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!

ici

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.

ここに

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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Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace were a staple in the South Florida punk scene, opening for every big national touring act that hit The Cameo Theater in Miami Beach in the mid '80s. I used to hate on these guys for being slick, macho and for blow drying their hair to poser perfection before a gig, but this record isn't too bad, really. It ain't terribly original, but it borrows from some cool sources, mainly Motorhead, Killing Joke, and The Cro Mags. I bet these guys pulled their share of punkette poon back in the day. Whatever.

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Later

Okay, so I'm going to be gone for two weeks on a brief tour of Europe with Agalloch. The Hearse will resume transmissions as soon as I return (April 1st.) In the mean time, peruse the archives, check out the links to other great blogs, and maybe take a class in Tex Mex cuisine. Take care.

Uneasy Listening

Heed my words, dear readers: This will either instantly become one of your favorite things or you will loathe it. It's that simple. Z-Trip and DJ P have created with Uneasy Listening Volume 1 a massive cauldron of cheap, archaic break beats and mash ups of pop music from the '80s, all cleverly done and pieced together flawlessly. Bits of Madonna, The Police, Midnight Oil, Metallica, Ratt, and a host of other 1980s MTV regulars are rearranged into a DaDaist stream of conscience salad sprinkled with shimmery cocaine badness. This came out in 2001. As far as I know, a volume 2 has yet to be unleashed. If you're out there Z-Trip and DJ P, hurry up and bring me more waffles!

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Trapped

Despite an obvious influence by INFEST, Lack of Interest is no copycat band. LOI spin the blunt force of INFEST's delivery into a choppy, angular conclusion. If INFEST were a volley of blows to the head, Lack of Interest are a whirlwind of precise karate chops delivered by a barking rottweiler ripped on cholo PCP and power violence.

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Vorväter

I just realized that I have yet to do a proper post on one of my favorite NSBM bands, Germany's Bilskirnir. So here I present Bilskirnir's limited fourth demo Vorväter. An unrepentant hardline white nationalist named Widar is Bilskirnir's sole member. But even more interesting than Widar's far right politics is his penchant for almost pop-punk hooks. They creep up often in Bilskirnir's sizable catalog. At times Bilskirnir reminds me of what could have been if the original Absurd line up took their primal Teutonic death punk to the next level of basement misanthropy, and kind of like Graveland if Darken listened to more Oi and Street Punk. Since this early demo, Bilskirnir has cranked out consistently choice releases that you might want to avoid if you are particularly sensitive to racism, nationalism, aryanism, pan-europeanism, heathenism, paganism, odinism or any other isms that don't agree with whatever isms you are wrapping yourself in these days.

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Kreamy 'Lectric Santa

Here's some wonderous high lowbrow art damage pop psych acid genius fuckery from my friends Kreamy 'Lectric Santa, and their debut CD Da Bronx Sity Chiken Machine. KLS (for short) are the life's work of Robert and Priya, the cutest couple on Earth and twisted, almost Blake-like visionaries. It's rare when a band can create their own aesthetic, their own universe and be unencumbered by any outside influence, and KLS do it effortlessly and with a fair amount of snarky humor and astute observation. Not to mention they write some of the most infectious songs you are likely to hear. The band formed way back in the early '90s in Miami. Some time ago Priya was left paralyzed after an accident but this only firmed their resolve. KLS now live in Oakland, California, where they continue to churn out deliciously outsider pop music in the form of numerous 7"s, and CDRs. The band has plans to release a new full-length CD very soon. Oh, and that is David Vincent (whom the album is dedicated to) on the collage above. KLS has some weird obsession with the Morbid Angel frontman. Okay.

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Ultra-Violence

Pubescent Pinoy bangers, downey moustached puffy white tennies and rat weed. The Ultra-Violence was the heaviest thing going in San Francisco in 1987 next to AIDS. Death Angel were the boy wonders of the burgeoning, bludgeoning Bay Area thrash scene and this album was their bold mission statement. Some might be turned off by Mark Osegueda's vocals, but this album packs enough chunky riffage and youthful exuberance to power the city by the bay. An ultra- classic.

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Alert!

Before the talk show, before the Apple and Gap ads, before The Chase, before the Dolphin shorts, before the poetry, before the weird Jim Morrison/Jim Dandy/Charles Manson persona, before Damaged there was S.O.A. and this angry little record just bursting at the seams with Henry Garfield hostility. It's pretty clear why Ginn wanted to give this kid a job.

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Black Power

The next Cosmic Hearse Zamrock offering, The Peace's one and only album Black Power is the rarest of African psych treasures next to Blackfoot's The Footsteps album. Like all things Zambian I've posted here, the recording is stark, honest, and totally mesmerizing. If anyone out there can satisfy my endless jones for obscure African psych I would greatly appreciate it.

