Black Mass - Of First And Last Things (2013)

Bit of shameless self promotion here. We (Black Mass) have been sat on this for some time now. Its a compilation of all the material the band had previously released. After myself and our two guitarists had joined we started building up our own recording rig and this compilation is the result of those forays into home recording. Its come out pretty good if I do say so myself. We have now dropped most of this from the setlist as well, so we saw this release as a good sign off for the first period of the bands life. For now, we have released it on Bandcamp for free. If it doesn't work then use the Mediafire link under, we only get so many free downloads a month. A physical version should be available from Witchunter Records in March.

Bandcamp

Mediafire

Nihilist - Demo Collection (2005)

Not the actual Nihilist

The actual Nihilist

Before Entombed and Unleashed, there was Nihilist. These guys never recorded anything other than a few demos and a 7" single before calling it quits in 89 ( or they disbanded and reformed under the name Entombed due to not liking Johnny Hedlund, leaving him to form Unleashed). Thankfully someone decided to knock this compilation out in 2005 which compiles all the demos and recordings the band managed to produce. Included within is a Repulsion cover as well as Entombed's original demo. Bathe in the sweet, rough hewn, barbaric, late 80's death metal storm.

Nihilist - Demo Collection

Black Mass - S/T EP (2010)

So, I started playing with another band recently. Loud, nasty, HM-2 worship. This is an EP they put out on Holy Roar Records and came in this neat, metal tin.  Now sold out, now posted up here.

Black Mass - Black Mass EP

Been jamming this weekend as well. Written some new riffs, booked some new shows. Can't wait. Check out the bandcamp page for a pretty sweet noise remix/mash up of the entire EP.

Withdrawn - Seeds Of Inhumanity (1998)

Sadly it has turned out to be nigh on impossible to track down any pictures of Withdrawn, let alone much information on them. That is why you get a flier rather any sort of exciting live picture. ( edit : changed) As far as this goes, I had this Household Name Records comp back in 1998/99 that opened my eyes to a lot of good stuff. Out of everything on it, Withdrawn stood out the most. Nasty, straight edge, vegan inspired metal. Hardcore in attitude but not in sound. Sort of like crossing Carcass, Integrity, Merauder and Slayer into this angry, militant ball of fury. They even got Leckie from Voorhees to lend his bark as full time vocalist. Most of the songs deal with the popular issues of the time such as drugs, smoking, animal rights and the sort. Now, this attitude wasn't for everybody. I know my old guitarist got into a fight with Leckie when they played together on some all-dayer once. Alongside a lot of the H8000 lot in Europe I always found it funny that they managed to create music that was way more metal than a lot of the "real" metal labels where putting out.

Withdrawn - Seeds Of Inhumanity

After this album they got a different vocalist and changed names to Evanesce. Sadly some other bigger band with the same name took offence and they had to change it again. Leckie carried on with Voorhees and the rest have done time in Walk The Plank, SSS and numerous other bands. If you hunt out you can find this massively convoluted family tree that stretches across the country and nearly every band that was kicking around in the late 90's.

Necrophagia - Holocausto De la Morte (1998)

Yes. You would be right in thinking that the dude on the far right is indeed that tool from Downtera. Now, I know how well liked Pantera are by most knuckle dragging metal fans but I have no love what so ever for them. Not after paying a small fortune as a teenager to see them be kneecapped on stage by Anselmo's drunken and stoned ranting many years ago. What I do have love for is this album he was involved with back in the late 90's. Necrophagia had been knocking about in one form or another since the early 80's.
As far as I could gather they had actually split up by the late 90's but reassembled with Phil Anselmo ( or Anton Crowley, as he goes under on here) handling all guitars. This line up recorded this album and a couple of Ep's before it all changed again.
This is really the only period of the band that interested me. The band where hitting this sludgy, Autopsy punk like groove and possessed a really harsh guitar sound.  This album was released at the same time as a video compilation featuring the current band playing in the infamous House Of Shock. Each track had a different video involving band members. I mean, one look at the cover art tells you where they are coming from cinematically.
As such, there is some complete Fulci/ Bava worship going on here as well as a huge slab of rotting, low budget gore. Witness drummer Wayne Fabra masturbating into the hair of a girl he has recently shot.

See Anton Crowley huff glue and get drunk with a big boobed lady in a graveyard.

See Killjoy sacrifice a woman with a huge fake muff.

