NORTHEASTERN HYMNS

 

You want something profound? Nah man, this is just four songs from four modern black metal bands I had never heard of before I listened to Northeastern Hymns. That's all. The OBSIDIAN FOREST and INFERNA BRUO tracks are exceptional. I don't like the other two quite as much, but that's just me, you know?

NORTHEASTERN HYMNS

ZIPPER

 

Deranged USHC of the most primal variety. "Labels" into "Sheep" might be the best example - VOID level unhinged. This ZIPPER shit just sounds ugly and a little ugly is exactly what I need to make it through the day. 

TOUR TAPE XXIII

GUN SHY

Wonderfully sweet shoegaze / indie-pop with a deadly '90s guitar crunch and hard driving drums that sound borrowed from a local hardcore outfit (ahem....they kinda were). If I had heard this in 1991 I would have lost my shit...Connecticut's GUN SHY are the intersection of college alt and grunge and shoegaze before the guitar effects took over, and that's where I live before a while before DIY punk completely took over. Seems this 2017 blast was everything, but maybe fifty copies of one self titled cassette is all they needed to say. So, "Life Of A Useless Man" it is, I suppose.

GUN SHY

 

SCYTHEWARDEN

Sometimes I feel that the evolution of black metal has brought us to a place where the sounds are too often too accessible, too often too acceptable, too often too....pretty. Of course there's a place for it, and it must be tough to be cold and brutal all the time, but SCYTHEWARDEN gave me just what I wanted today. Fast, dissonant, frigid, blistering, intense black metal from the misty forests of Connecticut. The bridge riff in "Wrath Is Humanity" makes me queasy, the stomp that makes up the middle of "Dire Winds Of Revenge" makes me want to rip holes in the earth and that leads 70 seconds of pummeling monotony reminiscent of classic USG(rey)M. Centuries Of Vengeance, the artist's entire catalog, is a sub-twenty minute offering that sounds precisely like the title suggests; a refreshing dose of depression and rage.

CENTURIES OF VENGEANCE

 

INSURGENTS

You know the feeling when you kinda want to dismiss a band/song arbitrarily but there's something that keeps dragging you in? That's me the first time I heard this INSURGENTS tape. It has all of the trappings of a band made up of the only four alterna-teens in their town in 1992 - a little grunge, a little metal, a little USDIY basement hardcore - and that combination often takes a band to exciting places. "Lane Change" has pretty blatant Too Fast For Love guitar undertones, "So Sure" hits like primitive speed metal in one part and ALICE IN CHAINS in the verse, and "Down River" hits like MOTHER LOVE BONE. So...why does it work? I'm not sure, and I'm not even sure that it does. I've come back to these three songs repeatedly though - maybe because I like them, or maybe because I like like hearing a band trying to figure out which way they want to go. 

 

DRAWING A BLANK

AMERICAN MARTYR

You can hear the anger. You can hear the frustration. You can feel the determination. When he yells "it doesn't mean shit," I know he sees the same world that I do. 

FUCK!

SELF DEFENSE // XFILESX

When WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? toured with LIFES HALT in 2001, I met some people and made some friends and made some connections that still hold strong today. It was essentially a bunch of dudes driving around telling fart jokes and throwing food at each other, but it was an incredibly important five weeks for most of us. In Connecticut, we stayed with a fellow named Chris and it was weird but he was a cool cat and we all talked about records a LOT (full disclosure: I had never heard of most of the records he talked about and this might have been the first time I heard the term "killed by death" used as a genre descriptor and not just a series of compilations), then in Providence at our July 4th afternoon show there was a group of dorks there who referred to themselves as the New Bedford Mosh Crew (they had shirts), who went super hard in the basement but then chilled awkwardly on the sidelines at the show in Western Mass when older (rawer) hardcore kids were going harder (full disclosure: we all kinda hated the Western Mass gig, but that shit in Rhode Island was a blast). Anyway, Chris was in SELF DEFENSE, who I crossed paths with a few more times in the '00s. And those New Bedford Mosh Crew kids were part of the scene that gave us XFILESX. So you see, it was a very important time...and this tape that Mick (Room 101 Records, Connecticut, DIALLO, also met on that tour, also haven't seen in years) release is a straight rager - even (especially) released for their tour in 2002 is an essential document of a time that has long since passed. Also, if you like really fast hardcore then I strongly recommend this cassette.

