteful, vicious and ugly in their own unique way even though you can hear which bands have influenced them quite clearly.

actually the pic on the left doesn't show the real cover of the GEHENNA live 12" that came with the pre-order version of their split with CALIFORNIA LOVE, is ltd. to 250 copies and is called THE HOPE GUZZO BOOTLEG. sorry for that but the cover doesn't fit my scanner and as it's a photography it would have been too tricky to make multiple scans and cut & paste it together if I wouldn't have had the time to do that anyway plus you can also see the actual cover on the pic at the bottom. now, you get a regular live set recorded at Gilman St. on one side and a KXLU radio live show on the flip-side which is the better one in my opinion. truth be told I think that 99,99% of all live recordings suck so much that no one needs them and consider releasing them on any format a waste of resources! among the very rare exceptions would be the CITIZENS ARREST live 8" and their radio show, some of the LIFE'S BLOOD stuff that's around, POISON IDEA's DUTCH COURAGE, the GEHENNA / CATHARSIS split 12" and a few more including this one. someone once told me the the voice of GEHENNA's vocalist on the earlier mentioned split live 12" would sound like a demon from yelling at you and he doesn't sound so much different here. this is some of the rawest, ugliest and hostile music I've heard till now. if you can't get into GEHENNA or also if you just can't get into their live recordings - don't worry cause it might not be your fault. it most likely just might be the case that you lack the experience of crawling through the stench of urine and vomit in the darkest pits of human existence fighting tooth and claw to keep your sanity. anyway, let's move on to the artwork and packaging of the record. I admit that I felt a little disappointed for a moment when I held the physical copy in my hands for the 1st time. the cover a 12" x 24" sheet of thick paper folded in the middle and not a bag and comes with a small booklet that gives you a track-list and an interview but no lyrics but when I looked on the inside artwork I suddenly realized that the pic on the inside was the photography from the cover only inverted which they did on the split 7" artwork too - I guess that's called continuation and is considered to be a style of art. now, while I've already told you that the record is called THE HOPE GUZZO BOOTLEG I haven't told you why yet. in case you don't already know who Hope Guzzo is let me tell you that she's the photographer who took the pic that was used for the cover of this 12" plus she's the person interviewed in the booklet by GEHENNA. I should add that the introduction to the interview briefly explains why her art was used on the cover. as the ltd. pre-order packs are sold out by now I scanned the interview in case you missed it!

here's a pic of the THE LOVE BELOW's REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS 7" I mentioned earlier. I'd give that 7" a 2nd try for the rad cover alone I guess...

THE DONOR

this post is dedicated to Mr. Jake W. who was kind enough to shoot me an e-mail and offered to send me a rip of U.K.'s MOB RULES 1st 7" after he saw my post about the CROWD CONTROL / MOB RULES split 7" that had a request to sell or trade me a copy of their debut 7" attached to it. THANKS mate! as you can see I was lucky enough to snatch a copy of THE DONOR in the meantime (traded it for a KALI 7"). and as I basically already told you everything you need to know about MOB RULES in said post too and they also stick to the same minimalistic design/artwork I guess the best idea is to point you there. the only thing I might add is that their debut 7" had a print-run of 1000 copies - 500 copies on black wax and 500 copies on red wax and sold out quicker than quick in times even bigger bands have difficulties to sell more than 500 copies. take that as a hint that MOB RULES rule!

LIVE ENTRY

there wasn't so much going on here during the last weeks but there are more important things in life than blogging once in a while. now, as girlfriend is already sleeping which means I should stay away from my stereo if I don't want war I flipped a coin if I would either spend some time blogging or answer my e-mails. even though e-mails would be more important the coin told me to spend some time blogging... so here we go. as Jeremy messed up my address he got the parcel bounced back to him when he tried to send me the latest VEDAVU release but 3 days ago I finally got my copy of the 2nd part of VEDAVU's ORANGE SERIES a.k.a. DEVIL's LIVE ENTRY 7" in the mail. as expected the packaging is incredible! as you can see on the pic somewhere below the 7" came with a shirt (that really suits me well according to my girlfriend), a pro-done CD with the tracks from the 7", a square 2" button and a full-color lyric-sheet. on the pic above you can see that the cover has 2 (thick cardboard) obi-strips that add some kind of cinematic touch to the record. as Mr. Apocalypse has posted about DEVIL on his blog himself you may be aware of the fact that DEVIL is a BLACK METAL band and that he's handling the vocals. if you follow the link to Mike's blog you should be able to download a DEVIL track that's not on this 2 track 7" but will give you a good idea of the gritty lo-fi BLACK METAL mayhem that they release on this 7"/CD. as VEDAVU has included a pro-done CD on every release so far you normally get the best of both worlds - a gritty lo-fi lathe-cut record on one hand and a hi-fi CD on the other but in this case the CD doesn't sound so much different to the 7". actually this time the vocals of the 2nd track sound better on the 7" than on the CD even though they still sound like some demonic hissing that you can barely hear somewhere in the back. as all other VEDAVU releases this one is also strictly limited and only 42 copies were made which are of course all gone by now. I know that 42 copies aren't many but as you've got to see every single release Jeremy has done so far more like a piece of art that's not meant for public consumption than like (just) another record (I'm not saying a "normal" record couldn't be a piece of art too but most of them aren't) it makes totally sense! and as it's not meant for public consumption there's no download link!

together with the DEVIL stuff came a square HOT PURSUIT 7" that was supposed to be the next release on VEDAVU and Pt. III of the ORANGE SERIES but Jeremy told me that:"the HOT PURSUIT record is a reject! we are gonna smash the rest!" which probably means this is another record you'd love to have but most likely will never get! especially if you click on the pic of the 7" and download their demo cause the demo is fucking rad and the the 7" is the demo plus an alternative version of a track!

last but not least Jeremy also slipped in a TAFKATA shirt that looks fucking rad and of course is, you guessed it, also limited. THANKS A LOT! the good news is that you might be still able to get a copy if you click on the shirt!

