Some records are rare. Some records are expensive. Some records are just out of the radar. “Grizzly fetish” by Chopping Block is one of them. I’ve been searching for it for ages and I admit I had give up on founding it. Now the always great Sandro from RSR released a long overdue and needed repress of this hidden gem of the early days of powerviolence. In the also scarce internet covering of this record this is often described as an Infest influenced single and that can be proven true, as it was released in 1991, totally surrounded by the golden era of bands like Infest and No Comment. The influence is there, of course but something just doesn’t fall right. The cover art is taken from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the parallelism is right there, all over the place. If Infest and No Comment may be your regular, even a bit weird, Xmas dinner with your family, Chopping Block is a full serving with the Sawyer family. All the songs feel like unable to stay within their boundaries, overflowing in speed, noise and full frontal assault. The sound is off kilter, deranged, unbridled, unhinged to its most vile and profound nature. Exactly like when the Sawyer family goes full nuts in trying to make grandpa smash the hammer on Sally’s head, Chopping Block sound like their blood goes full, hot and uncontrolled to their eyes, losing control on what they’re doing like a rabid beast. They go more hardcore, they put solos in their music, they go for a thrash metal riffing here and there, but everything sounds deeply feral. I don’t have any back story about the band (both band and label kinda disappeared after this only release, with just a more controlled and “regular” song appearing on the “America in decline” compilation six years later), but I’ve always felt they may be rehearsing every night in some filthy cabin in a remote little village in the vast American prairies, surrounded by snow, howling stray dogs and with the distant sound of a windows that keeps smashing. This is hands down one of the best powerviolence records of the 90’s that no one talks about. A real gem finally repressed.
And then, popping out like an unexpected infection, Chopping Block comes back with a surprising comeback. Totally DIY, totally self produced by the same Bloodsoaked label of their own Dave, these freaks come back with a bang. Vocal duties have been taken care by none other than Trevor from Wound Man and Internal and this is an unique yet incredible meeting. The result is quite different than the debut (well, they are more than thirty years apart…) but it’s still a top notch record. Fast, feral, bludgeoning, voracious powerviolence with a raw, unpolished vibe that makes me think of the same no-arrangment approach of early Revenge, even if with a whole world of music between the two bands. Trevor vocals fit perfectly over this mess, putting a strong No Comment vibe on it. The mood swings between derangement, obsession, pure rage and filthiness, with an overall angular stare on things that can even wink at some sludge unsung heroes (take “Infrasound” and put back your Cattlepress or Toadliquor records on). While being a different record than “Grizzly fetish” this new EP retains the same out-of-the-bunch attitude that made the debut so great. There’s a whole world of PV bands and then there’s Chopping Block. Don’t miss it.
During my formative years Carcass was a guiding light, my compass in the world of extreme music. Impaled, Haemorrhage, Exhumed, Anatomy, Gruesome Stuff Relish, General Surgery, The County Medical Examiners. Adhering A LOT to the Carcass sound was never a bad thing and seeing that choice as a GREAT choice was so obvioius that it started to became a trait I would search when it comes to goregrind. In the later years a new generation of bands heavily influenced by the gore kings surfaced, like Pharmacist or Festerdecay, but a new phenomenom came into scene : Carcass inspired music made by all star band. Meat Spreader, Putrefaction Sets In and, of course, Sick Sinus Syndrome. The latter feature two heavyweights of Cezch goregrind, Bilos from Malignant Tumour and Hary from Pathologist, plus Jirka who grinded his teeth in a lot of the best bends from that area, like Ingrowing, Ahumado Granujo and Intervalle Bizzare. The result is a band that knows EXACTLY what to do when it comes to this style. first of all: a good ominous intro. Damn, I love goregrind intros. Can you imagine “Reek of putrefaction” without “Genital grinder”? Or “Necrology” without “Ominous lamentation”? I can’t. That sets the tone to the entire SSS side, a handful of songs somehow focused on body fat, grease and slimy jelly tissues. The riffing is top notch, eerie and meaty, the pace is perfect, from crushing blasts to crushing slower parts. The double vocals assault is exactly what you can expect from such people doing such music and everything works like a perfect set of gears. If you love goregrind, this is a no brainer. In a world of bands focusing on blastbest speed and on a pointless challenge about who’s the most extreme, Sick Sinus Syndrome is just what you need : great goregrind.
I was lucky enough to catch Lycanthrophy in their early stages, with the split with Nesoučást Stroje and got hooked since day one. One of the things I love most in fastcore/PV is the dual male/female vocals so I was kinda skeptic when Zdíša was no long in the band, but the last years of Lycanthrophy made me sure It was not the case to be worried. The band kept on with its amazing brand of straight to the throat, intense and perfectly written music, hands down my favorite Eastern Europe fast band along with Gride. This new effort finds these freaks in great shape and I think that the two main side projects (Otto’s Sick Destroyer and Ondra’s Skiplife) helped the “main” band to add some focus and adjust influences in its sound, making every new releases a circling up the square in an always growing manner. When it comes to breaknecking old school grinding PV Lycanthrophy has been one of the main choices for more than 20 years and this is another strong point in this statement. Great Czech split, the way it should be!
Brain Squeeze is a Portland band that after a demo in 2000 and an EP in 2024 reached the second EP step last month with this incredibly good slab of vinyl. I’ve managed to snag a copy through Way Back When and this EP keeps on with the classic approach of the label. Fast, dissonant, old school yet fresh hardcore, played with personality and undisputed energy. The label released the amazing Under Attack some time ago and Brain Squeeze fall in the same ideological frame : old school played with new energy. The nod to Neos is quite clear already from the band’s name, but Brain Squeeze take that full throttle formula and adds a lot of distortion and snottiness, making these songs a hi-speed noise siege filled with distortion and unhinged punk attitude. They sound a lot like some classic D.O.A. or early Poison Idea played at triple speed, oozing a vibe that reminded me a lot the first songs by Netjajev SS but even something from bands like Culo, The Repos and The Secret Prostitues. Highly reccomended if you want to cut off reality and squeeze your brains out!
I’m very proud to host this amazing column by my great friend Raffaele Perro Maldito, be ready to dive into one of the most obscure and legendary extreme scene ever!!!
INTRODUCTION
As someone obsessed with both the Medellin metal and the punk/hardcore scenes from the 80s’ and early 90s’, once I started connecting the dots I noticed how incestuous both these scenes were. Metal medallo was of course the progenitor of the punk/hardcore scene and Parabellum was the most important band to emerge from the ruins of that city. A lot of the guys and gals involved in the metal bands all started playing hardcore or grind around the late 80s/early 90s’. If you check the lyrics of the ultra-metal bands, you can easily find a deep social criticism not so well-hidden in their satanic/occult approach, so we really shouldn’t be surprised by the transition.
Five years ago, I started working on a Parabellum family tree inspired by the cool Napalm Death and Death Side trees that were floating around on the web. I thought that since Parabellum were as equally important as those bands, people deserved to know more about them besides the influence the metal medallo scene supposedly had on the Norwegian black metal clown posse. I made a sketch, forwarded it to a couple of friends and just put it aside. A few months ago, when my younger brother from another mother Bongio asked me to join him on a writing project, this abandoned work immediately came back to me.
