Roots

Kataxu were a Polish Black Metal band. Though often lumped in with the NSBM scene, they had more of an esoteric slant to their cold misanthropic art. Kataxu weren't afraid to slather their sound in huge washes of hokey keys and distant guitars. Tremendous and expansive while also being grainy and nostalgic. Roots Thunder is one of the most coveted tapes in my collection.

Korzenie

DJ Chaos X

Another Eye (Boredomes, Hanatarash, Naked City) incarnation. This being Eye injecting his manic styles into the medium of turntables. Lots of weird manipulations of classic punk albums, sound effects records, and whatever else he felt like throwing into his "hyperhard mix." By now you figured that The Hearse loves everything Eye does, and this is no exception.

Here

Love Songs

I'm starting to think the Netherlands was doing Death Metal as good as the Swedes or the Floridians in the early '90s. Asphyx and Pestilence were well-known enough, but what about the brilliant and obscure Antropomorphia? If you have never had the pleasure of hearing their 1993 EP, Necromantic Love Songs you are in for a gory treat of pure Dutch bludgeon. On top of having great riffs and arrangements, Antropomorphia had a gem in the form of bassist, Marc Van Stiphout. Often it is his basslines that carry the song's hook. If you love the ancient Death Metal, and don't know this criminally overlooked release, prepare to fall in love.

Here

Guest Halloween Poster: Dennis Dread

So I'm still up in Portland, but Hearse friend and supporter, Dennis Dread, has put together a thoroughly morbid mix tape for you to geek out on this Halloween. Dennis, besides having great taste in music, is also an accomplished illustrator best known for his work on recent Darkthrone albums. He also runs a great art zine called Destroying Angels. Thanks, Dennis, for taking the reins in my absence.

Arkham House Into The Witch House

Not much to say about this mysteriously shrouded demo except that it was recorded in 1994, long before the term "basement black metal" had entered popular lexicon, and while it never really enters the metal realm this tape manages to cast a capable spell of macabre lo-fi eldritch atmospheres.

Exorcist Black Mass

The opening track from their sole recording, Nightmare Theater, released in 1986 by Cobra Records who also delivered Piledriver to the world. Exorcist was a short-lived horror oriented project with late NWOBHM leanings formed by Dave "Dionysus" DeFeis of Virgin Steele fame.

English Dogs Nosferatu

This is where I imagine many Cosmic Hearse riders will jump shark...er...ship. Good riddance. By the time these mad punx had released their second full-length LP in 1985, Forward Into Battle (with unapologetically stolen Boris cover art), they already had several releases under their bullet belts and were in the throes of a total metalmorphosis!

Attak Zombies

More UK madness with the title track from Attak's only full-length LP. The lyrics could've been penned by an autistic third grader with a tube of glue shoved up his nose. But instead they were written by a grown man who probably had an Oi! pin on his jacket and a headband that matched his mustache.

Black Uniforms City Of The Dead

Sweden's favorite Splatter Punx open this little gem with a Fabio Frizzi sample before launching into the sloppy d-beat assault that made Faces of Death (1989) such a fun record. If you listen closely you can hear Metallica bleeding through the tape during the intro!

Zombie

No, not the Relapse duo (spelled Zombi) but an extended homemade sample from Lucio Fulci's masterpiece, otherwise known as Zombie Flesh Eaters! Yes, I held the tape recorder up to my TV and created this just for you, Dear Listener. After all, it's Halloween.

Lebenden Toten Near Dark

Uncharacteristically slow and catchy blast from my favorite Northwest crasher-crusties that takes its name from the brilliant 80's vampire re-imagining starring Lance Henriksen! Swirling psychedelic walls of distortion and abrasive death rattles that fuse the best of Antisect and Confuse.

Broken Bones Dem Bones

Playful "outro" from the 1984 debut full-length. If you think this song is absurd you should see the cover art by guitarist Bones' little brother Tezz!

Screamin' Jay Hawkins I Hear Voices

1962 alternate version of Mr. Hawkins' schizo love-song-turned-haunted-house-of-broken-hearts! The liner notes explain that an engineer for this recording instructed him to moan over the music so he simply enunciated the word "moan" over and over again to great effect.

