Orgasm

I imagine that in 1969 Cromagnon's Orgasm record could have been an effective tool in scaring kids into not being hippies or taking drugs, but alas, that job was left to Art Linkletter, and not this ritual committed to tape by a strange sex cult of blotter-warped hippies living free and creepy in Connecticut. Sort of like if Gong were more like The Manson Family and really wanted to freak you out. Orgasm isn't for everyone, in fact it was only after several listens that I was able to get on board. Seriously, I know those chicks are kind of groovy, but don't get in their van or eat any of that brown rice they made special for you.

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Gunshots

The second demo by the mysterious Bay Area Black Metal band Lascowiec was titled Gunshots Ring Out Over Vinland Streets. It was released in a very limited run in 2006 by my short-lived tape label The Funeral Agency. This release shows a continuation of the Branikald worship of their first demo, Gesamkunstwerk. Both Lascowiec demos have been released as a CD by Dark Hidden Productions called Asgard Mysteries. As much as I love this band, and know them to be intelligent and noble beings, I am sometimes baffled by their flirtations with the shadier political elements of the Black Metal scene. Above all their music is pure, icy transcendental bliss, and should be heard.

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Magenta Skycode

It's hard to say what was going on in the heads of Thergothon's Niko Sirkiä and Jori Sjöroos when they decided to abandon towering doom and form This Empty Flow, a more delicate band reminiscent of the Cure or Slowdive. And while I am certain that Thergothon's five or six fans in 1994 were shocked and dismayed by this abrupt shift in style, Magenta Skycode is a beautiful record that might make you feel like a teenage girl who just had her heart broken by some mean boy.

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Nasty Savage

One of the only perks to growing up in Florida in the '80s was that every so often this really good speed metal band fronted by a semi-professional wrestler named Nasty Ronnie who drank blood from a severed head would come through our bullshit town and make us forget that we didn't have shit to do other than snort animal tranquilizers and lay in fields wondering what hell looked like.

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Group Sex

Not long ago a friend of mine invited me to go see one of my favorite local bands, Burmese. I really wanted to go but was a total pussy and stayed home instead and watched bimbos compete for love on VH1. I felt pretty douchey about it too, but what made matters worse was the text he sent the next day reading "Burmese played the Circle Jerks Group Sex start to finish last night. That's it." Well, then I felt like I really missed something rather special that will probably never happen again. So embittered and crestfallen I decided to spin Group Sex for the first time in about fifteen years. Yeah, it still totally rules. Deny Everything!

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Infernum

Here's some deeply occult, ancient Black Metal from Poland. Infernum was mainly the work of twisted genius Grzegorz "Karcharoth" Jurgielewicz. On this, the first official Infernum release, 1994's...Taur-Nu-Fuin..., Karcharoth is joined by Graveland members Darken (credited here as Icaunis) and Capricornus, on keyboards and drums respectively. So it's really no surprise that Infernum sounds a great deal like Graveland from the same period. Infernum was eventually put to rest due to Karcharoth's severe mental illness, and in 2004 he took his own life.

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Der Golem

Here's an incredible release called Zmet from the little known Russian postpunk band, Der Golem. Apparently one of the two members took his own life shortly after this was released in 1999, not terribly surprising when you listen to this. Pure existential ennui transposed into sound. Bummer.

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In The Sign Of Evil

What's better German Thrash or American Thrash? Sure the Americans were better players, but the Germans were just so fucking berserk that they could hardly give a fuck about cohesive solos, slick production, poofy hair, giant white tennis shoes, or any of that weak shit. Sodom's first official release, the magnificently wonky, Venom-obsessed In The Sign Of Evil is a relentless rollercoaster of teenage Germanic satanic punk metal that I never tire of.

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Spending Loud Night

More Confuse for the dirty desperate earholes of my noise-obsessed friends out there. The Spending Loud Night 7" contains Confuse's earliest recordings from 1983 but wasn't released until 1987. If you've been riding the Hearse for a while now you know as much as anyone about Confuse and you also know you need this essential piece of Japanoisecore history.

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Goatlord

Goatlord is hands-down my favorite Darkthrone release, simply because it is merely an old practice tape they later overdubbed with some bizarre non-sequitur vocals. The result is discomforting and intimate. Musically, this is some of Darkthrone's most interesting material. Before the icy blur of Transylvanian Hunger, Darkthrone were a bit more experimental and some of the work here sounds almost like the angular, instrumental math rock that was popular a few years later in the states. Many dismiss this as mere filler in the otherwise stellar Darkthrone discography, but to them I say, eat a bag of dicks. This is the most kult release by the most kult band. That alone should be enough for you.

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Oh, and check out the Rorschach test Fenriz did for my other blog.

Requiem

Here's another EP from Cathedral. You've heard of them, right? This is sort of centered around "Cosmic Funeral" which is one of their best songs even if it was totally ripped off from Saint Vitus' "Patra."

