Two drum and bass tracks from Barcode Recordings (that need improving)

A person is either passionate about the music they love or somewhat eccentric (or preferably both) if they argue that dark, heavy, underground and experimental music should be played at whatever speed the listener enjoys hearing it at the most. That is, assuming the listener has the technical capability to do this.For example, my 33rpm vinyl copy of the Stratosfear album by krautrock and electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream always gets played at 45rpm. At the extreme end of the extreme scale, the Slayer track Angelof Death slowed down by 800 per cent transforms this speed / thrash / death metal classic into a terrifyingly slow descent into the bowels of the abyss.One could argue that an awesome song remains awesome no matter what speed it gets played at. Or, you could think of it as an early warning sign that the release being played is rather ordinary. Such was the case, I found, with this mystery dark drum n bass record that I acquired some years ago at a fair.

My copy of Stitches / Last Walk (bar05) by Psidream and Mechwarrior. You mean you couldn't tell from the Barcode Recordings cover art?   

This 12-inch vinyl record is 2004 release on the hard and dark drum and bass Barcode Recordings record label. A promotional copy in a plain sleeve with no other artwork other than “Bar Code promo” printed on one side, I established its identity on its catalogue number: bar05.Now I don’t claim to know the dark drum n bass scene inside out. However, I know what I like when it comes to this music — and this just ain’t it.bar05 features two collaborative drum and bass tracks by two drum and bass artists. The tracks are Stitches (side A) and Last Walk (side B) by two producers calling themselves Psidream and Mechwarrior. Stitches is a chilled out sort of track — there’s no other way to describe it — with a vaguely dubbed and ’70s chillaxed kind of vibe to it. If you’re into that laid back sound then this may be your cup of tea, but it’s not for me.Last Walk has more depth and is somewhat greyer (I wouldn’t go so far as to say darker) distorted bass lines to it. The broken beats are heavier and I will buy you a cookie if you can trainspot the sampled dialogue that goes “And what is the truth” or “And what is it”.Yet both in cases these tracks seem go on for too long. They are 7:10 and 6:28 minutes long respectively, and they seem to pretty much repeat the same damn thing again and again. I found it lacking in imagination and much too repetitive, even by the admittedly repetitive standards of this sort of electronic music.

Barcode Recordings

Barcode Recordings is a heavy drum n bass record label that clearly enjoys enough respect and admiration to be able remain in business. A quick glance at the names on the Barcode Recordings roster goes a long way to explaining why. Evol Intent, Current Value, Counterstrike and Raiden are just a few among many more.However, this release just doesn’t seem to have much imagination or capture any magic.Call me harsh. Call me ignorant. Call me whatever you like. Given how much it costs to press a vinyl record I am constantly amazed at how generic the tracks like the ones on bar05 end up on expensive physical media. I can fully see these tracks on a compilation, but the fact that they’re on a vinyl record has me shaking my head.Having said that, I strongly suspect that the rest of the Barcode Recordings catalogue is much stronger when you consider the previously mentioned artists.

Who buys vinyl records these days anyway? Not the people who bought this record I suspect.

KSHEEPV001: Dark drum n bass by DJ Hidden and Evol Intent

This post is about It Begins / Malice Afterthought, a dark dark drum n bass 12-inch vinyl record on Killing Sheep Records. Its catalogue number is KSHEEPV001 to use ‘traditional’ vinyl record nomenclature.

Before I get any further, though, I’d like to share some background on this record and why I’m posting about it…

First and foremost, apologies for the poor quality photos. I’m currently using my phone to snap photos because I was recently burgled.

Now then. I don’t rate myself as an expert, let alone someone who is reasonably knowledgeable when it comes to heavy drum n’ bass or similar dark electronic music. I bought this vinyl record five or six years ago from Noise-X-Change because I really liked its dark, brooding, menacing vibe.

As far as I can tell, Killing Sheep Records is a now-seemingly-retired Australian electronic music record label that specialised in dark and heavy drum n’ bass. It had its origins in Newcastle, NSW, operated for a large part out of Melbourne (please correct me if I’m wrong on this one), and while releasing some excellent dark and heavy drum n’ bass, was notorious for its tongue-in-cheek attitude. For example, I distinctly recall its founder operating a website that posted loads of emails (and the hillarious responses) from people trying to scam free records in return for “promotion”.

KSHEEPV001 was the label’s first ever vinyl record. Released in 2004 with full cover art, this 12-inch record contains two drum and bass tracks: It Begins by DJ Hidden, one half of the famous drum n bass duo that is The Outside Agency; and Malice Afterthought, a co-operative track by The Enemy (of Evol Intent fame) and Kid Kryptic, two more American drum and bass artists from the Unites States.

The B-side is what I rate as ‘ambient’ of the two tracks — in a sicko kind of way I mean.

It’s got a meandering, minimal but still kind of disconcerting synth and rapid-fire beat that gets my head nodding in no time, although it’s more than six minutes long and takes a while to get going. In fact, I much prefer the more minimal and haunting second half that leads out of Malice Afterthought. It’s got a cool and creepy vibe that’s less in your face, given that there’s a bit less going on.