Before analyzing how every single Parabellum member had a crucial role in the development of the Medellin extreme music scene, I just wanna thank Julian Correa for sharing with me the precious information that only locals could know. Also greetings to south american music obsessed fanatics Jumpei Ishimaru and Chris Campos for always sharing with me their deep knowledge about obscure bands nobody cares about. Last but not least Bongio for publishing another boring and way too long essay on his blog that only a loser like me can waste time on.
Even in the digital era, information about this scene are still scare and very hard to find, especially for someone who lives on the other side of globe like me. I apologize in advance for any error or missing link and I encourage you to get in touch with me to fill any gaps.
Parabellum started as Juana La Loca in 1983. The line-up was Carlos Mario “La Bruja” Perez Ramirez, John Jairo Martinez and Tomas Cipriano Alvarez. In 1984 they (thankfully!) changed their moniker to Parabellum and very soon Ramon Reinaldo Restrepo joined as their vocalist. The band existed until 1991, when they disbanded. Each one of them started other projects even while in Parabellum:
CARLOS MARIO “LA BRUJA” PEREZ RAMIREZ
Let’s start with a well-hidden project that only in recent years received the attention it deserves: TEMPUS, the missing link between Parabellum and Herpes. They were only active between 1986 and 1988 and featured Carlos Mario “La Bruja” Perez on guitar and vocals along with Yolanda Molina on drums (who would later form Fertil Miseria) and Harold Usuga on bass (he played guitar in Ataque De Sonido “demo/93”). They recorded a couple of studio sessions that got lost for many years only to resurface recently as the “cantos bajo tierra” lp. The production is surprisingly good and their music is basically grindcore, pretty surprising considering it was from 1986-88! They got mentioned in an old MRR scene report but, other than that, there is no other evidence of their activity back then.
Carlos continued to follow the grindcore path with his next project HERPES. We’re talking about one of the very first south-American grindcore band here, and their only 7” titled “Medellin”, self-released by the band in 1989, is probably the weirdest record that came out from that scene. We’re fully in the grind/noisecore territory here. If you can wrap your brain around an even dirtier version of Parabellum on acid that’s trying to cover a Hawkwind tune, then you’re quite close to Herpes. This is so noisy, heavy and distorted that in the end it sounds like the worst nightmare you could ever have. Uber-brutal and rough stuff that’s definitely not for everyone. To this day, Herpes is still active, playing occasional gigs and they even released a couple of weird albums over the years.
In 2005 ORGANISMOS emerged from the Medellin underground as the last project by Carlos Perez. Things got a bit less extreme here compared to Herpes and Tempus, but we’re still in the death/grind territory. You can definitely also hear an ultra-metal touch here, especially in the vocals and the sound. Organismos released three albums so far (the last one in 2017) and they occasionally play gigs mainly in their hometown. In 2015 Carlos also played in a post-punk band called CONSECUENCIA that released a self-titled cd.
RAMON REINALDO RESTREPO
In 1986, after Parabellum’s initial break up, Ramon Restrepo along with John Jairo Martinez decided to push things even further to the extreme and started BLASFEMIA. Calling their music “primitive” is an understatement. Their 4 tracks 12” from 1988 “Guerra Total” are almost unlistenable, they have some of the worst production ever. The vocals are annoying and the whole album is just a lovely, unstructured, chaotic mess. That being said, it somehow works perfectly. Of course it’s an acquired taste and definitely not an easy listening but once you manage to get over its flaws, you have to appreciate the key role these guys had in shaping what is commonly referred to today as black metal. In 1990 Blasfemia appeared on the cult colombian movie “Rodrigo D. No Futuro”, playing one song on the roof of an unfinished house in Medellin. They also have one song featured on the soundtrack of that film which has way better production than their previous material. He reformed the band in 2013 with some friends and released a bunch of cds.
Way before that, in the year of the lord 1989, Ramon & Cesar Quiceno from Maleficio formed one of the most brutal hardcore bands that ever came outta the slums of Medellin: RESTOS DE TRAGEDIA. Their two 7”, “Ser Y No Ser” (1989) and “Medellin Presenta A:” (1991) are some of the finest examples of what hardcore medallo is all about: gruff vocals, low-budget raw production and fast beats that morph into a soundtrack for the anguish and desperation of those times. They probably disbanded not too long after that but they were brought back to life in 2013 and I think they are still somewhat active. The re-formed line-up also released a couple of great eps.
Ramon was also in AGRESSION but only for a very short time so I decided not to include it in the family tree.
In 2006 Restrepo went back to his roots with his solo-project imaginatively named RAMON. We’re fully in the darkest corner of the ultra-metal kingdom again but there are also some hardcore touches here and there. Basically, RAMON sounds like the perfect mix of all his previous bands. He released 2 full albums as well as a split with the reformed Blasfemia.
JOHN JAIRO MARTINEZ
We’ve already talked about John J.’s involvement in BLASFEMIA so let’s focus on a couple of other metal bands he was involved with. The first one is NEMESIS, where he appears as Jhon M. (guitar/chorus). Formed in 1986, both their “Hombre: Oveja Negra Del Universo” 7” from 1988 and “Lo Que Siento Por Tí” demo from 1990 are another fine example of the unique metal medallo sound. The second band is the totally mysterious and obscure METAL NACIENTE. I found it mentioned only once in an interview with Ramon Restrepo. Ultra-metal connoisseurs confirmed its existence but none of them know anything else about this project. If you have any info, please share them in the comment section!
For his last known project, J.J. fully moved into hardcore territories with CENSURA. They left only one self-titled 10 track LP to posterity, self-released in 1992. It’s mainly mid-paced, stompy punk/hardcore with metallic guitar and an approach that’s pissed-off yet controlled. The closing ballad “Latino America” is in my opinion the best ode to this exploited continent ever created by a punk/HC band. Censura are still active today, playing gigs once in a while.
TOMAS CIPRIANO ALVAREZ
After the band’s demise, Tomas was the only ex-Parabellum member to go totally punk/hardcore and never look back. In 1990 he was active, always on the skins, with a short-lived but essential project called HP.HC. Apart from appearing on crucial Medellin compilations such as “La Ciudad Podrida Vol. I” and “Estamos En La Sima”, their only official release was the “Thrash/Hardcore/Punk” 7” from 1991. Think of a latino version of D.R.I. filtered with a Rudimentari Peni gloomy atmosphere and you’ll get a good idea of how great this band was! On youtube there’s a nice video of them playing live at Punk House in Medellin in 1990 that I can’t recommend enough!
The following year he formed INFESTO. The same year the band unleashed an incredible demo titled “Ansiedad Isaciable”, 11 tracks of female-fronted rabid hardcore not dissimilar to what Fertil Miseria would do a few years later (you can even see a clip of Fertil Miseria covering Infesto on the essential “Mas Alla Del No Futuro” documentary from 2009). 1995 saw the release of a split 7” with a Cipriano solo project called Libra. Both bands play way more pop punk/post-punk on this EP. While Infesto went on and are still active these days with a different line-up, Cipri left the band shortly after to focus on his aforementioned solo project LIBRA. He was active with this project from 1994 to 2003, with various releases under his belt, collaborating with various singers but playing all the instruments himself. From the dark post-punk tracks of the early days, Libra moved to a more “90s’ pop punk” sounds but the end result has always been very personal and interesting.
