AMISH SLUTS

SCOTIA WIDOWS is another band that Kirk of SICK/TIRED plays in. if you expect them to be another FASTCORE / HARDCORE band like MK-ULTRA, SICK/TIRED, etc. let me tell you: you are wrong! in Kirk's own words: "Scotia Widows is basically me from mk-ultra with the drummer and guitarist from Pedestrians and the girl singing is from a lesser known chicago band called Venom Lords. Also, the "male" vocals are me singing. We have gotten comparisons to old Dangerhouse bands and Husker Du. It seems like a fair comparison." I guess I agree. but nevertheless SCOTIA WIDOWS are still a strange beast as there are some points where music and vocals seem to so far apart from one another that this must also be the reason that they still connect somehow. as I got a weak spot for female vocals I like it a lot! the physical copies of the CD-R were ltd. to 100 if you didn't get one click the pic for an mp3 rip of the demo.

WHY BE SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE NOT (the 3rd)

I've added the missing RUPTURE track! click the pic!

BEWARE KIWIS!

ok, another exception to the rule that says I just post records that are out of print or that I at least believe to be out of print. you still can get the SCAB / WALRORA split 7" from EL PASO RECORDS but as they are both Kiwibands and it was also released on a New Zealand based label you can't find it anywhere in Europe and I think not that many made it to the U.S. either I asked Carlos for his permission to post it here. 2 tracks from SCAB and 2 tracks from WALRORA is what you'll find here. SCAB is one of the many bands that feature Sam from SHORTLIVED & ROGERNOMIX and they play a fast, vicious & metallic brand of HARDCORE. b.t.w. they've released a really good 12" too. WALRORA aren't that much different to SCAB music-wise. nevertheless they are a little bit slower and sound a little bit more... let's say apocalyptic. anyway, check it out! click the pic below to d/l.
edit: I've just been told that WALRORA are from Australia.

BY THIS AXE THEY RULE!

I followed the advice of Mike Apocalypse and checked out VEDAVU. they just released SUMERIAN AXE's BY THIS AXE I RULE as a lathe cut 7" and TAFKATA's WORKER & PARASITE as a lathe cut 2 x 10" so far. I was stupid enough to just order the SUMERIAN AXE 7" first. when it surfaced today I was so blown away by the music and the packaging that I immediately placed another order for the TAFKATA 2 x 10". I'd love to recommend you order both at once but as I snatched the last copies of the TAFKATA 2 x 10" as well as the SUMERIAN AXE 7" that would somehow be pointless I guess. anyway, back to the SUMERIAN AXE 7"...the cover is a 6 color silk screen print which it's housed in a silk screened cloth-bag that's pro-sewn and the lyric sheet is also a 6 color silk screen print. to make up for the fact that the 7" is a lathe cut the bag includes a pro-done CD-R with the 2 tracks from the 7" and 3 additional live cuts. music-wise SUMERIAN AXE is a gritty mix of HARDCORE/PUNK and BLACK METAL - fast and vicious! if you get the chance to get your hands on this I'd advice you to grab it!

NEW GOODIES FROM BRIAN H.

Brian H. is back on the map and delivered some goodies for you... Hey, just wanted to send you a couple demos. first is a new d-beat hc band from Cincinnati. they started last winter after the bassist hank got kicked out of BRODY'S MILITIA. here's a link to their demo with complete scans and a review i found on a blog: FUCKED FOR LIFE are thrashing 5 piece d-beat hardcore from Cincinnasty. Hank of BRODY'S MILITIA on bass. Really tight bashing, gruff vox, and fantastic drumming. Their tightness and bad attitude remind me of early POISON IDEA but with a prominent scandi sound in there. Certainly FUCKED FOR LIFE have no influences beyond 1985 which may be before some of these maniacs were born!! Can I borrow your time machine? Songs are about hating life, getting fucked up, distortion, and getting fucked up, in that order. This tape had me making fists at cyclists from my car. Fuck bicycles! "Distortion & Death" is their anthem, simultaneously catchy and neck-breaking. SIKKKKKK! The last song "Down the Hatch" is a mid tempo rocker with a killer riff akin to "Detroit Rock City" by KISS but played with a hatred for non-alcoholic beverages. Being familiar with the FUCKED FOR LIFE live wall of distort, this demo seemed a little quiet but its not like i didn't love it and I'm ready for more. If you like wrecking ball hardcore punk, check out FUCKED FOR LIFE, they are one of the best bands in Ohio.

second is both demos from VILE GASH, pissed off hardcore from Columbus Ohio with Dennis from SOLAR FUNERAL and BLACK DOVE. both of these demo's are ridiculously short and I'm not aware of any sites or myspace pages for these guys.

MY RULES!