Side A is where all the action is.

Side A would have to be the one with (dare I say), ‘dance floor’ appeal, for lack of a better term. It has a quiet, ambient intro that samples a line that goes “It begins” and some other dialogue. I will give you a cookie if you can tell me where this sample came from.

This is followed by what I reckon is the highlight on this record: some terrifyingly dark, deep, hard, distorted bass sounds. I honestly rated this brief sequence of noises as one of my favourite electronic intros of all time. I thought it was so good that I would often try and mix in just the intro when playing this record in my bedroom (all the while fantasizing that I was mixing drum and bass tracks to a packed warehouse full of freaks going bonkers, as bedroom DJs are inclined to do). It’s creepy as hell, just the way dark drum n bass should be, and it’s the part of a track you want to time so that it plays just when someone walks past and you seriously want them to notice.

The intro is followed by a balls-out, in your face expulsion of beats and distorted heavy bass. I imagine it’s nothing too out of the ordinary for heavy and dark drum n bass tracks, but I’m sure it would have no trouble causing sonic mayhem when played in a dark warehouse.

Check out KSHEEPV001 (and buy the damn track if you can) on the Killing Sheep Bandcamp page.

Killing Sheep Records

I own about half a dozen or so Killing Sheep Records vinyl records. While I feel there are better tracks on the label’s roster, this one rates right up there for me simply for the brilliant intro on DJ Hidden’s It Begins.

Yes, I'm a music nerd.

There are bass music record labels and then there are bass music record labels. Whatever that type of low-end, distorted, nasty electronic music means to you, this release contains one of the nastiest, darkest, best electronic music intros (let alone one of the best drum n bass intros) I’ve ever come across.

As an added note, the KSHEEPV001 vinyl record is now more than 10 years old. Many a young producer out there producing drum n bass, ‘bass music’ or pretty much any other form of dark, heavy, underground or subversive electronic music could learn a thing or two from this.

Heavy metal cat at it again

If you’re a cat lover you’ll totally understand this. Here is Patapuss, my four-legged feline house-friend showing off that natural talent that all cats have for parking themselves in the one spot they’re definitely not meant to be.

Seriously, of all the locations available to you in the not-overly-small house that I live in, the music collection was the spot that was most singularly comfortable over all others?

I suppose I should be grateful it’s not worse. My computer is going in for repairs because Patapuss threw up on it the other day (when you’re a cat owner, you no longer get angry when this happens; with a sigh or a groan you simply resign yourself to what the world is throwing at you). It wasn’t the thick, chunky chuck mind you, but the watery one-off after-chuck. It must have leaked into the inner workings of my machine because the fan now only functions on full bore and the clock has gone haywire, causing mayhem with my Last.fm scrobble stats

.

On another occasion, I came home to find our other cat, Tomato, sitting on one of my turntables. I wouldn’t have minded quite so much if he hadn’t of managed to turn the damn thing on. And talking of records, if you were to look closely at the spines of the cardboard LP sleeves you’d notice what looks like extensive damage. Turns out record sleeves are evidently the perfect claw-sharpening material.

So yes, it could be worse. In fact, it’s even a little endearing, what with Patapuss knowing good music when he comes across it (this makes him a  cat of discrimination and good taste).

Iron Maiden: The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg

Iron Maiden is the best heavy metal band. Don’t try to argue the point, just accept it. I got into Iron Maiden when I was 10 or so years old after seeing the Be Quick Or Be Dead music video clip from the then-new Fear Of The Dark album. I’ve loved them ever since and am immensely happy to have seen them live on five occasions on two tours.

I’ve always said that Iron Maiden were at their best whenever it was that you discovered Iron Maiden. Ask any two Iron Maiden fans what their favourite album is, and you’ll rarely get the same answer. If two fans do happen to nominate as their favourite the same item from the Iron Maiden discography, it’s unlikely they’ll name the same favourite Iron Maiden song.

THE TWO BEST IRON MAIDEN ALBUMS

My personal favourite Iron Maiden album is Fear Of The Dark because that’s what got me into them at the time. Iron Maiden’s commercial (and critical) success was starting to wane at the time, as was singer Bruce Dickinson’s enthusiasm. Consequently, my second-favourite Iron Maiden album is The X-Factor, the first of the two much-maligned *shock gasp* Blaze Bayley-era-vocals Iron Maiden albums. In the three years that passed between Fear Of The Dark and The X-Factor I grew to love everything there was about Iron Maiden. When you’re a young teenager, three years seems like an eternity, so when The X-Factor finally came out after many delays I just couldn’t get enough of it. I distinctly recall dubbing the album to tape from my grandfather’s CD player (I got my own boombox a year later) and pretty much destroyed the cassette from repeated listens.

So those are in my personal view the two best Iron Maiden albums. As stated, everyone’s opinion will differ. And for that same reason, I also have my least favourite (“least best?”) album by Iron Maiden: A Matter Of Life And Death.

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

The band’s fourteenth album, A Matter Of Life And Death is also the third “second coming” album for Bruce Dickinson. He re-enlisted for vocal duties on 1999’s Brave New World album, as did guitarist Adrian Smith, providing Iron Maiden with no less than three guitarists and a bass.

