Stripmines - Crimes of Dispassion 2012 Sory State ...

My review from UBRS Blog:

United by Rocket Science: Stripmines - Crimes of Dispassion 2012 Sory State

Pure Scum - Demo Tape 2012 Sorry State Records

My review from UBRS Blog:

United by Rocket Science: Pure Scum - Demo Tape 2012 Sorry State Records:

Front Line - Basic Training e.p. 1982

My review from the UBRS Blog.

United by Rocket Science: Front Line - Basic Training e.p. 1982:

Znowhite - All Hail To Thee (Enigma Records 1984)

Somethin' For Nothin'








I'm hit and miss on Znowhite in all honesty. I like this Lp , but they lost me on their next couple of Lp's when they began to take their music to an even heavier more aggressive place.

On All Hail To Thee Znowhite bring it with some nice uptempo speed metal, however they also manage to pull back the reins a bit on my favorite song "Somethin' For Nothin" which sounds like Penelope Houston of the Avengers fronting a rockin' metal band...totally catchy and a must listen...Dave G.

Sacred Rite st Lp self released 1984

The Blade










Excellent traditional metal from Hawaii of all places. The music has a bit of an Iron Maiden feel to it, and the vocals remind me a bit of Geoff Tate (Queensryche). I'm posting my favorite song for you to check out and if you like it there are more tracks on you tube. I would assume this record has never seen a re-released or reissued on cd so you'll have to hit the used bins to find a copy...Dave G.


Sacred Rite official web page

Purgatory - st lp - 1985 J.U.F. Records

Night Crawler Bitch







Here's an obscure slice of Heavy Metal for you. From what I can find on the net it appears this album was self released by the band and it sold roughly 1000 copies back in 1985 or so. Following the release of this Lp Purgatory signed to Auburn Records (home of the excellent Destructor) and released a full length Lp titled "Tied To The Tracks" and also a 3rd record , an ep in 1989 titled "Dr. Pain".

Musically this record contains some pretty good power metal that has enough of that old 80's metal charm to keep you coming back for more.

Purgatory has an active myspace page with a full Bio and some songs that you can sample...Dave G.

The Not - Kids Survive ( The Not/Not Records) 1985

The Not - Cambridge MA 1985

It's strange to come across a mid 80's punk/power pop record and find absolutely not a single mention of said record or band on the internet. Well, that is exactly what happened when I saw this record in a local comic book shop of all places a few weeks back.

Since my Google search turned up nothing on my Iphone while I was in the store, I decided I had to buy this record because the drummer has a Thrasher sticker on his kit and the bass player was doing a flying kick split, which meant this record was going to be a long forgotten masterpiece or a masterpiece of shit...well, in all honesty it is neither of these things.

What you do get with this record is some pretty decent power pop / punk that sounds like it would have been popular in NYC about 5-10 years prior to the release of this record. At times the singer reminds me of Johnathan Richman or something along those lines. Anyway, if you like catchy power pop this might just be up your alley, and I just can't resist giving The Not an internet presence for the first time in 27 years. The A-side opener "We Are The Ones" and especially the B-side opener "Kids Survive" are the stand out tracks for me...actually "Kids Survive" is an excellent uptempo punk song...Dave G.

Zombie Squad - Surfing With The Contras (Anthrax Records) 1987

Nice Try
I wouldn't





I don't know anything about this band except that they came from Larchmont NY, and this 7" is on Anthrax records which was owned by the owners of the legendary Anthrax club in CT.

Zombie Squad play fast paced hardcore with punk undertones. This 7" is not a classic by any means, but it's definitely worth picking up as it's likely to be in the cheapo bin at your local record store...Dave G.

Blood Feast - Chopping Block Blues (Flame Trader) 1990

Chopping Block Blues
Dropped Like Flys
Born Innocent

Encyclopedia Metallum - Details and reviews

Blood Feast - webpage






I have been a Blood Feast fan since I mail ordered there Blood Lust "Suicidal Missions" demo tape back in 1987. I bought both the "Face Fate" 12" and "Pleasure To Kill" lp when they were released back in the 80's and I have always liked both records, however I have to admit that I sort of lost interest in metal right around 1990, and I never knew Blood Feast released "Chopping Block Blues" until I stumbled across a copy on Ebay recently, which led me to scour the internet until I could find a copy of my very own for half of the ebay asking price.

Chopping block blues is a bit of departure from Blood Feasts previous two records, and it took me a couple listens to get used to what the band was going for on "Chopping Block Blues" but I have to say that after the strangeness of hearing keyboards in the opening track the record settles in and Blood Feast delivers a top notch Death/Thrash record that is slowly becoming my favorite album of theirs, though the Face Fate 12" is pretty hard to top in my opinion....Dave G.

