R.I.P. Derf Scratch

Derf Scratch aka Frederick Milner III, the original bass player of FEAR has passed away. He didn't care about you. Fuck you.

Ruth

Ruth was a strong contender for the title of best thing about the BIPPP comp posted some time back, so I thought my dear readers would enjoy hearing more from this early French synth wave trio of Thierry Muller, Phillipe Doray, and Ruth Ellyeri. Their LP Polaroid/Roman/Photo contains some hook-laden, ultra-cold, future-of-the -80s pop muzik filtered through the French psyche, especially the title track, which may well be one of the greatest songs of the decade. Some questionable bits along the way ("Mabelle") but the album closes with the epic "Tu M'ennuies," and you feel sated.

Here

Elu of the Nine

Elu of the Nine is another blackened doom/drone void abyss from the prolific folks of Woodsmoke productions. I get a lot of emails requesting more from these individuals and I am happy to oblige. These young men from Salem Oregon make some of the most interesting home recordings out these days, but painfully hard for the general public to get a hold of, I am very kvlt and have my ways. Now I pass it on to you.

9

Confuse 1983 Demo

Therefore when you note, fuckface, now you understand the outer space Hearse' love Confuse. Noise central attack of sexual nucleus spazz seems like the thing which has the hydrochloric acid methamphetamine of Japanese porno directly poured to your dickhole. Youth rebellion of the jacket and hair where the tip of Kyushu becomes pointed spike. As for the corrosive demonstration cassette from 1983... there is here... It ended your world!

騒音

Inmitten Des Waldes vs. Mortualia

Not so much a bout but rather a sad-off between two Black Metal bands favoring a more sorrowful and somnambulant style of kvlt and nekro. Already I come into this with a serious bias, Inmitten Des Waldes is the work of N. Schner (Valium, Namelezz Projekt,) who I believe to be one of the more interesting characters in the South American scene. However Mortualia's Shatraug is no slouch. With an impressive resume including Horna, Sargeist, and Behexen (among others), I was eager to hear Mortualia. Inmitten Des Waldes start off with a fluttering melancholic piano intro and then lurch into the track "Supreme Tragedy of All the Times." The band follows a more crawling Burzum approach, not terribly unlike fellow countryman and Hearse favorite, Draugurz. Mortualia also prefer the more lethargic tempos, but while Inmitten are depressed and forlorn, Mortualia is just plain snapped. Weird desperate shreiks over menacing, meandering riffs. This one is almost too close to call, both bands are simply mesmerizing, but I might have to give it to Mortualia for their closing track "Paine Sortie..." which makes me want to cut my wrists in a bath tub full of breast milk.

Here

Stylish God

Tepid and loping rockabilly from 1965 made utterly fascinating by the big booming lesbian voice of sixteen-year-old Isabel Baker, as she sings of blood and hell with as much conviction as Jeff Becerra. She digs God, and can't wait to die so she can meet him. Very little information exists on this pious platter, but it has been repressed as a CD and has appeared on many blogs before. Get some Jesus on you with this weird record.

Jesus!

Crud Wizard

Here's a shameless plug. Ezra, my nine year old son now has his own blog, CRUD WIZARD. I am helping him with the back end layout stuff but the writing and content is 100% his own choosing. You might want to start following it now, it shows promise. Yeah, I know I am biased. Support young writers!!!

Alverna Gunn

Alverna Gunn were one of many hard rocking bunches of Anglo youngsters immersed in the NWOBHM scene. Being from the bullshit town of Lowestoft in Suffolk county, Alverna Gunn didn't enjoy the notoriety of some of their peers, despite being quite a good band. Here I present Alverna Gunn's 1982 demo. The first two tracks are strong typical NWOBHM rockers. The final track, "Once Bitten Twice Shy" is the sort of throwaway AC/DCish bit o' pub band tripe that mars so many otherwise perfect NWOBHM demos and singles. This demo is worth it for "Mad Dog" alone.

Here

Atavistic

Atavistic were a little known UK anarcho-crust band from Kent who released two great 7" EPs and a somewhat forgettable LP before calling it quits in 1991. Here is the second of those EPs titled Equilibrium, it was released in 1988. This is like Amebix taken to its noisiest extreme. Quite pummeling and dark. One of my favorite little records from that nebulous time between hardcore and post-hardcore.

Here

Isolation

For those of you paying attention, Lascowiec is an extremely mysterious and amazingly talented Black Metal band based out of San Francisco. They released two brilliant cassettes through my former label The Funeral Agency. The few copies of Gesamkunstwerk and Gunshots Ring Out Over Vinland Streets were scooped up fast, and were both extremely well-received when they were featured here on The Hearse. This is Lascowiec's third demo, the as of yet unreleased Isolation, and it is perhaps their most compelling work yet. Fuck, I love this band.

Isolate

Mecano

Here's a fantastically maudlin album that you may have missed unless you're Dutch and over 30. Mecano were pretty well known in Holland but the rest of the world would remain wholly ignorant to their dour Post-Punk that is reminiscent of early Cure and Savage Republic. On the band's ambitious debut, Autoportrait, a wide variety of instrumentation and textures were employed, it's quite a piece of work that shouldn't rot in obscurity. Perhaps it was that lame cover, perhaps it is because, despite this album being received well, the band dissolved shortly after it's release. However, Mecano reformed in 1995, and again in 2005 and remains active today. Autoportrait is one of those uncommon records that takes you on a journey and drops you off feeling sated. Recommended.

Here

Mythos

Mythos hailed from Finland, played crushing primitive Death Metal, and in 1993 they vomited forth this repugnant demo titled Moulded in Clay. The band self released 250 copies and caught the attention of Evil Omen records who released a few of these tracks on a four-way split with Expulsion (Sweden,) Mysthical (Spain,) and Unexpected (Holland.) Moulded in Clay is easily one of the best non-Swedish early Death Metal relics. Monstrous. They went on to release a few disappointing records, but I don't mind, this rules.