A Matter Of Life And Death was critically acclaimed upon its release in 2006… and yet it’s the only Maiden album I can’t get into, try as I might.

I still don’t know what it is… Bruce’s not-quite-air-raid-anymore vocals? The fact that the album was intentionally not mastered? I really don’t know, but it’s worth noting that A Matter Of Life And Death is regarded in some circles as the band’s most self-indulgent album. This is evident by the fact that during the A Matter Of Life And Death tour they played the album in its entirety, with only a handful of anthems played towards the end of each show. While Iron Maiden deserve full credit for doing something genuinely different, both on record and live, an act such as this was, once could argue, noodly self-indulgence — and unsurprisingly, the track selection for the tour upset loads of fans.

My copy of this single from the best heavy metal band came from the best record shop in Australia. 

THE REINCARNATION OF BENJAMIN BREEG

To close, the artwork above is for The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg, the lead single from A Matter Of Life And Death. As with the rest of the tracks from this album, there’s just something about it that I find very difficult to get into compared to every other Iron Maiden album. The intro feels a bit weak, Bruce’s voice doesn’t seem to hit the mark and, while it breaks my heart saying this, there’s not much to it that I find overly memorable, other than perhaps the main riff. On the other hand, if that’s Iron Maiden’s worst, then I can happily live with that. It all gets back to that whole expectations thing. The inclusion of Hallowed Be They Name (Radio 1 ‘Legends’ Session), a classic track from the The Number Of The Beast album, is a nice touch in that it’s still a live rendition of a track but not one played to an arena.

Iron Maiden have been around for 30 years. They’ve released 15 studio albums, have three live guitarists and a bass player, and have performed more than 2000 live shows. Every time a reference is made to their estimated 85 million record sales, we are inevitably reminded that this extraordinary fact has been achieved with relatively minimal commercial airplay and exposure. When you’re that damn good, rock n’ roll lore allows you to have that one excessively self-indulgent album — the operative word here is “one” here. Just don’t disappear up your own arses by doing it on every one of your last five albums, like our friends Manowar have been known to do

Ultimately I tip my hat to Iron Maiden for not sticking to the formula. Which is exactly why Iron Maiden is the best heavy metal band around, no matter when or how old you were when you really got into them.

Endzeit Bunkertracks VI

I’ve been a fan of the Endzeit Bunkertracks compilations ever since I got my hands on the first edition of this excellent EBM, industrial, electro, aggrotech (or whatever the kids call it these days) compilation back in 2005.

The complete Endzeit Bunkertracks compilations, from Act I to VI.

The Endzeit Bunkertracks are by Alfa Matrix — a Belgian record label that specialises in EBM, industrial music and a whole loads of other darker-leaning electronic sounds. And what I like about every Endzeit Bunkertracks compilation CD is the fact that it’s a straightforward yet somewhat daring concept given that we live in an age of instantaneous digital gratification.

With Endzeit Bunkertracks you basically get four compilation CDs of tracks (typically remixed tracks) from various artists, combining established artists with a whole lot of up-and-comers. The compilations CDs are beautifully packaged in cardboard sleeves, which sit in a box that has traditionally come with commissioned artwork. Though the notion of “rare” tracks is close to redundant in a digital age, the majority of published tracks are said to be rare or unreleased at least as far as the physical release is concerned.

I can happily say that to date these compilations were responsible for introducing me to some of my all-time favourite dark, growly, stompy electronic music tunes. And yet, I’d be lying if I said I could readily identify as much as 75 per cent of the artists without referring to the liners notes or looking at my screen.

Despite this, I always eagerly anticipate the imminent release of a new Endzeit Bunkertracks instalment. Last year, this came in the form of Endzeit Bunkertracks Act VI.

Endzeit Bunkertracks VI including Endzeit 6 Sound Card. Sounds
From The Matrix 13 was also included as part of the package (not shown).  

 As has always been the case with the Endzeit compilations, there’s an inevitable proportion of filler (probably one of the reasons why I find it so hard to remember so many of the artists on these compilations). But that aside, the first thing that struck me about this last compilation was its astonishing value for money. In addition to the four CDs it also comes with what I call “standard issue” label compilation; that is, a “regular” compilation from the label, in this case Sounds From The Matrix 13. In addition to this, Endzeit Bunkertracks VI also came with what the “Endzeit 6 Sound Card” — a piece of plastic with a download code for 40 more tracks.

This means the compilation came with no less than — get this — 126 tracks. As one friend pointed out upon discovering this fact: “That’s too much music.” On one hand, a true cynic might suspect that the download-only tracks didn’t pass the cut for the pressed product. On the other, all this value kind of worries me because it shows just how much further an independent record label like Alfa Matrix has to go to just to register on people’s consciousnesses (apparently that’s not a word) .

The fact is, I like physical media, and I feel this is an important part of the Endzeit Bunkertracks package. You could call it artful packaging or trim; for me it comes down to being a pleasing product, much like the polished chrome on a motorcycle or the leather interior on a new car.