Witch Cross - All That's Fit Four Fighting - Deluxe 4 Lp collection 2012

Purchase

Listen








I just picked up a copy of this unbelievable 4 Lp set on color vinyl and I just had to give everyone a heads up, and urge you to grab a copy of this discography before they are gone. I can honestly say that the above picture doesn't do the beauty of this packaging justice, and the music is classic top notch NWOBHM...buy buy buy...Dave G.

Here's the scoop:

Official anthology release featuring the entire WITCH CROSS discography including the cult classic "Fit For Fight" album, their 5 demos from the ‘80s, the “Are You There” 7" EP and the ultra obscure BLOOD EAGLE '81 demo (pre-Witch Cross). You get everything here but their live recordings & personal rehearsal sessions. Easily one of the best Danish Heavy Metal bands of all time who also recorded their album with Henrik Lundat at Easy Sound Recording, the same studio & engineer to spawn such classics as "Melissa" and "Don't Break The Oath." A mandatory release for all Heavy Metal maniacs!

*Comes in a deluxe Quad-Gatefold jacket
*Includes 8-page LP size booklet archiving tons of old photos, flyers, interviews & liner notes
*Pressed on multi-Colored Vinyl (w/ color coordinated inner sleeves) and traditional Black Vinyl (w/ black inner sleeves)
*Lavish silver foil stamping on the front cover & metallic silver ink throughout the layout.

Mace The Evil In Good (Medusa/Ever Rat Records) 1988

Gutripper
The Evil In Good
Intent To Kill
Thinning The Heard









Ah Mace, where to begin....Mace play a style of metal that is part hardcore and part metal, but with no real crossover elements present. The music is along the thrash metal vein of things, but the vocals are delivered in a more punk style. At times Mace gets a little sloppy or the vocals sound like they lose there place in the music , but in all honesty these imperfections actually make me love this record that much more.

Anyway, give these guys a listen...they might sound a bit awkward at first but with each repeated listen you will find that " The Evil In Good" is slowly working it's way into your brain...Dave G.

P.S. For more info about Mace check out the True Punk & Metal blog.

Slaughtered Grace - Terror Unleashed 1989 Mutant Punk Label

Here's an old obscure piece of NJ crossover metal history. Slaughtered Grace from Lodi NJ ( the home of everyone's favorite horror punk band the Misfits) dropped this 7" on the unsuspecting masses in 1989, and I bet it's filling up dollar bins all over the United States as we speak ,however if you happen to see this 7" in your local record store...dollar bin or otherwise... I would recommend you grab it.

The music is perfectly good Metal/hardcore ... think Crumbsuckers meets SOD or something along those lines. The B-side track "Disabilty" is my favorite track with it's SOD type opening leading into some raging soloing and straight up no bullshit riffing and vocals that bring DBC to mind for some reason, but hey I could be wrong so listen for yourself...Dave G.

Suburbia Suburbia SUBURBIA!

Suburbia Suburbia SUBURBIA!

I've been hard at work on my other blog Suburbia Suburbia SUBURBIA! the last few days. My partner in crime Chris S. and myself uploaded 6 posts yesterday covering rare and obscure indie, punk and metal releases from the 80's - 90's suburban New York City music scene. Here are some links to what we have been up to.

Bar Sinister - late 80's thrash metal
Sectorian - late 80's death metal
Malicious Onslaught - 80's - 90's death metal.
Permanent Damnage - 90's metal
Killpower - 90's thrash/death metal
Torment - 80's thrash metal

Also in the Metal section of the blog you will find Decomposed - Hostile Rage - Sadistik Ritual - Selective Outrage - Syianic - Riphouse.

Atlas Shrugged - 1990's NYHC

Also in the Hardcore section you will fins At All Cost - Disillusion - Geek Attack (Dan Derella Underdog).

Dough Boys - early 80's punk ... really great.

Also in the Punk Section Proper ID and Borscht.

Aenone/Nyack 90's shoegaze like swervedriver or my bloody valentine
Gibson Girls - stradle the line between indie and punk rock.

Also in the Indie/Emo /Pop section Naked Statue - Drill - Mariner Four - Dahlia Seed - Agony Flower (another band from Danny Dog from Underdog NYHC) .

Please check out the SS blog and help us spread the word about the blog and the bands that we have covered so far. Also, if you have a blog please hit me up to share links. I'd like to add more links to the SSS blog as well as Rocket Science...Dave G.

Glorious Times - A pictorial of The Death Metal Scene (1981-1991)

Additional details (below) from Blabbermouth.net.

This 160-page book showcases rare (many never-before-seen) pictures from the death metal scene (1984-1991) and instead of narration by an outside author, the stories contained in the book come from the bands and 'zine editors of the period.