The Meteors Johnny Remember Me

The kings of psychobilly hit the UK charts in 1983 with this rendition of producer Joe Meek's 1961 hit, originally performed by John Leyton and The Outlaws. None of the greasy-haired impostors that followed in The Meteors' wake could touch this beautiful ghost story from their sophomore outing Wreckin' Crew.

Roky Erickson Burn The Flame

Roky is hipster pay dirt these days but here's one you don't hear often. This is his contribution to Dan O'Bannon's 1984 Return of the Living Dead soundtrack. There's nothing funny or ironic about these lyrics. Roky thinks of demons for you.

Sam Gopal Season Of The Witch

Malaysian-born tabla player Sam Gopal's Donovan cover featuring sexy backup singers and a very young pre-Hawkwind/Motorhead Lemmy Kilmister on vocals and bass. This could be the soundtrack to a really good episode of Scooby Doo. Check out George Romero's weird suburban witchcraft film of the same title.

Goblin Susperia

The Italian prog-masters at their best! This is of course the title track to Dario Argento's 1977 supernatural mindfuck and the original cover art to this LP was blatantly stolen from Coven's Blood On The Snow which was released three years earlier.

Deadmask No Rest For The Wicked

A relatively new duet from Spain featuring Dopi of Machetazo on all instruments and a gal named Nuria Otero on vocals. Worshipping at the altar of occult 70's rock, here they pay tribute to Sweden's Coffinshakers with this beautifully sparse ballad.

Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind The Shining

Brooding theme to Stanley Kubrick's classic Stephen King adaptation. A disturbing descent into the madness of isolation and the insidious evil of domestic violence, partially filmed at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood.

Pino Donaggio School In Flames

The only reason to rescue Donaggio's Carrie score from the discount bins is the second song on side two. This one gives Taint a run for his money for sheer malevolent vibes and oppressive textures. I like to play this track at 3am when I'm drawing alone in my basement and it never fails to make me look over my shoulder.

Aghast Enter The Hall Of Ice

Aghast was Tania Stene and Andrea Haugen, both closely affiliated at the time with the emerging Norwegian Black Metal scene, and this is basically the "hit" from their 1995 LP Hexerei Im Zwielicht Der Finsternis. Dark shamanistic chants in the cold norse tradition. This is recorded from the picture disc so pardon the extra hiss in the mix.

Howard Shore Welcome to Videodrome

Here's one for the bleepy-bloop electronic enthusiasts and it comes from one of my favorite David Cronenberg flicks! This actually gets more disturbing with extended exposure. Listen closely and you can hear Debbie Harry breathing through the TV screen. "Long Live The New Flesh!"

Extra Hot Sauce

This is really just the intro sample to the EHS song Extreme Hatred but it's so damn awesome I wanted to give credit where it's due. This was my answering machine message (remember them?) years ago and it freaked my girlfriend's parents out so bad they almost had the operator interrupt the line to make sure she was ok.

The Sonics Psycho

Hailing from the wetlands of Tacoma, Washington, The Sonics are credited with forging the punk rock template way back in the 60's with their simple cord progressions, feral instrumental hijinx and antisocial lyrical content. This 1965 classic is one of the most satisfying moments in rock 'n' roll. Order a Coca-Cola at the drive-in and kill something!

The Misfits Horror Business

Obvious, yes, but you didn't seriously think I would exclude the greatest horror-punk band in the world from this Halloween mix tape did you? This version of the title track of their third 7" is culled from Evil Live, a recording that ranks right up there with Unleashed In The East, Live After Death and Space Ritual. "One more fucking time you asshole and you DIE!!!!"

Hasil Adkins We Got A Date

Hasil "The Haze" Adkins is the legendary One-Man-Band of West Virgina. As the story goes, his musical career began as a barefoot rugrat when he misread a Hank Williams record and figured he had to learn to play all the instruments himself...at once. Many of his primitive trailer park stomps feature him on guitar, drums, vocals, and occasionally harmonica. This little ditty, an alternate version of his single No More Hot Dogs, was probably recorded around 1965.

Black Mass Lucifer ESP

There was a glut of "exciting" synthesizer records in the late 60's and early 70's. This is one of the stranger of the lot, especially when you consider that a pentagram was still pretty shocking in 1971. "This brief musical interpretation of ESP concerns telepathy in which the thoughts of two individuals, after transference from the senders, combine with each other in the mind of you the listener." So say the liner notes.