He also appears in the aforementioned “Rodrigo D. No Futuro” movie as himself. After a brief chat with the movie’s main-character (who’s also a drummer), he plays one amazing song as Cipri titled “Cerdo Policia” which is basically just him playing as fast as he can while screaming profanities against cops:
CONCLUSION
I’ve been told La Bruja owns all the rights to Parabellum’s music and that he’s asking huge royalties to the labels that approach him to reissue the material. That’s why there hasn’t been anything officially reissued yet. That’s really sad, considering bootleggers keep releasing unofficial versions of Parabellum releases and sell them at outrageous prices.
Rumors are that Ramon doesn’t get any credit for Parabellum since he arrived when everything had been already created. If that’s true, it’s a real shame since his unique vocal style shaped their sound and helped define what Parabellum is all about.
John Jairo Martinez was stabbed to death in 1998. Here’s an extract from the newspaper article that was featured in an interview done by Giulio F.O.A.D. with Ramon for their Blasfemia reissue:
“On Saturday March 21st, John Jairo was out having a few drinks and enjoying a good time after his usual rehearsal time with Censura, and around midnight, while walking home, he met his sad ending: after getting into a fight, he got stabbed the left side of his chest. One single stab was enough to get an almost bled to death John into the emergency room of Barrio san Javier. Weeks before, he had violently manifested his anti-social feelings and stated that he was forecasting something weird, and evil. He left a three years old daughter orphan, a family and many friends lost in the grievance of his strong vital energy, and also a band full of dreams and good prospects for the future”.
But there’s even more about John Jairo’s premature departure: “He was the one who had the master recordings for Parabellum, and when he died, his family burned everything. Obviously, some things were saved, but the story goes that the family wanted to get rid of it all because at that time, it was all considered to be from the devil. It sounds curious and funny, but in those times, mysticism was rampant”.
Cipriano took an image of the virgin and transformed it into “Sacrilegio,” an infamous work of art he owns the rights to. After the early 00s’, there aren’t any traces of musical activity where he is involved. Rumors are that he’s now active as an artist.
One of the things I miss the most from the good old days (TM) is a great compilation. With all these fucking streaming services the sole existence of a compilation seems outwordly, a worthless spoil of an old era when you were actually supposed to go hunt down new bands. I’ve always expressed my love for samplers, compilations, tributes, 4-5-6-7-ways, whatever. On this blog I have reviewed a lot of them and I’m surely far from stopping. Some days ago I stumbled upon the three “I’m going ape”, hands down one of my favorite series of noise records and I’ve started thinking about other antimusical streaks. Sure, the Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! series is an obvious one, but what about “Tunes from the toilet”? Or “Too short to handle”? In recent years one that I’ve particularly loved is “Destroy your life for noisecore”. The nod to the Mutiilation classic EP is clear, but the connections end here. These two volume saga is a noisecore galore assault, delivered by Noise Carnage from Poland, with some help by the deeply missed, beloved, Underground Pollution for the first volume. But enough with the intro and let’s dwelve into these abherrations!
The first volume is a typical Underground Pollution release. A cheap folded cover with a record filled with obnoxious stuff. The first blood is spilt by Energumeno. Their part is a two minutes and a half session of very old school noisecore, sounding like a mix of the rawest part of Tumor with classic Spanish noise, with even a cool industrial twist at the end. The band is formed by Ale (Animal Reincarnation, Jangle, Ataque Demencial, Mentally Masturbation), Javier (Jangle, Potabilizadora) and the almighty Manuel (Genital Masticator, Potabilizadora, Ataque Demencial, Brutalomania and the man behind Cadaverizer and R.O.N.F.!). Super great Canary Island noise.
Then it’s time for Adolf Shitter. Things get really messy here. This is pure deranged noise which sounds like a shtload of things falling over and over another shitload of things, with a crazy guy shouting on it. There’s Vivian of Underground Pollution behind this and I think it totally reflects his mindset. The band is also made by other two well known names in French noise underground, Thomas (Civilian Thrower, Facial Purulence) and Christophe (Sarkofachocrss88, Morgande Desbeet). Great French shitnoise royalty going on here, not for all but if you love the demented side of noisecore like I do, check ’em out.
Noxious Threat come from the US. I really, REALLY loved their side of the split with Agathocles and I think this is a band that REALLY should put out something more. They vanished after 2017 and it’s a real pity. Intense, wall of sound noisecore, with a thick, dense and unbearable mass of distorted bass with a clear and sharp drum sound that makes everything even weirder. Desperate shrieks just between Seth and Darkthrone round everything up.
Last but not least, Pissdeads from Russia! They have been already covered here and Popster even contributed with some columns in the past. This is just, simply put, how noisecore should be made. Fast, intense, disrespectful for music and utterly pissed off. Pissdeads always mastered the “angry and ferocious” side of noise and these tracks make no exception. Maybe too long for true noisecore? Fuck off.
It’s time for the second volume. By the time this came out Underground Pollution sadly vanished, so this is all in the hands of Noise Carnage. Kudos for the choice of Hatchet for the front cover!
This one kicks off with Anal Butt. This Baltimore project features Dan from Merciless Game and Lotus Fucker and the mastermind behind SPHC, hands down one of my favorite labels. Totally demented, monster madness noisecore. Constant blurr with bursts of racket topped by puke-like vocals. This sould have got youe at “totally”. 35 tracks.
Then it’s time for Neuss! This Japanese project made a bunch of CD-rs with artworks mocking Fear Of God, Crass, Yacopsae, Rupture and Sore Throat. Well, they got them right, just drench everything in a outwordly fuzzy guitar, very Swankys style. This is ear-piercing all-out noise. Crazy stuff indeed. I reccomed them A LOT.
And now, Serpent Anus! This is the “new” project by the almighty Niels Noiseape from my all time faves CSMD! Ritualistic, weird, cavemen noise with some black metal vibes and a very unique approach to the subject. This reminded me the Voltagestress*r release, with their very original and out-of-the-box way of making noise. VERY interesting. And try to get a copy of the first tape, drenched in slimey goo!!!
And what best way to close this side with another experimental and original band? PTAO has been going on since ages with their jazzy brainmelting brand of noise. In this session they focus more on the classic noisecore side of things but every burst, every blast, every scream, oozes of deviated and angular thinking. I fucking love PTAO.
It may sound naive, but local scenes should always be loved and supported. And that doesn’t mean that you have to mindlessly push everything that comes from your area, but it’s our duty to recognize and embrace what’s good and made with heart. While my hometown has no punk scene at all, the city in which I work and spend a lot of my time, Alessandria, has a vibrant hardcore underground movement and since I consider it the second half of my universe, I want to spend some words about some of my favorite stuff coming out of it. So let’s dive into the “grey”, most post-soviet city of Italy!