Commented the authors: "We refused to conform to the publishers who wanted every bands stories (written in THEIR words) rewritten by a third party. We refused to take out our rare pics and insert promo lineup shots as the publishers wanted. Instead we sought out other photographers from the old days and found even more never before seen pictures. At the same time we also sought out a few more bands to make this version even better. We now have added 11 bands with stories from such legends as Ron Sumers (SLAUGHTER), Scott Peterson (CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER), Eric Meyer and Jim Durkin (DARK ANGEL), Joe Caper (RIGHTEOUS PIGS), Brian Lehfeldt and Shann Mortimer (WEHRMACHT), Ross Dolan (IMMOLATION) and also Rob Urbinati and Scott Watts (SACRIFICE), among others. Included, too, are pictures from the personal collections of Ron Sumbers, Scott Peterson, Brian Lehfeldt, Ross Dolan and a bunch of others.

Purchase

Metal Clogs - Rave On Records compilation 1982

Metal Clogs







Metal Clogs is a nwobhm compilation,and the first release on the Rave On label who is best known for being the label that brought us the Mercyful Fate Nuns Have No fun 12" .

This compilation present four young metal bands from Holland (3) and Belgium (1) circa 1982, and I have to say that I enjoy every single track on this record with Frankenstein being the most surprising and enjoyable band for me with their blues influenced style of NWOBHM.

All the bands on this compilation bring something a little different to the table, however the compilation has a very cohesive feel to it. Overall, if you are a fan of early Rainbow, Iron Maiden or similiar acts then this record is right up your alley...Dave G.

Overdrive - Swords and Axes - Planet Records 1984

Swords and Axes







Purchase remastered cd with bonus tracks Here

Another cool traditional metal Lp I picked up at the flea market recently. Some real good guitar work on this one, just listen to the opening riffs in the first song "Dream Away" and the excellent b-side instrumental opener " Swords and Axes" ...really excellent stuff...Dave G.

Millennium - ST LP - Guardian Records 1984

Millennium








I picked up this excellent Lp this past weekend knowing absolutely nothing about the band, however I did notice that this record was on the Guardian label who also brought us the might Mythra.

This Lp is total nwobhm goodness, there are actually more than a few moments on this records when Kill 'Em All era Metallica comes to mind. I think this one is pretty obscure and out of print but it definitely deserves to be heard...Dave G.

Murder In The Front Row - Bazillion Points Books

My copy of this book showed up in the mail today. The book has a poster style wrap around dust cover with metallica including Cliff Burton on the cover and Exodus on the flip side.

The book is loaded with 270+ pages of flyers and band photos from the heyday of thrash metal. There are many many old school Metallica photos in this book so if you are a Metallica fan I suggest you order a copy quick...Dave G



Purchase

Trip Machine Laboratories - Nyack NY

Trip Machine Laboratories is a long running hardcore label from my hometown area of Rockland County NY. The label was founded by an old friend of mine Chris W who played/plays in the NY hardcore band Atlas Shrugged . If memory serves Chris started the label to release the first Atlast Shrugged 7" and then things just took off from there.

Trip Machine Laboratories has released a slew of good records over the years and below I am going to give you a quick breakdown of a few of their most recent releases. So read, listen and support...




Living Hell are one tight motherfing hardcore band whose aural assault brings bands like Converge and Integrity to mind. Overall the music combines tight crisp full speed ahead hardcore with moments of thick/heavy slow to mid tempo passages all the while maintaining an impressive amount of hate and disgust. Living Hell are definitely worth your time if you are a fan of this style of metal tinged hardcore.

Living Hell - Blessed Are The Dead




Living Laser approaches hardcore music from a bit of a different angle than most bands, but if I had to draw comparisons to any other currently active bands I would say that Living Laser would be right at home touring with bands like the Omegas or Double Negative. The Living Laser's music moves along at a impressively tight quick pace with interesting time changes and solos popping up seemingly out of nowhere. The vocals are delivered in clean manner and help give the music that little something that makes them stand out from the pack...good stuff and highly recommended.

Living Laser - Fact Eraser



Most Precious Blood - 7" of this Brooklyn NY bands 2000 demo tape pressed to vinyl. These guys play straight up pissed off modern hardcore that worms it's way into your brain and awakens your inner demons.

Incendiary / Unrestrained splits 7" - Incendiary play modern hardcore with one foot in the 90's hardcore sound. Unrestrained stradle the same line as Incendiary but the music is a bit more metallic sounding to my ear and it possess some nice memorable riffing, dare I say the music is catchy.

Chris tells me he is about to step up the online distro at Trip Machine Laboratories so stop by the label distro and pick up some records...Dave G.

Resless - Restless Metal 7" 1984 Flying Dog Productions

Don't Understand
The Power







This 7" is much better than the band photos would lead you to believe. The band comes across looking somewhat glam metal in these photos but in reality this is a nice thick rocking slab of catchy metal leaning towards the power metal side of things and reminding me of the 80's metal band Medieval or even Tyrant (CA) with the high pitched screams in the excellent "The Power".