CRAZY SCARCE TAPE

DIALLO

In 1994, FUCKFACE played at the Tune Inn in New Haven, Connecticut with UNDERTOW, BURST OF SILENCE, JASTA 14 and UNBROKEN. We were not well received. In 2001, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? played at the Tune Inn in New Haven, Connecticut with LIFES HALT, DIALLO and some other bands. That show went considerably better for my team, due in no small part to how hard DIALLO fukkn ruled...and a year later my band ARTIMUS PYLE had a split EP with them on Sweden's Busted Heads (several copies currently available for less than $2 on Discogs, or scour your local bargain bin - you shouldn't have to look too hard). I snagged this demo at that show, and the songs are still with me today - "Inherit" gets stuck in my head at least once a month but "A Flag Burns, Shades Of Red" is probably the best of these eight bangers. This demo was released on wax by Germany's Yellow Dog (several copies available for than $2 on Discogs or scour your local bargain bin - you shouldn't have to look too hard), but the important thing is not the format - but the content. They just don't make 'em like this any more....no pretense, just power. 

DIAGRAM OF A SCAM

STEFAN CHRISTENSEN

CHRISTENSEN's sounds are from another time and/or dimension. Dreamy and dreary vocals flittering in and out of drawn out tracks that owe as much to early psychedelia as to the early '90s bands who showed us that shoegaze can still have teeth. The sounds meander a bit, but it's a journey well worth embarking upon. "In My Head" is this fellow's favorite, but you are welcome to choose your own....and then peruse subsequent recordings that show this gentleman progressing into something of a force. 

EMPTY CONTINENTS

PYKA

Oh geez, I'm sorry - I thought you said you wanted to have your face melted. That's why I chose to share this fierce Connecticut grind act with you....because I thought you wanted you face melted. Tuneless treble rebels on a blast beat bender - you won't be singing along, you'll be running for cover.

TOO FEMME TOO FURIOUS

CABLE

I was a little surprised when I popped in this 1994 demo for the first time in who knows how many years - CABLE doesn't sound dated, and the tracks have all of the power that I remember. Emotionally charged erratic hardcore that acts as a bridge of sorts between early '90s basement DIY and the technically proficient sounds of bands like CAVE IN....a scene that would, by the turn of the century, all but completely remove itself from underground punk and hardcore. Demos like this help quantify some of the frustrations that (some) (older) rockers have with current waves of bands trying to emulate sounds and scenes from the past: bands like CABLE weren't trying to sound like anyone, they were just going for it. This is what happened.

CABLE

WORN LEATHER

I like punk with a weirdo bent, and I'll take tuneful jams for days if they sound just a little off. Combining early Aussie punk vibes with casual, messy pop punk sensibilities and KBD smarts sounds like a good idea, but you won't know how good until you bang on this WORN LEATHER demo from 2014. There's a second tape from the same year (also great), but I'm still sticking with the debut - seven hook filled tracks of mid paced, off kilter weirdo punk? Sold.

WORN LEATHER

WIDE AWAKE

I mentioned this pickup a few days back, five WIDE AWKE tunes dubbed on the backside of the DIASPORA's killer 2001 demo. You've seen the cover of their Schism Records EP forever (slightly different from the homemade art on the cassette version that came into my life, included above), and you figured that you knew what they sounded like, even if you didn't know a thing about the band. You were basically right. Just killer 'core, file alongside UNIFORM CHOICE, early 7 SECONDS, positive NYHC and the like....I'm not exactly sure where this recording falls, some are on that first  EP, some on the 1987 demo....but they all made it onto the discography CD that you can probably snag for cheap. But really, once you hear "Friendship," you might not need the rest of the tracks: "just one simple word I'm sure you've all heard...it's called FRIENDSHIP!!"

WIDE AWAKE

ONE BIG CROWD

Just like the cover says, this 1987 comp is stuffed with punk and hardcore bands from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. A relatively known acts (VATICAN COMMANDOS, VIOLENT CHILDREN, 76% UNCERTAIN, SHEER TERROR) and some absolute killers that I heard for the first time (JAVI AND THE BASTARDS, UNJUST, KRIEGKOPF). Nearly an hour of jams, and I'm guessing this comp was released years before "metalcore" became a bad word, so don't let that scare you off. It's all punk shits.

ONE BIG CROWD

THE TOTAL END

Maybe you missed this the first time around, do not make the same mistake today. Absolutely mandatory early-'00s crust. This floors me still every time I hear it, and I cannot understand why they are not emblazoned across every studded vest on both sides of the ocean. Members of a ton of other amazing bands, but this stands alone...

CHASING NIGHTMARES

While I'm bummed I can't see DASHER tonight in Atlanta, we are playing with ASSHOLE PARADE, HARSH WORDS and CHEAP ART, so that's pretty killer.

ZONE

Not a long lost demo from the superb Japanese ragers, but a new demo from a Connecticut trio aiming at the hearts of raw punk fans worldwide. Noisy as shit, disjointed and amateurish delivery, howling feedback competing with howling vocals...I'm guessing they are teenagers, and the fire in the lyrics only serves to reinforce this belief. They will prevail, indeed. 

RAW HELL