Cranked are technically from Tortona, just outside of Alessandria, but since they’re deeply tied with the city’s only surviving squat with a hardcore schedule, I won’t be too picky. They released an interesting mini album some years ago, but I think they made a huge step forward with this mini. Eight songs in a bit more than 15 minutes. Their music is a perfect blend of the more rocking side of classic US hardcore all merged with a good dose of old school Boston sound. So put on some Battalion Of Saints, early Poison Idea, Circle Jerks, Teen Idles and S.O.A. and mix them with SSD, Gang Green and F.U.’s. The result is a direct and addicting record that just begs to be put on repeat. Bonus points for the fact that the man behind the mic, Ale “Sporko”, is hands down one of the best and kindest guys you can meet in the scene.
And Ale also sings in Suicideforce! I admit that I have a soft spot for them because guitar duties are carried by Diego, one of my best friends ever, but believe me, this band is an absolute banger. I think that powerviolence in Italy is taken care of by a good amount of bands, each one specialized in one sub-style. Grinding bass driven mid 90’s stuff? Repulsione. Fastcore oriented with some Sound Pollution vibes? Failure. Caveman gruff Weekend Nachos-esque heavy hitters? So Close. Spazz Spazz Spazz, Charles Bronson and some more Spazz? ANF and Double Me. But if you want dissonant, bleak, mysterious-guy, Youth Attack / Bovine worship PV, well, don’t look any further. This is a mutant beast, with some more direct songwriting on some records and a riff oriented approach on others, always delivering intense, feedback drenched and hopeless music the way it should be. Check out all their stuff because it’s ALL brilliant. Extra points for graphics made by the legendary Officina Infernale.
Last but not least, L’Abisso. They are the newest band of the bunch and kickstarted their existence with a full length album that, simply put, rips. Full blown classic Italian hardcore deeply rooted in the sound that can go from the late 90’s to a dozen of years ago. Expect fast ripping verses with choruses that open in a melodic and catchy refrain. Songs instantly stick in your mind and they are all blessed by top notch songwriting. The drumming is especially tight but all the band perfectly clicks together. While bands like Skruigners can easily come to mind, I’ve found myself thinking of other names such as Attrito or Congegno, more in a attitude way than a strict musical one. Bands that can be totally encapsulated in the classic Italian sound but always sounded just like themselves. L’Abisso gives me the same feeling. Yeah, you can find traces of this and that and you can definetely file them beside the ones I’ve mentioned above, but they, clear and simple, sound like L’Abisso, which I think is a great thing for them.
W.E.S.Y.E. is a noise duo from Spain spawned a couple of years ago. Yeah, noise and Spain, how can you can go wrong? And you can’t, indeed. This duo is made by two musicians who are mostly part of the harsh noise / power electronics scene, but can be absolutely put in a wider, general “noise” environment.
The first tapem “Rectal dilapidation for the consumer’s erection” is made by two long “songs”, which are mostly sessions of very layered noise. The line up on this is made by David (who I’ve already listened in Annoying Garbage, Wet Dreams Of Iron and Impur) and Manu (who is not Manolo from Genital Masticator/Brutalomania but, as far as I know, he’s been only in W.E.S.Y.E.). As I’ve said in the intro we are mostly talking about power electronics here, but with a strong, vibrant analogue mentality going through the noise. Both musicians are credited on drums, but there is no real proof soundwise of drums existence in this, everything is soaked in distortion and, well, something is pounding but who the hell knows. The thick, intertwined use of loops and waves is really great, souding unsettling, outwordly and futuristic. Bastard Noise and some Grunt stuff comes to mind and the dual, desperate, distant vocals are perfect to be thrown over this. I really love when there is a lot going on, with all these sounds mashing together, all soaked in a lysergic pool of distortion and feedback. The final one of the first side is pretty vicous, I must say. B-side is more all focsused on frying your brain, with this monotonous, aggressive and delirant hi-frequency wave that will drill your front lobe without mercy. Deranged stuff. This is not hard do digest, this will digest you.
Now it’s time for “Penetration in sepulchral silence” A.K.A. “P.I.S.S.”. Line up is slightly changed here, with Joan of Impur taking the place of Manu, making W.E.S.Y.E. a side project of Impur, or vice-versa. Two songs here too, the first one with the same title of the first one from the previous tape (“Prou!”) but hey! It’s noisecore! I don’t know (how could I?) if this is the same song but actually played with classic instruments, but it’s awesome. If noisecore is the jazz of grindcore, this is a great suite. The whole side is made by these two long songs made like a 3 seconds burst from Anal Massaker or Genital Masticator, drenched in feedback and broken low frequencies. This is mesmerizing stuff, pushing the boundaries with some weird and dissonant slower parts not so far from Hades Mining Co. and sprouting with anti-musical madness. It’s great to get these two sides of the same band, it reminds me the way every Gorgonized Dorks release was imposible to predict and brings me back to those great days when Katz was still with us… Anyway, this is as mindnumbing as the other tape but with a whole new level of brainsplitting approach. You can’t beat noisecore. You just can’t.
EXORBITANT PRICES MUST DIMINISH / SHITBRAINS split LP
Exorbitant Prices Must Diminish to me started as the “what the fuck?” name band. The Disrupt reference goes as one of weirdest choices in bands’ name history but from the first note they instantly got in the no-bullshit section. Straight forward grindcore with no frills and great dynamics. With this new recording they turned the crank up, tighetning their sound and making it way more vicious than before. The powerviolence factor is more structural than before, with different vocal styles, a lot of stop-and-go’s and, oh, the drumming. Let me talk about it for a second. Smith of The Afternoon Gentlemen fame is behind the kit and, fuck, you can hear that. (EDIT : in fact Smith is on bass and backing vocals duties, with Maxime playing drums, sorry for messing this up but I’m keeping this mistake on because he made me think he was one of my favorite drummers ever, which I think is a good thing!) Drums are ferocious and with top tier skill, marking this side one of the best things drums-wise you are going to hear this year. The rest of the band is as good as that, with guitars and bass mixing powerviolence and grind in a perfect blend, even injecting some high pitched riffing with a strong death metal vibe here and there. The result is a bunch of songs that are not only greatly written and amazingly executed, but sound enthusiastic and will surely make your heart pump faster and faster.
Flipping the record we go straight to L.A. with the ultrafast duo known as Shitbrains. I saw them at Obscene Extreme (just like EBMD) and I’ve been completely blown away. These two are the definitions of choking. Fast, restless and with no interest in making you breath. What Emi and Anthony are able to do on stage and on record is amazing. This sounds way more European than what you should expect from a US band, taking the style of bands like Gride, Lycanthrophy and Controlled Existence and make it even more unhinged. The ability to switch tempos, the surgically made stops, the throat exploding vocals, everything fits perfectly here. I’ve started following this band the second I heard them for the first time and they never disappointed. These ten songs are one better then the one before and it’s refreshing to catch a band so enthusiasthic about its art.
I know that I may sound too carried away by this split, but this is one of those records that we will remember. In an era made of low-attention span and easily forgotten recordings, this is a genre defining split. From this record on there will be a new blueprint of how powerviolence, grindcore, fastcore, whatever you are going to call it, has to be made. HIGHLY reccomended.