Another point. I rate Endzeit Bunkertracks as some of the very best industrial music compilations from a record label. I say that because record label-derived compilations have traditionally been kind of sketchy in my view as their objective is inevitably to push a roster. Those free CDs on magazine covers? They tend to be less hit and miss (depending on the originating magazine) and in many cases can be downright excellent — for the simple reason that they’re not bound to an individual record label.

But in this case, Endzeit Bunkertracks VI has 126 tracks from 108 artists. Not a bad effort for a small independent label.

Do you have a favourite? 

I’m fortunate to own all six Endzeit Bunkertracks compilations to date. I’ve also heard that some of them are difficult to come by, especially Endzeit Bunkertracks IV. Do you own any Endzeit compilations? Are you hunting down a particular edition? Do you have a favourite?

10 things you didn’t know about Lemmy from Motorhead

Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead. From being Jimi Hendrix’s roadie (and scoring LSD for the man) to being recognised as the originator of speed metal, few people come even remotely close to embodying what rock n’ roll is about. And no one can rock quite so hard, or as loudly, as the band he founded, Motorhead.

The newest addition to the Motorhead discography, Aftermath, was released very recently. I got my physical copy as part of Classic Rock magazine while I was in the UK. It was a one-off special called Classic Rock presents Motorhead — Aftershock, which I might add was a fantastic read. So credit where credit is due: many of the facts and quotes were taken from this edition. So...

Here are 10 things you may not know about Lemmy

Photo: Mark Marek Photography

1. LEMME BORROW A FIVER

Lemmy’s real name is Ian Fraser Kilmister. His nickname apparently came from his younger wheeling and dealing days when he would ask people “lemme borrow a fiver”.

2. LEMMY ON RELIGION

Lemmy’s dislike for organised religion is well known, with some of his most classic tracks like (Don’t Need) Religion and Orgasmatron notoriously critical of the subject. It may have had something to do with his father, a former air force chaplain who left the family when he was a baby.

3. HE HATES THE DENTIST

When Lemmy was four years old he had 10 of his teeth removed without anaesthetic.

“I remember that like it was yesterday,” he told Classic Rock magazine. “I had blood all down me, my mother pulling me through the crowds on a Saturday in Stoke.” Consequently he avoided dentists until he was 50 years old.

4. LEMMY AND OZZY OSBOURNE ARE CLOSE MATES

Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy are close friends. Lemmy even wrote or co-wrote a couple of Ozzy’s best known tracks including Hellraiser and I Don’t Want To Change The World. “When I came to America I was broke, I had nothing in the bank,” he told Classic Rock magazine. “Sharon Osbourne said, “Do you want to write four songs?” and they handed me this lump sum that was more money than I’d ever seen in my life. More money than I’d ever earned with Hawkwind and Motorhead.”

Photo: John Gullo

5. LEMMY ON JOINING HAWKWIND

It’s well known that Lemmy played bass in the seminal psychedelic rock outfit Hawkwind before he started Motorhead. What is perhaps less well known is the fact that (or at least he claims it to be so) he’d never picked up a bass guitar when he ‘auditioned’ for the band. A six-string guitar player until then, he happened to be at a gig where the Hawkwind bassist didn’t turn up. Hawkwind’s keyboard player, Dik Mik, was asked if anyone in the room played bass, pointed to Lemmy, who got up on stage, played a few bars, and got the gig.
Yes, that's how they did things back then.

6. LEMMY ON LEAVING HAWKWIND

Lemmy is famous for his stint in Hawkwind — but the manner in which he was fired is equally infamous. According to Lemmy, the rift developed after he was asked to re-record the vocals on a certain track because Hawkwind’s bi-polar-suffering vocalist Robert Calvert was unavailable due to the fact that he’d been admitted to hospital. The track, Silver Machine, became a major hit but the fact that it was Lemmy’s voice on the recording stirred up intense animosity among the other members of the band. Lemmy was eventually fired after being busted in Canada for drug possession (a charge that was later dropped). He has always claimed that it was “just an excuse to get rid of me” and reckons he was only bailed out because another bass player couldn’t be found to fill in on time. “So I did the show and at 4.30 in the morning I was fired,” says Lemmy.

He had the last laugh though. In addition to starting Motorhead, he adds that he really enjoyed “coming home and fucking all their old ladies. Not the ugly ones of course. But at least four. I took great pleasure in it. Eat that, you bastards.”

7. HE WAS 35 BEFORE MOTORHEAD GOT ANYWHERE

Lemmy was 30 years old when he first conjured up Motorhead. He’d been unceremoniously dumped from Hawkwind, and he soon found that getting a record company to release a full album of what was considered fast, dirty and loud noise was harder than he’d envisaged. Much, much harder.

For many people, getting sacked from your successful band, getting your new outfit voted the “best worst band in the world” by the music press, and then suffering years of knock-backs from record labels would be a fairly strong incentive to find a career that involves something other than rock music. Especially when your first album, On Parole, was recorded and remained unreleased by a greedy record label. Indeed, Motorhead’s self-titled debut album was initially meant to be a live recording of their final ever gig.