Salem Mass Witch Burning

We return to the Northwest with Salem Mass, a third tier "prog rock" band that has been lost to time and dust largely due to their self-indulgent and mostly flaccid jams. Initially from Idaho, they frequently landed in Portland, Oregon throughout their career and still reside just a few hours away. This 10 minute epic is by far their best work so roll a doobie and relax knowing you don't need to ferret out their entire back catalog.

Arkham Hearse Astral Rape Procession/Wolves In The Walls

Reprise. With song titles like that, who needs a recording studio?

Gnome Canis Lupus Hodophilax

A gross abuse of Robert Redford's Language and Music Of Wolves LP, this crazy manga mayhem makes Sigh sound downright pedestrian in comparison. From the 1999 split demo with Japan's equally bizarre Nyarlathotep (who would go on to produce Gallhammer).

Clara Rockmore Berceuse

Hopefully you've already heard this haunting 1977 masterpiece featuring Clara Rockmore on theremin and Nadia Reisenberg on piano but, in case you haven't, I feel compelled to expand your horizons. The perfect quivering accompaniment to a candlelit Hallow's Eve.

The Munsters Theme

Just be thankful the tape wasn't 120 minutes or you would've got the extended version with vocals. Happy Halloween!

Part One

Part Two

Fall Into Darkness

I'm off to perform at the Fall Into Darkness fest in Portland this weekend with both Agalloch and Ludicra. Also performing that weekend are Earth, Amber Asylum, Fauna, Soriah, The Saviours, Yob, SubArachnoid Space, Witch Mountain, and a few others I forget. The blog won't be updated probably until I get back on Monday, but I might be able to scrape something up for Halloween. The awesome poster above was made by the brilliant David D'Andrea. Perhaps I will see you there.

R.I.P. Joris

Just received some unfortunate news. It would seem that Joris of the Woodsmoke family (specifically münn) passed away back in September. Some other members of the Woodsmoke clan set about to making this recording, a project called Körkarlen, to honor his memory. They were very gracious to pass this along to me with the following explanation:

This album was recorded upon receiving word of Joris' death and exists as his audial wake. It represents the soul leaving the body and expanding infinitely beyond the dimensional fabrics of Kosmos which comprise linear time, transcending the Void and attaining conscious non-duality within Infinity.

I sincerely thank the Woodsmoke folks for choosing The Hearse as the means to share this very special work for their fallen comrade. I wish them all the best, and hope they can move forward past this tragedy, and continue to make great and meaningful art. I know many of you were fiending for some more Woodsmoke noise, shame it had to come under these circumstances.

Goodbye

Kids of the Black Hole

Like Melissa said, "If you don't like this album, you don't like punk."

Here

Bosse De Nage

Bosse De Nage are mysterious Bay Area Black Metal band that released one amazing tape on my former Funeral Agency label. Clearly I loved it enough to release it, but it doesn't hold a candle to the band's next recording which has remained unreleased. This recording shows the band progressing into a more angular, Ved Buens Ende type of deal, and even playing with some of the more post rock/shoegaze elements of bands like Alcest and Lifelover. Thematically delving into the decadent aesthetics of Bataille, Baudelaire, Grand Guignol... Perhaps Bosse De Nage are unrepentant francophiles. This didn't have a cover so I have opted to simply use a still from the brilliant French film Eyes Without a Face, it seemed fitting. The band was hoping for someone to press this bit of kult genius, but so far it hasn't happened. If you have a label, and any taste at all, seek out Bosse De Nage and make them an offer quickly. This should be heard.

Link to download removed at the request of the label who will be releasing this gem soon. Be sure to buy this, it is excellent and this band deserves your support.

Racially Yours

I'm mainly posting this for my bandmate and friend Jason Walton. He enjoys things that are uncomfortable, so it came as a bit of a shock to me when he told me he had never heard of The Frogs. Perhaps you haven't either. Anyhoo, The Frogs are this fucked up band from Milwaukee that play sugary sweet pop songs that are unafraid to fucking "go there." In fact The Frogs seem to delight in making you uncomfortable or tickled depending on just how tight your ass is. Racially Yours was the band's fifth release and it deals with, well you guessed it, race. The hardest of topics to discuss. Proof in the fact that Homestead records refused to release the album upon it's completion in 2000, but fortunately a decidedly less tight-assed Four Alarm records stepped up and got it out there. With songs like "Full of Monkeys" and "Darkmeat for Sale" you might want to dismiss this as some crude Bootleg Bill type of redneckery, but The Frogs, while being controversial, are often thought provoking, clever, and profound in their ruminations on race. Can you handle it?