Given the importance that this blog had (and has) in my life and considering my recent years’ life choices, I’ve decided to co-operate with some friends from the so-called scene. If you are into noisecore, noisegrind, ultramedallo and general shitnoise antimusical aberrations, you surely know Raffaele. His blog has always been a deep inspiration to me and he’s hands down one of my favorite persons in this world, plus I think we share 90% of our musical taste, so good for us! It was an obvious choice to start with him and, luckly, he had this great essay laying around his hard drive. It’s long, it’s in-depth, it’s filled with great bands and talks about things that will make your ears bleed with joy. Have a nice read!
BIRTH OF IGNORANCE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF BANDS THAT WERE (ALMOST) PLAYING GRINDCORE WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IT
By Raffaele Sironi, 2023
Originally published on Uncut Reality issue #2
When I started this article, an obvious question popped into my mind: “when was grindcore as a genre born exactly?”. Of course Repulsion’s “Slaughter Of The Innocents” demo from June 1986 would be the right answer for many people. But not for me. Despite the unquestionable impact it had on the underground as well as on the tape trading scene, I think we could set official grindcore’s date of birth approximately one year later, on the 1st of July 1987.
The day Earache Records released Napalm Death’s “Scum”. Ok, I can hear all you geeks screaming: “Scum side A was recorded in August 1986, a couple of months later than Repulsion’s demo!” which is of course undeniable. But I don’t think anyone can deny that Scum had a way bigger impact simply due to the fact that, being a full length album distributed worldwide, it got a much wider exposure compared to a self-released demo that basically only circulated between true underground afecionados. NxDx clone bands indeed started popping up everywhere immediately after Scum’s release. Unfortunately, Repulsion’s demo remained more of a “niché” thing until it got the long-awaited vinyl press by Necrosis Records. But that happened two years too late, in 1989. Not to mention Mick Harris himself coined the word “grindcore”, so my guess is that grindcore as a genre was born the day Scum was released. Feel free to disagree, but you’re wrong, ahahah!
But the goal of this article is not to determine who invented grindcore. I just needed to set a specific date to explore which bands worldwide were “almost” playing grindcore before it began to exist as a thing on its own. Let’s call it “proto-grindcore” from now on. While both Repulsion and early Napalm Death were clearly also influenced by extreme metal, I’ll focus more on the hardcore scene since it was the one that, since its inception in the early 80s’, kept pushing down the accellerator in the global contest of unleashing the fastest bands ever. I’m not denying that metal also influenced early grind bands, but grindcore is just the extreme of hardcore/punk: it has indeed the same political content & DIY attitude, well, at least in its early on.
So, let’s start this journey in the country where the whole thing exploded: the United Kingdom. If Crass set the standards for politically-charged anarcho-punk, Discharge took it to another level writing faster and way more violent music and could be finally be labeled hardcore/punk. A couple of years later, straight outta the slums of Bristol, Disorder and Chaos UK came on the scene with the fuzziest guitar sound at the time. But all these bands still used the classic d-beat tempo. The speed factor became a popular thing in her majesty’s “fascist regime” only around 1986, when suddenly Napalm Death (who started in 1981 as a Crass clone) as well as their contemporaries Heresy, Ripcord and Extreme Noise Terror started playing faster and faster. But none of these bands fall in the proto-grind category: they were all pure hardcore bands (well, technically ENT is crust/hc, but I think you get my point). But if we dig deeply in the most remote, obscure and dark corner of the brits punk/hc scene, we would uncover three bands that were way ahead of their time, already playing hyperfast and super distorted hardcore around 1982-84. I’m talking about Asylum, Skumdribblurz and Plasmid.
Asylum, hailing from the industrial wastelands of Stoke-On-Trent, has been rightfully called the missing link between Discharge and japanese noisepunk. They existed for a very brief period but their “Is This The Price?” 1982 demo is without any questions a perfect example of what we are taliking about: “buzzsaw guitars, fuzzed bass, charging drums and gargled vocals battle each other in a maelstrom of lo-fi production murk that reflects the bleak outlook of their lyrics”. One of the earliest in taking the “noise not music” approach to the next level!
Skumdribblurz were active between 1983 and 1986. They almost never rehearsed and never recorded anything. But during these 3 short years, they managed to play around 100 gigs (and refused to be paid when they were offered money!). Legacy apart, they left to posterity just a bunch of hard to find live tapes. In their recent interview featured on General Speech#9, they affirm that “the ethos of the band was simple, to be the worst, most crappiest, but fastest and noisiest absolute cliff of white noise band ever“. If this ain’t proto-grindcore enough, just go on youtube and check for yourself if I’m telling the truth! They were even resposible for coining the “campaign for musical destruction” motto that was later stolen and made popular by Larm and Napalm Death. An absolute proto-grindcore classic that definitely influenced Napalm Death in morphing their sound toward more extreme sonics!
Plasmid were another short-lived UK band that at least released a demo in 1984 before quickly vanishing into obscurity until the Aussie Shortfuse Records reissued it as “Lust For Power” 7″ around 2006 and made this forgotten gem available again for the following generations. Hyper fast and heavily distorted hardcore, way ahead of its time. It’s not a big surprise that later their drummer ended up playing with Heresy.
While not exactly protogrind, Suburban Filth, with their ultra short songs and totally inept musical approach, deserves to be named as one of the forefathers of the most nihilistic and extreme noisecore bands to come! Same can be said about Eat Shit (no, they weren’t from Nebraska as they claimed!) who managed to be even more chaotic and unskilled than Suburban Filth if that’s even possible (just check their one sided “Leather, Bristles, Studs & ‘Akney” ep if you don’t believe me!).
Not sure if Genocide Association is worth mentioning here since they were more of a joke band that “…was an amalgam of riffs from many other bands’ demos, hand sampled on a tape-to-tape boombox and then shouted over with our own political lyrics”. But since Digby Pearson, who later would run Earache Records, was one of the masterminds behind this project that existed between 1982 and 1984, I’ll let you decide.
Time for us to leave the white cliffs of Dover and head over to mainland Europe. The Netherlands, to be more accurate. While definitely more fastcore than proto-grind, Larm absolutely deserves to be mentioned here. Their side of the legendary split lp with Stanx from 1984 was some of the fastest hardcore around at that time in the old continent and influenced legions of bands to play faster.
While France isn’t exacly renowned for the quality of its early hardcore scene, they gave us one of the best proto-grindcore band ever: Rapt. Hailing from a small city in the north of the country and active from 1984 to 1987, they unleashed superfast and short bursts of anger that fall perfectly into our category, Their splits with Herraids and Final Blast are releases definitely worth checking out if you’re not familiar with them.
I might be biased of course, but I do think that Italy, my own country, had the best and most varied scene in Europe back then. The first band I want to mention is Underage from Naples. Their music was hardcore influenced by the UK anarcho punk/hc played just a bit faster, no question about that. But because of poor equipment and just coincidence, they managed to have the perfect ultra-distorted guitar sounds on their 1983 “africani, marocchini, terroni” 7″. It’s so distorted and full of reverb that’s almost hypnotic and in my opinion it reminds Confuse early stuff (sound-wise).