All pretty cool. Add to this lot a video paying homage to Fulci masterpiece The Beyond and another track with footage from Jim Van Bebber's classic Roadkill : The Last Days of John Martin and its a pretty creepy, repulsive death metal classic.  You can't argue with some of the riffs on here, or the nasty atmosphere it creates.

Necrophagia - Holocausto De La Morta

Behold............the sickness.......................

Rob Nabbe interview - HSML - S/T (2004)

This one has been sat on my shelf for ages. Just waiting for the right time to be posted. feeling like shit and hungover, this morning seems to be the right time.
I first met Nabbe when my then band played Trashfest in Holland many many years ago, having previously toured with his old band Insult. Spent all weekend hanging out with people, drinking and playing noisy fast music.Nabbe has been responsible for being involved in some pretty sweet bands. Insult, Jason obsessed gore metal with Bile and today's offering.
HSML where a band he followed Insult up with. The album never really got distributed that well, which is a shame because its certainly better than most stuff mining a similar vein in sludgy hardcore.
But who better to explain it all to you than the man himself.......Rob Nabbe, and his thoughts on a few things.....

HSML........

HSML stands for Hot 'n Steamy Monkeylove and started out in the early '00s after the demise of Fastcore pimps Insult. The idea was to create Sludge/Punkmetal influenced by the likes of Iron monkey, Buzzov*en and Entombed amongst others. As a band we never really got picked up since our style wasn't hip or happening at the time. We didn't have the right tattoos, shitty facial piercings, haircuts, dance moves or social skills to fit in with the herd. The fact that our debut LP/CD was poorly distributed and promoted didn't really help either. HSML was heading for the shallow mass grave of obscure and forgotten bands. Sure we played shows with a bunch of well known bands such as Tragedy, Gadget and Cursed amongst others, but whatever. It was painfully obvious the scene wasn't ready for sexy riffs and sexy beasts. To this day I stand behind our record 100% and now that you've uploaded the thing here, all the nerds, wimps and posers can pretend they like us.

Current trends and the lack of any sort of backbone to modern music............

The backbone of modern music is snapped like a twig.
Or was it a spineless worm to begin with? It seems pretty trendy to play weak and lame music that is easy accessible and your girlfriend can mosh to while you hold her purse, Lucy.
There is no substance, no power, no violence. There is nothing good about modern music.

The point of creating/being involved in music.............

The only reason you need to be involved in creating music should be the fact that it's interesting and exciting to yourself and your bandmates. Music aside, it's the drinks, the laughs and the bullshit that makes it worthwhile. As long as you enjoy the music you create, that's all that counts. Who the fuck care's about the internet rumour mill, flavour of the week or how many idiots "like" you on facebook? If I can sit in my car, crank up one of my own records and feel like driving off a fucking cliff out of sheer adrenalin or aggression, that's all that matters.

Current musical highlights..........

My personal musical highlights at the moment involve this project/band I'm doing with a couple of dudes from Ghent, Belgium. The band is called Blind to Faith and is all about malice, violence and distortion. Dwid Hellion (Integrity) picked us up and released our debut LP through his Holy terror records. Recently we've released a split 7" with Gehenna through A389 records and we've only played a few shows so far. We don't wanna play every shithole and will do everything on our own terms for a change. We play whenever we want and that's that. If this means 5, 50 or 500 shows? Time will tell. So far, we've shared the stage with Eyehategod, Voorhees, Geriatric unit and a few others and will be playing with Buzzov*en in April. We're currently in the process of writing a new album and fans of heavy, raw and violent tunes should keep an eye out. Since nerds are to lame to pick up an album or visit a show they can download our debut LP through the Holy terror records website. Google "lazy" or "easy" you cunt.

Friday 13th...........

Daryl Kahan from Citizens arrest played a little part in one of the Friday the 13th movies. I will not spill the beans on which movie it is or if he's getting killed, maimed or mutilated or not.
Bring out the pizza's and beers and good luck.

What stuff you doing musically these days..........

Besides Blind to Faith I'm currently active in Skullhog and Mutank. Skullhog is working on new material that is basically filthy, moronic and utterly barbaric. Like Autopsy and Hellhammer's retard offspring. Mutank is a new Sludge band that focuses on crushing skulls and crumbling buildings and cities through low frequency obliteration. 

Straight from the mouth of the jacket destroying madman himself. This is HSML.............