BROKEN NEEDLE started back in 2001 with the dissolve of LIFE'S HALT. Charlie had some songs written and presented them to Todd and Ryan. rehearsing with Eric Butterworth on drums and Jon Westbrook of LIFE'S HALT & KNIFE FIGHT on 2nd guitar, we put together about 6 songs. after their 1st drummer quit they picked up Gearbox on drums who used to be in TOTAL CHAOS before. in late 2002/ early 2003 they played our first couple of shows. during this time, we recorded an 8 song demo for an upcoming 7'' on LENGUA ARMADA REC. that didn't make it till today and therefore was released as a CD-R if I'm not mistaken.

on a side-note: there aren't any tags as far as the names of the tracks are concerned cause my lyric-sheet is so badly xeroxed I can't read the lyrics nor the track numbers properly!

COLOSSUS

the CITIZENS ARREST 2 x 12" discography, called COLOSSUS finally surfaced yesterday. I hope I don't need to tell you how fucking brilliant this band was (and still is!)? in any case, the packaging is as top-notch as the music. COLOSSUS comes in a gatefold cover and incl. a double-sided poster, a thick booklet with pics, flyers, etc. and the records are made of the 160g vinyl type. music-wise this discography is a little bit incomplete as the tracks from the live 8" and the CRUCIAL CHAOS radio-show on WNYU are missing (except one track of the later). the liner-notes say that the 8" tracks weren't included cause of the bad quality. that's a pity cause those tracks are as raw & vicious as it can get so who gives a fuck about the quality in that case? and as even my tape with the radio-show still is of ok quality I assume that a 1st generation copy of that show should have a quality that one could use without embarrassing oneself. what surprised me was that the tracks from the SONGS FOR THE SOCIALLY RETARDED tape comp. were not only left off the tape comp. isn't even mentioned anywhere. anyway, now that I told you what you won't get it's about time I tell you what you get. the a-side of the 1st 12" has the tracks from their 1989 demo on which the vocal duties were handled by a guy called Ted Leo while the later singer Darryl Kahan played drums. the b-side then follows up with the 6 tracks from their A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS 7" which was released in 1990 and which could be described in one word as: masterpiece. the 2nd 12" starts with the tracks from the various comps. on which CITIZENS ARREST appeared like the LOOK AT ALL THE CHILDREN NOW 12" comp., the FOREVER 7" comp., etc. and ends with a cover of RED C's PRESSURE'S ON that was supposed to be on the FUCK ROCK - ABC NO RIO comp. that never saw the light of day and was therefore unreleased till now. on the b-side you then get the tracks that were on their full-length from 1991 which also was already called COLOSSUS. to make a long story short: in my book HARDCORE is divided in two periods from start till 1994 and from there till now. why? cause from start till 1994 NEGATIVE APPROACH have been the only band that came close to usurping CITIZENS ARREST 's throne. they fought tooth and claw for the pole-position in my personal ranking till finally CITIZENS ARREST could slowly gain the upper hand in 1993. but when they just tried to catch their breath GEHENNA launched their 1st ambush attack and the war was on again and still goes on today! to spell it out for you: buy this record!
edit: when I found out that there is also a "die-hard" edition (= colored wax & incl. a patch) I immediately ordered one. now the sad thing is that after I placed my order I recognized that the label also distributes a lot of National-Socialist Black Metal which is a total let down! why CxA decided to work with those asscandles is beyond me as every label would have been honored to release the discography! therefore my new advice is: try to get the original records on e-bay or where ever you find them (I could maybe help you with a copy of their 12" or either pressing of the 8" which isn't on the record anyway). b.t.w. if you want to sell/trade me a copy of the A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS 7" or the COLOSSUS 12" on red vinyl shoot me an e-mail.

DON'T MISS IT!

POWER VIOLENCE a.k.a. "lightning fast HARDCORE" is the trademark of VILE NATION which hail from Memphis/TN which isn't exactly the capital of said style. nevertheless the 7" which was released on COWABUNGA REC. in 2008 rapes your stereo with 6 tracks that kick some serious ass! edit: I've uploaded a new rip as the 1st one was obviously fucked up!

PIZZA LOVERS vs. RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIAISTS

as FALL IS HERE literally I guess it makes really sense to post this demo which was sent to me by the band via e-mail. if I'm not mistaken they split up but have reformed again recently? music-wise it's fast HARDCORE with rough vocals and a METAL edge thrown in here and there. really solid especially as it's just a demo. if they'd manage to become as cool music-wise as they're already lyric-wise they'd be a totally slaying band. song-titles like PIZZA LOVERS VS. RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASTS (and the lyrics of that track) are way ahead of what most other band's have to offer! as the archive contains a lyric sheet you should d/l this and enjoy yourself by reading the sarcastic lyrics while playing the music loud!