Also worth mentioning is Negazione from Torino. While they were a pure hardcore band, their dissonant riffs and high-pitched vocals (expecially on their “tutti pazzi” ep from 1984) definitely pushed things on a weirder and more extreme spectrum.
But the italian proto-grind band par-excellence is Agonia from Verona. These guys didn’t release anything when they were active in the early ’80s. Then they suddenly broke up and the singer recruited Zambo (drummer from Wretched) to play all the instruments for a final recording session. The result is their split lp with Hydra from 1985. While all the spoken words definitely kill the vibe and the intensity, the music could be probably labelled as one of the very first noisecore record ever: 23 tunes of short, hyperfast and loud “music”. Only a handful of other bands around the globe were that ahead of their time in that period.
To find the band that used blast beat regularly for the very first time, we need to move up north to the Scandinavian penisula. Daniel Ekeroth in the book “Swedish Death Metal” points out that his fellow countrymen Asocial featured them in their “How Could Hardcore Be Any Worse?” demo from 1982! Unfortunately on their excellent “Det Bittra Slutet” 7″ from 1984 they slowed things down to more common swedish hc tempos, otherwise we would be saying that grindcore was invented in Sweden! Well, there actually was a side project of Ake & Chrille from Mob 47 joining forces with Per & Ola (who both later would form the very first swedish grindcore band Filthy Christians), that went pretty close to it: Protes Bengt. Their “In Bengt We Trust” 7″ from 1986 is filled with 32 tracks, all of them 30 seconds long (or even shorter!) and super fast! Think at classic swedish hardcore but played at Siege-esque speed and you know we’re fully in the proto-grind department here!
But to make things even more interesting we gotta cross the Gulf Of Bothnia to the land of strange language, alcohol abuse and general weirdness better known as Finland. The Finnish hardcore formula might be repetitive, but when you find the perfect recipe, why change it? Well, three bands decided at last to speed it up and the end result definitely fits into our paradigm. I’m talking about Kuolema, Sekunda and Sorto.
Kuolema formed in 1982 and immediately sounded like Terveet Kadet on meth. They started playing the noisest, fastest and most fucked-up music ever. Apart from some self-released tapes, nobody gave them a chance until the late 90s, when suddenly everybody started appreciating the genius of these crazy finns and every fart they recorded finally got the reissue treatment.
Another similar band was Sekunda. They are well-known for appearing in all the classic finnish hardcore compilations released by Propaganda Records “Russia Bombs Finland” and “Hardcore ’83” as well as the “Lasta” comp. 7″. They also released a 7-minute long demo tape that’s just an adorable sloppieness fest. While not being the fastest nor the noisest, their very short songs and general attitude made an impact of the future grindcore scene. The Patareni guys were indeed so obsessed by them that they included (most probably without even being authorized by the band) Sekunda tracks in their messed up Cicciolina/Buka split 7″.
Last but not least, Sorto from Tornio. The only one that at least managed to release something on vinyl back then, the incredible “Aina Valmiina” 7”. Tim Yohannan on his review in MRR#41 nailed it perfectly: “this one-sided, six-songed EP is a raging, eccentric, jazzy thrash noise fest, much in the crazy approach of the late NEOS. Real short tunes, no let up.” Proto-grindcore, indeed.
On the other side of the Atlantic, things were moving even faster. You know, in the land of the free (guns) everybody is always busy. In California, around the early 80s, a new generation of metalheads were already pushing down the accellerator. Bands like Slayer, Metallica and all the Bay Area Thrash scene have always focused on being faster than the previous generation (thanx to their punk influences!). Hardcore bands were the same in that respect. A band that relocated from Texas to San Francisco was able to cram 22 songs in one 7”, almost all less than one minute long. Of course I’m talking about D.R.I. “Dirty Rotten” ep from 1983. Definitely not proto-grind but for sure a huge influence in speeding everything up and getting to the point without messing around. In general, around the early ’80s, american hardcore bands were way faster than their european counterparts. You know, from Dead Kennedys to Septic Death, from Negative Approach to Urban Waste, the list would be endless.
But a special mention goes to the band that just released a single demo (well, and three tracks on a compilation lp) but played a key role in the conception of grindcore. If you are not living under a rock, you already know I’m talking about Siege’s “Drop Dead” demo from 1984. Hailing from a small town in Massachusetts, not only they were damn fast, but their hyperdistorted guitar and deranged vocals were something totally new and unexpected that shocked many listeners at the time. They were so weird that the narrowminded dumb-macho sXe scene from Boston never accepted them. But luckily their demo circulated everywhere else, spreading the word all around the globe. If these guys didn’t get together, we could only dream of bands like Infest, Napalm Death or Rupture. To understand how important they were, I’ll just add that Siege drummer Rob Williams appears on the back cover of the debut full length of the undisputed noisecore kings Anal Cunt “Everyone Should Be Killed” (he’s the guy punching the other guy lying in the street). Enough said.
A more obscure band that definitely fits our parameters perfectly is Cyanamid from New Jersey. Affiliated with the legendary Mutha Records, a label run by a sketchy biker and well-known for releasing material of some of the wildest US bands like The Worst, Chronic Sick and Fatal Rage. A scene constantly ignored or even hated by people in bigger cities because of the band’s misathropic and provocative attitude. But like everything, the most interesting things sprout from the outcasts. Cyanamid’s only official release is an ep titled “Stop The World” from 1984. While the opening and closing tracks are extremely long, slow & dissonant tunes (respectively, 5.19 and 6:55 minutes long!), in the middle they squeezed 5 tracks (the longest lasts 1:08, the shortest 0:13 seconds!). Also their earlier material proves again that they are absolutely playing in the same league of all the other proto-grind masters mentioned above.
Another bunch of weirdos (from New Jersey as well) that deserve a mention here are Psycho Sin. Stuart Schrader from shit-fi.com described them perfectly: “their EP should top any list of 80s shit-fi music. If a line can be drawn from the real-people psychedelia and folk of the 60s and 70s through the DIY experiments of the punk era, Psycho Sin mark another point, perhaps the endpoint, on that line as it extends into the mid-to-late 80s”. A visionary band for sure.
But America’s most obscure secret lays well hidden in New Mexico desert. And no, it’s not Area 51. I’m taking about Corporate Whores. Their “Revenge Of The Whores” tape from 1984 has been described on General Speech#10 as coming from “a band that at times had the speed of the Neos, the heavy dirges of Siege, and a raw guitar tone that could go head to head with Disorder”.How a similar band, expecially from the US, remains basically unknown to everyone is a mystery I can’t get my head around.
I might have said enough about Repulsion earlier, but I haven’t mentioned Genocide yet! For those who do not know, before changing their name to Repulsion, these Flint, MI heroes released 3 demos under the monicker Genocide between 1984 and 1986. Expecially on the third one “The Stench Of Burning Death” you can definitely hear them becoming the monster they are well known to be. We are fully in the metal department here, but who cares? These midwesterns gave an incredible contribution in developing the genre we’re analyzing here.