It wasn’t until Lemmy was in his mid thirties that Motorhead finally got some recognition and much-needed airplay with the 1979 release of the classic Motorhead album, Overkill.

8. EVERYONE LOVES MOTORHEAD

Countless bands have been influenced by Motorhead. Rock, punk, metal and other acts all cite them as paving the way over more than 30 years of heavy guitar music. And Motorhead know it. For example, the dark theme of the artwork on the fifteenth Motorhead album, We Are Motorhead, was essentially a nod to the many black and death metal bands that were big at the time who publicly cited Motorhead as an influence.

In 1995, Metallica famously played a gig as a Motorhead tribute band at the Whisky A Go Go. The occasion was Lemmy’s birthday  and Metallica took to the stage complete with big black fake wigs, sideburn moustache combos and sunglasses. Metallica’s Jason Newstead had an especially close encounter with Lemmy during a rendition of (We Are) The Roadcrew, a song Newstead had been playing since he first started a band: “So I thought, I’ve been doing it long enough. I got it memorised. Then Lemmy comes over right before the first verse, and he’s right in my face. He’s rubbing his warts on my fucking face! And while he’s rubbing that shit on my skin, he says, “Alright, don’t forget the words mate. Don’t fuck it up.” So of course, I’m distracted and I miss the first line. I didn’t have a chance — but he knew that.”

9. LEMMY IS NOT GOD

In the film Airheads, three rockers take hostages at a radio station in an effort to get some airplay for their would-be hit song. With the building surrounded by police, the band is at one time approached by Chris Moore, who claims to be an executive from a record label. Suspecting he may be an undercover cop, the band and Moore have the following exchange:

Chazz: Who’d win in a wrestling match, Lemmy or God?

Chris Moore: Lemmy.

(Rex imitates a game show buzzer)

Chris Moore: ... God?

Rex: Wrong, dickhead, trick question. Lemmy *is* God.

And yet Lemmy is mortal. He has a defibrillator implanted in his chest. It’s called an ICD — an implantable cardioverter-defibrilator. Unlike many regular pacemakers it’s permanent, and it’s designed to jolt you back to life if your heart stops unexpectedly.

So even Lemmy has his limits — who, it’s worth noting, at 67 years of age is still rocking out, and throughout his life has consumed enough drugs and alcohol to kill every elephant in Africa.

10. LEMMY LOVES HORSES

Lemmy loves horses. Even though he reckons he probably couldn’t ride one, he’s hinted that he’d probably spend a life around them if he ever retired from Motorhead.

So in other words, it’s unlikely he’ll ever get into horses.

MORE: Everyone should listen to at least one Motorhead album every day

  

As mentioned previously, credit needs to be given to the Classic Rock magazine special issue of Classic Rock presents Motorhead — Aftershock. It’s a damn good read from which I extracted many of the quotes above and it came with the Motorhead Aftershock album on the cover in a nice cardboard case. Get yourself a copy if you can.

Turisas: Rasputin. It’s disco folk metal.

I’ve never been a fan of Finnish folk metal outfit Turisas. In fact, there’s not a single Turisas track in my playlist, and the one time I watched the video for Battle Metal I really didn’t think much of it. However, the free CD on my latest issue of Terrorizer magazine contained a new Turisas track called Ten More Miles. It’s a new song from the latest album in the Turisas discography  – also called Turisas funnily enough (I just don’t get bands that release self-titled albums that aren’t also debuts).

While the track still didn’t blow me away, the chorus nonetheless had an insidious ear-worm quality that meant I finally ended up giving Turisas’ brand of Finnish folk metal another try.

A quick look on last.fm showed that the track Rasputin is their most listened to song, exceeding even the track Battle Metal with which Turisas has become synonymous.

I looked it up on Youtube, thinking it must be some epic folk song about revolution or desperate winter battles in Imperial Russia.

No sir. This was none other, in fact, than a cover of the famously maligned Boney M. disco hit.

Rasputin knew how to party.

While it sounds like an incomprehensibly awful idea, I actually think this is nothing short of pure awesome. Fist-shaking “Hey! Hey! Hey!” sing-alongs? Check. Unspeakably catchy chorus? Check. Disco beat that also works for head banging? Check. Dancing girls? Check. Animal skin-covered Finnish folk metallers covered in black and red war paint getting the party started in what was until five seconds ago a boring Russian nightclub? Check.

Like so many great tracks it’s essentially a gimmick (note: I love gimmicks, which is why I love so much industrial music). And while I’m probably the last metal head in the southern hemisphere to discover this track, please listen to that chorus and try to tell me this isn’t the funnest thing you’ve heard all week.

*Sigh* If only this got played at all those metal clubs I used to go to back in the day.

Try not to break out in instant fun.

Faderhead, Velvet Acid Christ and Psyclon Nine form supergroup

The creative minds behind three of the scene’s best known EBM / industrial / aggrotech bands have joined forces and formed an “industrial supergroup” said to be of a scale likely to rival Bruderschaft.