Here

Choke Thirst Die

Choke Thirst Die are a fairly new Thrash band from Hagen, Germany. Their first cassette release Demonstration Desolation packs much ass kicking into a scant thirteen minutes. Choke Thirst Die give nods to early Bathory and Anti-Cimex in their relentless delivery. Now aren't you foaming at the ear to hear this? I demand more from this brilliant band. Rabid!

Choke On It!

Fucking Yaeneura '84

Get your hair fucking charged up, put on your 75 lb. leather jacket and set the fucking controls for Tokyo, Japan 1984, we're checking out fucking Zouo tonight live and in concert. All the punks want to spend loud night, and Zouo, as far as I am concerned, is second only to GISM in the fucking Japanese Hardcore pantheon. Satanic Acid Punk Metal weirdness from the biggest fucking hair guys on the fucking island. You fucking coming or what?

タイムマシン

Lik

Lik was mainly a side project for Armagedda member and malevolent woodland entity, Graav. Nothing Armagedda ever did really caught my ear, but when Lik came to be, it was like the band I had been waiting for for years. Not exactly Black Metal, but rather an otherworldly concoction of despondent Death Rock and lo-fi drunk Vikings. Imagine Christian Death meets Isengard. Clean tone guitars shimmer over clumsy, ham-fisted drums, and Graav's regal Swedish vocals round out the weirdness perfectly. Ma Ljuset Aldrig Na Oss Mer was Lik's debut, and it is a perfect album for drinking alone.

Here

Agony Bag

After the demise of British occult band, Black Widow, saxophone player Clive Jones formed Agony Bag, a shock rock/horror/glam-punk spectacle. Feelmazumba collects Agony Bag's various recordings between 76-80 and it is hokey, trashy fun from start to finish.

Here

Fuck Lukaschenko

You know who's been riding my sack lately? That fucker Lukaschenko. I wish a whole bunch of really kick ass Belarusian punk bands would get together and make a compilation and give that dicklicker the what for. Oh they did? Cool.

Here

Gormantatinus

Gormantatinus' second demo Sersavina Decan Anden Plaust was featured in an early Cosmic Hearse entry on the weird world of Korean Black Metal, but I have been spinning this one a lot lately and felt it warranted more attention. Gormantatinus is best described as the Korean Abruptum. The "music" is an improvised torturous din. Very personal and very surreal. Pure Korean evil.

Here

Trouble

I don't give a fuck what you think, Trouble's 1990 self-titled Def American major label sellout album is a fine piece of work. I had a hard time finding it so I figured it was prime Hearse fodder. Considering how it was pressed into the millions and sold very little, you'd think that copies would be jockeying for cut-out bin space alongside albums by Joey Lawrence and Hammer. The production is standard bone dry Rick Rubin, but Trouble shines through with Franklin and Wartell's gooey resin tones and Wagner's signature wail. A little bit of Jesus, a whole lot of stale bongwater, and a throwaway cover of "Psychotic Reaction." Rubin believed these dudes should of been bigger, and I tend to agree, so what happened?

Here

Raising Hell

You all wanted more stuff by Miami's Load, the band I have often referred to as "the greatest band of the '90s." Not wanting to disappoint you, I have decided to post Load's very first recordings better known as The Hellraiser Session. Hope you enjoy it.

Here

First Utterance

Of course you knew this classic would appear here at some point, and I assume that most of you already have well worn copies of First Utterance in your collections, but just in case someone out there has never been exposed to the pagan acid folk insanity that was Comus...