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Right On!

Servitude

The raw minimalist Montreal Black Metal band Akitsa's humble beginnings, a tape called Total Servitude, emerged in 1998. Even though Akitsa would grow into a more punk concern almost resembling G.I.S.M. at times, this demo shows a more Les Legions Noire sound and atmosphere, with a great deal of lo-fi experimentation and surface noise. Not one for the Black Metal dilattantes out there.

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New Blog Launched

So I had been neglecting Legacy Document (my other blog), and I felt it was kind of half-assed anyways so I have deleted it. However, I was fond of the Rorschach Tests so I have saved those to a new blog that will just be the Ink Blot test results of people I find to be interesting. The new blog is called Blot Und Eisen, and I urge you to check it out. Also if you know someone of note that you think might participate in this experiment please send them my way. Fuck, I still can't believe Fenriz did one, awesomeness.

Love

Some douchey critics and record store clerks will prattle on about what a masterpiece Love's Forever Changes is, and they would be correct. Some douchey critics and record store clerks will dismiss it as an overrated piece of hokey '60s schmaltz, and they would also be correct. From it's opener, the spaghetti western tinged "Alone Again Or..." to its closing number, "You Set The Scene," Forever Changes is a crystal clear photograph of 1967 psychedelic Los Angeles. The songs are individually wrapped baroque pop delicacies made sweeter by Love frontman, the eccentric Arthur Lee. So don't listen to the beleaguered ramblings of fuck sticks who think they know more about great art than you, just listen to this record if you haven't, and decide for yourself.

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Ambush

Here's a fantastic little record from another unknown early Swedish metal band called Ambush. Some very gracious reader helped me cross this off my wishlist, but because I am an ungrateful asswad I forgot who that was.

Tack Själv

Brotherhood

Obnoxious, self-righteous, lily-white, jocko dicktards littered the Boston Hardcore scene of the '80s, but sometimes they made really great punk records.

Bro

Ünnepnap

Back when The Hearse started and we didn't know each other all that well, I invited you to a balls out Hungarian coke party in the form of Skorpio's first album A Rohanas. But did you come? No, you didn't. The post got one lonely comment. Whatever, bro. The party went on without you. Hell, that just meant there was more disco biscuits, blow and 1970s Eastern European silver dollar nipples for the rest of us. You missed out is all I'm saying. Well lucky for you Skorpio had another kick ass Budapest fuckfest with their second LP Ünnepnap. The title means "Feast" and feast you will on their chunky riffs, catchy choruses, wailing organs, sideburns and male camel toe. Seriously, don't fucking drop the ball a second time.

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Corneus

Yet another really fucked up Saarland Black Metal cassette. Is their no end? Corneus' Teufelschmand might be my favorite of the bunch, perhaps only because one of these songs is sung by a dog who is credited on the tape cover as "Arko-Guest Growls." Beyond lo-fi, crazy effected vocals and overpowering cheap synths are the hallmark of this scene, and Corneus takes it a step further, ejaculating into brown acid swamps of sonic butt fudge. I want to smoke PCP and stay up all night talking about Josef Goebbels' sex life with Corneus. That's how fucked up this tape is.

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Latinamericarpet

Otro tesoro de Sublime Frequencies. Esta vez nos llevan a pasado festivo de Latin America. Todas las ilustraciones arbitrarias extrañas en el empaquetado felicitan la clase de sensación audio de la emisión de radio del collage de la grabación. Muy delicioso

Aquí, cuello del pavo

Infestation

Here's some bargain basement meth-lab Death Metal from Merced, California's Infestation. The band circulated this demo to score gigs. While it's nothing ground-breaking or terribly original, it is not without its charms. Not to mention that these dudes were really cool guys despite being from Merced, which is full of tiny-teethed tweaker scumbags who would rape your sister for a lottery ticket. Why do I hate Merced? Fuck, have you ever been there? Desperate, dusty and full of dicks. The kind of place you end up only because your car or your life decided to break down.

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The Landmark Case of Faith v. Void

Faith v. Void (1982), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that overturned mediocrity in hardcore splits. The justices ruled in favor of Void. Sandra Day O'Connor got a mohawk shortly after.

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Knuckle Noise

Perhaps one of the finest releases from one of my favorite labels, Fossbrenna Productions. Knokkelklang's 2008 cassette Kalk & Aske is a lumbering umber hulk of depressive, layered Black Metal. Not unlike the pensive post-rock leanings of Veil or Marblebog. Knokkelklang are more despondent than hateful, more dejected than misanthropic. Nice to hear some Norwegian bands that still understand the importance of mystery and obscurity in Black Metal.