Anyway, Resless hailed from Northern NJ and Lou Ciarlo of Hades played bass on this 7"...give this one a listen..Dave G.

Attacker 1983 and 1986 Demo Tapes

Attacker

I wrote away to Attacker back in 1983 when I was all of 15 years old to get a copy of this demo tape, and after a week or so a Certron Tape showed up in my mailbox in a regular letter envelope. It's crazy but here we are almost 30 years later and I can actually remember pulling the letter out of the mailbox and I know exactly what the envelope looked like, however ask me what I did 2 days ago and I would have to think hard to remember.

Anyway, these tapes hold a special place in my heart as does the first Attacker Lp "Battle At Helms Deep" . It appears the entire Attacker catalog is currently out of print, so if you want to find their records and cd's at this point I guess ebay is the way to go...Dave G.

CIA - Conspiracy Demo Tape 1989

Here's a tape that seems to have been mostly lost to time as I couldn't find much of anything on the net about CIA.

Let me give a little info or at least all that I can remember about CIA. CIA was a side project of Glenn Evans the drummer of Nuclear Assault and prior to that TT Quick. If memory serves Glenn released this demo tape and another that I also have called Search & Seizure while he was playing with nuclear Assault. On this demo tape Glenn even has his buddy John Connelly of Nuclear Assault contribute vocals and bass while Glenn handles the guitar and drum duties.

There is no date on this tape but I think it came out somewhere around 1988 or 1989 as the Search and Seizure demo has a 1989 date on it, and I remember getting these tapes from Glenn not to far apart from each other.

Musically these 3 songs have a definite Nuclear Assault feel to them, especially with John Handling the vocal duties...Dave G.

New Breed Tape Compilation

I just wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that the awesome and legendary New Breed Tape compilation is officially back in print on cd and vinyl and it sounds better than ever.

Please support Wardance Records and order a copy of this one before they are gone. I understand that the silk screen version is already gone and the regular Lp version is selling quick and it's highly possible that this could be a one time pressing so get on it people...Dave G

Re-issue of this legendary NYHC compilation from 1989. The re-mastered LP version features four exclusive bonus tracks plus the original twenty page lyric booklet. There will be an alternate limited edition that will include a silk-screened "Wild Style" LP cover (200 made) available to the first 200 mail orders.

Bands on the compilation: ABSOLUTION, OUTBURST, LIFE'S BLOOD, BREAKDOWN, BEYOND, RAW DEAL plus 15 other rocking NYHC bands from that golden era.

Order from Wardance Records

Judge - Bringin It Down Gold Vinyl Revelation

I am thinking about trading away my sealed copy of this Lp. Here's a pictures of the actual record. I have a black vinyl 1st pressing so I never opened this gold / orange (depending on who you ask) vinyl copy of the final pressing which is the most limited pressing of only 333 copies.

Revelation notes that this is Gold vinyl Kevin Finn says it's orange. I know this record has some value so it is going to take something special to pry it away from me.

I would consider trading it for some other rare Rev Records that I do not have, color vinyl together comp or original early dischord records like Youth Brigade Possible 7" or Teen Idles - Minor Disturbance 7" , Antidote - thou shalt not kill 7" etc.

If you think you have something I'd want drop me an email. Don't be shy I know I am shooting for the stars with my small want list but my actual want list is much longer.

Dave88@optonline.net

NME - Unholy Death - LSR Records 1985

Unholy Death







NME - Tacoma Wa. USA


To my ears NME sound like the evil spawn of Venom and Slaughter...the Canadian death thrashers Slaughter, not that terrible 80's / 90's hair metal band.

I was snooping around the net trying to come up with a better description of NME'S music when I came across Oxenkiller's review of this record on Encyclopedia Metallum which I thought hit the nail on the head....so here you go...Dave G.

"A lot of people have compared this to Venom, and certainly those comparisons are valid. Both bands share a similar songwriting style and image. NME weren’t really a speed or thrash band in the sense that, say, Bathory, Slayer and Possessed were. Rather, much like Venom and Hellhammer, they relied on a series of mid-paced, malevolent grinding riffs and allowed the overall heaviness, atmosphere and distortion to carry the sound. However, the guitar sounds on here are far darker and more corrosive and sinister than Venom ever were; its actually somewhat indescribable: eerie and heavy at the same time. The playing is none too complex, but there is more going on than just the simple riffs. The guitar has way more reverb and distortion on it than Venom or Hellhammer, and the guitarist deliberately channels the feedback to accentuate the playing. The overall effect is one of simplicity and power, getting the most power out of each single note, mimimalism at its best. And the production values are none too pretty either but that’s the point, you just don’t want them to be. The raw minimalist production actually suits this music perfectly; everything cranked up to ten. The whole thing is paradoxically beautiful in its very rawness and ugliness".