Here

Blowfly Disco

If you hail from Miami, or anywhere near it, then you already know all about Blowfly, the foul-mouthed, crack smoking superhero from Miami's mean streets. Chances are you own at least two of his cassettes and can quote at least five verses from any number of his many X-rated party songs. You probably can recall the first time you ever heard his trademark laugh. You may have even met the man at eSync studios or at The Overtown Fleamarket. For the rest of you, not blessed enough to grow up on the dripity tip of America's flaccid dong, Blowfly might remain unknown, which is low-down dirty-dicked shame. Blowfly's immense influence can be heard in the ribald works of such ghetto pioneers as Too Short, Kool Keith, and fellow Florida filth flingers, 2 Live Crew. Blowfly (aka Clarence Reid) has been self-releasing "party Records" since 1969. This has resulted in a staggering body of work in which the man fucks everyone from the devil, to Mr. T, to Darth Vader, to various animals, political figures, and, well, you name it and Blowfly probably has a song about fucking it. Part Weird Al, part George Clinton, part Screamin' Jay, and all motherfucking, everloving Blowfly. Here is his 1976 assault on the musical abomination that was disco, aptly titled Blowfly Disco. A few years back a foppish visionary named Jello Biafra was introduced to the coarse peasant humour of Blowfly and quickly signed him to his label, Alternative Tentacles. Naturally Blowfly seized this opportunity to give a deep dicking to the weird world of Punk Rock. At the ripe old age of sixty four Blowfly shows no signs of slowing down or going soft. God bless Blowfly.

Here

Far Away From The Sun

Look at that castle, evil goes on in there, unparalleled evil, Swedish evil. Sacramentum is inside creating evil, evil with dual guitar harmonies, evil with blastbeats. That castle sits far away from the sun, squarely in 1995, a year of evil, Swedish evil. Just out of frame is another castle, Dissection's castle, a castle full of evil, Swedish evil. Sometimes Dissection's evil can be heard over at Sacramentum's castle, but Dissection doesn't care.

Here

The Scam

Here's a great 1986 EP called Everything Ends In Rot by little known hardcore unit, The Scam, from Salem, New Hampshire. These guys were part of a burgeoning New England scene of brilliant, fucked-up hardcore bands like Psycho and PTL Klub. Not the typical jocko dumb shit  the region was known for. 

Here

Sleepwalker

Recently I had my mind blown by the Santa Cruz band, Fell Voices. I picked up every bit of merch they had with them. Along with their vinyl, the standout item was this vaguely packaged CDR in an envelope. I think the band is called Sleepwalker, and share at least one member with Fell Voices. Three tracks of beautiful, expansive Black Metal with some obvious post-rock influence. The vocals are buried howls, the music is repetitive and hypnotic. This is excellent. You should hear it.

Here

Horse

Some pretty good hard rocking like Mountain, with slight Christian underpinnings from Horse. Horse were from England, and released this, their only album, in the very Christian year of 1971. I'm guessing these cats weren't the kind of annoying asshatted Christians that would knock on your door to talk Jesus some morning when you are trying to make it with some lovely bird from down the local boozer, but rather the kind that really liked to party and believed that it was a sin to not share their weed and women with you Manson style. Solid, baby!

Here

Ursonate

Dadaist poet Kurt Schwitters accomplished much during his lifetime. He was a visual artist, poet, and visionary. Kurt is probably best remembered for publishing a periodical called Merz (today this would be called a zine or a blog.) Schwitters also invented the concept of installation art, starting a conceptual piece/space called Merzbau (the inspiration for the Japanese noise artist Merzbow.) But the focus of this post is his role as the very first freestyle rapper. Schwitters could often be found in the cafes of Berlin, spitting dope lyrics that may have sounded like a barrage of nonsense words and sounds to the brutish, uncultured ear. These "poems" were part of a larger body of work called The Ursonate. Over a period of ten years Schwitters painstakingly worked and reworked The Ursonate into a finalized version. Whinemeal, The Nazis came along and made Berlin a decidedly unfun place to live, and make weird art, so Schwitters hightailed it to Norway. It was there that he was able to make some recordings of The Ursonate for future generations to listen to and scratch their heads at.

Oonka Oonka Oonka!!!

Fatal

Not particularly rare or out of print, but this album has been getting much rotation around my house lately. Not to mention that cover is just so perfect I wanted it to sit here on my site for a few days. You can bitch all you want about how Cosmic Hearse has jumped the shark, but until you make anything remotely as cool as Fatal Portrait, I won't listen.