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The Hanatarash And His EYE

Here is Hanatarash's 1992 EP titled The Hanatarash and his EYE. Wildness.

ナチの金属をサーフする酸

Skulduggery

Degenerate pirate Death Metal that has almost as much in common with later Black Flag as with Nunslaughter. Now I have your attention, good. Skulduggery is the first full-length from Australian horde Cauldron Black Ram. This record absolutely floored me with its equal parts primal gut-punch and musical competence. It's been almost five years since its release, I hope this band has more goat-headed stew brewing in their blackened pot. This is highly highly recommended.

Ahoy

Grave Mistake?

Like Bad Religion's Into The Unknown, Discharge's 1986 album Grave New World showcased an abrupt shift in style and was met with widespread derision and scorn. I'm sure everyone has heard about the disastrous tour where people booed them off stage and, in some cases, pelted them with trash, but has everyone heard this album, formulated an opinion on the record's own merits? Perhaps you have, I don't really know. Listen and reflect in the comments, or don't.

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First Spell

Gehenna's 1994 EP First Spell is a classic bit of second-wave Norwegian Black Metal. The use of archaic keyboard sounds over the top of the plodding mid tempo riffs sets this apart from the herd. The '60s church organs on opening track "The Shivering Voice Of The Ghost" are to die for (check the solo that begins roughly at 2:09). Sadly, Gehenna didn't really follow this path with their first full-length Seen Through the Veils of Darkness (The Second Spell), which is a decent enough album but fails to hold the magick and mystique of First Spell. This was when Norwegian black metal was new and exciting, before it was fully realized, when the deranged fumblings of pasty disenfranchised Scandi teens made for great art with depth and distance. Fall under its spell.

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German Oak

Nibelungenlied is the second (and far superior in my opinion) album by uberkult Krautrock underdogs German Oak. As the title suggests, inspiration came from the epic German poem The Song of the Nibelungs, the same poem that had inspired Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle one hundred years before. This recording is incredibly lo-fi, not unlike much of the black metal featured here on The Hearse. Recorded in 1976, Nibelungenlied may be the first kult black metal record ever made, sonically speaking. Primitive necro death psych to be listened to in the dark.

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Puzzling

Yamantaka Eye (Boredoms, Hanatarash, Naked City) and well-known visual artist and Juke/19 mastermind, Shinro Ohtake, launch a new genre they call "Puzzle Punk" by creating this fake compilation of 24 bands packaged in a stunning book of Ohtake's illustrations. All the tracks by puzzle punk bands with names like City Band, Do Good, Ha Ha Ha, Poo, Rapebeatles, Dr. Drugland, Wipe Out Shock Shoppers, and MC5 or 6, are in fact the work of Eye and Ohtake. Like the Hanatarash/Evil Moisture collaboration posted some time back, this is more like Hanatarash than anything else, but you also get Ohtake's weird collage/found object design/sound sense. If you are a fan of the stop-start, glitchcore sonic quilts of Juke/19 or Hanatarash you will find this interesting, all others will find this annoying and pointless. I'm willing to indulge Ohtake and Eye and tag this as a compilation.

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Riot

This seal-headed scorcher is the best bit of NWOBHM to come from The Big Rotten Apple, NYC!. Every minute of Fire Down Under is pure, uncut, tight white denim heaven, but the standout for me will always be "Swords and Tequila," a rager that bears a riff later co-opted by Maiden for their own "2 Minutes To Midnight." Lyrics that deal in what rock is about... gambling, broads, cars, outlaw desperadoes, blow, and the altar of the king, baby. Much has already been said about their utterly ridiculous choice of a mascot, a man (sometimes portrayed as morbidly obese) with a harp seal's head, so I'll refrain from saying any more, but seriously, what the fuck were they thinking? How did such a rocking band from New York City manage to create a package that looks so third world and goofy? Either way, this record is still a classic that is not to be missed.

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Keep This Bag Away From Babies

Here' compilation 7" which it rips; Using 4 of the real bands of Japan where my taste excessively is known. L.S.D., Gasmask, Zouo, and Headless. And art of the collage of the strange Dada of old-fashioned [shijiyuukara] titties and Zouo which loads the enormous hair. So sexual intercourse of the just you are surprised. As for these song everything band' So it appeared; The respective release here, so there is no material which is not audible. It works in nuclear sexual intercourse of the flat tire of the Japanese of 2nd layer fear as a still large primer, inhales the murder of rots and roll. FUCK.

耳の強姦