Moulded

Southern Elite Circle

Like the BMIA, the Black Twilight Circle, and Blazebirth Hall, The Southern Elite Circle is yet another alliance of like-minded Black Metal bands that share members and hail from a particular region, this time Argentina. Oddly enough the bands associated with the SEC promote a nationalist socialist agenda that may offend some of you more sensitive readers. This lengthy compilation showcases the bands with each band delivering two tracks. First up is the extremely harsh Argenraza (who were featured on the Hearse here.) Argentum's acoustic guitar and flute folk metal track "La Tierra Blanco" sounds pretty tame after Argenraza, and their second track "Jose Antonio" is a corny darkwave number with lazy samples of some speech, presumably by canonized Spanish Fascist, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. Campo de Mayo's first track is rather bland generic Black Metal, but their second is a more primitive sounding repetitive piece that is far more interesting. Furor's first track is just layers of hypnotic guitars, it works much better than the second track, which is rather base poorly recorded Black Metal. Nachtgeblut are clearly the most proficient band of the group, but this doesn't mean they are the most enjoyable. They turn in a rather plain Black Metal song and a hokey keyboard piece. Permafrost has cool guitar tones and simple robotic riffs, at first the obvious drum machine and generic vocals were a distraction but I found myself liking the band by the end of their two songs. The compilation wraps up with Ulfhethnar who aren't terribly original but their no frills blasting chaotic Black Metal is enjoyable just the same. Argenraza and Permafrost are the real standouts here, but from front to back the Southern Elite Circle compilation is a dynamic and consistently interesting listen, even if the bands aren't spectacular on their own.

Here

Shub-Niggurath

Here's some dark Lovecraftian Zeuhl Prog from Shub-Niggurath. Shub-Niggurath hailed from France and were bong buddies with the seminal Magma. Imagine a jazz band condemned to play for an eternity in some smoky dive in R'lyeh or a Beksinski painting and you get an idea of Shub-Niggurath's immense and heavy trip. Confusing and menacing as their name implies. Essential.

Iä! Shub-Niggurath! Iä!!

Tableau of a Lithotomy

Sort of like Carcass without guitars, drums, bass, or growled vocals. This gatefold 7" was manufactured in the '60s by the Norgine Pharmaceutical Company to promote some sort of bladder medicine that probably later was revealed to cause babies to be born with flippers or something. Brutal.

Here

Arrowz

Holy fuck!!! This has to be one of the greatest obscure bits of early Swedish metal of all time, Arrowz (not to be confused with the other great Swedish metal act Arrows) and their decidedly fucked up Birds of Steel/Help Me single. I mean, fuck, check out the drummer, he looks like a math teacher. So can the music contained within meet the grand promise of their logo and their look? Well, shit howdy, it far surpasses any expectation with it's drunken lo-fi grit, ham-fisted amateurish playing, and desperate vocals belting out ESL lyrics about detrimental partying and metallic birds. The only downside to this record is that it is a scant eight minutes. Arrowz did follow up with a demo that I would gladly fork over my left nut for, even just a batch of shitty sounding mp3s. If you don't absolutely love this record you are probably some kind of nazi baby raper. Just sayin'.

Here

No Mercy

Hey Homes, you ready to knuckle up to another Venice style double-dipped beatdown from some beach bum cycos hell bent on motor-thrash and botom-shelf angel dust? Good, because this bit of chunked up cholo aggression comes ripping from No Mercy, a band of bandana-clad badasses with Suicidal's Mike Muir on vocals. Also appearing on this slab of vato violence is one Ric Clayton, the guy behind much of the Suicidal Tendencies artwork over the years. However the cover art of Widespread Bloodshed Love Runs Red was done by the amazing Eric Gottesman, whose bizarre airbrushings can be seen on albums by Beowulf, Dr. Know, Excel, and of course Suicidal. Put this on, get some loveboat coursin' through the ol' veins, hop on your stick and head out to crush some skulls. Pendejos just don't understand, fuck 'em.

Y Que?

Lost In Shadows

So many great albums featured here on the Hearse with pictures of castles on the sleeve. What is it about an image of a medieval fortified structure that is so appealing? Anyhoo, this obscure gem comes courtesy of Morgul and their castle, located deep in Østfold, Norway and 1997. For me, this is the time when Norwegian Black Metal was at it's creative peak, before Covenant became Kovenant and the scene lost it's direction, and before every ugly teenager had Garageband. Lost In The Shadows Grey may pale in comparison to albums released by Satyricon, Enslaved and Gorgoroth at the same time, but it is still an impressive time stamp of Black Metal with enough atmosphere and great melodic riffing to satisfy.

Lost

BIPPP

This compilation of early French Synth Wave weirdness is absolutely stunning. Outmoded synths and e-drums float some of the most infectious hooks to put a smile on your dour mug. This is Franco-Robot pop music of the highest caliber. Every track is simply delicious but standouts come from Act, Comix, Ruth, Visible, and the fantastic Mary Möör (need more Möör.) Seriously, if you can't get behind this you might as well report to your nearest Sleepshop at once.

Here

Spikehead

We're going to do something different here. Rather than give you some audial treasure I have decided to share a PDF of Spikehead zine issue #4 so generously provided by the awesome RAF666 blog. The zine was painstakingly written, edited, and laid out by two dedicated French fiends, Ben and Sebastien. I'm guessing this was around 1990. This issue features some of The Hearse's favorite early extremists: Dismember, Death, Autopsy, Sabbat, Carcass, Asphyx, and Napalm Death. Essentially morbid reading.

Read!!!