Here

Flesh Columns

The Flesh Columns were from Ottawa in the '80s but it would be a bit unfair to lump them in with the scores of generic punk bands pumping out records at the time. The Flesh Columns had elements of post-punk and sounded more English than Canadian, and they avoided the usual breakneck speeds of hardcore. Moody stuff.

Here

Oak

During our Baltimore stop on the recent Ludicra tour I was fortunate enough to meet Joe of the band Oak. He was kind enough to kick me a vinyl copy of their debut LP. Of course the cover was enticing enough with it's strange psychedelic kraut rocky cover, but I had no fucking idea how utterly devastating the tuneage inside was. Crusty, stripped-down, sludgy doom, earthen, spacious and absolutely great. They have promised to tour soon, go see them.

Here

Some Rare Hickey For You

No big fanfare or thing-a-majig today, the anniversary of Matty Luv's untimely passing, just some Hickey tracks that never made it on any of our official releases, and a pic of the awesome Matty Luv memorial mural on Clarion alley in San Francisco. I miss you, Matty.

1. "Hickey Blvd."-from The Mission Accomplished compilation.

2. "Foodstamps and Drink Tickets"- from the VGS/Hickey split, but then again I am not even sure it's the same version.

3. This was Hickey's side of the Hickey/VBF split 7"

4. An Avengers cover for some comp that may have never come out where we were asked to record an early punk song we love.

5. A live version of "Last Night On The Planet" from a Canadian DIY compilation.

6. Our cover of Manowar's "Kingdome Come" from the Death To False Metal compilation

7. "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" which appeared on some compilation I forget what it's called.

8. "Coffee Beans..." was recorded live on the radio in Tucson and appeared on Matt Shapiro's Scene through my eyes comp.

9. "Robots Never Cry" never was released as far as I know, I could be wrong.

Here

The Unicorn

So who is Peter Grudzien, a prophet, a tortured genius, a sensitive man with Asperger Syndrome, gay pop mystic? Really, does it matter? What does matter is his 1974 album The Unicorn. It is a deliciously idiosyncratic piece of outsider pop music that will warm your heart as it breaks it, it will comfort as it unnerves you. The Unicorn possesses a placid honesty that is rare in music, it stands without pretensions or posturing of any sort, it just is. When I listen to Peter Grudzien I am reminded of the stark genius of Matty Luv's Yogurt home recordings and the arcane homosensual lyrical entendre of Antony & The Johnsons. This was waaaay ahead of its time on all fronts. So haunting, weird, and occasionally funny, I can't imagine this won't move you in some way.

Here

Abysmal Grief

Italy is once again the focus, but this time it is the classic Italian Horror-Doom of Abysmal Grief. Though a relatively new band, Abysmal Grief invoke the sinister occult vibes of fellow countrymen Jacula, Death SS, Jess Franco, and Mario Bava. Haunted castles, clandestine seances, cobwebbed hallucinations, and the robust druggy breasts of an innocent girl lured into the sanguine rituals of sadistic, satanic noblemen. All of this is conjured by the towering sounds of Abysmal Grief. Enter if you dare. Released on beautiful vinyl and CD by the extremely awesome Black Widow Records.

Here

Dioxina

Dioxina were another Italian hardcore outfit. Here's their only release, the 1985 7" EP Nessuna Pietà. The title translates to "No Mercy" which seems fitting as Dioxina come off a bit tough guy throughout the six songs here, some of it bordering on Oi.

Here

Les Heavy Heads

Back to France. Hearse friend, Solana Diaz wanted to share this awesome comp of '70s Franco hard rock and proto-metal, called Tetes Lourdes. It's all pretty fucking neanderthal and fantastic, but standouts include Lover's Love, Little Sammy Gaha, and Tac Poum Systeme. Très haut, très lourd. Merci, Solana.

Obtenez Haute!

Gorgon

French Black Metal band, Gorgon, released their debut album, The Lady Rides a Black Horse, back in 1995. They managed to do so without any prevailing Norse influence. The result is a coal-black ride through primitive lands. It is now Fall, my favorite time of the year, time to dust off this forgotten classic.

Here

Over The Edge

The Wipers were Portland's premier Post-Punk band. While they never really made a bad album during their lengthy career, it is 1983s Over The Edge that is my personal favorite. The album is a lonely brooding walk through Portland's rain-soaked city streets. It's the working man's angst and frustration pouring forth from the hostile, yet beautiful, guitar and voice of Mr. Greg Sage.