Let’s close the North America chapter of our trip with a canadian band from a remote area of British Columbia: Neos. “This high school trio played noisy, lightspeed HC in an attempt to be the “world’s fastest band”, which at the time, they probably were”. Both their eps from 1982(!!) are so incredible that they need to be mentioned here, even if we’re still fully in the realm of hardcore.
Hardcore generally exploded a few years later in South America. But not in Brazil. Lixomania “Violência & Sobrevivência” 7”, the first hardcore record to ever came from this country, is from 1982, so they were basically perfectly alligned with the rest of the world. But before digging into the more obscure corners of brazilian hardcore, let’s take a detour to the state of Minas Geiras to look into the amazing metal scene that blossomed in the filthiest corners of Belo Horizonte. In 1985, Sepultura used blast beats in their first full length “Morbid Visions” and, the next year, Sarcofago did the same in the seminal “I.N.R.I.” album. Not only did these guys make it into the history of metal, but they took their Bathory, Celtic Frost and Slayer influences to the next level, making their metal way more extreme and faster than it has ever been. If you like your stupid norwegian black metal super fast, you’ve gotta buy these guys the next few rounds, to say at least.
But let’s get back on track. A totally obscure band that only got their material released for the first time ever in 2018 and fits perfectly in our category is Ruidos Absurdos (that translate to Absurd Noise, indeed). These guys were active between 1983 and 1985 and pushed everything well over the limit playing the crappiest, noisest hardcore punk ever. Add a totally no budget shit-fi production, et voilà, we got an instant winner.
A similar tale can be told about Ulster. They released an even more extreme and faster demo one year before Ruidos Absurdos. Luckily they “only” had to wait until 1995 to see it finally pressed on wax as the “M-19 E.P.” by ABC Records from Sao Paulo. If with Ruidos Absurdos we are in the “barely-listenable” territory, Ulster managed to get a more-than-decent production.
Wait, I almost forgot about SP Caos. Again, they only released a demo in 1984 that remained undisclosed until someone gave it the long-overdue repress. The recipe is the same: quick, raw & distorted ruido, but you already knew that.
But that’s nothing compared to what would come out of the land of “Ordem e Progesso” (Mentira! Mentira!) a few years later. Around 1985, well-known brazilian hardcore band Olho Seco shared a slab of wax with a band that was basically playing grindcore or even noisecore, I dare to say. I’m talking about Brigada Do Odio. Their side of the lp lasts only 11 quick minutes and in this short time they crammed 14 ultra fast tracks. Seriously, it’s just 11 minutes of blast beats overwhelmed by fuzzy guitars and a singer that’s screaming his lungs out. If I had to pick a proto-grind band to show people what I’m talking about, it would be Brigada Do Odio.
Let’s go back to Belo Horizonte to talk about Atack Epiléptico. While their first record only came out in 1988 (a year too late for our thesis), they released a demo in 1986 that I must admit I’ve never listened to, but that has been described as similar to their later output so I’ve decided to include them anyway. Plus I don’t think they listened to Repulsion or Scum before recording their split lp with Offessor, so fuck off and lemme talk about them. Just a dickskin less extreme than Brigada Do Odio but otherwise we are in the same league here. Brutal, fast and extreme hardcore with rough production in the classic southamerican tradition. All these bands opened the gate for the 90s’ brazilian noisecore wave, the most prolific and radical that this god-forsaken planet has ever seen.
Moving to Medellin, Colombia. In those years, the city was under siege by Pablo Escobar’s drug war. From these miserable conditions, perhaps the most radical metal scene ever erupted: ultra metal or metal medallo, if you prefer it. The pioneers were of course Parabellum. They released just two 12” with four songs in total that perfectly capture the anguish of their existence in such a radical environment. While they were both released in 1987, the songs were written in 1984 and they only managed to record them three years later due to financial issues. The end result is something so extreme, gloomy, fast and distorted that I just had to mention it here. Same thing could be said about Blasfemia, active only between 1986 and 1988. They shared some members with Parabellum and their “Guerra Total” 12” has a production that’s even rougher and darker if you can believe it. It’s not a coincidence that in the very late ’80s, the same people were part of the hardcore medallo scene that gave us the very first southamerican grind/noise bands such as Herpes, Restos De Tragedia as well as Confusion and Ataque De Sonido. A well hidden colombian secret that only in recent times received the attention it deserves is Tempus, the missing link between Parabellum and Herpes. They were active only between 1986 and 1987 and they featured Carlos Maria “La Bruja” Perez among other well-known names from that scene. They recorded a couple of studio sessions that got lost for many years only to resurface in recent times as the “cantos bajo tierra” lp. Production is surprisingly good and their music fits perfectly our paradigm under any point of view. I must admit I got some doubts about its legitimaty since, honestly, it’s too good to be true. They got mentioned in an old MRR scene report but, other than that, there are no other evidence of their activity back then. That being said, this sounds a lot like Herpes with perhaps a more metallic edge, so I felt kind obliged to mention them.
As once my friend Beau wisely stated: “Australia: we might get a C for hardcore but we surely get an A+ for KBD”. Yeah, mate! The land down-under might be well-known for their excellent punk bands from the late 70s, but their ’80s hardcore scene wasn’t exactly the most brilliant or innovative one. A couple of bands from Melbourne still make it to this article and one of them is crucial for the future of extreme music. While the vast majority of the Melbourne scene was mainly influenced by UK82 bands, Death Sentence were way more fueled by the fastest bands from the first wave of USHC. Their “Ryan-Thanx For The Support” 7” from 1985 contains 7 tunes not too dissimilar to what Siege did on the other side of the globe the previous year. Maybe not exactly proto-grind, but no one was this fast in the lucky country back then.
That was until the following year, when from the suburbs of the city emerged a weird project, avangarde I’d dare to say, calling itself Seven Minutes Of Nausea. Things wouldn’t be the same again. Their 1986 demo titled “Karen’s Edge” contained 104 tracks in less then 14 minutes. Almost all were less than 10 seconds long and played at lightspeed with guitar doing the worst possible noise over it and Mick Hollows screaming radical political statements over it. Nobody did anything so radical until that day. A new genre was born; noisecore.
Recently a totally obscure aussie gem has been unleashed to the masses (well, I should better say to the 200 lucky bastards who managed to get a copy of it!) by Shortfuse Records. I’m talking about the Tribe “8 minutes of nausea” 7”. Totally lo-fi recording, hyper distorded sound and short & fast tunes make this a perfect last minute entry for this article!
The last stop of our global tour will be the land of the rising sun. A country full of contraditions, where future and past collapse into each other, generating a present where high standards of living crashes into very strict social rules. To make it short, the perfect enviroment where angry teens and outcasts could develop a prolific and unique punk/hardcore scene and unload their frustration, writing extreme and unique angst-ridden music.