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Demon City Reaper

This dude Paul does this band called Demon City Reaper and he loves G.I.S.M. and Zouo, but this brief demo also has some of the same bizarre fumbling tendencies of some of my favorite lo-fi Black Metal bands like Akitsa, Command, Malveillance, and Stella Polaris. So fucking weird, I want more. I'm just taking a wild guess but I think the title means "New Wave of American Metal Punk," but this barely resembles anything recognizable.

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Night War

Crebain, led by Ancalagon, is another one-man Black Metal band from the Bay Area. The strength of Crebain lies in the cold precision of the Ancalagon's riffing. This, coupled with a rather obvious drum machine and effected vocals, make the sound rather unfeeling and mechanical. Nachtkrieg was Crebain's second demo and the material here ended up on a split with the influential one-man Bay Area Black Metal band Leviathan.

WAR!

Comin' Through

Before Ice T was content playing streetwise cops on second rate TV shows he was a gangsta rap entrepeneur and pioneer. In 1988 he sought to uplift the careers of some of his favorite young MCs with this compilation Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through. Sure this stuff is pretty dated but this has to be my favorite era for hip hop, the late '80s. Ice T himself kicks off the party with the Rhyme Syndicate theme song and comp title track, "Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through." What follows is a number of young acts looking to make a mark, but the rhymes are varying in quality from awesome (Domination's "You Haven't Heard Nothin') to good (Low Profile's "Think You Can Hang") on down to forgettable ("Syndication" by a pre-House Of Pain Everlast) and bad (Bango's "Ghettosih.") Still, Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through is an excellent chronicle of a specific scene, and ultimately that is what a good comp should do. I have to give mad props to the amazing Back 2 Da OG/Don't Bite Tha Phunk/One Eight Seven blog for bringing this back into my hopelessly caucasian life some twenty years later, thanks for not being all whack and shit. 

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Friends of Hell

Heavy riffs, stupid pseudo-Satanic lyrics, and imagery that is a cross between a Hammer Horror film and a Benny Hill sketch, Friends of Hell is the far superior Witchfinder General record, in my opinion. I'm sure the refined readers of The Hearse already know this one front to back, but perhaps you needed reminding.

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Hickey

"If punk was a religion then Hickey was the jihad."

-Dr. Vitus Greenway, Social Historian

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Jacula

Occult ritual prog from where else but Italy. Jacula was the work of Milano Satanist compositare, Antonio Bartoccetti. Bartocetti enlisted Doris Norton (also known as Fiamma Dello Spirito), organist Charles Tiring and medium Franz Porthenzy to round out the coven. At times Jacula reminds me of Goblin, at other times it brings to mind the classic Hammer Horror films. The band's debut album In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum was released in 1969, a very witchy year. The group released one more album before Antonio started operating under the moniker of Antonius Rex. He was also briefly a member of the English occult rock band, Black Widow. In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum is the kind of album you play when you are alone and maybe doing something else (preferably something Satanic,) it doesn't command you to listen to it so much as it creates an atmosphere for you to exist within. Does that make any sense? This is cult before there was kult. Satan!

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The Key To The Gates Of Apocalypse

The Key to the Gates of the Apocalypse was the second full-length released by Nokturnal Mortum mainman Knjaz Varggoth under the name Mistiggo Varggoth Darkestra, which incidentally has the best black metal logo of all time. After footsteps through a haunted forest, the program kicks in with some drum machine heavy, later-Bathory worship. Colossal and so deeply occult, The Key To The Gates is not to be missed.

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Brainfreeze

Two of the best turntablists in the field get together to cut, mix, scratch, butcher, dissect, and paste an amazing collection of obscure soul and funk 45s. Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow dug deep into their crates and dusted off many unheard gems for your hungry earholes and then patched them together into a continuous barrage of retro groove. The packaging has a whole 7-11 Slurpee theme that is irresistable. Brainfreeze sold out fast when it was originally released in 1999. Now it fetches high prices on eBay and Amazon. The duo followed up with the equally enjoyable Product Placement CD in 2001. In the event of an actual Brainfreeze, simply press your tongue against the roof of your mouth and count to ten, you'll be alright.

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PS-seems that the awesome Apocalypse West Coast Blog just posted Product Placement here. Get it!

Into The Grave

This is one of the more important Swedish Death Metal releases of all time, and for good reason, it is an absolutely crushing bit of trenchant neanderthal death metal. Grave were removed from the burgeoning Stockholm scene of Dismember and Nihilist by geography. Grave lived on the secluded island of Gotland so they didn't have access to the records and fanzines that other Swedish bangers enjoyed, they had rocks instead. They also had each other and a strong bond built on isolation and a mutual love for the more extreme metal that was emerging in the early '90s. Eventually they had the good sense to relocate to Stockholm and enter Sunlight Studios, and Into The Grave was born. Not as refined as Entombed or Dismember, Grave sounded more like their roughshod surroundings, perhaps one reason why this record is just so heavy.