Here

Pandiscordian Necrogenesis

So here on the Hearse we've heard from quite a few one-man Black Metal bands, but one thing we haven't seen is a one-man Black Metal band. I mean like a real one-man band, a guy playing all the instruments at the same time! I remember seeing a guy once on Venice Beach who played bass with his feet while playing guitar and playing a snare on his back with sticks fastened to his elbows. The guy played mostly Michael Jackson songs. Anyways, here I am proud to present Pandiscordian Necrogenesis, the first true one-man Black Metal band. The man is Lord from San Francisco Black Metal kult, Horn of Dagoth. For this project Lord plays guitar and sings while playing a bass drum and a snare with pedals at his feet. Of course it is necro and fucked up and absolutely genius. This homemade CDR packaged in a DVD case slathered in real blood (which smells) was limited to a mere 88 copies (maybe dude likes Hitler?) and I assume they went fast after Aquarius Records raved about it's bizarre merits. I would love to see Pandiscordian Necrogenesis perform at the Cable Car turnaround to the astonishment of tourists, that would rule.

Here

The Clay

粘土は東京からの第2層日本の本格的なバンドだった。 それらはこの1番の大きいEPの"しか解放しなかった実際に; 中東戦闘Area" かなりまっすぐ前に、ちょっと実行のように。そこにである彼ら自身をモールの金属と混合されるキャンデーによって塗られる精液はちょうどより遅いGastunkから持ち上がること私がすべてを誓うので幾分異様であるGlayと呼ぶそれらのばかばかしい視覚男の子バンドの1時今ようであろう。 まだそれはパンティーでそれは悪い事いかにである場合もあるか船員にそうぬれたNO一定をうろつかせるか。

戦闘

Nunslaughter

Here is a great compilation of Nunslaughter 7" and split release tracks. No way does this even scratch the surface of the bands staggering discography, but this definitely covers their best moments. Essential primer in American Kult Death Metal savagery from this long standing horde.

Here

Maria Kannon

Another great Maria Kannon full length CD, and the last of what I have by this amazing, and now defunct Japanese Yakuza rock band. If you loved the other stuff by them I posted you will love this as well.

Here

Mortuorio

Primitive Peruvian Death Kult Mortuorio only released one great demo Cámara de Torturas in 1989. Unfortunately, soon after they broke up. Mainman Edgar Noize joined the ranks of the legendary Hadez, who were slated to release an album on Euronymous' Death Like Silence label. In 2005 the good (or totally fucking evil) folks at Austral Productions compiled every greasy, rotting piece of Mortuorio music they could find for this comprehensive release, also bearing the title, Cámara de Torturas. If you (like me) are forever fiending for the bludgeoning South American proto-death, then look no further. Mortuorio is here.

Muerte

Iguman

I know little, but I know this tape is way fucked up, and comes from a band called Iguman from Montenegro, which apparently is a country in Europe. The title is Rogati Kopitar, and it was released in 2006. I am just stunned by this one. I think Paul Von Aphid may have given this to me in double-dipped supercool moment, but it is hard to think right now.

Here

Soul Discharge

I bought this based on the cover alone knowing nothing of this band. I was floored, it was like if The Butthole Surfers were better dressed and Japanese. When they came to San Francisco a few years later, Matty Luv and I went to see them at the Kennel Club. After the show we were in a state of shock, what the fuck had we just seen? We sat in foggy Alamo Square park talking about music and art until the sun came up , and then we formed a band, That band was Hickey. And that concludes my Paul Harvey style monologue.

Here

Danger

Reprinted from my post on the hardcore band, F:

The story of the two bands that existed in South Florida in the '80s using the obscure moniker of "F" is a confusing one at best, but I will attempt to explain as best as I can. In the late '70s a single band called F surfaced, contributing a track to the Land That Time Forgot compilation LP. This lineup consisted of an enigmatic frontman named Flash as well as guitarist Mike Hasson and drummer Pete Moss. Ken "Duke" Decter may or may have not also been in this early F incarnation, I just don't know. Anyways, around 1983 another band, a hardcore band called F released a fantastic blistering 12" ep called You Are An EP What was even more confounding was the fact that the ep had at least 3 songs that had been penned by the original F back in the '70s. The only real connection between the old and new F was Mike Hasson, who now went by the extremely tough nickname of "Ravenous" and was now playing drums rather than guitar. Then as if to further confuse anyone who cared, Flash returned to the fold with a new band called, you guessed it, F. Flash's F was a more Dead Boys type deal that did many of the same songs as the previous two Fs. There appeared to be no animosity between the two concurrent Fs, in fact, Mike "Ravenous" Hasson even lent his guitar playing to the Flash-led F's great cassette releases