HSML - S/T

AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO

AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO AGGRO

Albums that influenced Oliver #3 : Cryptopsy - None So Vile (1996)

Hands down, the finest example of technical, brutal death metal going. Not only was it unbelievably fast but so precise with its song writing. I was sat in my friend Solon's house as was the custom at least 5 nights a week, when he put this on. Straight away, that sample from Exorcist III and then the berserk opening blast of Crown Of Horns ( which is still one of the best intros on any death metal album) smashed out of the speakers with Lord Worm's howl over the top.
That is reason enough in my mind, but then the album continues as it starts. More blasting, more crazy riffs, tons more guttural rumbling and high pitched screaming and then the bass. That is what still stays with me on this album, and the next two they followed this up with, the bass work of Eric Langlois. That is a huge influence on my own style and as far as finger style playing in extreme music goes, no one beats Langlois. Of course there is the piano and bass lead into Phobophile that everyone remembers and there is no denying the power when that blast rips in but Langlois brings quite a few of his own tricks to the table. Subtle little string pops and twangs. Tiny little dynamic shifts that benefit the album fully. This was the first album he played on and you can see the huge difference his style brought to the table. Listen to Blasphemy Made Flesh then this. No contest. They did follow this up with Whisper Supremacy and ...And Then You'll Beg which are both pretty solid albums and even more technical. They lost Lord Worm, had a few other vocalists, Lord Worm returned then left again, they recruited new members, changed direction as bit ( pretty shonkily if you asked me, they invented this style) and continue to tour and record. I sorta lost interest after ...And Then You'll Beg. I still blast this out all the time tho. The ultimate in technical death metal without sacrificing brutality and speed for technique. Something a lot of so called tech bands could do with taking note these days.

Cryptopsy - None So Vile

Here they are in there rehearsal space in 1996.............

Creation Is Crucifixion - In_Silico + Antenna Builder (1998)

Famed for ranting for ages, devolving Gameboys, erasing supermarket bar codes, releasing stuff on obscure and obselete formats and annoying all and sundry with subversive lyrics. Creation Is Crucifixion always seemed at odds with there chosen path in my eyes. Playing ripping, technical death/thrash/jazz/grind hardcore influenced metal and avoiding using half decent studios seemed a little odd. But it is saved by the fact In_Silico kicks much ass when it comes to removing your face not just with the brutal musicianship but also with the interspersed noise tracks (something they would go onto explore a lot more). You can read all about there funny little ways elsewhere online so here is there best album in my opinion with the added bonus of the unreleased Antenna Builder session tracks. Recorded on tour while in Germany. I remember seeing fliers for the brief UK leg of that tour. Never made any of the gigs, a fact that a friend always rubs in my face. Never got released, but there is talk of a long overdue discography. I got them over at the pretty sweet Robotic Obscurities blog. So here is a lost but very important piece of underground music history.

Creation Is Crucifixion - In_Silico

The Crown - Crowned In Terror (2002)

Awesome Swedish death thrash with one, Thomas Lindberg providing the caustic voice. Probably the most metal thing I have ever posted. Awesome stuff.

The Crown - Crowned In Terror

Lindberg only did this album with them. They cheekily rerecorded the vocals with the original vocalist and then re-released this album as Crowned Unholy in 2004. That was a bit gay really.

Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal To The Flesh (1998)

Why did I get up so early on a Saturday? Its not right. When I woke up I put this on. Morbid Angel's best album and most under rated in my opinion. First to feature Steve Tucker, who isn't on a par with David Vincent but does a pretty solid job. Listen out for the end of Nothing Is Not. They get into this riff and keep slowing it down until it becomes this discordant crawl. Superbly brutal.

Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal To The Flesh

Got the link from The Frozen Throne blog. Lots and lots of DM and other brutal stuff.

Gorguts - Obscura (1998)

In anticipation for the fact Gorguts have another album on the way and it features John Longstreth and Mick Barr in the line-up ( think about them playing alongside Luc lemay ). I offer you one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. Incredibly twisted, discordant fret abuse from 1998 by way of Canada. A classic.

Gorguts - Obscura

Kataklysm - Temple Of Knowledge (1996)

Classic 90's death metal by a bunch of Canadians ( they always seem to be pretty good at extreme, technical brutality) who love having tons of vocals over everything and have become pretty shit in more recent incarnations.

Katakylsm - Temple Of Knowledge

This is the 2003 reissue which includes the early demo The Vortex of Resurrection. We used to joke about the claim they made of inventing the "northern hyperblast". Which is just a normal hyperblast but because they saw Fear Factory described as such decided to tack northern on the beginning of it. Crazy Canadians.