Blood Alliance

This 2007 spilt pairs two Quebecois bands: Csejthe and Ziel Bevrijd. Csejthe starts it off with some hokum LOTR intro and then the raw scrape of French Canadian Black Metal endures for five more tracks. Csejthe is decent enough but their contribution here suffers from a lack of consistency in production. Ziel Bevrijd's Black Metal is a bit more Norse sounding, dynamic, and melodic. Ziel Bevrijd are more interesting, but both bands compliment each other well and share a similar aesthetic. Their alliance of blood resulted in an engaging piece of winter-forged Quebecois dark art.

Here

Fly

Fly

4 Tribes

Excellent four-way split of obscure Japanese bands from 1988. まつじ (Matsuji,) 666, Poison Arts, and F.O.A.D. play fast, fuzzy, metal-tinged Japanese Hardcore. All the bands deliver the goods and will sate any fan of the Japanese thrashing punk, but まつじ kind of standout with their occasional vocal forays into Bad Brainsisms. I can't think of a better way to kill fifty minutes than with four devil-driven far-east death tribes.

攻撃

Power From Hell

When I wrote about Black Uniforms I mentioned Onslaught, then realized I haven't featured the British thrash masters on the Hearse before. Onslaught started in 1983 in the bullshit town of Bristol as a punk band, but by 1985 the young men of Onslaught were possessed by Satan and opted to play more metal on their debut. You can still here plenty of Discharge influence, and I think this is precisely why Power From Hell is Onslaught's best release, and one of the coolest thrash albums of the 1980s. With each album, they became less punk, more polished, and eventually enlisted Steve "Grim Reaper" Grimmett to front the band for 1989's underwhelming In Search of Sanity. Onslaught reformed in 2006 and has since released two more studio albums, but I have no idea if they are worthwhile or not. I don't need to know, I have Power From Hell on three formats.

Power!

Bagatur

Bagatur, from Bulgaria, play some strange Black Metal comprised mostly of keyboards, drums, and whispered vocals. Occasionally there are guitars, horses and battles, and female vocals amidst the bizarre proceedings. Bagatur may have some dodgy politics and nefarious connections, but there is nothing in the packaging or program to really confirm this. Decide for yourself if you are comfortable with this, but be reminded, that doesn't mean you get to decide what is posted.

Here

Weeping

Here's the first release, Weeping, from Mournful Congregation, Australia's long standing purveyors of crushingly slow and despondent doooooom. These dour down underlings have stayed true to their formula for almost twenty years. This demo isn't terribly unlike the fantastic album, Book of Kings they released just last November. I can respect this determination and dedication to doing what they do; play cripplingly depressing funeral doom with beautiful melodic overtones. I have loved every bit of music these gallant men have issued forth. This is sitting home alone, drunk on your floor ruminating on all your failures and shortcomings kind of doom. Listen at your own risk.

Here

Splatter Punk

Splatter Punx on Acid collects the entire discography of Swedish prettyboy metallic hardcore band Black Uniforms. I remember being kind of down on these dudes back in the day because of their corny image, but that aside, these guys hit upon something great at times. Their flirtations with metal seemed a bit more informed than Discharge's or Broken Bones', The Uniforms were at their best when they ventured into the more speed metal realm of their material, sometimes they remind me of a more haphazard Onslaught. Great hair.

Here

Selda

Selda Bagcan is one of the bigger names in Anatolian psych, but outside her native Turkey, the genius of this woman is barely known. Selda is regarded for her scathing indictments of the Turkish government and work with various political causes. Selda isn't just singing about it. In the 1980s Selda was jailed three times and her passport seized. Her best known album (mainly due to the great 2006 reissue by Finder's Keepers) was her 1976 joint simply titled Selda. The album is crammed full of absolutely infectious melodies, masterful arrangements, twists at every turn, and Selda's powerful wailing voice and guitar. I promise that by the opening riff of "Ince Ince" you will be under the spell of Selda, if not then you are fucking dead inside.

Here

Elected Evil

Easily one of the greatest monuments to French Black Metal supremacy is Bekhira's stunning debut L'Elu du Mal. Every track bristles with shimmering melodic tremolo picking, blasting washes of drums, and distant anguished vocals. The Paris-based band is an elusive entity, only releasing one demo, a split with Desolation Triumphalis, and this colossal album over the seventeen years since their formation. Member Arkdae has kept consistently busy with his Neo-folk band Dark Sanctuary, while Raktivira has worked with other French kults Osculum Infame and Arkhon Infaustus. The members of Bekhira consider the band to be active, but not a word about new material has surfaced. Hopefully there is more Bekhira to come, in the mean time get with this bit of evil.

Mal

Rollin'

Like Ike Quebec, Leo Parker was considered washed up by the time he signed to Blue Note in 1961, also like Quebec, Parker's comeback yielded a couple of fantastic standard hard bop records, and even more tragic, like Quebec, Leo Parker died soon after. Of the two albums made for Blue Note, I definitely prefer Rollin' With Leo, it is a bawdy, brassy album full of swagger and swing. Pimp Jazz.

Roll With It