M.I.A. (Misunderstood Industrial Artists) is the name of the new project headed by Sami Mark Yahya, Bryan Erickson and Nero Bellum, better known as the creative forces behind Faderhead, Velvet Acid Christ and Psyclon Nine respectively. In a recent joint statement announcing the group’s imminent debut album, Misunderstood…, the trio said they formed the electro supergroup in an effort clarify the many misunderstandings that had befallen them in recent years.

Says Yahya: “I was just hangin’ in a club, you know, after the show. I had a glass in one hand and a pen in the other so I could sign autographs. The problem is, I don’t have any more free hands. Sometimes I swap the pen in my autograph-signing hand for my phone, but that still doesn’t leave me with enough free hands.

“There were all these people giving me their CD or asking me about the software I use to make music, and of course I couldn’t respond properly since I didn’t have any free hands! I think some of the fans got a bit upset by that, but in reality it was all a misunderstanding. It’s like when people poke my shoulder. I hate that. I’ve got a bad tendon from holding a pen or a phone in my hand all the time, and people just don't realise that.

“That’s when it hit me: surely I can’t be the only misunderstood industrial artist? Then I thought of Bryan Erickson from Velvet Acid Christ and that Nero dude from Psyclon Nine. I bet they’ve had similar experiences.

The artwork for the new industrial supergroup's debut album.

Erickson takes up the slack: “I was apprehensive at first but after the call from Fadey the idea really grew on me. I told him how my heart ached because I truly understood how he felt, and maybe we could collaborate on something together? Next thing you know, we’ve got that Nero guy on the phone, and before you know it we’re in the studio, talking about and expressing our feelings, and recording an album together.

Bellum continues: “Yeah, I’ve had my share of misunderstandings, just like Bryan and Fadey. The “Ubermensch” tattoo on my chest is a perfect example. I asked the tattooist to write “Tumor Wrench” on my chest in those big black letters but he got it all wrong, so that’s how I ended up with this tattoo instead.”

Erickson concludes: “I think Misunderstood… will be a great album. We’ve got a tour planned as well and I’m really looking forward to leaving my mother’s basement. It’ll be awesome. Well, as long as I don’t have to play to crowds of, like, 50 people.”

M.I.A. – Misunderstood... is out now.

Note: Yes, it's satirical.

Nattefrost: Blood & Vomit to have “Urine” anniversary reissue

Kvlt Norwegian black metaller Nattefrost has announced a special nine-year anniversary re-issue of his infamous debut album: Blood & Vomit.

Released in early 2004, Blood & Vomit was the first solo release by Roger Nattefrost, better known as the dude from Carpathian Forest. A filthy, crusty, stripped down black metal album without any guitar solos or melancholic synth hooks, the album is infamous for its raw recordings of lead-singer Roger Nattefrost’s bodily functions. These appear on the tracks The Art of Spiritual Purification – in which he records himself vomiting – and Nattefrost Takes a Piss (no explanation needed – but seriously, look it up).

Contrary to popular belief, Nattefrost’s performance on The Art of Spiritual Purification was not recorded immediately after hearing the first Evanescence album.

Blood & Vomit. He also plays in Carpathian Forest.

As mentioned, Nattefrost: Blood & Vomit will be re-released as a special commemorative “Blood & Urine” edition that includes a bonus disc of studio outtakes. It will feature the following previously unreleased tracks:

1 Nattefrost takes a piss (remastered)

2 Nattefrost takes a dump

3 Nattefrost has Mexican for dinner

4 Nattefrost destroys a dozen bottles of Grolsch

5 Nattefrost passes out

5 Nattefrost wakes up with an upset stomach

6 Nattefrost runs to the toilet

7 Nattefrost sits on the toilet

8 Nattefrost spends longer than usual on the toilet

9 Nattefrost is still on the toilet

10 Nattefrost is scared to leave the toilet

11 Nattefrost is almost confident that it’s safe to leave the toilet

12 Nattefrost breathes a sigh of relief and is back on the couch

13 Nope, he’s back on the toilet

14 Nattefrost curses God

Said Roger Nattefrost about the new special Blood & Vomit re-issue: “To commemorate the ninth anniversary of the album, the special edition of Blood & Vomit will feature a bonus disc containing unreleased studio out-takes, as well as some of my intestinal outtakes,” he croaked.

“The bonus disc will be strictly limited to 666 copies, with each disc containing a bonus vial of my very own contagious urine.

“How much of myself will I be putting into this re-release? Put it this way: if you were to stand in front a burning church, it would  be enough to extinguish the raging flames. In short, you get a lot of me with every pissing, sorry, I mean pressing.

“Unfortunately, the process is going much slower than expected. I’m drinking like a dozen bottles of Grolsch beer every day but I've only managed to fill 60 vials so far. There are another 606 to go, so it may be the end of the year before all the anniversary edition albums of Blood & Vomit are ready for the fans.”

A delayed album? That is a shame.

Black metal fans will just have to… hold on.

Note: In case you hadn't worked it out, this is a piece of satire.

David Thrussell: Black Lung, a new Snog album and Babes In Consumerland transgender artwork

This post is about D. Thrussell of Snog / Black Lung fame, the new Snog album: Babes In Consumerland, and the new album's cover artwork...