Back in the ’80s, japanese hardcore wasn’t as popular outside of its shores as it is nowdays. Pratically no one in the western world knew about it, except for a bunch of maniacs (or nerds if you prefer) that were digging in it. One of them was an english guy named Lee Dorian. If you look closely at the photo on the back cover of “Mentally Murdered”, you’ll notice the Confuse logo painted on his military trousers. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Since 1984, these Kyushu gentlemen took the Disorder/Chaos UK sound to the next level, turning up the distortion knob to eleven. While never exceeding too much in the speed game, the whole Kyushu noise-punk scene that gravitated around Confuse (Gai, Gess, Sieg Heil etc…), for sure contributed hugely to increasing the level of distortion for the next generation of punks.
Moving slightly up north to Hiroshima, Gudon “残忍聖者” debut flexi from 1985 was basically the same thing but the end result is even more brutal. After this release they “mellowed out” their sound to a more traditional japanese hc, but their early material fits definitely our parameters. I guess it’s also worth mentioning another band from that area that released a much sought-after record that goes for tons of money in these days: State Children “bomb shelter for the money making” one sided flexi from 1985. Sloppy and barely-on-time, they sounds totally amatourish compared to the bands I mentioned before. But their insane vocals and fuzzy guitars are totally on point here.
Moving to Osaka, we find two other bands that could be included in the noise-punk folder: Gasmask and Coward. Their eps respectively from 1985 and 1986 are mandatory material for every fan of this sub-genre. But Kansai’s capital is also the hometown of probably the most fundamental japanese proto-grind band; SxOxBx. While dumb racist scum made fun of them on their 1989 european tour calling them “mini-Napalm Death”, the reality was quite the opposite. The Birmingham lads were indeed deeply influenced by the “Leave Me Alone” 7” that came out on Selfish in 1986, the most rage-driven adrenalin hardcore release from that year that featured copious amount of blast beats. And if that’s not enough, go listen to their “Noise Violence And Destroy” collaboration with japanese noise masters Hijokaidan to fully understand the importance of this band. I’m not an expert of harsh noise at all but the collaboration between these two radical scenes is crucial in my opinion to understanding the urge of japanese people to always push everything to the extreme.
Do I need to write something about Tokyo crucial bands like GISM, Gauze or Lip Cream and their influence? I don’t think so, their legacy is enough if you’re even just remotely into this kind of music. But there’s a Tokyo band that absolutely needs a few words. Of course I’m talking about Juntaro Jamanouchi’s crazy project better known as The Gerogerigegege. Formed in 1985 in Tokyo strip club district, their vast discography explores every possible extreme sub-genre and bring it to the next level. And they also pushed punkrock well over its limits by producing a destructive cacophony that resemble noisecore already in their beginnings, as testified by side A of the “Senzuri Monkey Metal Action” 7” (released in 1992 but recorded in 1986!). Also on the “Tokyo Anal Dynamite Singles” collection cd there’s a one minute track called “First Recording” from 1985 proving again they were already playing proto-noisecore since their inception!
Let’s move up north to the island of Hokkaido to talk about a rather obscure band that released my favourite japanese proto-grind ep ever; Tranquilizer “s/t” single sided flexi from 1985. In his book “Flex!” Burkhard Jarisch described them perfectly: “crazy, superfast, atonal hardcore with everything on overdrive (even the vocals are distorted!)”. Seriously, the singer sounds like he’s spitting bees, not words from his mouth! If the drummer was just a bit faster, this would be probably one of the best grindcore band ever. Too bad their second ep didn’t even come close to the standards of the first one.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Unlike a certain documentary about grindcore, I tried to cover as many countries as possible and give each continent an equal amount of space and attention. Yet, I do not pretend to have written the ultimate proto-grind history. I’m pretty sure there are still a lot of bands all around the globe I’ve never heard about that just released a rehearsal or live tape (or not even that!) that would fit perfectly here. But that’s the beauty of underground music, ain’t it? Even in an era where every fart recorded in a dirty basement 40 years ago and only circulated among a restricted circle of friends is available online, there’s still a lot of new music that needs to be discovered.
Last week I went to Turin to catch a show. I really wanted to see Hate & Merda after some time and this was the perfect occasion: near to me and with a couple of interesting acts. They were the midcard act, with Strega starting the show and Ovo headlining it. While the former is a new band, Ovo and Hate & Merda have been around for a lot of time and encapsule two different (and important) moments of my life.
Strega starts. This is not what I usually (end even rarely) listen to, but it was really entertaining. Mercyful Fate meets Annihilator meets Exorcist, all packed up with perfect stage presence (with the singer enshrouded in a grim robe with long branches-like fingers) and top notch atmosphere. They were fun, creepy and evoking. Really good one!
It’s time for Hate & Merda, my real reason to be there. They were a real slow burn to me. I spent years totally ignoring them, until they exploded in my mind during the pandemic, defining some weird and outwordly months. I think that the mix of drone music, post-core, brutalism and cosmic desperation makes up for a very unique and unsettling style that can drag you into a pit of despair and distress. There is a strong, vivid ritualistic side in their music, making their records and live shows challenging and spritually throat clutching. This gig made no exception. Perfect setlist, ultra loud volume, a hundred breaths synced in one. Hate & Merda makes you feel like you live on borrowed time.
The first time I saw Ovo was in 2009 at the first Miodi festival held in Milan and they were making a live soundtrack for Murnau’s masterpiece (and personal favorite) Nosferatu. It’s hard to explain how I feel looking back at those days. Even if they never really have been my cup of tea they were everywhere back then and they always make me go back to my early twenties, when I was way younger and way more reckless, when I was living with nothing and still living for everything. This show did not make me change my mind. I did not like them back then and I do not like them now, but every time they cross my path I have the same bittersweet taste in my mouth. And this is what matters the most.
One week later and Paolo Spaccamonti is playing live in my town. Around the time I went back living here I always stumbled upon him. He had just released “Buone notizie” and it was in every distro I was going through, in every music feed and in every local festival I was attending. In 2024 I saw him making the live soundtrack for Dreyer 1932 classic “Vampyr” and it was a blast, so it was a no brainer choosing to be there this Friday. He was in the duo formation, with a bass and a synth helping to create his sonic soundscapes. This set made me think about “Hex” by Earth. Droning ethereal sounds mixed with some heavy vortexes, with even a black metal riff thrown in the abyss. There was a strong liminal space vibe to this set, making the constant loss of a vivid horizon the signature of the evening. The gloomy weather and the low-attendance of the night made it even more connected to an outwordly feeling. reality kicked in abruptely at the end, like a punch between the eyes.
Strega, Hate & Merda and Ovo photos taken by my friend Simi, check out his amazing live shows photos profile here!
Free thoughts, reviews, reports and interviews concerning all that is extreme, such as grindcore, sludge, drone or noisecore. For infos, criticism, proposal or if you want your band to appear on this blog, feel free to write to petetheripperstnh[at]gmail[dot]com
WHAT I USE
Here’s the gear I’m using for listening/reviewing stuff :
Amplifier : DENON PMA-500
CD-Player : TEAC CD-P1260
Tape Recorder : YAMAHA KX-W321
Turntable : AUDIO TECHNICA ATLP120X
Speakers : INDIANA LINE ARBOUR 4.06 + INDIANA LINE NANO2
Headphones : AKG K242HD