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Oxnard

Oxnard, California, the largest city in Ventura county and the lima bean capital of America, brought us something more than legumes you didn't want to eat as a child, Nardcore. Bands like RKL, Dr. Know, Agression, False Confession, Stalag 13, Habeas Corpus and Ill Repute were comprised of kids, many latino, who lived in a nebulous area, away from LA's erudite art punks, and Orange County's uber-violent surf nazi jocko retards. They created their own scene and style that married the aesthetics of So Cal hardcore, skateboarding, and cholo cool. At the forefront was Ill Repute, and What Happens Next was the band's debut statement. It is a furious bit of teenage hostility that still makes me want to grab my stick and rip it up on southern Cali suburban streets. Nardcore!

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The Last Scene

Les Anges de la dernière Scène is the second demo tape from deeply occult French Black Metal band, Epheles, and it happens to be one of my favorite underground cassettes. Though they formed in 1998 and are currently active, Epheles evoke the atmosphere of the earliest melodic French bands like Funeral and Blessed In Sin. Beautiful and chaotic riffs coupled with muddled production, liberal use of outmoded keyboards, and overblown vocals have become the calling cards of the underground French Black Metal scene and Epheles is no different. Raw and vaguely classy and very very French. Très magnifique!

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戯曲

Back in June of 2008 I posted Maria Kannon's first demo. I spoke of their unique brand of melancholic Japanese Yakuza rock that was reminiscent of The Birthday Party and YBO². I spoke of Maria Kannon's trademark eccentric collage cover art. Now I present you with their EP (I don't know the title, it's in Japanese) This is the audial equivalent to Seppuku.

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Druid

Some serious downer metal from Boston's Druid. Excellent band name, totally enticing album title and cover, and a bludgeoning super-doom Iommi guitar tone, but the magick kind of ends there. Vampire Cult really could have been so much greater, but seems content to wallow in the shallow waters of lake mediocre. Definitely not horrible, but way short of the mark. I'm sure someone out there thinks these dudes were unheralded geniuses, most likely that someone was in the band.

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Hardcore Unlawful Assembly

This important early compilation gathers some of the greats of the Japanese Hardcore pantheon, mainly from Japan's largest cities, Tokyo and Osaka. Hardcore Unlawful Assembly was released in 1984 and provided many with their first dose of G.I.S.M., the Zeus of that pantheon, as well as greats Laughin' Nose, Lip Cream , Zouo, and Outo. Also you get Cobra, Baws, and Mobs who may not be as frenetic as the others but don't dilute the potency of Hardcore Unlawful Assembly. Just like the comp of Kyushu punkers Violent Party, this compilation is a great primer in the vast world of Japanese punk. Again this rip comes courtesy of the amazing Am I Mean blog, Domo Arigato Mr. Papst Benedikt, Mata ah-oo hima de.

本格的で不法なアセンブリ

Suddenly...

That cover art alone should have you foaming at the ear to hear Sudden Death's sole album, the 1971 release Suddenly... Little is known about the band and the internet hasn't yielded much more information. I do know that if you dig amped-up fuzzy hammond-driven cult rock then you'd do wise to check this out. Wish I could tell you more, perhaps someone out there has a weird burn-out uncle or guitar teacher that played in this band and can find out more.

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Sadorass

More Black Metal flavored lo-fi and primitive. This time it comes courtesy of Sadorass from the Lower Saxony region of Germany. Sadorass is made up of two mysterious entities known only as S and F.B. In the Chill of the Dark Forgotten Forest was the band's first demo, released in 1996. The German lyrics delve into typical Black Metal subject matter such as winter nights, swords, and hate. So amateurish and wonky, the way we like our Black Metal here at the hearse. Even better is how this band's name makes John Gossard titter like a little girl.

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Torture

This is what you get when high-brow Jazz musicians indulge their deepest low-brow love of grindcore, pulp novels, and far-eastern fetish porn, Naked City's Torture Garden album. As much as I hate this kind of musical "slumming it," this album blew my mind upon my first listen. Skittish blur-lounge death spasms from codgers that usually play dreadful places like Yoshi's and one mister Eye of The Boredoms. Essential.

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Ancestortooth

Another deep and provocative tape release from the arcane Salem, Oregon based label, Woodsmoke. Ever since I posted the munn cassette, you all have been up my ass for more stuff from Woodsmoke, so here you go. Ancestortooth is the usual Woodsmoke suspects doing some esoteric soil stained doooooooom. This tape is called The Elephant Boneyard.

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Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism

"Hey, Demonaz, what are you up to tonight?"

"Nothing really, Abbath, gonna maybe watch Seinfeld and dick around on this new thing called the internet."

"Oh fuck that. Me and Armagedda were thinking about going down to the old ruined cottage in the woods, drink some beers, blow some fire and shit, wanna come along?"

"Sure, why not."

"Cool. We'll pick you at 10ish"

"Later, bro"

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