FATAL COORDINATES

another record that Mr. Apocalypse was involved with as a musician was the new SANGRAAL 7" called FATAL COORDINATES. well, not that Mike wouldn't have told you already everything you need to know on his blog but as this is the 1st release of ROCK COCAINE RECORDS (which b.t.w. is the most brilliant name for a label I've heard so far) and Mickey runs his label the old-school way which means that you've to stuff some cash (7 U$D/10U$D p.p. U.S./world) in an envelope which scared a lot of people that are only used to e-mails and paypal I thought it might be a good idea to tell you that, in my case, Mickey was super-fast in shipping my records! if I'm not mistaken I had the records in the mail only 9 days after I dropped the letter with the cash at the post-office! plus I was super stoked to finally hear SANGRAAL's follow up to their WOLVES OF ARMAGEDDON 12" (the 1st record I was ever offered a blowjob for re-upping it b.t.w.) from 1998 which is among the records that stood the test of time and still gets played on a regular basis. honestly speaking: if you'd have asked me before Mike's post about the new 7" how I'd consider the chances for another SANGRAAL vinyl to ever see the light of day would be my answer would have been "next to 0!" but here it is in form of a 5 track 7" that was well worth the wait! Mike wrote "5 new songs of barbaric violent thrash similar to KVIKKSOLGUTTENE and early DODHEIMSGARD" in his post about the 7". while I agree on the musical description I might add that he forgot to tell you that it's more like 4 new SANGRAAL tracks and a 5th track you may or may not have heard before. I noticed that I knew said track already as soon as it came through the speakers of my stereo but I leave it up to you to figure out the details! don't know how many have been pressed but I know you should stuff some cash in an envelope and send it to Mickey who can be reached through the address on the bottom!

Rock Cocaine Records
P.O. Box 1402

Tempe AZ 85280

on a side-note: Mickey does wholesale for 4,50 U$D (5 or more copies!)
add 13,50 U$D for flatrate postage to Europe for 5 or more copies!

UNAMERICAN HARDCORE

ok, here you'll finally get some music to download! some time ago Rawter who runs a great blog called TROUBLE ON YOUR SYSTEM posted some of his record wants on his blog which included the SHANK / THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE split 7". as I had 3 copies of that 7" anyway I offered a trade and NO MAN'S SLAVE's discography tape which was ltd. to 100 copies, is sold out by now and called YOU NEED TO START THINKING MORE ABOUT YOUR FUTURE was among the stuff I got through that trade. the tape has the 5 tracks from their split with I RESIGN from 2009, the 15 tracks from their SIEGE MENTALITY 7" from 2008 and 10 tracks that appeared on 2 self-released tapes in 2008 and 2009. the split 7" and their debut 7" have been released on GIVE PRAISE RECORDS and should be still easily available if I'm not mistaken. I therefore excluded the tracks from their records and just included the tracks from the tapes as they are sold out. music-wise people are quick to slap the INFEST tag on NO MAN'S SLAVE which in my opinion doesn't really do them justice! they do a LEFT FOR DEAD cover on their debut 7" and a BLACK FLAG cover on their demo and the influence of those 2 bands is as noticeable in their sound as that from INFEST. anyway d/l and check them out yourself!

MOB CONTROL 2.0

I've already made a post about the CROWD CONTROL / MOB RULES split 7" not that long ago, here to be more precise, but that post was just some sort of review and didn't incl. the music cause the 7" had just been released and I thought people should rather buy it than download it. in the meantime the 7" is sold out and Jamie the guy who runs SUBURBAN MAYHEM RECORDS left a comment telling me that as the physical copies would be all gone now I could upload mp3s of the tracks if I want and so...

ON A SIDE NOTE: if anybody has a copy of MOB RULES' THE DONOR 7" for sale/trade drop me a line!

DICKSUCK SUCKS!

I bought this 5" cause I love unusual record sizes and more or less buy every 5", 6", 8", etc. I can get my hands on and I also usually won't complain about the price and the music you get for your money but this 5" is a rip off! while STRAIGHT EDGE KEGGER's side has just one 59 seconds long track that's OK but not really groundbreaking KINFTHRUHEAD's side has a 2.03 minutes long track called ROADKILL DICKSUCK that sucks so bad I most likely won't play it ever again. "GRINDCORE" with a saxophone that sounds like their cover looks! speaking about their cover... I'm pretty sure that there are some learning disabled monkeys that would have been able to draw a better looking cover and b.t.w. write funnier lyrics too! download it from here and don't waste your money on his piece of crap. oh yeah, the grey marbled wax looks sweet but doesn't make up for the rest!