I consider myself very fortunate to have caught various gigs over the last decade or so that have in one way or another been linked to Snog front-person Dee Thrussell.

The fact that I live in Melbourne certainly made it easy, what with it being the capital of Snog’s home state of Victoria. I will confess that I didn’t pay much attention on the very first occasion that I caught them live — it was almost the first time I’d been in a club and I barely knew my arse from my elbow, let alone good music — but otherwise, seeing the word “Snog” on a flyer was always more than enough incentive to leave the house.

The mind of Thrussell (and Thrussell’s co-conspirators) is a fertile one that in over 20 years has been responsible for almost two dozen full-length albums, plus dozens of EPs and singles across a mind-boggling array of mostly (but not always) electronic projects. The best known are obviously Snog, along with Soma and Black Lung, but there are a plethora of others.

And yet, despite the benefit of geographic proximity, until a few months ago I’d never managed to catch Thrussell at a non-Snog gig. That changed when I finally got to catch Black Lung along with Forces and headliner Atom™ at a small gig in inner city Melbourne.

So this is how I found myself talking to Thrussell — and despite it being a Black Lung event I couldn’t resist asking about the then-upcoming new Snog album, Babes In Consumerland.

 Dee Thrussell, as shown on the cover of the new Snog album Babes In Consumerland.

 EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG

Pick up a copy of Babes In Consumerland and you’ll probably do a double-take when you see the cover artwork.

Yes, that image. It depicts Thrussell — Dee Thrussell.

“What you see on the cover of Babes In Consumerland, all this time, that’s actually been a part of me,” says Thrussell.

“Through Black Lung and Snog I’ve ended up doing things over the years that, let’s be frank here, just wouldn’t be considered normal. For example, I was commissioned by the US government to create a soundtrack for DARPA back in 2008 and 2009 for the recording of the Black Lung album Full Spectrum Dominance. That is, the US military. That’s not something that happens every day. I have to say I’ve never actively gone out of my way to go there but as I’ve said many times over the years how, I’ve been contacted by people in the most unexpected of places. There are people who listen to this music in government, on oil rigs, in prison, even in the military. There’s even a monastery somewhere in NSW I believe where they play this music. The truth is, I look back at all those crazy moments, and revisiting it all again I see myself subconsciously trying to find myself.”

Thrussell is indirectly referring to the new album cover. His record label put it as follows: “Though not mentioned explicitly lyrically, band mastermind Dee Thrussell’s long journey as a transgender woman informs every musical gesture and plaintive lyric.”

Babes In Consumerland takes on some confronting themes not usually found in industrial music.

According to Thrussell, this is the key to understanding the new Snog album. On one hand, it touches on so many of the staples that you would find on previous Snog albums. Consumerism. Oppression. Rebellion. Conspiracy theories. Anti-capitalism. Fighting the system. Culture-jamming… they’re all there, as they have been for more than 20 years. But questions and themes of gender have always been absent. At least in the lyrics anyway.

“Retrospectively, knowing what I know now, you might say I was somewhat lost. All that subconscious anger came out as bad feelings. The lyrics to Hey Christian God and Born To Be Mild, for example, and all the cynicism and sarcasm. That was all an outlet.

So I’m glad I’ve finally been able to take a big step and get closer to it all, even if I’m not yet ready to explore these deeply personal ideas in a lyrical form.”

Babes In Consumerland is out now.

Note: yes, this piece is satirical.

Is this your (stolen) CD collection?

If you’ve visited this blog before then you may have heard the following story. Namely, a few years ago I purchased two 500-CD lots from independent record stores. On both occasions I thought I’d first enrich my music collection and then make a killing on eBay by flogging off those items I didn’t want — but it turns out I didn’t make very much at all by selling CDs for 99 cents each (also, there was a reason why all those CDs were selling so cheap in the first place).
So I promised myself I’d never do it again. I resisted. For a while anyway. Yet despite my best intentions I recently fell foul of temptation a third time, albeit on a smaller scale. This time it wasn’t a lot of CDs from a record store, but someone’s privately owned (and no doubt once highly cherished) heavy metal music collection.

I came across the below just the other day while having a sticky beak into what looked like a recently opened pawn shop. I walked in and sitting right there on the counter, amongst the overpriced audio-recording gear and sporting implements, was what you see here. It was labelled “heavy metal collection” and after a quick flick through I realised this was no ordinary run-of-the-mill heavy metal CD collection. No, this was someone’s classic death metal, black metal, grindcore and Australian heavy metal collection, painstakingly put together, I estimate, from some time in the mid to late 1990s up to the early 2000s. It was packed with classic items, most of which I don’t own, and it was for sale. Right there. On the shop counter.

A treasure? Or someone's stolen treasure.

I asked the pawn shop sellers how much for the lot and after agreeing on a price I picked it up the next day and proudly posted photos of it on Facebook.

I should mention that the pawn shop accepted cash only (“They want to charge me 17 per cent for EFTPOS,” one of them said). Then when I enquired as to how this collection came to be up for sale I was told something along the lines of the original owner passing it on to another family member, or somesuch, who in turn did not want his offspring to be exposed to “that kind of music”.