KILL(ER DISCOGRAPHY)!

the long awaited MK-ULTRA discography 2 x 12" on YOUTH ATTACK has finally seen the light of day! having been announced for ages I started to doubt that it really would be released but fortunately I was wrong and so you've a chance to get your fix of MK-ULTRA without paying a small fortune on ebay for the org. wax. in my opinion they never got the attention they'd have deserved while they were alive and kicking. most people only referred to MK-ULTRA as "the other band of CHARLES BRONSON's drummer Ebro" which was/is far from doing them justice and in case you don't believe I suggest you buy their discography, which delivers 55 tracks of brilliant, fierce and angry FASTCORE/POWER VIOLENCE/whatever and hear for yourself. the 2 x 12" are on white vinyl and come in a gate-fold cover with a thick booklet. also included is a code that allows you to download high quality mp3s of the 55 tracks (ripped with 320 k/bits) and an additional 17 min. live cut. b.t.w. to celebrate the release of the discography MK-ULTRA will play a re-union show. see last pic. for details!

I'LL NEVER BREAK

a while ago Chris posted this on MOSH EISLEY: I was really blown away by this. 5 blistering songs where the longest lasts 0:37 seconds. The music is harsh and to the point with no intros or other bullshit and a singer who must have burbled with a mix of sandpaper and nails.Yes it's that tough a.k.a. just brilliant! Older guys from Think I care,Orchid and Bucket full of teeth in full affect here. 100 tapes were made which are sadly all gone by now. But the songs should be put on a one-sided 7" later this year on Clean Plate/Red Room Records.I'm really stoked,yeah!!! guess what - he was totally right. well, the 7" version arrived today and the VACCINE blog tells me that it's already sold out. so in case you didn't get one of the 300 copies I suggest you d/l it now.

FIGURE 4 RECORDS

ok, here you got all FIG. 4 RECORDS releases and some info from Rick who ran the label. a short (well not such a short) time ago he contacted me and asked me if I'd like to post his releases and as his releases are all great here you go... and don't forget to say thanks to Rick!

The record label came about in the normal way, I guess. I was getting more into hardcore when I went to college in a town that had a really active scene. The "twin cities" of Leominster/Fitchburg, Massachusetts had all these young people, just finishing high school, that were very talented musicians for their age. There were constant local shows, 'zines, etc. It was a pretty self-sufficient little scene just between 2 towns, and I got involved right away.

I was busy at school, but I had a real creative need to satisfy too. We basically scraped up the $$ to do a split 7", then used that "profit" to fund the next one, etc.

The records were well-liked at local shows, and thru zines and mail-order. My favorite part was trading with so many great labels and having a nice distro table at the back of every show in the area. I was even selling records while I slept! Some kids would come by the house and leave $$ in my box and take the records they wanted...!

There wasn't really a goal, just basically a need to satisfy a creative urge, and to promote my friend's bands! It started to slow down when my wife and I moved out of the little scene area, and we had done records with the whole "crew" basically...I was getting into t-shirt printing for bands, which I stuck with for a while, but Figure Four basically just lived it's life after 4 years.

The best memories were the record-stuffing sessions, studio antics, the shows we had in my living room and at the t-shirt factory, the contacts I made around the world, etc.

Keep in mind this was mid-90's, pre-internet! It was done the old-school way, no emails, websites, etc. 'Zines, word-of-mouth, mail-order...that was a great accomplishment now that I think about it! It wasn't just me, but a group effort of very generous individuals that made it all happen...that's what it was all about really, just young people doing their own thing. This was at the height of Grunge Rock and then Green-Day MTV "punk" so it was even more important to "keep it real" as they say...

I am REALLY happy (so are all the band-members) that 15 years later people are still listening to and spreading the music around. That's just incredible for just a handful of records from such a small scene so long ago.

I like to think it was part of a special time in Massachusetts Hardcore history, I know that sounds really cheesy but if you were there, you know it's true!

Thanks Mat for the awesome blog...and if anybody wants to get in touch about the "old days" there is a email address on the website www.corster.com/figurefour

-Rick MacDonald

HATCHET FACE - VOL. II 12"

I lost my own copy of the HATCHET FACE 12" years ago so if you want to sell or trade me a copy drop me a line!

IPECAC / OPPOSITION - SPLIT 7"

OPPOSITION - LIVE ON WXPL

OPPOSITION 7"

ENTROPY 7"

ENTROPY - WORLD OF DISGUST TAPE

ENTROPY / UNANSWERED - SPLIT 7"

DIVE 7"

NO WORRIES

the blog isn't dead it's just hectic here!

DEAD ABOVE THE NECK

I'm nearly 100% sure that I already had posted AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED's 2nd 7" but a blog search told me something different. so here it is (eventually here it is again). this little gem was released in 1997 and comes with 12 tracks that are among ANb's best works. even if it's drum computer GRINDCORE at it's best it's still love it or hate it. click the last pic.