The Flash F was sometimes referred to as "The Metal F" by locals, but I don't really think this is very metal. Sure Flash sings in higher register than he maybe should have, but metal? Flash is (he still performs as F) an enigmatic and eccentric frontman that never got his due on the big stages (like Bobby Leibling.) Here is the first of those brilliant Flash-led F cassettes titled The Danger Is Here. Word around town is that Flash hates these blog type things and will probably tell me to take this down or face a beating. Hopefully that won't happen, it'd be a real shame if you didn't get to hear this, and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a Flash ass whooping, the dude is tough. The rest of you can straight up drink my nuts.

Danger

Myself

Myself is an extremely caustic Belgian one-man Black Metal band that seems to draw aesthetic inspiration from the Power Electronics scene and bands such Whitehouse and Genocide Organ. Sonically, Myself have more in common with Akitsa, Malveillance, and Bone Awl. Here is Myself's 2004 cassette, it is ruthless.

Here

I Want You To Piss Your Pants

This was originally ripped and posted by my friend Mike Desert over at his great Blog The Jerk spot, but it was too good to resist. "Last House On The Left" was 1972's most brutally ugly movie, it inspired a score of copycats (Last House At The End of The Street, The Night Train Murders, and even a douchey remake earlier this year.) Nothing can top the sheer grit and sleaziness of the original, certainly not some CGI and a new song by Mudvayne, but Hollywood can't leave well enough alone. In the legitimate LHOTL, actor David Hess is in his creepy, rapey best as Krug Stillo, a ruthless asshat hell bent on fucking up the rich people's party. On top of being the very essence of unchecked, oily sadism, David Hess also composed and sang many of the songs on the film's delicious score, even creepier. Thanks again, Mike.

Here

Lumberjack Death Luge

One of my favorite bands from the 90's, Load, takes on the seedy underworld of Pro Wrasslin' on their 1994 EP, Lumberjack Death Luge. Everything they did was pure drunken nihilist gold and way fucking out of print, this little bloodsoaked record is no exception. Get this now!

Here

Wrok

Wrok was widely considered one of the worst Black Metal bands on the Dutch scene in the '90s, that alone makes them worthy of our attention. Well, I don't know if this is as terrible as people say,the vocals are way louder than anything else, and the music is painfully amateurish, but I've heard worse, and this definitely has that wonky charm that makes my bag tingle. This is Wrok's 1996 demo Ontgravenis.

Here

Stone Bunny

Look at Bob, wow. Stone Bunny was the brief pseudonym for Pentagram sometime in the early 70's. These recordings are a muddy, glitchy, and deeply flawed dub-from-a-dub-from-a-dub type affair, but the die-hard Penta-nerds won't care. This features "Please Don't Forget Me" which was covered by Witchcraft on their debut. Gotta give it up for Hearse friend, Solana Diaz, for digging up that awesome pic. Show 'em how!

Here

The End Of The World

Godkiller started as a fairly standard one man Black metal band, but by 1998 had morphed into something else entirely. The End of the World shows this Monaco entity doing a less aggressive Ceremony of Opposites-era Samael thing. This CD didn't leave my player for weeks when it was released.

Here

Fighting Boys

Okay, I'm back again. Let's just jump right into this. Battalion of Saints were San Diego's best contribution to the global hardcore market.  I have chosen to drop their first 12" EP sometimes called Fighting Boys on you today. Not as driving or hard as the Second Coming, LP but still a fun piece of vinyl.

Here

Another Trip

I'm off again. This time to play two very special engagements with Agalloch. Joining us will be midwestern blackened folk-metal band, Velnias, Space-rock instrumentalist legends SubArachnoid Space, and Avant-Weirde Italians OVO. If you live anywhere in the midwest you should definitely not miss these shows. The Hearse will return in about five days or so.