At the time it seemed like a vaguely plausible explanation, but after sharing photos of my find with my friends I got a little suspicious.

“Might be worth checking some forums to see if anyone had their collection stolen. Kinda odd it’s not been sorted and still in racks!” said one person, adding “I wouldn’t advertise it as some douche will probably try and claim it. But just scan to see?”

“There are pretty good laws in place that second-hand stores have to follow about cataloguing and holding onto things for a set time first. If the owner’s gone to the cops there is a paper trail,” said another. “Hmmm…” I thought.

As a heavy metal lover and passionate collector of CDs, vinyl, and gimmicky merch, I sincerely understand what a collection like this means — or at least meant at some point — to its owner. More to the point, I myself was burgled two or so years ago and while the stolen laptop and DJ CD decks were easily replaced, the bile-inducing anger that is the thought of someone breaking into your house was much harder to forget. Fact is, I would be mortified if I discovered I was in possession of someone’s stolen treasure.

WAS IT STOLEN?

There are a relatively small number of people in Melbourne who love the sort of music found in this collection: death, doom, black, grind and generally more heavy and extreme Aussie metal (Portal anyone?). It’s also quite probable that, if this were a stolen heavy metal music collection, the owner would have vented about it online and sought help.

So I’d be extraordinarily grateful if you could help me establish that it really isn’t stolen. Starting with this question: is this your stolen music collection? I hope it isn’t. Do you know anyone who has had their heavy metal collection stolen? Again, I hope not. But if you do, maybe ask them to have a look here.

Help me make sure it’s legit. And if it is stolen, nothing would make me happier to return it to its rightful owner.

Note: The size of the above photo has been deliberately reduced to make the titles on the CD spines harder to read. I’ve also added several “decoy” CDs — items from my personal collection which had no relationship to the original find. If this is a stolen music collection and the genuine owner can be identified, he or she will know exactly which items *don't* belong here. Sorry folks, but this is to ward off any scammers.

Iron Maiden patches

I recently got back from a weekend holiday to Sydney where, in addition to doing a whole lot of touristy stuff, I also got to re-visit Utopia Records.

No idea what they sell in there.

 

Utopia Records, as you can see, is the sort of record store that very subtly hints at what it’s about before you walk in. And being a Melbournoid, I must confess that I’ve only been there once before, during the previous Iron Maiden Australian Tour. I’d flown up with a mate to catch the Sydney concert and after seeing a full page in the local street press that said words to the effect of “Utopia Records fukken owns Maiden” or something like that we just had to go. It turns out they’d crammed the place with Iron Maiden merch and apparently the Iron Maiden discography was being played in chronological order. It was absolutely wonderful and the only thing that prevented me from staying and genuinely wanting to be there was the incredible tiredness of a stupid o’clock early morning Tiger Airways flight (also, I will never forgive Tiger for severely telling us off and refusing to let us take photos when, as we stumbled onto the tarmac, we suddenly spotted Ed Force One, the Iron Maiden jet flown by Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson himself, standing right there in front of us — but that’s another story).

This time my visit there was more sedate. There was no Iron Maiden special but I did grab some CDs, an Iron Maiden keyring (of course), and several heavy metal patches.

Music-wise I bought two albums. The first was Gwar: Scumdogs Of The Universe. I firmly believe it’s a real gem of a ’90s metal album from a band that, once you remove the funny costumes and rubber masks and wacky back-story, is actually a very underrated heavy metal band. In this case I finally got a CD version of the album I played countless times as a kid, that album originally being a scratchy copy of a pirated Bulgarian cassette tape (true story — even the label was mistyped “Scumdocs Of The Universe”).

The second was a much hyped album by a band called Nails, titled Abandon All Life. Fawned over by a Terrorizer magazine reviewer who gave it the full five stars, this is one hard as hell release that’s heavier than the backlash from a French nuclear test in the Pacific, despite being just 17 minutes long. It ain’t bad, although it’s not quite as face-meltingly heavy as I thought it might be.

I also bought three patches, of which Utopia Records has a pretty good selection.

These were of course destined for my mostly Iron Maiden-themed heavy metal battle jacket. And you know, Id’ be lying if I said I didn’t get at least a small kick out of the many compliments directed at me when I wear this jacket — although I draw the line when dudes looking at it in admiration want to shake my hand while I’m at the urinal (’nother true story).

 

Heavy metal patches. The best kind of patches.

 So now I’ve got three more heavy metal patches to add and I’m starting to run out of space. To quote Krusty the Clown when faced with the prospect of having nowhere left to apply more nicotine patches: “I think there's still a spot on my butt.”

Even so, there’s always room for one more, as the saying goes. Instead, more worrying is the problem of keeping track of each individual patch. And by that I mean, you sometimes lose track of which ones you already own! In this case I inadvertently ended up with two version of the Powerslave patch!

That's because I'm twice the fan.

Oh well. The fact that I had to get the same patch twice just shows what a super-devoted fan I am.

Right?